Students in Ronald M. Mankoff Tax Clinic Secure Major Settlement for Client

When U.S. Tax Court came to Saint Paul this spring, Associate Clinical Professor of Law Caleb Smith, director of Minnesota Law’s Ronald M. Mankoff Tax Clinic, and three students Caroline Moriarty, 2L, Xiaoyuan Zhou, 3L, and Cierra Johnson, 2L, were on hand to provide legal support for low-income, unrepresented taxpayers who have a tax controversy. Their support paid off for one individual, whose case changed from a motion to dismiss, with her owing $348, to a settlement in which she will receive a refund of approximately $11,000. 

After reviewing the client’s documents, the students and Smith laid out their case for the Internal Revenue Service attorney. “The IRS took our work and three hours later agreed that our client was right, that she was due about $11,000,” said Smith. Before reaching the settlement, the judge in the case invited Smith and the students to his chambers, where he spent an hour answering their questions. Currently, 13 students are enrolled in the Mankoff Tax Clinic, which is supported by a federal grant. “But for our clinic, people with low income wouldn’t have options for representation,” said Smith. “Clinic students are now doing the same level of work they will be paid to do at firms in a matter of months so it’s an enormous value both for them to get the experience and for the clients to be recipients of their good work.” 

2Ls Compete in Final Round of the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court Honors Tournament

Simon Earle, 2L, and Dominik Ruch, 2L, argued before Justice G. Barry Anderson ’79, Justice Natalie Hudson ’82, and Justice Gordon Moore of the Minnesota Supreme Court in the final round of the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court Honors Tournament. Simon Earle won a closely contested argument, with both students receiving tremendous praise for their skills. Earle called the tournament “an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Ruch had a similar reaction, calling it “[the] coolest thing I could have imagined for my time in law school.” 

The tournament (named in honor of the former Law School Dean Maynard Pirsig) is the culmination of the Law School’s flagship Moot Court Course — Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court. Students are nominated for the tournament based on their oral advocacy skills in the year-long course. Prior to the final round, the four semi-finalists argued at the Minnesota Court of Appeals. In the preliminary rounds of the tournament, more than 40 attorneys judged the advocates. Previous winners of the tournament include one current judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, along with one of the adjunct instructors. 

Two Minnesota Law Students Win MSBA Writing Competition

The Probate, Trusts, and Estates Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) hosted an annual writing competition where law students are invited to compete for a cash prize by writing a short piece on a topic selected by and of interest to the section. Two Minnesota Law students, Jasmin Hernandez Du Bois, 2L, and Sierra Grandy, 2L, won the competition. The prompt for the 2023 competition was to “identify one or more barriers that prevent access to justice in probate, trusts, and estates law, and provide ideas for how to remove those barriers.” 

Hernandez Du Bois wrote about the intersection of probate and the prison system. The judges were impressed by Ms. Du Bois’ attention to detail at a practical level, including a proposed statutory change to address possible concerns of this segment of the population. 

Grandy’s entry was about estate planning for neurodivergent clients. Estate planning can be daunting. The subject matter, complexity, and antiquated language involved can present barriers to anyone, but those barriers might be uniquely experienced or especially acute for neurodivergent clients. The judges were impressed by Ms. Grandy’s client-focused approach to providing legal services. 

Four Students Compete in FBA Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition

Four Minnesota Law students recently competed in the FBA Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Tournament. Hannah McDonald, 3L, and Faith Hemmingway, 3L, placed second in the national tournament and won best brief, and Anika Reza, 3L, and Kate Seivert, 3L, made it to the elite eight and won second best brief in the tournament. Each student is a veteran of a moot court competition team and/or the Law School’s Moot Court course — Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court.

Clemency Clinic Students Visit Norway over Spring Break

Associate Clinical Professor of Law JaneAnne Murray and students from Minnesota Law's Clemency Clinic visited Oslo and Bergen, Norway, over spring break to learn about alternative models of prison policy. While in Norway, they visited Halden Prison, known as “the most humane prison in the world.” Students also visited with prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, ex-inmates, and members of parliament. Visiting Norway provided students with valuable new perspectives they will take with them ainto practice.