Lives Changed: Robert Medina
The ancient and the modern are in a complicated dance at Zia Pueblo. Robert Medina, Zia Pueblo’s first-ever tribal judge trained as a lawyer, is pointing the way to the future.
School of Law
There is only one real way of looking at the law. The law makes possible democracy and justice and freedom for all. And the law, like each of the ideals it makes possible, is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition.
In 1947, four professors and 51 students, many of them WWII veterans, gathered in one classroom on the second floor of the football field’s grandstand. UNM School of Law was born. Since that time, the only law school in New Mexico has been committed to increasing legal knowledge, enhancing the practice of law, using that knowledge and practice in service to every citizen of our state, and providing a top-quality, hands-on legal education that remains focused on graduating good people, not just good lawyers.
Doing Justice to the Law
Recognized nationally for one of America’s best clinical law programs, practical experience forms the core of legal education at the School of Law. Distinctive areas of expertise and specialization, including Indian law, natural resources law and international law, reflect the location of the school and the issues that have resonance in New Mexico. School of Law faculty, with wide-ranging backgrounds in legal practice and judicial service, are actively involved in research and knowledge creation for the benefit of the profession and the community.
And the school is ahead of another curve—legal education and practice in a community of exceptional multicultural and multilingual diversity. When the rest of the United States achieves the diversity of New Mexico, legal educators will look here for inspiration.
Now Is Your Moment
The list of vital needs in the School is as long as the list of people who pursue knowledge within and beyond its walls, but there are some common threads: endowed support for student scholarships; endowed support for additional top faculty; vital expansion and technology upgrades. The School’s vision for cutting-edge legal education in New Mexico is clear, and now is your moment to help power that vision.
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For More Information
UNM School of Law has identified priorities where your support will power the greatest change. We invite you to download the complete campaign brochure and share our strategic vision to advance the law in New Mexico and beyond.