Announcing the 2025 Law School Class Day Speakers

Pictured: Class Day speakers Clare Huntington ’96 (left) and Steve Bullock ’94 (right)

Dear members of the Columbia Law School community,

I am delighted to share with you the honorees—selected by the Class of 2025—who will have the privilege of addressing this year’s graduates and their guests at the Law School’s Class Day ceremony, on Sunday, May 18.

Amir Jones ’25 and Rabita Madina ’25 have been selected as student speakers to represent the J.D. and LL.M. classes, respectively.

Clare Huntington ’96, Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law, will receive this year’s Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Huntington is a nationally recognized expert in family law and poverty law. Her scholarship explores the institutions and empirical foundations of the legal system’s approach to relationships, focusing on early childhood development, the challenges facing nonmarital families, and the impact of AI on our affective lives. Huntington previously was an attorney adviser in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and has clerked at all levels of the federal judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Students say she is “a literal gem”—engaging, brilliant, and kind—and that “she cares about her students and has a passion for the material that is inspiring.”

The keynote address will be delivered by Steve Bullock ’94. As governor of Montana from 2013 to 2021, Bullock worked to improve access to health care, reform campaign finance laws, invest in education and infrastructure, protect access to public lands, and strengthen the state’s economy. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Montana’s attorney general, gaining national prominence for leading the challenge to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. Since leaving public office, Bullock has been involved with a number of corporate and nonprofit boards and organizations, and he serves as the court-appointed independent monitor over Purdue Pharma and on a three-person panel of arbitrators resolving disputes related to national opioid settlements.

I look forward to joining my first Class Day as your dean, hearing from our distinguished lineup of speakers, and celebrating the extraordinary accomplishments of the Class of 2025. In the meantime, please stay tuned for more information about graduation, including details about the ceremony and other activities.

Finally, please join me in recognizing the members of the Student Senate Graduation Committee—Vedant Chauhan ’25, Remi Pool ’25, and Alix Eichenlaub ’25 LL.M.—for their thoughtful partnership in planning our 2025 Class Day celebration. 

Best, 

Daniel Abebe
Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law