Dear Alumni and Friends,
My first year as Dean of Columbia Law School has been filled with opportunities to learn, discover, and connect with our remarkable community. Whether celebrating student milestones—like orientation and Class Day—or attending alumni events—like Winter Luncheon and Reunion Weekend—I have drawn energy and pride from the Law School’s rich tradition of excellence. By equal measure, I have been energized by the ingenuity, resolve, and impact I have witnessed each and every day. It is a privilege to work alongside you in upholding our values and principles, and in shaping an even brighter future for this exceptional institution.
We are deeply grateful for your ongoing financial support and involvement in the life of the Law School, and this annual report, which acknowledges gifts made during the 2024–2025 fiscal year (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025), highlights much of what your generosity has made possible. The $48.2 million we raised ensures that the Law School will remain at the forefront of legal education, hiring and retaining outstanding faculty and training students to be future leaders in private practice, business, academia, public service, and the nonprofit sector.
Our collective accomplishments are manifest at annual and special events. At Class Day in May, the Law School celebrated the graduation of more than 800 J.D., LL.M., E.LL.M., and J.S.D. degree candidates at a ceremony featuring keynote speaker Steve Bullock ’94, former governor of Montana. And a few weeks later, in June, over 1,000 of you, representing class years ending in 0s and 5s, returned to Morningside Heights for reunion. The weekend provided an opportunity to reengage with one another and with the intellectual life of the Law School. In all, reunion drew alumni from across the United States and 43 other countries and broke records in raising more than $19 million.
To highlight a few more events: In January 2025, I was inspired by the sense of community at the annual Alumni of Color Talk and Reception, which featured keynote speaker Anne Robinson ’94. At this year’s Winter Luncheon, we presented the Medal for Excellence to Elizabeth Glazer ’86 and David J. Greenwald ’83. And we gained new insights at our latest Women of Columbia Law events, held in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
We continue to attract dedicated scholars and teachers at the leading edge of their fields to our faculty. This summer, we welcomed Kate Redburn, a scholar of the regulation of gender and sexuality; Robert H. Smit ’86, an international arbitration expert and former member of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration; Reilly Steel ’17, a corporate law scholar and political scientist; and Rebecca Wexler, an expert on evidence whose work focuses on how technology intersects with the criminal legal system.
The past academic year also marked the return of four faculty members who had been on government leave: antitrust scholar Lina Khan, who served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission; constitutional law scholar Jamal Greene and administrative law authority Gillian Metzger ’96, who both served in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice; and gender and sexuality law expert Suzanne Goldberg, who worked at the Department of Education and Department of State.
Perhaps there is no better representation of the Law School’s recent progress than the Li Lu Law Library, which officially opened in December. One of the most ambitious capital projects in the Law School’s history, and the first major renovation of the Law Library since Jerome L. Greene Hall began welcoming students in 1961, the library is now the physical heart of the Law School’s student and academic experience. We look forward to sharing it with you the next time you visit campus.
Across our degree programs—J.D., LL.M., E.LL.M., and J.S.D.—students not only excel academically, but they also have the ambition and dedication to pursue excellence in whatever path they choose. Our fall 2025 incoming classes are no exception. Applications to the J.D. program were up 20% compared to the fall 2024 admissions cycle, signaling strong ongoing demand for a Columbia Law degree. Members of the J.D. Class of 2028 hail from 23 foreign countries across four continents and speak or read more than 60 languages. And members of the LL.M. Class of 2026 received their first law degree in 54 different countries and have an average of 4.5 years of professional experience.
The success of Columbia Law School depends on our commitment to the core values of free expression and open inquiry. In and out of the classroom, the Law School must never waver from encouraging rigorous, robust, and respectful debate in an environment free from harassment or discrimination. We must model a culture of deep engagement with ideas and embrace productive discomfort, which are essential to teaching our students how to think, not what to think.
As we begin 2026 with renewed purpose, I know that the Law School’s exceptional alumni, faculty, students, and staff will continue shaping the development of law and legal education around the world. I remain profoundly inspired by the tremendous potential of our Columbia Law community. It is an honor to serve as dean, and I am grateful for your ongoing support.
Best regards,
Daniel Abebe
Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law
