2025 Graduation Program

TH E C L A SS OF

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Order of Exercises P ROCESSI ON AL

WELCOME

Nicole Morote ’25 Student Senate President

DEAN’ S ADDRESS

Daniel Abebe Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law

S T UDEN T REMAR KS

INTRODUCTION

Vedant Chauhan ’25 Graduation Committee Co-Chair SPEAKER

Amir Jones ’25 J.D. Class Speaker INTRODUCTION

Alix Eichenlaub ’25 LL.M. Graduation Committee Co-Chair SPEAKER

Rabita Madina ’25 LL.M. LL.M. Class Speaker

WI LLI S L. M. REESE P R I Z E FOR EXCELLEN C E IN TEACHI NG

INTRODUCTION

Remington Pool ’25 Graduation Committee Co-Chair RECIPIENT

Clare Huntington ’96 Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law

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K EYN OTE ADDR E SS I NTRODUCTION

Michael Gerrard Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice SPEAKER

Steve Bullock ’94 Former Montana Governor

P RESEN TATI ON OF T H E CLASS OF 20 2 5

Andrea Cristina Saavedra ’06 Associate Dean of Registration and Student Services

R ECESSI ONAL

Guests are asked to remain in their seats until the faculty and graduates have left the stage.

Scan for more about Class Day and University Commencement.

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Keynote Address ST E V E B U L L O C K ’ 9 4

Steve Bullock ’94 served as governor of Montana from 2013 to 2021. A Democrat, he worked with a Republican-majority legislature 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. In 2015, during his first term, he signed a state campaign finance law requiring political action committees to disclose their donors and corporations with state contracts to disclose political spending.

In 2016, when Donald Trump won Republican-leaning Montana in the presidential election by nearly 21 percentage points, Bullock was reelected to the governorship by a 4-point margin. He also led the Democratic Governors Association and National Governors Association; in 2020, he ran for the U.S. Senate.

Before serving as governor, Bullock was Montana’s attorney general from 2009 to 2013. In that role, he argued American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock in the state’s Supreme Court in 2011, defending Montana’s 1912 law prohibiting corporate campaign spending, and gained national recognition for challenging the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which struck down limits on independent political spending by corporations.

Since leaving public office, Bullock has served as an independent monitor overseeing Purdue Pharma’s compliance with opioid marketing restrictions and as an arbitrator over the national opioid settlements. He serves as a director on the board of the Foundation for America’s Public Lands, a congressionally authorized foundation supporting the Bureau of Land Management; on the boards of Google Public Sector and the Rodel Institute; and on the advisory board of the States United Democracy Center. Bullock is a trustee of Claremont McKenna College, from which he graduated in 1988. He also opened a brewpub, Brothers Tapworks, in Helena, Montana.

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Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching CL A R E HU N T INGT O N ’ 9 6 Clare Huntington ’96, Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law, was selected by the graduating class as this year’s recipient of the Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Huntington joined the faculty in 2023. Following her graduation from Columbia Law, she spent the first three years of her legal career clerking, first for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and finally for Supreme Court Justices Harry A. Blackmun and Stephen G. Breyer. She later served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. She launched her academic career in 2004 at the University of Colorado Law School.

At Columbia Law, Huntington teaches Family Law, Legislation and Regulation, Poverty law, and a course she designed called Lawyering in an Age of Political Polarization. She is a nationally recognized expert in family and poverty law and writes about the institutions and empirical foundations of the legal system’s approach to relationships, focusing on early childhood development, the challenges facing nonmarital families, and, most recently, the growing use of AI companions.

“I want students to think about how lawyers can work across differences and, in ourselves, inculcate greater epistemic humility and a sense of fallibility, not from a place of insecurity but from a place of curiosity,” Huntington says. “That’s the kind of mentality I’m trying to foster in the classroom.”

Students praise Huntington as an “inviting teacher” who “truly cares about each student.” Wrote one student in a course evaluation, “I have never had another professor who was able to elicit participation from so many people in class, and participating didn’t feel stressful.” Another wrote, “It is clear she values comprehension on a deep level and is willing to take the time to make sure that the members of her class truly understand the content.” Perhaps the highest compliment came from a student who wrote, “I loved coming to class.”

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A Special Tribute to the Class of 2025: The Class Gift For many years at commencement, members of Columbia Law School’s graduating class presented a class gift to the Law School as they moved from students to alumni—a tradition since the late 1990s to support the students who follow in their footsteps.

Beginning in 2020, due to the impact of the pandemic, a new tradition emerged. For the past five years, select alumni have designated their giving in honor of the graduating class.

Inspired by the opportunity to pass the baton to the next generation, Columbia Law School alumnus Michael Esquivel ’00, along with his wife, Kirsten, made a gift in honor of the graduating Class of 2025. Student support is central to Michael and Kirsten’s generosity to the Law School.

And Michael looks forward to celebrating future reunions with this graduating class.

This gift will help the Dean meet the needs of Columbia Law students.

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From the Office of Development and Alumni Relations Dear Members of the Class of 2025, Today, as you graduate from Columbia Law School, you join a global community of more than 30,000 accomplished alumni—leaders, innovators, and changemakers—who are making an impact across industries and around the world.

As you step into this next chapter, know that the Columbia Law alumni network is an enduring source of support, insight, and opportunity. Whether you seek guidance, mentorship, or collaboration, you’ll find fellow graduates eager to connect and share their experiences.

There are many ways to stay involved with the Law School community. You can mentor future students and recent graduates, volunteer for class reunions, join alumni boards and committees, or give back by sharing your expertise as a guest speaker or instructor. Every contribution strengthens the bonds that make our community so dynamic and meaningful.

I also encourage you to build personal connections by attending alumni events or virtually through Columbia LawLink (lawlink.law.columbia.edu), our dedicated networking platform. Our Development and Alumni Relations team is excited to welcome you and support you as you become part of this lifelong network.

Congratulations on this extraordinary achievement. Your dedication and hard work have brought you to this moment, and we look forward to celebrating your future successes.

Best wishes,

Ryan D. Cairns Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations

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From the Columbia Law School Association Dear Members of the Class of 2025, Congratulations on graduating from Columbia Law School! We are thrilled to welcome you as the newest members of the Columbia Law School Association.

In the decades to come, you and your classmates will enjoy many accomplishments in the legal world and beyond. No matter where your life and career take you, you will always share a special bond. The three years I spent at Columbia Law gave rise to friendships with classmates and faculty that I still cherish 36 years later.

Our alumni community gives back to the Law School in so many ways, including as mentors, moot court judges, adjuncts, and advisers, and also by employing many of our graduates. A key part of our mission at the association is to nurture your relationships with fellow Columbia Law alumni. I hope you will join us for events, share personal and professional updates, and consider serving on our board someday.

Being a member of the Columbia Law family has been a fulfilling part of my life.

I hope in the years to come, you will feel the same way.

Sincerely,

G. Wade Leak ’89 President, Columbia Law School Association Board of Directors

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COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL

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