Georgetown Law’s Year in Review 2025

Campus news

This year, Dean Emeritus William M. Treanor stepped down after 15 years as Georgetown Law dean. The campus community welcomed Interim Dean Joshua C. Teitelbaum to the post on July 1. “It’s the privilege of a lifetime to be dean,” said Treanor, who reflected on his tenure — and commitment to expanding access to legal education — in a recent episode of the “How I Lawyer” podcast, hosted by Professor Jonah Perlin, L’12.

We also wished a happy next chapter to the eight trailblazing professors who retired in 2025. Click here to view a video series highlighting their scholarship, legal advocacy and decades of service at Georgetown Law.

2025 marked milestone anniversaries for two Law Center initiatives that serve the local community: In May, dozens of alumni and guests gathered on campus to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the E. Barrett Prettyman Program, which trains recent law school graduates to represent indigent clients, and the DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF), a nonprofit law firm operated in partnership with the University of the District of Columbia, celebrated 10 years of service in June.

The Law Center’s commitment to public interest law was strengthened this year thanks to a historic $10 million gift from Ambassador Alfred Moses, L’56, H’13, a prominent Washington, D.C. attorney, philanthropist and a former U.S. Ambassador to Romania. “There is a great need for public service in our country,” said Moses, whose gift will fund scholarships and other support for students committed to pursuing careers in public service

The Georgetown Law community also paid respects to Visiting Professor Rev. Ladislas Orsy, S.J., who died in April, and Professor Emeritus Joseph A. Page, who died in October. Both are remembered for their work as accomplished scholars and as beloved instructors and colleagues.

Faculty and students in practice

Outside of the classroom, faculty advocated on a range of legal issues, including at the United States Supreme Court: for example, Professor Kevin Tobia and two Georgetown linguists authored an amicus brief that was cited in the majority opinion in the “ghost guns” case Bondi v. VanDerStok (2025); Professor Marty Lederman wrote an amicus brief that prompted the Court to request more information in a case concerning the scope of presidential authority to deploy the National Guard domestically; and Kelsi Brown Corkran, Supreme Court director at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP), made her fifth appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court as one of two advocates challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to limit birthright citizenship by executive order.

Faculty scholarship also remained at the fore. Professor Aderson François discussed his approach to Reconstruction history and the importance of telling the stories of the formerly enslaved people who gained citizenship following the Civil War, while Professor Eloise Pasachoff, an expert on the federal budget and appropriations power, received the 2025 President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers, which celebrates Georgetown faculty for their excellence in research and teaching.

Students, too, had the chance to experience hands-on legal advocacy as part of clinics, practicum courses and more. Participants in the Civil Justice Clinic, Georgetown Law’s newest clinic led by Professor Llezlie Green, represented low-wage clients who have experienced wage theft, denial of unemployment benefits and other workplace indignities — read more about their victories on behalf of workers in the cover story of the Fall 2025 issue of Georgetown Law Magazine.

SCOTUS on campus

The Georgetown Law community welcomed three United States Supreme Court justices to campus in 2025. In October, Justice Amy Coney Barrett discussed constitutional interpretation and judicial transparency in a conversation hosted by the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. In May, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. reflected on the rule of law in the Lecture to the Graduating Class of 2025. In March, Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined Dean Emeritus William M. Treanor for a conversation about pressing issues facing the judiciary, including the role of courts in safeguarding judicial independence. “More than ever, we have to get up and explain and repeat and explain again why judicial independence is critical to everyone’s freedom,” she said.

Faces of Georgetown Law

For Veterans Day, we celebrated the stories of three military-affiliated students in the Fall 2025 entering class, which boasts a record-breaking 39 military service members and veterans — the largest cohort since at least 2018. In May, we spoke with the Class of 2025 evening program graduates who balanced working full-time at Georgetown Law with earning their law degrees.

Law Center staff members were in the spotlight as well. Clinic manager Niko Perazich and Yi Song, L’10, the executive director and adjunct professor of law for Graduate and International Programs, shared their Law Center journeys as part of the Georgetown Faces series, which celebrates the behind-the-scenes stories of the dedicated Hoyas who make Georgetown special. “Law students [are] contemplating the law in the city where they make the laws,” Perazich said. “You can get it all right here, the full process.”

Alumni achievements

The global network of Georgetown Law graduates proved as active as ever, with more than 1,600 Georgetown Law alumni and guests returning to campus for reunion weekend, which included family-favorite activities and the presentation of the 2025 Alumni Awards, in October.

Throughout the year, alumni connected with the next generation of Hoya Lawyas. In January, Adam Smith, L’18, and Raquel Braun, L’10, returned to campus to lead “Week One” simulation courses that offered students a look at real-world cybersecurity response and sports talent negotiation. In September, the Human Rights Institute welcomed human rights lawyer Agnieszka Fryszman, L’96, as the 2025-2026 Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights. “You can represent clients and change the trajectory of their lives,” Fryszman urged students at November’s Drinan Lecture on Human Rights.

We also celebrated the achievements of Sean Coffey, L’87, and Jonathan Lee, L’90, who led exoneration efforts for black WWII sailors (and discovered they were both Georgetown Law alumni in the process) and evening program graduate Kate Hardiman Rhodes, L’22, who is serving as a clerk for Justice Amy Coney Barrett during the October 2025 Supreme Court term — the fourth evening student to clerk for the nation’s highest court since 2016.

Happy New Year from the Georgetown Law communications team! We look forward to chronicling the noteworthy events and accomplishments of 2026.