Breaking the Ice: Former Sotomayor clerk leads appellate clinic

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Elizabeth Bentley brings appeals court experience gained at the highest level — as a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor — to her role directing the new Civil Rights Appellate Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Bentley clerked for Sotomayor during the 2017-2018 term. She also clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals and U.S. District Court judges.

The clinic will focus on traditional civil rights cases as well as social justice and criminal justice issues in state or federal appeals courts or supreme courts, Bentley said. Students will do intensive research, help to draft briefs and learn oral argument skills in court or help others prepare for oral argument.

“The clinic bridges my passion for civil rights litigation, particularly in working in the courts of appeals, with my interest in training students, in training the next generation of lawyers to do this work,” Bentley said.

Before joining the law school faculty, Bentley, who grew up in south Minneapolis, was special counsel to Sen. Amy Klobuchar and the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation of Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson.

“Justice Jackson is just an absolutely outstanding lawyer, judge and human,” Bentley said. “I couldn’t be more excited for someone with her depth of experience and perspective to be at the court.”

Bentley’s experience includes working in Jones Day’s Minneapolis office for three years.

Name: Elizabeth Bentley

Title: Visiting assistant professor of law, director of the Civil Rights Appellate Clinic, University of Minnesota Law School

Education: B.A., German and international studies, Northwestern University; J.D., Harvard Law School

Q: Best way to start a conversation with you?

A: Tell me something you’re passionate about. I love finding out what motivates people and making connections based on common interests or learning something new.

Q: Why did you go to law school?

A: My grandmother devoted her life to service and equality. She motivated me to find a career where I could advance those same values. After college, I worked as a legal assistant at a small nonprofit that worked in the areas of affordable housing and public benefits litigation. In that role, I learned how attorneys can make a significant impact on advancing justice in a community.

Q: What books are you reading?

A: I just finished reading the August Wilson play, “The Piano Lesson.” My dear friend is a member of the cast of the current revival of the play on Broadway! I’m now reading the book “Courts & Congress” by my former boss and mentor, the late Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the Second Circuit.

Q: What’s your pet peeve?

A: I’m not a fan of using legal jargon or catch phrases for the sake of it. If you can write a sentence using plain English, it’s much more effective in my view. For example, I cringe at the phrase, “inextricably intertwined.”

Q: Best part of your work?

A: I am constantly learning something new — every single day. I love teaching, because it forces me to look at concepts that I’ve known for a long time in different ways.

Q: Most challenging?

A: It is challenging teaching constitutional law at a time when the law is changing dramatically and when public confidence in the Supreme Court and its decisions is waning.

Q: Favorite activity away from work?

A: I love working in my home vegetable garden with my three kids.

Q: Legal figure you most admire?

A: I deeply admire my former boss, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who showed me how important it is to speak up in the face of injustice. She taught me how important it is to see how the law plays out at the individual level. That’s something that I’ve carried with me and will carry with me in the type of work that I do.

Q: Misconception that others have about your work as an attorney?

A: Contrary to the reputation that sometimes accompanies a law practice, I have consistently been surrounded by kind and compassionate lawyers and mentors who have devoted time to help me develop skills I need to succeed.

Q: Favorite book, movie or TV show about lawyers?

A: “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson