Law Day dinner did good for Legal Aid

Last nights "Law Day" dinner was a really nice event.

More than 1,100 tickets were sold for the 27th Annual Law Day Testimonial Dinner, which benefits the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis. The event was sponsored by the Fund for the Legal Aid Society and the Hennepin County Bar Association.

Following a great dinner, a nice testimonial was made to Laura Cooper, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who spent 24 years on the board of the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society and also served as its president.

The keynote speaker, Tom Goldstein (at right), co-head of the Supreme Court practice at Akin Gump, in Washington, D.C., gave attendees an Insiders View of the Supreme Court. He stressed the importance of the upcoming presidential election to the makeup of the high court, pointing out that at least two of the more progressive justices will be retiring in the next four years -- John Paul Stevens and David Souter. Its possible that left-leaning Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may leave the court as well.

That means that if a Democrat makes it into the White House, the court will likely remain status quo, but that if a Republican gets in, the court will end up leaning even more heavily to the right that it currently does, Goldstein said. If youre a progressive you should be worried; if you're a conservative, party on! he told the crowd.

Goldsteins quip that Legal Aid lawyers will do more good than the Supreme Court will do this year also got a big laugh.

It was great to see such a large crowd show up to honor and celebrate the work of Minneapolis Legal Aid. My understanding is that it was the best turnout yet for the annual event -- and from what I could tell, people really enjoyed the evening.

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]