MINNESOTA LAW
PlannedGiving for the Next Generation of Lawyer-Leaders
A LEGACY AND PLANNED GIVING NEWSLETTER FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA LAW SCHOOL
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AUGUST 2022
Expanding Our Diverse Student Body Through Planned Giving “I had phenomenal teachers, and I wouldn’t be where I am without the education I got at the University.” Mike Ciresi ’71 sums up his passion for education in one simple statement: “It is the great equalizer and our best hope.” Mike and his wife Ann are deeply dedicated to making educational Mike ’71 and Ann Ciresi opportunities available to all students. “Ann and I both come from lower socio-economic backgrounds,” he says. “We didn’t grow up in poverty, but we were at the lower end of the middle class. My father, who only had a 7th grade education, was very supportive of public education and he passed that onto me. Most of our philanthropic activities have focused on education.” The Ciresis have made a significant planned gift to the University of Minnesota Law School, from which Mike graduated in 1971. “It was a great, great place for me,” he says. “I had phenomenal teachers, and I wouldn’t be where I am without the education I got at the University. I look at Don Marshall, the greatest teacher I’ve ever had who inspired me to always be prepared. I am totally indebted to the Law School.”
This academic year marks the 135th anniversary of the University of Minnesota Law School! Since our very beginning, Minnesota Law has invested in educating future generations of lawyer-leaders, supporting groundbreaking research and training, and providing transformative contributions to the legal community and the public. Alumni and friends like you continue to shape society and the legal profession, impacting the region, the nation, and the world. You also shape it through your generous support of scholarships that make a world-class legal education possible for students who are preparing to face the challenges of tomorrow. We are tremendously grateful for the many alumni and friends who plan for the future of Minnesota Law by including the Law School in their estate plans. It is with pride that we celebrate 135 years of educating lawyer-leaders. We hope that you will consider a planned gift for the Law School that reflects your own powerful legacy. Sincerely,
The Ciresis want their gift to provide financial support to further diversify the student body. “We want our graduates to reflect society as a whole,” he says. Garry W. Jenkins Continued on page 2
Dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law 1
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“We believe in living a life of purpose that serves the common good.”
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Planned Giving for Future Generations of Lawyer-Leaders Planned gifts are as varied as the lawyer-leaders who make them.
“With declining state support, planned giving is vital for the University to continue to do what it needs to do.” For Ann, it’s a simple decision: “It’s a great way to do good things with our money.” Mike began his legal career in St. Paul at the firm then known as Robins, Davis & Lyons. He became a name partner and chairman as the firm became Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi. During his 43 years in the firm’s litigation practice, he obtained nearly $12 billion in verdicts, awards, and settlements for individuals, corporations, and governmental entities. In 2015, he co-founded Ciresi Conlin, a litigation boutique where he continues a unique focus on both corporate representation and access to justice for individuals on the plaintiffs’ side. He has served as lead counsel on dozens of complex cases, including the Minnesota tobacco litigation and the Bhopal gas leak. He has been named over and over to numerous top trial lawyers lists in Minnesota and nationally. He also gives significant time to philanthropic activities. In 1999, he co-founded Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children, which has made grants in excess of $31 million, primarily for improvements in pre-K–grade 12 education. Both Mike and Ann express a strong obligation to give back in response to the opportunities they have been afforded. “Look, I’ve been blessed, and I have a lot of gratitude for that,” he says. “But costs have escalated so much in education. We want to help reduce that burden. We really believe in living a life of purpose that serves the common good.”
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By partnering with Minnesota Law, along with your family and trusted advisors, you can create a plan that reflects your charitable goals, maximizes potential tax benefits, provides financial security for you and your loved ones, and creates a lasting legacy for you that will help the Law School remain a leader worldwide.
Examples of just some of the purpose-driven legacies created by those who have documented planned gifts with the Law School: • Endowment of a new student scholarship • A bequest to strengthen a preexisting scholarship created by a beloved classmate
• Beneficiary designation of retirement assets to create a new faculty chair • Direction of proceeds from a charitable gift annuity to support law
school clinics
• A charitable remainder trust beneficiary designation to create a public service fellowship
• A bequest to provide unrestricted Law School support
To learn more about planned giving and ways you can achieve your philanthropic goals, contact David L. Jensen, Chief Advancement Officer, at dljensen@umn.edu or (612) 625-2060.
To give today, visit law.umn.edu/give/planned-giving
(1931-2022)
A Lasting Legacy: Joseph T. O’Neill ’56 In January, St. Paul attorney, legislator, and community leader and advocate, Joseph O’Neill ’56, passed away at the age of 91. O’Neill was not only a champion in and of the Twin Cities’ legal community, but also of the University of Minnesota Law School. O’Neill taught at Minnesota Law from 2004 to 2013, and found the Law School to be a worthy recipient of his incredible generosity. In his estate plan, O’Neill had made arrangements for a planned gift to be directed in support of the Law School’s nationally-renowned library. This substantial gift serves as a lasting legacy to a man whose passion and support of our Law Library will continue to benefit future lawyer-leaders and scholars around the world in their understanding and mastery of all areas of the law. Thank you, Joe.
“I wouldn’t have been able to attend Law School without scholarships. It changed the whole arc of my life.”
Roger Finney and Jeannine Lee ’81
Supporting Opportunities for the Next Generation of Lawyer-Leaders Jeannine Lee ’81 knows what it feels like to be a firstgeneration student. After graduating first in her high school class and receiving a PSAT score that made her a National Merit Scholar semifinalist, she started to get mail from prestigious East Coast colleges. “I thought that was really cool, but I had no way of evaluating those schools and there was no one to help me do it,” she recalls. After graduating from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, which she chose in part because she wanted to be close to home after her oldest brother died of cancer, Lee continued her education at the University of Minnesota Law School. Once she got there, she says, she knew she was in the right place because of the diversity of people, backgrounds, and viewpoints. Scholarship support fully covered her tuition and books, and she took out loans and worked during the summer to cover the rest of her expenses. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without scholarships,” she says. “It changed the whole arc of my life.” That arc included nearly 40 years as a trial lawyer representing manufacturers
against product liability claims and handling a wide range of commercial litigation. She liked trial work because, at its core, it’s all about teaching, she says. “It’s taking a complex issue and being able to teach a judge about those particular facts, and ultimately explaining it to the jury,” she says. As a child, Lee remembers seeing her father, a roofer whose job meant that during severe weather he was without work – and without a paycheck – writing a check to the family’s church every single week. It was a powerful example about giving back and taking care of others, she recalls.
within the Eighth Circuit region. “It’s incredibly satisfying to feel like I’ve helped,” she says.
Life Insurance Gift Tips: Naming Minnesota Law as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy is a simple way to make a charitable gift to the Law School. Gifts of any size support our students, faculty, programs, and clinics. There are many benefits to making this type
In 2018, Lee and her husband, Roger Finney, continued her father’s legacy of generosity with a gift in their will to support Law School scholarships and/or fellowships for first-generation college or law students. “We want students to see possibilities that they may not have been able to envision without some extra help,” she says.
of planned gift: you maintain control and can change the beneficiaries at any time, you can designate the University of Minnesota Law School to receive some or all proceeds of the policy, proceeds are not subject to probate and are distributed immediately, and they are not subject to estate tax. Each life insurance company has its own
Now retired, Lee also gives back by volunteering with the Infinity Project to mentor women who are interested in serving on the state or federal bench
forms and requirements. The Law School is always happy to assist with any questions.
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1888 S O C I E T Y
Join the 1888 Society with a Legacy Gift “My experience at Minnesota Law was a wonderful foundation for my careers in the law, venture capital, and government. I am grateful for all the school has given me and want to support promising students to go out and engage the world.” —BENSON K. WHITNEY ’87 Dean, School of Business St. Catherine University
The 1888 Society celebrates the founding of the University of Minnesota Law School and the generous individuals who have chosen to secure its future by including Minnesota Law in their estate or financial plans. By documenting a planned gift, you create a lasting legacy in support of our mission of training the next generation of world-class lawyer-leaders. With your permission, we will recognize your planned gift through enrollment in the 1888 Society, the University of Minnesota’s Heritage Society, and recognition at the Law School and in various published materials. While we would never publish the estimated value of your planned gift, we do want to show you the appreciation you deserve.
For further information on planned giving, contact: David L. Jensen Chief Advancement Officer University of Minnesota Law School dljensen@umn.edu or (612) 625-2060 This publication is prepared exclusively for the information of the University of Minnesota Law School’s alumni, parents, and friends. Its purpose is to highlight current developments that may be helpful in your financial and philanthropic planning. With wise planning, you may be in a better position to support the Law School’s mission of training the next generation of lawyer-leaders. The information herein is based on current federal tax laws and regulations. You should always consult your own attorney or tax adviser as to the applicability of your own situation. © 2022 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
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