Senior Assistant Dean Sarah C. Zearfoss (left) and JD candidate Ruben Mendoza Piñuelas addressed Michigan Law School’s Class of 2026 May 11.
By Amy Spooner
Michigan Law
At a law school known for its close-knit community, it seemed fitting that on Senior Day, the architect of that community for 25 years spoke to the graduates about the power of relationships, while one of those graduates—who has experienced unfathomable injustice at the hands of the legal system—told his classmates that all of them are what gives him hope for the future of that system.
On May 11, the Law School’s Class of 2026, comprised of 317 juris doctor (JD) candidates, 23 master of laws (LLM) candidates, and 3 doctor of the science of law (SJD) candidates, gathered in Hill Auditorium alongside family and friends, as well as faculty, administrators, and staff, to celebrate completing their degrees.
“At its core, Michigan Law is more than just a collection of extraordinary people like you,” said Dean Neel U. Sukhatme. “It’s a community where students show up for one another, advocate for one another, and have each other’s backs. It’s a place where intellectual rigor is paired with the spirit of generosity, where people engage seriously across differences, and where students support one another in classrooms, clinics, and the quieter moments where professional identity is formed.
“That combination is rare. And I think it helps explain something I’ve come to learn about Michigan Law in my first year as dean: Alumni really love this place.”
—————
Put your principles above your fear of making enemies
It’s not unusual for a graduate of the Law School to address the newest alumni on Senior Day. This year, however, provided a unique twist: That graduate also happened to be the person who admitted each JD candidate and oversaw the office admitting the LLM candidates. Senior Assistant Dean Sarah C. Zearfoss has led Michigan Law’s Office of Admissions since 2001 and will retire at the end of the 2026–2027 academic year.
Zearfoss—who reads every application to the Law School, more than 9,000 for the 2026 entering class—regaled the audience with factoids she recalls about current and former students and spoke of the importance of crafting a class based on more than metrics.
“I am very grateful to work at an institution where I have been not just permitted but encouraged to admit people for the sparkle and zip they will bring—people who will transform an educational environment into a community we all want to be part of,” she said.
“I get a lot of lovely feedback in my job—from the people I admit, as well as from the people who get to teach them and employ them and be friends with them. I will be ending my career as dean of admissions without anyone ever complimenting me on an LSAT score—but I have heard endless praise of the humanity of the people who join us here.”
Zearfoss then told the graduates that the human qualities that made them click as a law school class will now help them navigate the complexities of professional practice, and she cited her mother’s advice about getting along with others: “There is no such thing as a useless friend or a harmless enemy.”
She explained that the words go beyond the notion of civility and challenge us to consider the cost of alienating people.
“The cost of making an enemy is worth it when the only alternative is a path that runs counter to your principles,” she said, pointing to two examples with different outcomes: a friend who, as a first-year associate, refused to represent her firm’s tobacco company clients and succeeded in being reassigned to other cases—and, by contrast, the 2025 resignation of the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York because she refused her superiors’ orders to dismiss a high-profile prosecution.
“To do as she had been told would have been an assault on the rule of law,” Zearfoss said, noting, “The rule of law is at the heart of everything we learn in law school.”
The friends who elevated the woman to the position of prominence became possible enemies when her principles clashed with their desires. The lesson, Zearfoss said, is to “try to make as many friends as you can—but don’t let your healthy reluctance to make enemies be the excuse for not doing what you know to be right.”
—————
See the current moment as an opportunity to restore faith in the legal system
The graduating student whom the class elected to give remarks on its behalf spoke about his firsthand experience being the victim of those who chose to not do the right thing.
While incarcerated for marijuana possession, Ruben Mendoza Piñuelas, a JD candidate, was wrongfully convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 60 years to life. He successfully argued his own appeal.
“Despite every statistic telling me that I would most likely die in prison, I chose to find a way through the very laws that put me there,” Piñuelas said.
“The worst injustice is not as rare as we’d like to believe,” he continued, pausing to recognize a group of exonerees who attended the ceremony to support him. Among them was George Calicut, whom Piñuelas helped exonerate in March as a student-attorney in the Michigan Innocence Clinic.
“We are living proof that the law can harm or help,” Piñuelas said, referencing himself and his fellow exonerees. “[The law] can take everything from a person or give them their life back. But people are always at the center of [the law].”
Piñuelas encouraged the audience to think beyond traditional societal divisions and partisanship, noting that the “Michigan Difference” is a people-centric approach that celebrates our commonalities in preparing students to enter a profession that, at its core, is about serving people.
“I share my story with all of you to reimagine the possibilities, reimagine what the legal system teaches us justice should look like, and reimagine your own roles within that system,” he said.
“We are operating in rare times right now. Every day, we see more of our rights stripped away. Doctrine and the rule of law challenged in unprecedented ways. Let everything going on in this country stir your indignation, as it should, but rather than be discouraged, see it as an opportunity to restore people’s faith in the legal system, remind them that there are still people like us who hear them and are willing to fight for them. In doing so, we reveal a deeper layer of humanity behind the laws that affect us all.
“When I look at all of you here in this room, this is honestly the only reason I still have faith in the system, despite all I’ve suffered, is because I have faith in us. Look around you. We are the future of the legal system now. It’s our turn. The system’s not ready, but we are.”
Michigan Law
At a law school known for its close-knit community, it seemed fitting that on Senior Day, the architect of that community for 25 years spoke to the graduates about the power of relationships, while one of those graduates—who has experienced unfathomable injustice at the hands of the legal system—told his classmates that all of them are what gives him hope for the future of that system.
On May 11, the Law School’s Class of 2026, comprised of 317 juris doctor (JD) candidates, 23 master of laws (LLM) candidates, and 3 doctor of the science of law (SJD) candidates, gathered in Hill Auditorium alongside family and friends, as well as faculty, administrators, and staff, to celebrate completing their degrees.
“At its core, Michigan Law is more than just a collection of extraordinary people like you,” said Dean Neel U. Sukhatme. “It’s a community where students show up for one another, advocate for one another, and have each other’s backs. It’s a place where intellectual rigor is paired with the spirit of generosity, where people engage seriously across differences, and where students support one another in classrooms, clinics, and the quieter moments where professional identity is formed.
“That combination is rare. And I think it helps explain something I’ve come to learn about Michigan Law in my first year as dean: Alumni really love this place.”
—————
Put your principles above your fear of making enemies
It’s not unusual for a graduate of the Law School to address the newest alumni on Senior Day. This year, however, provided a unique twist: That graduate also happened to be the person who admitted each JD candidate and oversaw the office admitting the LLM candidates. Senior Assistant Dean Sarah C. Zearfoss has led Michigan Law’s Office of Admissions since 2001 and will retire at the end of the 2026–2027 academic year.
Zearfoss—who reads every application to the Law School, more than 9,000 for the 2026 entering class—regaled the audience with factoids she recalls about current and former students and spoke of the importance of crafting a class based on more than metrics.
“I am very grateful to work at an institution where I have been not just permitted but encouraged to admit people for the sparkle and zip they will bring—people who will transform an educational environment into a community we all want to be part of,” she said.
“I get a lot of lovely feedback in my job—from the people I admit, as well as from the people who get to teach them and employ them and be friends with them. I will be ending my career as dean of admissions without anyone ever complimenting me on an LSAT score—but I have heard endless praise of the humanity of the people who join us here.”
Zearfoss then told the graduates that the human qualities that made them click as a law school class will now help them navigate the complexities of professional practice, and she cited her mother’s advice about getting along with others: “There is no such thing as a useless friend or a harmless enemy.”
She explained that the words go beyond the notion of civility and challenge us to consider the cost of alienating people.
“The cost of making an enemy is worth it when the only alternative is a path that runs counter to your principles,” she said, pointing to two examples with different outcomes: a friend who, as a first-year associate, refused to represent her firm’s tobacco company clients and succeeded in being reassigned to other cases—and, by contrast, the 2025 resignation of the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York because she refused her superiors’ orders to dismiss a high-profile prosecution.
“To do as she had been told would have been an assault on the rule of law,” Zearfoss said, noting, “The rule of law is at the heart of everything we learn in law school.”
The friends who elevated the woman to the position of prominence became possible enemies when her principles clashed with their desires. The lesson, Zearfoss said, is to “try to make as many friends as you can—but don’t let your healthy reluctance to make enemies be the excuse for not doing what you know to be right.”
—————
See the current moment as an opportunity to restore faith in the legal system
The graduating student whom the class elected to give remarks on its behalf spoke about his firsthand experience being the victim of those who chose to not do the right thing.
While incarcerated for marijuana possession, Ruben Mendoza Piñuelas, a JD candidate, was wrongfully convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 60 years to life. He successfully argued his own appeal.
“Despite every statistic telling me that I would most likely die in prison, I chose to find a way through the very laws that put me there,” Piñuelas said.
“The worst injustice is not as rare as we’d like to believe,” he continued, pausing to recognize a group of exonerees who attended the ceremony to support him. Among them was George Calicut, whom Piñuelas helped exonerate in March as a student-attorney in the Michigan Innocence Clinic.
“We are living proof that the law can harm or help,” Piñuelas said, referencing himself and his fellow exonerees. “[The law] can take everything from a person or give them their life back. But people are always at the center of [the law].”
Piñuelas encouraged the audience to think beyond traditional societal divisions and partisanship, noting that the “Michigan Difference” is a people-centric approach that celebrates our commonalities in preparing students to enter a profession that, at its core, is about serving people.
“I share my story with all of you to reimagine the possibilities, reimagine what the legal system teaches us justice should look like, and reimagine your own roles within that system,” he said.
“We are operating in rare times right now. Every day, we see more of our rights stripped away. Doctrine and the rule of law challenged in unprecedented ways. Let everything going on in this country stir your indignation, as it should, but rather than be discouraged, see it as an opportunity to restore people’s faith in the legal system, remind them that there are still people like us who hear them and are willing to fight for them. In doing so, we reveal a deeper layer of humanity behind the laws that affect us all.
“When I look at all of you here in this room, this is honestly the only reason I still have faith in the system, despite all I’ve suffered, is because I have faith in us. Look around you. We are the future of the legal system now. It’s our turn. The system’s not ready, but we are.”
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