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We asked 10 members of the Class of 2029 to share their perspectives. Their responses appear below.

“I aspire to make my communities safer, whether by securing people’s rights via civil litigation or securing criminal convictions at the federal level."

Elijah Wiesman, ’29, comes to UChicago Law with experience spanning immigration law and national security. A Washington University in St. Louis graduate, Wiesman has worked in immigration law and most recently as an intelligence analyst for the FBI. We spoke with him about his path to law school, his interest in litigation and public service, and what drew him to UChicago Law.

A large group photo of the 202 JD students who joined the Law School; they are all wearing maroon shirts and standing on a grassy field.

Meet the newest cohort of JDs to join the Law School community

The University of Chicago Law School welcomed 202 JD students to campus this fall for the 2026-27 academic year. The impressive group hails from 34 states, 88 undergraduate institutions, and a remarkably wide range of academic and professional backgrounds. Selected from a pool of nearly 6,400 applicants, the class of 2029 represents 65 different undergraduate majors.

Nadia Alfadel Coloma

The prestigious award recognizes the world’s greatest achievements in the study of humanity

The Library of Congress announced on September 22 that Martha C. Nussbaum is the 2026 recipient of the John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity.

Nadia Alfadel Coloma

“Whether as prosecution or defense counsel, I look forward to helping to create an equitable justice system for Marines and ensuring they are treated fairly under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

Originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina, Grant A. Booker, ’29, comes to UChicago Law as an active-duty officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Booker was selected for the Marine Corps’ Funded Law Education Program and plans to serve as a Judge Advocate after law school.

More News Media Inquiries

Faculty in the News

Samuel Bray Paper Referenced in Ten Commandments in Classroom Article

“When the legislatures of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas prescribed a particular form of the Ten Commandments for public school classrooms, the forms they chose provided theological answers to contested theological questions,” said the paper by Samuel L. Bray of the University of Chicago law school, Nathan S. Chapman of the University of Georgia law school, and Brent A. Strawn, a professor of law and the Old Testament at Duke University.

Craig Futterman on Illinois Supreme Court case that will determine future of Chicago police misconduct process

Craig Futterman, a clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago and one of the attorneys representing the coalition of community groups, noted how the Illinois Supreme Court in 2020 rejected a similar argument from the FOP when the union attempted to have misconduct records destroyed after five years.

“The Illinois Supreme Court said, ‘No, no, no, no, no, that violates fundamental public policy of the state and any collective bargaining agreement that is contrary to public policy is void and unenforceable,” Futterman told the Tribune.

New York Times Cites Sam Bray, '05, on Constitutionality of Texas Ten Commandments Law

In a research paper posted last month, Nathan Chapman, a law professor at the University of Georgia, along with Samuel Bray of the University of Chicago and Brent Strawn of Duke, assessed the Texas law requiring all public elementary and secondary school classrooms in the state to display a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments and found it to be clearly unconstitutional, noted Adam Liptak, chief legal affairs correspondent of the New York Times.