Maine Law celebrated the graduation of 87 J.D. candidates and 1 LL.M. candidate on Saturday, May 23 in Portland’s beautiful Merrill Auditorium. degrees.
The Class of 2026 included students ranging in age from 20 to 56, with 56 percent Maine residents and 44% coming to Maine from out of state. Nineteen percent of graduates were first-generation college students. In addition to earning their degrees, 22% of the graduates completed certificates in specialized areas of study, including Information Privacy Law, Environmental and Oceans Law, Business and Transactional Law, and Public Interest and Social Justice, reflecting the depth and breadth of opportunities available at Maine Law and the many paths students pursue during their time here.
Throughout the ceremony, speakers reflected on the close-knit nature of Maine Law and the responsibilities graduates now carry as they begin their legal careers.
Class speaker and graduating 3L Macenzie Blackwell captured the spirit of the community that shaped the class.
“Maine Law is the name on our degrees and resumes, but it is also part of us,” Blackwell said. “We are now a part of that Maine Law quilt.”
Blackwell also encouraged her classmates to remember the importance of public education and to lead with kindness, compassion, and empathy in the years ahead.
That sense of connection and support was a defining part of the Maine Law experience for many graduates. Even in an academically rigorous environment, students found ways to collaborate and support one another.
President and Dean Leigh Saufley spoke to the significance of graduating during the 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence and reminded graduates of the importance of the Rule of Law. The Truths that are identified as “self-evident” in that Declaration are not, she urged them to understand, self-effectuating. Ultimately, she told them, the legal profession depends on their courage and advocacy.
As graduates move from students to practicing lawyers, she said, they become “the future of this noble calling,” with responsibilities to clients, conscience, and community alike.
Saufley also urged graduates to approach the profession with integrity and openness.
“Do not let a contentious environment make you cynical,” she added. “Keep your mind open, be courageous, and be kind. The road ahead of you is exciting. Live a life where people are happy to see you when you meet again months and years down the road.”
University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy, a former two-term Governor of Connecticut and winner of the 2016 Profiles in Courage Award from the JFK Institute (get the right nomenclature) was this year’s keynote speaker. Emphasizing the critical role lawyers play at a moment when institutions and democratic norms face growing pressure, he urged the graduates to stand up for Democracy.
“In this nation and around the world, the rule of law is beginning to crumble,” Malloy said. “We as lawyers, and you as practicing lawyers, have to be the army protecting what we love most about our nation.”
Malloy encouraged graduates to view leadership as something larger than the confines of the courtroom or legal processes.
“Your leadership is not just what you’re doing in a court or writing in a document,” he said. “It is leading your community to be the best they can be.”
As the ceremony concluded, the Class of 2026 joined generations of Maine Law alumni who have gone on to serve communities across Maine and far beyond.
Now carrying with them both a degree and a deep connection to the institution that shaped them, Maine Law’s newest graduates leave prepared to advocate, lead, and serve wherever their paths take them.
