SIU Simmons Law School Alumni Newsletter

Fall 2026

Dear Alumni and Friends of SIU Simmons Law School, 

Just over three weeks ago, we welcomed the dynamic class of 2029 to Simmons Law School, and just like that another academic year has begun. I write to share with you some updates on what’s happening during my second year as Dean. It is undoubtedly shaping up to be a memorable one, from a school-wide embrace of artificial intelligence, to a lineup of lectures and gatherings worth marking on your calendar, to three new faculty members joining our ranks, to a milestone that reaches all the way back to our very first class in 1973.

We experienced an unprecedented application cycle that yielded a very strongly credentialed class of 127 new law students. As has been our tradition for many years, we held an Induction Ceremony to welcome our new students into the legal profession and impart the importance of adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and ethics. Illinois Supreme Court Justice David Overstreet, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism Chief Counsel Mark Palmer, Commissioner Alan Pirtle, and SIU Co-Provost Marc Morris all played a role in the ceremony. 

The Class of 2029 will benefit from the launch of a new extended orientation program called SCALE: Simmons Continuing Applied Legal Education. SCALE is designed to provide first-year students with ongoing training in important professional skills and responsibilities that extend beyond the traditional classroom. The carefully curated programming includes practical training designed to prepare students for the expectations of legal practice and introduces students to an important part of life as a practicing attorney: continuing legal education.  

The first SCALE program focused on professionalism and incorporated training on the use of Artificial Intelligence. It was the first of many AI-centered initiatives planned for the coming year for Simmons Law School faculty and students. Faculty will participate in two AI workshops in the first month of school; the first will be led by SIU Law alum, Judge Jeff Goffinet, and the second by Professor Danielle Tully from Brooklyn Law School. I expect these workshops will educate our colleagues on this emerging technology, facilitate conversations about the role of AI in legal education and the larger profession, and inspire discussion on the creation of policies and priorities at our law school.  

As a further extension of our focus on AI this year and reflection of our work on health law, we are also thrilled to welcome back another one of our own, Dr. Sai Balasubramanian (JD, MD) to deliver the John and Marsha Ryan Bioethicist in Residence Lecture: AI in Healthcare: The Abundance Paradox, on Monday, September 21st in the Lesar Law Building in Carbondale. This event is free and open to the public. CLE credit is available for this lecture. Register here.

This year marks a milestone for the SIU National Health Law Moot Court Competition, scheduled for November 14th and 15th. In its thirty-fifth year, the competition continues to attract students from across the country. This year's problem centers on a medical provider that uses an AI program to screen patients' medical issues. We are always grateful to the alumni who return to judge the Health Law Competition, and this year we have built an entire Alumni Weekend program around this event. I hope you'll consider visiting us in Carbondale for the weekend, and consider judging a round of the competition. Sign up here!

As the only law school in Southern Illinois, we pride ourselves in serving our community as well as the students we are training to be new lawyers. To this end, I’m thrilled to share some of our other events and hope you’ll join us! Professor Tom Reichert will be our first Simmons Scholars in Conversation speaker of the year on September 30. The conversation, Factors and Fictions: Trademark's Confusion Test at the Supreme Court, centers around his research, an upcoming Supreme Court case, and an amicus brief he filed this summer. 

The 2026 Lesar Lecture will feature remarks by Reynolds Holding, Research Scholar at Columbia University. Holding, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, has served as the law editor at Reuters Breakingviews, a national editorial producer for the Law & Justice Unit at ABC News, and a senior writer for Time magazine. He was also the executive editor of Legal Affairs magazine, and an investigative reporter and columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. Holdings is the author of the new book, Better Judgment, How Three Judges are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts, which he will speak about at the law school on October 28.  

This fall, we welcomed three new tenure track faculty members to the law school.

Professor Jami Becnel has spent the past several years as a Westerfield Fellow at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, teaching legal writing and a seminar on estate planning and agricultural law. She brings exceptional experience in estate, business, and agricultural law, having practiced at Carver Darden and clerked at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Professor Josh Bradley brings a remarkable combination of academic and practical experience, including a J.D. and MBA from Saint Louis University and an LL.M. in Intellectual Property from the University of Turin and the World Intellectual Property Organization. He is completing his Ph.D. in Law at University College London and brings hands-on expertise from his work as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Professor Alice Setrini most recently served as a Clinical Teaching Fellow with the Health Justice Project at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She brings extensive experience in medical-legal partnerships and direct civil legal services, including leadership roles at Legal Aid Chicago and the Jaharis Health Law Institute at DePaul College of Law, where she developed a national reputation for multidisciplinary approaches to health equity and racial justice advocacy. 

Professors Becnel, Bradley, and Setrini will strengthen our faculty and expand our capacity, broadening the expertise we bring to our students and community. 

The law school’s founding was centered around serving the public interest. As the only law school in Southern Illinois, we not only educate future lawyers but also provide free legal services to our community vis a vis our legal clinics. On September 10, in partnership with the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, we hosted a legal briefing for legislators and policymakers about civil legal aid services in southern Illinois. The conversation explored the most pressing legal needs facing our communities and how state-funded legal aid programs can help. 

At the start of the school year, we celebrated the generosity behind the school’s first five decades and honored the pioneering students who helped build its foundation during the unveiling of the new Charter Class Wall of Philanthropy. The interactive Wall of Philanthropy, located in the law school’s main entrance, pays special tribute to members of the law school’s very first class who began their legal education in 1973, and recognized the generosity of our donors.

On a personal note, Mark and I were thrilled to have our kids in Carbondale for the last stretch of summer. They have come to love Southern Illinois as much as we do, and it's been so much fun to continue exploring the region with them. 

I hope to see you over the coming months at the law school, in the local community, or while I'm on the road. My next stop is Central Illinois. If you're in the Champaign region, please join us for an informal happy hour at Barrelhouse 34 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM, immediately preceding the Chancellor's Reception on September 17th. 

Warmly, 

Hannah Brenner Johnson
Dean and Hiram H. Lesar Professor of Law
SIU Simmons Law School

SIU Simmons Law School  |  1150 Douglas Drive  |  Mail Code 6804  |  Carbondale, IL 62901