Deaths, Law Schools

Penn Law School Community Mourns Student Found Dead

According to the dean, the deceased student's 'network was broad, and his loss will impact many.'

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We have some unfortunate news to report out of Pennsylvania, where a promising young law student died in his off-campus apartment this weekend.

Justin Hamano, 31, was a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Students were alerted to his death via school-wide email sent by Dean Ted Ruger and Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum. The cause of his death at this time is unknown. The Daily Pennsylvanian has some additional details:

Justin Hamano

The spokesperson for the Philadelphia medical examiner’s office Jim Garrow said confirmation on Hamano’s cause of death is still pending and may take up to 12 weeks to confirm.

“Pending cases are usually due to additional forensic testing. Depending on the tests, [the length of time] varies,” Garrow said in an email.

Hamano was a senior editor on the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the political director of Lambda Law, and deputy voting rights director of the Democracy Law Project. Hamano was passionate about labor law, having earned a master’s certificate in labor studies and worked as a labor organizer before attending Penn Law. Just last year, he received a prestigious Peggy Browning Fellowship, a public interest labor law award that enabled him to spend 10 weeks working at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C., this past summer.

According to Dean Ruger, Hamano’s “network was broad, and his loss will impact many.” A support session was held in Hamano’s honor on Monday, and students were reminded that while counseling services were available in the law school, faculty, staff, and other advisors were ready to help students in need of assistance.

We here at Above the Law would like to extend our condolences to Justin Hamano’s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.

A Penn Law School student, 31, died over the weekend [Daily Pennsylvanian]
University Mourns Loss of Justin Hamano [Penn News]

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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