Nebraska Law to award 150+ degrees during May 3 ceremony

The University of Nebraska College of Law will award more than 150 degrees during a May 3 commencement ceremony.

The Bob Devaney Sports Center, 1600 Court St., will host the ceremony at 4 p.m. Doors open to the public at 3 p.m. The ceremony is expected to last about 90 minutes.

Dean Richard E. Moberly will preside over the ceremony, and Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett will confer degrees. Damon O. Barry, managing partner of law firm Ballard Spahr’s Denver and Boulder offices and a Husker alumnus, will deliver the keynote address. The university also will award an honorary Doctor of Law to Larry D. Johnson — longtime United Nations official, law professor and Husker alumnus — during the ceremony.

As a member of his firm’s senior leadership team, Barry solves problems for clients and assists companies with complex business and legal transactions. He advises and represents buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and other strategic transactions ranging in size from $1 million to $500 million. Before joining Ballard Spahr, he was a partner at Donelson Barry and vice president of business affairs, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary of a publicly held company.

Barry has served on numerous nonprofit and political boards and is currently a University of Nebraska Foundation trustee and member of the Denver Metropolitan MLB Stadium District and Culture Subcommittee. His many honors include a Distinguished Alumni Award and Alumni Master recognition from Nebraska Law. He has also been ranked as a top lawyer by The Legal 500 and was among Denver Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” and Ebony magazine’s “30 Leaders of the Future.” Barry earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and his Juris Doctor from Nebraska Law. While at Washington, he was a member of the varsity football team, which made three consecutive Rose Bowl appearances and won the 1991 national championship.

Johnson is a lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, where he teaches a seminar on U.N. law and practice. For more than a decade, he was an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, teaching and directing its U.N. Extern Program. For nearly 35 years, he has provided legal advice in the U.N. system in such roles as assistant secretary-general for legal affairs, legal adviser of the International Atomic Energy Agency and chief of staff of the Office of the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Johnson served in the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the former Yugoslavia and on U.N. boards of inquiry. He has been a consultant with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the U.N. Institute for Training and Research.

Johnson has taught at the University of Nebraska College of Law, University of California Davis School of Law, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and New York University’s Global Studies Program. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and a Juris Doctor and Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.

Guest parking for commencement is available in Lot 52, south of the Devaney Center, and Lot 57, north of the facility. Parking for faculty, administrators, staff and other members of the stage party is available in Lot 51, north of the building. Guests who require accessible parking should use the west entrance, Gate 1, off North Antelope Valley Parkway. Accessible parking is available in Lots 58 and 52 (north and south of the building, respectively) and off North 17th Street (east of the building).

To maintain a secure environment, the Devaney Center enforces a clear-bag policy that limits the size and type of bag that may be brought inside. For details, click here. To avoid inconveniences, guests are encouraged to arrive early and travel light.

Guests can use the concourse-level entrances on the north side or the lower-level entrances on the south side. Tickets are not required for the ceremony, and there is no limit to the number of guests per graduate. All seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Accessible seating is available on the concourse level. Open captioning for people with hearing impairment will be provided on the center LED boards.

Event staff and University Police will be on hand to assist guests and provide security.

Graduates should check in no later than 3:15 p.m. They should enter through the lower north doors, near the Francis Allen Training Complex, with their gown, tam and hood, as well as any honor cords or medallions. Personal items should be left with family or friends or in a locked vehicle.

Those participating in the Family Traditions Ceremony should arrive at 2:30 p.m. and report to the Courtside Room, on the main level, near the Athletic Training Office. The ceremony will begin at 2:45 p.m. and conclude in time for graduates to report for lineup.

The ceremony will be livestreamed here.

For more information on the College of Law commencement ceremony, click here or contact Katie Pfannenstiel at 402-472-8382 or kabp@unl.edu.