Gregg Meyers ’79
In 1976, Gregg Meyers ’79 was fresh out of undergrad and unsure what to do next, having just completed a theater arts major with minors in philosophy and English. He decided to apply his newfound skills in law school, with no real plans or aspirations to become a lawyer and with the misconception that it would require no heavy lifting.
Susan Berne Bonine ’79, on the other hand, was excited to receive an admission letter from Hamline University School of Law on her 40th birthday. A single mom with a lot of responsibilities, she knew exactly what she wanted and what law school would require.
Regardless of their differences, Meyers and Bonine bonded over a shared intellectual connection and sense of humor.
“I have this vivid memory of our advanced civil procedure class,” Meyers chuckled. “Sue was sitting directly in front of me when a classmate answered a question using this incredible malaprop. He was describing two positions as being ‘diabolically opposed’ rather than ‘diametrically opposed.’ All Sue did was turn around to look at me. No words needed.”
Outside of classes, law review collaborations, and a brief Super Bowl gathering where he met her then eight-year-old son, Michael, Meyers didn’t know Bonine all that well. “We were a couple of nerds in law school on the same wavelength, and I respected her on a different level,” Meyers said. “As a single mom, she was taking on way more than I could manage yet loved the challenge of school. She loved it so much that she didn’t want her experience to end and was even sad about graduating.”
After graduation, life didn’t carry on much longer for Bonine, and she passed away three years later from a brain tumor. When Meyers learned the news, he knew that if ever he were in a position, he would do something to keep Bonine’s memory alive at the law school.
Meyer landed at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C., within the civil rights division after graduation. Having done cases for the DOJ in South Carolina, he became a partner at a firm primarily handling construction litigation. That is, until he received a referral from a woman who had been sexually abused by her grandfather as a child and couldn’t find a lawyer who would help due to statutes of limitations. This reconnected Meyers to his passion for civil rights work and drove him to research tolling theories. He secured a settlement for that woman and opened his own firm where he continued to take on high-profile, high-stakes sex crime cases other firms in the south wouldn’t dare touch.
In 2000, Meyers reached the pinnacle of his career. He received a $105 million jury award for the parent of a sexual abuse victim—the largest verdict in Charleston County (and the subject of a 2018 Emmy and Academy Award–nominated documentary, “What Haunts Us”). Shortly after in 2002, Meyers circled back to the law school and established the Susan Berne Bonine ’79 Scholarship Fund.
“Find something you feel good doing,” Meyers advised. “For me and my work, it felt better to represent people over entities, and it paid off. It afforded me to be able to give back to my alma mater by honoring my law school friend. And through my friend’s scholarship, students have benefited and will continue to do so for years to come.
“It’s designed for ambitious students like Sue, who had life experience before law school and have a financial need to attend. What makes the scholarship extra special is it isn’t applied for, but awarded by faculty unbeknownst to the students.”
When Bonine’s brother, Robert Berne, learned what Meyers did to honor his sister, he established a scholarship in Meyers’ name in return. The school arranged for the two to meet for lunch in New York where Robert lived, along with Bonine’s son Michael who was all grown up.
Meyers was awarded Distinguished Alumnus in 2001 and is a member of Mitchell Hamline’s Partner’s Society for his generous contributions over the years. Today, Meyers is back in Minnesota with his wife Mia and youngest son Atticus, still working in both Minnesota and South Carolina, and doing what he loves.