GW Law Faculty is No. 2 Most Downloaded on SSRN
Professor Jerome A. Barron (front right) and Alberto Benítez (back right) and their guests Janice Benítez, Carol Williams, nominator Marla Spindel, JD ’93, co-founder of the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project, and Myra Barron enjoy the Beckman Awards Gala in Atlanta.
Professors Honored for Inspiring Students GW Law Professors Jerome A. Barron and Alberto Benítez were honored in November 2012 with Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Awards for inspiring former students to make significant contributions to society. They joined 20 distinguished professors from universities around the United States who received the award, a $25,000 prize from the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Trust, at a ceremony held in Atlanta. Professor Barron was nominated for inspiring Marla Spindel, JD ’93, to co-found the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project—a nonprofit organization that provides high-quality, free legal services to low-income D.C. residents in family law cases. Professor Benítez was nominated for inspiring University of Arkansas School of Law Professor Elizabeth Young, JD ’04, to help create and launch an immigration law clinic.
A recent report from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), an online depository for scholarly articles and research papers, shows George Washington University Law School faculty papers are among the most downloaded publications in the legal world. The SSRN list of 350 top law schools is led by Harvard Law School, with GW not far behind in the second position. The two schools have the most downloads for both last year and all time. The 1,188 SSRN papers authored by GW Law faculty have combined to receive 568,676 alltime downloads, 90,281 of which came within the past 12 months. Interim Dean of GW Law Gregory Maggs attributes the popularity of the school’s articles to the hard work of its faculty members. “The SSRN statistics provide one measure of the scholarly impact of the research and analysis done at GW Law,” says Dean Maggs. “It is gratifying to know that so many scholars from around the world are interested in reading articles written by our faculty members. The authors are truly interested in advancing knowledge and improving legal policies and practices.”
Advancing Animal Law The American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee’s “Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award” was presented to Professor Joan Schaffner at the ABA Annual Meeting in August in San Francisco. The award recognizes exceptional work by an Animal Law Committee member who, through commitment and leadership, has advanced the humane treatment of animals through the law. Professor Schaffner’s work with GW Law students in the Animal Law Program includes moving forward the practice of animal law via legislation, scholarship, and advocacy.
Jeffrey Rosen Wins Golden Pen Award
Professor Joan Schaffner with Spirit, her animal companion that doubles as the GW Animal Law Program’s mascot
GW Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen received the 2013 Golden Pen Award from the Legal Writing Institute during the American Association of Law Schools’ Annual Meeting in New Orleans. A prolific writer and the legal affairs editor of The New Republic, Professor Rosen received the award for his “extraordinary contributions to the cause of better legal writing.”
winter 2014 | www.law.gwu.edu
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