Advocate Magazine 2016, Volume 50

Vol. 50, 2016

U.S. Deputy Attorney General addresses graduates

INSIDE:

• Appellate Litigation Clinic secures clemency grant • Georgia Law Review celebrates 50 years • School launches mentoring program

restructured writing curriculum, the new Atlanta program and additional clinical opportunities. The Career Development Office has expanded its network for connecting our students to “J.D. preferred” positions in areas such as compliance and internal controls and emerging positions in business and other regulatory settings. Last fall, I met a law student who perfectly embodies the many reasons to support the mission of our law school and to help its students become successful. Marcol Harvey and I met at a reception at the law school, and I learned he graduated from Central High School in Talbotton, GA. Marcol is likely one of the few students from his high school to be in graduate school. Quiet and soft spoken, he shared what a Georgia Law

education would mean for him, his family and his community. At the core of his thinking were straightforward plans to serve others with his law degree. Marcol’s first goal is to use his summer job money to purchase a white board for his high school. This is a great reminder of what value can be gained, and spread, through legal training. I invite you to give yourself an opportunity to get to know these dedicated students, faculty and staff, and to be a greater part of Georgia Law’s success – hire a student, make a charitable gift, attend an event or host one. Find your way to engage with our school. You will not be disappointed.

LAW SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

In the fall of 1980 as a 1L in Athens, I became a part of something great – the Georgia Law community – a community that includes scores of distinguished judges, prominent attorneys and corporate leaders. My law practice was built within this extended community. And as an alumnus, I’ve supported this community by serving on the Law School Association Council, mentoring students and providing financial support. Now over 35 years later, I am honored to serve as president of the Law School Association. I invite you to join me as an engaged member of the Georgia Law community – our school’s greatest strength. Get involved. Get engaged. Get connected. Here’s how:

• Return to the 26th Annual Georgia Law Homecoming BBQ on October 15, 2016. • Contact Alex Sklut (asklut@uga.edu), Georgia Law’s associate director of student affairs, and become a mentor. • Attend the annual Alumni/Alumnae Weekend on March 17–18, 2017. • Reach out to Kenny Tatum (krtatum@ uga.edu), Georgia Law’s senior director of career development, to discuss employment opportunities. After that first fall in Athens, I sometimes would ask myself, “Well, how did I get here?” I am then reminded that I get by with a “little help from my friends.” Friends like Professor Perry Sentell, who both challenged and encouraged me; Judge Dudley Bowen, who gave me my first job out of law school; Arnold Young and John Tatum, my law

partners from whom I continue to learn; classmates Greg Crochet and Allen Bradley, always ready to share a warm greeting; younger alums (younger than me anyway) such as Rob Spears, who reassure me that good people can be good lawyers; and Professors Dan Coenen and Rebecca White, who arrived at the law school long after I graduated, but who inspire not only students but also seasoned lawyers. With some schools, you go for three years, and you’re over and done. You go to Georgia Law for the rest of your life. I am deeply grateful for the friendships – old and new – made through the ongoing Georgia Law connection. I look forward to seeing you in Athens.

Last year Georgia Law formed the Young Alumni/Alumnae Committee, a dedicated group of recent graduates committed to staying involved in the law school. Charged with engaging the school’s newest alumni and alumnae, the committee volunteered for admissions, student services and career development related tasks. I was honored to serve as the committee’s first president. From the outset, the group connected with recent graduates by sharing Georgia Law news through personal networks – on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Over and over again Georgia Law news has been inspiring and focused on enriching the student experience, e.g., “alumnus funds

nation’s first child sexual abuse victim clinic” and “students enroll in full-time semester of work/study in Atlanta.” We also reached out to admitted students and trumpeted the value of a Georgia Law education and the many opportunities that the law school affords. We look forward to the implementation of a formal mentor program at the start of the new school year, which will guide students through the law school experience and help students plan for their careers. This emphasis on enriching the student experience is everywhere and you can be a part of it! Join me and other members of the YAAC to find your own way to invest in the law school (time, treasure or talent). Our

group hosts quarterly “Brews & Barristers” events for the recent graduates living in the Atlanta area. Special guests have included Dean Bo Rutledge, Professor Carol Morgan, Professor Ellie Lanier, Professor Lonnie Brown and Professor Christian Turner. Please contact the law school’s Office of Advancement at (706) 542-5190 or lawalum@uga.edu if you are interested in learning more about these events or the many other ways in which recent graduates are staying involved in the law school.

BOARD OF VISITORS

This past year, our Board of Visitors had very thought provoking discussions with Dean Rutledge on the changing landscape of legal education, the unpredictable job market and the key elements of a first-rate legal learning environment. As chair of this group, I assure you the school’s response to these challenges has been energetic and creative. Associate Dean Amann worked diligently to position our international law programs as a center of excellence – preparing both LL.M. and J.D. candidates for practice in the global marketplace. Associate Dean Rodrigues launched the Corsair Law Society – a mentoring group connecting transactional or corporate oriented students with alumni in major financial markets. The faculty unveiled a

YOUNG ALUMNI/ALUMNAE COMMITTEE

LETTERS FROM LAW LEADERS

—Kathelen V. Amos (J.D.’82), Board of Visitors Chair

—Wade W. Herring II (J.D.’83), Law School Association President

—Catherine H. Curlet (J.D.’11), Young Alumni/Alumnae Committee President

FROM THE DEAN

Continuing the tradition of excellence “I hope that you will use the key that you are about to receive to unlock justice.” This was the inspiring closing line of U.S. Deputy Attorney General and Georgia Law alumna Sally Quillian Yates’ address to this year’s graduating class. Her memorable remarks included reflections from her time as a student here in Athens, her years as a young attorney and her very recent review of a clemency petition filed by two members of the Class of 2016 that she forwarded to President Obama for his consideration and ultimate approval. Sally’s challenge was particularly appropriate because, even before they graduate, the students at your law school are unlocking justice. Eighty percent of this year’s graduating class took part in externships, clinics or other experiential learning programs during their time at Georgia Law. Each and every student made an impact by providing legal services to a wide range of organizations and people, including Steven Boyd who was granted clemency after serving 18 years of a life sentence for nonviolent crimes. (Learn more on page 6.) This is just one example of the work done by our clinics, which assisted in a range of matters from representing child sexual abuse survivors to guiding young entrepreneurs. Our record attests to the exceptional leadership of Erica Hashimoto, former associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning, who recently returned to her alma mater. Erica’s good work will continue with the expert guidance of Prof. Alex Scherr, who succeeds her as associate dean, and Prof. Thomas Burch, a long-time supporter of the Appellate Litigation Clinic who now serves as its director. Clinics represent only one example of how Georgia Law students are preparing for careers through hands-on experience. Led by Prof. Kellie Casey, our award-winning advocacy programs had an exceptional year, sweeping all of the awards in the Intrastate Moot Court Competition, winning the J. Braxton Craven, Jr. Memorial Competition, finishing fifth in world in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and capturing the Best Brief Award at the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition. (Learn more on page 16.) Faculty who produce world-class scholarship are essential to enhancing the student experience. We are fortunate to have among our ranks nationally recognized thought leaders such as Gregg Polsky, our newest colleague and one of the nation’s leading tax scholars who joins us from the University of North Carolina. (Learn more on page 25.)

Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge Dean and Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law

Of course, none of this is possible without the support of the Georgia Law community, including the incredible number of alumni and alumnae who invest both time and resources throughout the year. I want to particularly thank the anonymous group of benefactors who established the Challenge Fund as well as those who generously responded. Your investment in the mission of your law school resulted in a record-setting year for the Law School Fund. In fact, the fund exceeded its best year ever by more than 100 percent. We are carefully stewarding your record-setting investment. You are funding scholarships that often make the difference between a student’s decision to attend Georgia Law or go elsewhere – or to pursue the dream of earning a law degree at all. Moreover, your gifts provide essential support for the clinics, advocacy programs and faculty research that ensures graduates are not just receiving a law degree but are being prepared to make an impact on their communities. Simply put, your generosity is building the next generation of lawyers and leaders. The proof is in the results. Our 2015 graduating class had a higher bar passage rate than any other law school in the state. We are among the top 20 in the nation (and top in state) with regard to placing graduates in federal judicial clerkships over a three-year period. Our “employed at 10-month rate” for 2015 graduates in high-value jobs as defined by U.S. News & World Report, a key indicator of placement success, was the highest in the state and exceeded comparable rates for many national peer and aspirational institutions. This letter only begins to touch upon all that is happening at Georgia Law. I encourage you to take the time to read this issue of the Advocate; be on the lookout for our e-newsletter; visit our website; follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and make plans to visit campus either for Homecoming Weekend in October or Alumni/ Alumnae Weekend in March or any time of the year your schedule allows you to be in Athens. In closing, I hope you will join me in thanking my predecessor, Rebecca Hanner White, who retired at the end of this academic year, for her legacy of leadership and the foundation upon which we build today. With your continued support our students will indeed stand ready to unlock justice and continue the tradition of excellence of which we can all be proud.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

1

Vol. 50, 2016 • ISSN 1557-1025 Editor’s Note: The Advocate is published annually by the University of Georgia School of Law for alumni/alumnae, friends and members of the law school community. Please contact the Office of Communications and Public Relations at (706) 542-5172 or lawcomm@uga.edu if you have any comments or suggestions. Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lori A. Ringhand Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning Alexander W. “Alex” Scherr

4

Associate Dean for Faculty Development Usha Rodrigues

Commencement 2016

Associate Dean for International Programs & Strategic Initiatives Diane Marie Amann Executive Director of Admissions & Diversity Programs Gregory L. “Greg” Roseboro (J.D.’87) Director of Admissions Ramsey Henderson Bridges (J.D.’05) Director of Business & Finance Kathleen A. Day Senior Director of Career Development Kenny R. Tatum Director of Communications & Public Relations Heidi M. Murphy Director of Information Technology Jim Henneberger Director of Law Library Carol A. Watson (J.D.’87) Senior Director of Law School Advancement Anne S. Moser Director of Stewardship & Special Assistant to the Dean Lara O. Pulliam

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Wood

Senior Events Coordinator Lisa C. Mathis Law School Staff Representative Group Chair Shawn T. Lanphere Email departmental inquiries to: Admissions – ugajd@uga.edu Alumni/Alumnae Relations – lawalum@uga.edu Communications – lawcomm@uga.edu Development – lawgifts@uga.edu Dean Rusk International Law Center – ruskintlaw@uga.edu Law Library – cwatson@uga.edu Career Development – cdo@uga.edu Registrar – lawreg@uga.edu

6

The University of Georgia Foundation is registered to solicit in every state and provides state specific registration information at www.ugafoundation.org/charity.

www.law.uga.edu

11

Georgia Law’s Appellate Litigation Clinic had a profound and lasting impact on a client’s life when President Barack Obama granted a clemency petition prepared by the clinic.

7

Heidi Murphy, editor and writer; Lona Panter, principal writer; Kelly Tran, intern; mPrint Design Studio, design; Creasey Printing Services, printing. © 2016 University of Georgia School of Law. The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia. In compliance with federal law, including the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or military service in its administration of educational policies, programs or activities; its admission policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletic or other University-administered programs; or employment. In addition, the University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation consistent with the University non-discrimination policy. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the director of the Equal Opportunity Office, 119 Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD). Fax 706-542-2822.

Appellate Litigation Clinic secures clemency grant

8

Elite fellowship created Georgia Law has established an elite fellowship program as a result of a $2 million founding gift from The John N. Goddard Foundation. The initial fellows of the program will be known as Philip H. Alston, Jr. Distinguished Law Fellows.

School launches Atlanta program

Georgia Law has created the B. Avant Edenfield Jurist in Residence program, which will allow federal judges to teach mini-courses. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Lisa Godbey Wood (J.D.’90) will be the inaugural Jurist in Residence.

13

Program creates student mentorships Through its new mentorship program, Georgia Law will ensure that all firstyear students have a network of support when they arrive on campus.

14

The law school is now offering the Atlanta Semester in Practice, which provides students full-time, practical lawyering experience through externships in the state’s capital.

CONNECT WITH US

Edenfield Jurist in Residence places judges in classrooms

@UGASchoolofLaw

Practitioners deliver diverse curriculum Visiting and adjunct professors, who are skilled practitioners and jurists, fill an important role in delivering a relevant and diverse curriculum to law students.

facebook.com/UGALawSchool

contents 9

First of its kind: child sexual abuse survivor clinic

FOSTERING WORLD-CLASS IDEAS

24

11

Chambliss returns as Sanders Scholar

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Center undergoes exciting changes The Dean Rusk International Law Center continues to expand collaborative efforts and increase opportunities for both students and faculty to focus on global legal issues.

25

29

Top tax scholar joins faculty Gregg D. Polsky will join the law school’s faculty in the fall as the Francis Shackleford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law.

Polsky

31

Georgia Law Review: Celebrating 50 years In February 2016 Georgia Law Review members, past and present, attended a celebratory gala to mark the journal’s 50th anniversary, which included a keynote address by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

youtube.com/c/UGALawSchool

DSS Award: Davenport and Solomon honored

ABOUT THE COVER:

Thomas

bit.ly/GeorgiaLaw-LinkedIn

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates (J.D.’86) presented the keynote address at Georgia Law’s 2016 Commencement. Cover photo and photo on opposite page are by Dennis McDaniel.

Instagram.com/ugalawschool

#GeorgiaLaw

2016 Commencement

CLASS of

Gerald Chichester smiles at the crowd during the commencement ceremony.

Ty Adams celebrates with his niece and nephew after graduation.

Dean Bo Rutledge (left) and Law School Association President Dan Snipes (J.D.’95) (right) are presented a check representing the Class of 2016 pledge of $50,800 by 3L Class President J.D. Howard (second from left) and 3L Class Vice President Hari Narayanan. Photo by Dennis McDaniel. Before commencement (l. to r.) Anna Fowler, Austin Ramsey, Kaylee Maxwell, Kathleen Mayer and Samantha Feinberg pose for the camera. Photo by Dennis McDaniel.

4

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

U.S. Deputy Attorney General encourages graduates to unlock justice

Taylor Murray and her three-year-old daughter, Loghan, receive Taylor’s diploma from Dean Bo Rutledge while UGA Provost Pamela Whitten looks on. Loghan was five months old when her mother began law school.

Hammad Sheikh (left) and Katherine Richardson (right), two members of Georgia Law’s first graduating class of Master in the Study of Law students, pose with the program’s faculty advisor, Allison Hale (J.D.’89).

Serving as keynote speaker at this year’s Commencement was U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates (J.D.’86). Yates, who holds the second highest position in the U.S. Department of Justice, encouraged the Class of 2016 to unlock justice as they begin their legal career. “I know that the usual graduation advice is to tell you to look inside yourself, find your passion and then follow it. And if you were graduating from one of the other colleges here at the university, that might be my advice to you today,” Yates said. “But you’re not graduating from one of the other colleges. You’re graduating from the law school. And the degree that you have earned carries with it a responsibility that no other degree does. Because you now hold in your hands the key to unlock justice in this world. To reveal truth. To stand up for the rights of the voiceless. To hold our country to its promises. That degree that you’ve just earned doesn’t belong just to you. Rather, you share it with the world.” Yates quoted a Law Day speech given at Georgia Law in 1961 by then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy who told students that: “All the high sounding speeches about liberty and justice are meaningless unless people such as you and I breathe meaning and force into it.” She then told the graduates, “Sometimes justice prevails on a grand scale and sometimes it flourishes in the simple righting of a wrong. Being a lawyer means standing ready to take on those seemingly routine cases, happening day in and day out, all across our country that have a profound impact on the lives of ordinary Americans.” Yates encouraged each graduate to follow Kennedy’s words and pursue justice. “I hope that you will seize opportunities to right wrongs large and small, that you will stand up for the voiceless and that you will uphold the promise of our country,” she said. “I hope that you will use the key that you are about to receive to unlock justice.”

Keynote speaker and U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates (J.D.’86) chats with 3L Class President J.D. Howard (left) and Vice President Hari Narayanan before the ceremony. Photo by Dennis McDaniel.

“… the degree that you have earned carries with it a responsibility that no other degree does.” —Sally Quillian Yates (J.D. ‘86)

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

5

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Appellate Litigation Clinic secures clemency grant Earlier this year, students and professors in Georgia Law’s presence of two prior convictions for the possession and sale Appellate Litigation Clinic had a profound and lasting impact on of cocaine, according to Hashimoto and Burch. The two prior a client’s life when President Barack Obama granted a clemency convictions were subsequently overturned, but at the time they petition they prepared. gave the prosecutor discretion to ask for a sentencing enhancement The clinic first began work on Georgia native Steven B. that led to the mandatory-minimum life sentence without parole. Boyd’s case in 2013 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Even though the prior convictions were later vacated, Boyd’s Circuit referred the matter. Then-students Anne Horn Baroody subsequent petitions to correct his federal sentence were denied. (J.D.’14) and Bryan W. Lutz (J.D.’14) initially litigated the matter “This was despite the fact that Mr. Boyd had changes in case before the 11th Circuit, which remanded the case to the District law on his side,” Hashimoto said. Court for the Southern District of Georgia to decide a procedural The changes in law along with the discretionary sentencing question. After litigation on that question proved unsuccessful, enhancement were key arguments in the clinic’s successful then-students Elliott R. Gillooly (J.D.’15) and Matthew C. clemency petition. But Burch said they were secondary to Boyd’s Mikkelsen (J.D.’15) and current lack of violent history and his ability third-year students Elliott C. Ream to avoid disciplinary infractions for and Taylor Strickland prepared the the 18-plus years he was behind bars. clemency petition. “Mr. Boyd met all of the Boyd’s story exemplifies the president’s conditions for clemency. importance of sentencing reform No violent history before being efforts and having committed legal incarcerated. No violent history while advocates representing indigent incarcerated, and he was serving an Appellate Litigation Clinic students also made a prisoners, according to clinic overly harsh sentence for a nonviolent difference briefing and arguing other cases in the supervisors Erica J. Hashimoto and crime. He deserved sentencing relief,” U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Thomas V. Burch. Burch added. Corey J. Goerdt (J.D. ’ 15) and Nicola M. Rossi “The clinic was appointed When Boyd is released, he will (J.D.’15) earned a victory for their client in the to represent Mr. Boyd in habeas have served more than 18 years for case of Brooks v. Warden, et al. After full briefing proceedings and pardon came as a crimes that under today’s federal and oral argument, the court reversed the district result of a clemency petition filed sentencing guidelines would have court, concluding that the plaintiff may proceed on his behalf,” the professors said. resulted in a maximum sentence of with his claim alleging a violation of his § 1983 “Prior to the involvement of the 15 years and 8 months. clinic, Mr. Boyd was representing He plans to live with his daughter Eighth Amendment right to basic sanitation. himself as he did not have the and two grandsons, who, as the In Ace Patterson v. Secretary, Florida Dept. means to retain private counsel.” daughter explained in a letter to of Corrections Maria Rivera-Diaz (J.D.’15) and Boyd’s life sentence resulted President Obama, “love him dearly Zachary J. “Zack” Kelehear (J.D.’15) briefed the largely from the quantity of and cry every visitation because he is case, with Rivera-Diaz presenting oral argument drugs possessed by those he was not leaving with us.” before the court. Agreeing with the arguments associated with and from the Boyd will officially be released in raised by the clinic, the court held that a habeas September.

Clinic gains victories in the 11th Circuit

petition filed by Patterson was not barred as “second or successive.”

6

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Elite fellowship created ALSTON FELLOWS TO RECEIVE FULL-TUITION-PLUS SCHOLARSHIP Robert G. “Bob” Edge, legal counsel for Georgia Law has established an elite fellowship the Goddard Foundation and senior counsel at program as a result of a $2 million founding the law firm Alston & Bird, said the trustees of gift from The John N. Goddard Foundation. the Goddard Foundation, all but one of whom Initially, the program will allow three students are children or grandchildren of Elkin Goddard each year to receive a unique law school Alston and Philip H. Alston, Jr., are pleased educational experience including domestic and to help launch this significant new program at international externships and guided research Georgia Law. experiences, opportunities to meet some of the “Just as the Foundation Fellows program country’s top legal leaders and a full-tuition for undergraduates has helped attract many of scholarship. our nation’s most outstanding college-bound “Enhancing graduate and professional students to UGA, the Goddard Foundation education is a priority of the University of trustees believe that the new Distinguished Law Georgia,” UGA President Jere W. Morehead Fellows program can do the same for the law (J.D.’80) said. “The Distinguished Law school,” Edge said. “It is very fitting that the Fellows program will help us to further The first Distinguished Law Fellows will be named first of these law fellowships will bear the name this goal while honoring one of our most in honor of the late Philip H. Alston, Jr. of Philip Alston, Jr., because he was so devoted accomplished alumni. We are grateful to the to the university that he served so well in so Goddard Foundation for their support.” many capacities and because he, as the head of Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said this a major law firm himself, recognized that making the School of fellowship program will attract the best and brightest to Athens Law excellent in every way was vitally important to our state and for law school and will place Georgia Law among a small group region – and to his beloved alma mater.” of institutions offering full-tuition-plus law school scholarships. Rutledge added that it is his goal and the Goddard “I am thankful to the Goddard Foundation for their generous Foundation’s desire that the Distinguished Law Fellows program leadership gift that will make this new level of legal education be expanded to allow for other named fellows so that Georgia’s possible at Georgia Law.” flagship law school can offer future legal leaders of the state The Distinguished Law Fellows program is modeled after and nation a premium level of support and unrivaled learning the university’s prestigious Foundation Fellows program, which opportunities. was established in 1972. The initial fellows of the law school’s “This fellowship program represents a new phase in legal program will be known as Philip H. Alston, Jr. Distinguished Law education that is focused on a quality education, professional Fellows and will be announced later this year. development and an enhanced student experience,” Rutledge Benefits of being an Alston Distinguished Law Fellow said. “It will aid in the attraction of outstanding students with the will include: potential for leadership and service as exemplified by the career of • A professional development stipend to be used at the end of Philip Alston.” the fellow’s first and second years of law school for summer Alston, who passed away in 1988, was a confidant of former externships, study abroad offerings or research projects. President Jimmy Carter and a former ambassador to Australia. He • Special travel opportunities to meet some of the nation’s was a leading member of the State Bar of Georgia; helped to form foremost legal advocates and jurists, including U.S. Supreme one of the country’s most prominent law firms, Alston & Bird; Court justices. The law school’s dean will serve as the guide and was an innovative leader at UGA especially with regard to the for at least one of these trips. university’s foundation. • A full-tuition scholarship.

The Distinguished Law Fellows program, similar to UGA’s Foundation Fellows initiative, makes a new level of legal education possible. Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

7

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

School launches Atlanta program

“… provides access to an impressive array of civil practice settings and opens up new opportunities for professional networking.” —Atlanta Director Hillel Levin

8

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Georgia Law has expanded its footprint to include the state’s capital with its Atlanta Semester in Practice. The new program offers students full-time, practical lawyering experience through externship placements in the judicial, governmental, corporate and nonprofit arenas. As part of the externship course, students take a clinical seminar and also take upper-level courses at the school’s facility in Atlanta, allowing them to earn a total of up to 16 credits for a semester. Georgia Law in Atlanta Director and Associate Professor Hillel Y. Levin said this program is a terrific opportunity for students to spend a semester working and learning practical lawyering skills in Atlanta-area legal settings. “The program provides access to an impressive array of civil practice settings and opens up new opportunities for professional networking,” he said. Placements from the spring semester included the U.S. District Court judicial chambers of Judges Richard W. “Rick” Story (J.D.’78) and Leigh Martin May (J.D.’98), the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and the Access to Law Foundation, in addition to other governmental and nonprofit placements. Participating students and employers have embraced and praised the program. According to Georgia Law Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning Alexander W. “Alex” Scherr, who teaches the externship course, students report getting more complex, difficult and meaningful work as a result of working full time, which develops their abilities as lawyers in ways that exceed their expectations. “Having students full time [gives employers] the opportunity to learn the student’s abilities

earlier, to rely on them more heavily, and to get to know them more thoroughly,” Scherr said. “The supervising attorneys routinely compliment the quality of our students’ work. In turn, our students praise the depth and focus of the supervision and feedback that they receive. Most students formed strong mentoring relationships with supervisors, and all appreciated the chance to participate in the Atlanta legal community.” Over the next year, even more placements will be available to students, including some in the corporate counsel area, through the school’s Corporate Counsel Externship. Additionally, the program will offer expanded opportunities for students to meet with Georgia Law graduates and other practitioners in targeted networking events. Levin said the feedback from the inaugural semester was unanimously positive and that students are starting to organize their law school careers around the program. Working at the Access to Law Foundation, under the leadership of Georgia Law alumna Rebeca E. Salmon (J.D.’07), third-year student J. Michelle Hamill said working full time at a busy, efficient law practice gave her the chance to test her abilities in a way she had never before experienced in previous internships or in any traditional law school course. During its first semester, students were offered Education Law and Constitutional Law II courses in Atlanta. The courses on tap for the fall of 2016 include Remedies as well as Political Leadership and the Law, which will be co-taught by former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who will be continuing his role as the school’s Sanders Political Leadership Scholar.

First of its kind CLINIC AIDS CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS Thanks to the generosity of Marlan B. Wilbanks (J.D.’86), earlier this year Georgia Law launched the nation’s first experiential learning opportunity dedicated solely to the assistance of child sexual abuse survivors. The effort is being led by law school alumna Emma M. Hetherington (J.D.’11), and demand for the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic’s services has been extraordinary. “We’ve had a steady stream of people contacting us for services,” Hetherington said. “More than anything it’s been eye-opening to see the prevalence of child sexual abuse in not only the local community, but across the state of Georgia and nationally.” The clinic’s mission is threefold and includes representing survivors of child sexual abuse in civil tort claims, creating a network of attorneys all over the state who are trained to represent survivors of child sexual abuse and preparing the next generation of lawyers to be effective advocates in this sensitive and critical area. Since the beginning of the year, the clinic has investigated more than 20 cases. Hetherington said that once they receive an initial phone call, they determine whether they should investigate further or refer the client to other sources. “We go through an exhaustive investigation process where we look at medical, psychological and educational records of clients as well as speak to witnesses,” she said. “We not only assess the strength of a claim, but also whether the client is ready to go through a civil lawsuit. Lawsuits can take months, if not years, and can be traumatizing to clients who do not have sufficient therapeutic and other support systems.” Student interest in the clinic has been high, and the clinic has received broad support from the legal community. Several local bar associations have asked clinic representatives to speak at their meetings to educate their members on the activities of the clinic. “We have also received inquiries from attorneys interested in taking cases pro bono,” Hetherington said. “Attorneys understand the importance of the work we are doing and the need in the community.” Initial funding for the clinic was provided by Wilbanks after the passage of House Bill 17, the “Hidden Predator Act,” by the Georgia legislature. The act created a two-year window of relief from the statute of limitations for bringing civil charges in the case of child sexual abuse. Regardless

of when the abuse occurred, victims can now bring suit against their abusers until the window closes on July 1, 2017. After that time, the law requires suits to be brought forward before the victim reaches 23 years of age or within two years of the time the victim makes the connection that sexual abuse caused current problems such as substance abuse or relationship difficulties. Part of the clinic’s funding provides for summer legal interns and a postgraduate fellowship. “The act of sexually abusing a child is the attempted murder of a soul. I can see no more important task than protecting those in our society who too often have no voice,” Wilbanks said. “The underlying goal of this clinic will be to educate, prepare and sensitize the next generation of lawyers as to the ways victims can be protected. On behalf of the children and families who would otherwise not be able to avail themselves of legal assistance, I applaud the University of Georgia School of Law for its willingness to be the first law school in the nation to draw a line in the sand against child sexual abuse.”

Wilbanks CEASE Clinic Director Emma Hetherington (J.D.’11) (fifth from right) poses with clinic participants (l. to r.) Jon Tonge, Heidi Gholamhosseini, Hart Willoughby, Michael Alfano, Amble Johnson, Meredith Gardial (postgraduate fellow), Andrew Smith, Sarah Ehlers (administrative associate), Jacob Edwards and Ashmal Ali (undergraduate volunteer). Not pictured is John Farmer (summer intern). The clinic, the first of its kind in the nation, seeks to be a model for the nation with respect to the representation of survivors of child sexual abuse.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

9

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Fellowships expanded PUBLIC INTEREST OPPORTUNITIES INCREASED Three new fellowships, combined with existing avenues of support at Georgia Law, allowed more than 20 rising second- and third-year law students to take summer positions in the public interest arena. These service-oriented fellowship recipients spent the summer months working in legal placements including public defender’s and prosecutor’s offices, nonprofit agencies, a law school clinic and the U.S. Department of Justice. Notably, three placements took students overseas to Bangkok, Jerusalem and Phnom Penh. “The students we supported in public interest placements this summer are the next generation of Georgia Law’s legacy of public service, which includes elected, judicial and nonprofit leaders who have made, and are continuing to make, an impact across our state and society,” Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said. “We are extremely grateful to those who have chosen to invest in these students’ futures both through their financial support and their engagement with our institution.” The three new fellowship opportunities result from a partnership between the law school and the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Foundation, the creation of the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic at Georgia Law and funding from the Melburne D. and Jacqueline K. McLendon Endowment. The Stevens Foundation, which was established by former law clerks of the retired U.S. Supreme Court justice, matches funds to support students taking summer public interest law positions. Associate Dean for International Programs and Strategic Initiatives Diane Marie Amann, Professor Sonja R. West and 2007 alumna Merritt E. McAlister, all of whom clerked for Stevens, served on the selection committee for this year’s recipients. The Wilbanks CEASE Clinic was created in 2015 through a gift made by Georgia Law alumnus Marlan B. Wilbanks (J.D.’86). It is the first law school clinic in the nation dedicated to the representation of survivors of child sexual abuse. The McLendon Endowment was created by Melburne D. McLendon, a 1948 graduate of the law school and his wife, Jacqueline, to support legal education and training. Ongoing public interest support includes the Edward D. and Carol J. Spurgeon Public Service Fellowship and the Global Externship Overseas, which is administered by the law school’s Dean Rusk International Law Center. In addition, the Equal Justice Foundation, a student organization, raised funds through its annual auction to support 10 students interested in public interest law.

10

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

2016 Public Interest Summer Fellowships (anticipated year of graduation is indicated in parentheses) JUSTICE JOHN PAUL STEVENS PUBLIC INTEREST FELLOWSHIPS Taryn L. Arbeiter (2018) – The Door, New York City, New York Jennifer J. Cross (2017) – Orleans Public Defenders, New Orleans, Louisiana WILBANKS CEASE CLINIC FELLOWSHIP

EDWARD D. AND CAROL J. SPURGEON PUBLIC SERVICE FELLOWSHIP Meredith L. Mann (2017) – Treatment and Accountability Court of Athens-Clarke County, Athens, Georgia EQUAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIPS

John E. Farmer (2018)

Kassidy L. Dean (2017) – Her Justice, New York City, New York

MELBURNE D. AND JACQUELINE K. MCLENDON FELLOWSHIPS

Bradley D. Dumbacher (2018) – U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division – Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, D.C.

Tiffany L. Donohue (2017) – Access to Law, Atlanta, Georgia Katherine L. Ekstrand (2017) – Office of the DeKalb County Public Defender, Decatur, Georgia Fabian J. Goffe (2017) – New Hampshire Public Defender, Concord, New Hampshire Harris R. Mason (2018) – Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Atlanta, Georgia Mishael K. Najm (2018) – Georgia Public Defender Standards Council – Appellate Division, Atlanta, Georgia R. Larkin Taylor-Parker (2017) – U.S. Department of Justice, Disability Rights Section, Washington, D.C. Hannah Mojdeh Williams (2018) – Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia GLOBAL EXTERNSHIP OVERSEAS Brenny B. Nguyen (2017) – Boat People SOS, Bangkok, Thailand

Maria Kachniarz (2018) - St. Yves Society, Jerusalem Faith A. Khalik (2017) – Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Atlanta, Georgia Kent J. Miller (2017) – Office of the Hall County Public Defender, Gainesville, Georgia Ethan K. Morris (2018) – Office of the DeKalb County Public Defender, Decatur, Georgia Chloe I. Owens (2017) – Office of the U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Georgia, Savannah, Georgia Ryan H. Shriver (2018) – Office of the Hall County Public Defender, Gainesville, Georgia Zeelita V. Smith (2018) – Office of the DeKalb County Public Defender, Decatur, Georgia Sarah E. Willis (2017) – Office of the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Edenfield Jurist in Residence places judges in classrooms Georgia Law has created the B. Avant Edenfield Jurist in Residence program, which allows law students to learn from federal judges through a series of mini-courses. Made possible by a contribution from 2003 Georgia Law alumnus Allen W. Yee, a former clerk of the late Edenfield, the initiative will enable one or more Article III judges to spend a period in residence at Georgia Law each academic year. The inaugural Edenfield Jurist in Residence will be Lisa Godbey Wood (J.D.’90), who currently serves as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Her course will focus on sentencing. Thereafter, David B. Sentelle, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will be the second Edenfield Jurist in Residence. He will teach a course titled Persuading the Judge and Jury.

“Judge Edenfield’s’s astute legal mind and passion for justice made him a hard-working judge who demanded much of those in his courtroom. To those who clerked for him, he was a true friend and mentor,” said Yee, who is a senior attorney with The Coca-Cola Company. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to create through my charitable giving to Georgia Law the B. Avant Edenfield Jurist in Residence fund. It honors my friend and mentor, Judge Edenfield, and continues, in a small way, his legacy of teaching and guidance to the next generation of lawyers.” Of special note, Georgia Law held a reception in the spring to reveal a portrait of Edenfield, which now hangs in Hirsch Hall. Edenfield was a longtime federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia who earned both his bachelor’s and law degrees from UGA.

Chambliss returns as Sanders Scholar Georgia Law students will once again learn from former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Georgia Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Camila Knowles (who previously served as Chambliss’ chief of staff ). The pair will co-teach the class Political Leadership and the Law, where students will receive firsthand insights into public service and explore the topics of ethics, campaign finance and negotiation. Last year, when Chambliss and Knowles taught the course, several prominent guest speakers visited the class. They included: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates (J.D.’86), former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, Gov. Nathan Deal, Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (J.D.’80), Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and leading public affairs professional Arthur B. “Skin” Edge IV (J.D.’80). This year’s class will be taught as part of the law school’s Atlanta Semester in Practice initiative and will be based at the law school’s facility in the state’s capital. The former senator said he is honored to be serving as the law school’s Sanders Political Leadership Scholar. “I look forward to sharing my experience of 20 years in public service with tomorrow’s leaders,” he said. “The University of Georgia School of Law is one of the top law schools in America, and to have the opportunity to be a part of the faculty is very humbling.” Established in 2002, the Sanders Political Leadership Scholar position is named for Georgia’s 74th governor and 1948 Georgia Law alumnus Carl E. Sanders. Previous Sanders Political Leadership Scholars include: former U.S. Sen. J. Maxwell “Max” Cleland, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Poland Lee A. Feinstein and former U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Theodore W. “Ted” Kassinger (J.D.’78).

Former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will continue to serve as the law school’s Sanders Political Leadership Scholar. Photo by UGA’s Andrew Davis Tucker.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

11

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Corporate Counsel Externship adds high profile locations The Corporate Counsel Externship, which allows students to explore the practice of law from the perspective of an in-house counsel, has gained new partners and exciting opportunities for Georgia Law students. Earlier this year, The Coca-Cola Company, Aaron’s, Brambles, CARE, Cotiviti, the Federal Reserve Bank, Grady Health System, The Home Depot and Newell Brands opened their doors to Georgia Law students, becoming part of a network of more than 25 companies which provides real world legal experience in a corporate setting. “I am delighted that Georgia Law students will now have the opportunity to gain experience at The Coca-Cola Company in addition to other new placements which have agreed to host our students,” Business Law and Ethics Program Instructor Carol Morgan (J.D.’79) said. “This sort of practical training

A network of over 25 companies provides in-house legal experience for Georgia Law students.

is invaluable. I am thankful to my fellow Georgia Law graduates, and others, who are serving as their supervising attorneys.” Third-year law student Meghan Jones Wells said her placement at Coca-Cola was fantastic. “I was a member of a transactional team and played a primary role in standardizing a variety of Coca-Cola contracts,” she said. “Through this and other projects, I sharpened my drafting and editing skills as well as my ability to anticipate issues that a company might face.”

12

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Clinic supports Athens’ entrepreneurs The Business Law Clinic at Georgia Law was founded four years ago with two primary goals: to provide law students with realworld transactional law practice experience and to provide Athens entrepreneurs with free access to legal services that would otherwise be beyond their financial reach. According to instructor and clinic founder Willow Tracy, the clinic gives second- and thirdBusiness Law Clinic students year students who are Hannah Coleman (second from interested in transactional law an opportunity to right) and John Tomes (right) and develop practical professional skills in a closely clinic instructor Willow Tracy discuss supervised, educational setting. business plans with FH&L Creative designer Phil Goodwin. “Athens has such a vibrant and eclectic business community,” Tracy said. “From independent book stores to tech start-ups and from musicians and artists to corner grocery stores, the variety of clients guarantees our students a diverse range of experiences and fascinating challenges.” The Business Law Clinic, in turn, has been a good asset for local entrepreneurs. “With their tremendous enthusiasm and dedication, the students have made the clinic an important resource for Athens’ businesses,” Tracy said. “We see a lot of ambitious clients with bold ideas, but they lack the financial means to obtain the legal guidance they need. They’re so grateful for the services our clinic provides. Our students help them launch and grow their businesses in a sustainable way and avoid the common pitfalls that new enterprises often face.” Clinic students work on an average of 12 client matters each semester that vary depending on client needs and students’ interests. Tracy makes sure each student has the opportunity to draft contracts, form a company (usually a corporation or LLC), work with a tech start-up and handle an intellectual property issue. Some of the more common projects include registering trademarks, drafting operating agreements, helping clients obtain licenses and permits, and drafting independent contractor and employment agreements. “The Business Law Clinic is a unique opportunity for law students to interact in depth with local entrepreneurs and apply their practical legal skills to help these entrepreneurs grow their businesses,” third-year student Erin M. Peterson said. “I really enjoyed the diversity of the services that we provide to our clients in the clinic as well as seeing how our work helps build the Athens community.” Tracy added that Athens has a very active community of small businesses that are passionate about what they do. “It’s exciting to see our students making such a big difference in that ecosystem, while also gaining invaluable professional experience.”

First in Georgia: Three-year J.D. and M.B.A. launched To help meet the growing demand for lawyers with business acumen, the law school has partnered with the UGA Terry College of Business to allow students to graduate with both a law degree and a Master of Business Administration in only three years. This time-shortened dual degree will prepare students with the skills required for successful careers that combine law and business, including banking, entrepreneurship, finance, international business or commercial interests. “Students participating in this three-year dual degree will have a distinct competitive advantage when they graduate,” Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said. “In only three years, students will earn a law degree and an M.B.A., saving both time and money while gaining the necessary knowledge to succeed in today’s marketplace.” Business Law and Ethics Program Instructor Carol Morgan (J.D.’79) said businesses today face a growing number of challenges as a result of an increasingly global economy and continually changing regulations, among other factors. “Employees with a strong background in both law and business, especially from nationally

recognized schools such as ours, are a valuable asset to any law firm serving corporate clients or a company’s in-house legal department,” she said. Morgan added that the combination of the coursework and professional development opportunities offered through the J.D./ M.B.A. program enables graduates to make meaningful contributions to their clients and workplace. UGA is the only school in Georgia – and one of only a few nationwide – to offer a true three-year J.D./M.B.A. dual degree.

“Students participating in this three-year dual degree will have a distinct competitive advantage when they graduate.” —Dean Bo Rutledge

Program creates student mentorships Under the leadership of Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge, the school has taken proactive steps to fully embrace the need for authentic relationships between – and support for – all members of the law school community. This coming fall, Georgia Law will take this concept one step further by ensuring that all first-year students have a network of support when they arrive on campus. The system of support will consist of a faculty member, an upper-level law student and a Georgia Law graduate or legal professional. This will be in addition to the Career Development Office counselor who will be appointed to the student. “The goal of the mentor program is to give students as much support as possible,” Associate Director of Student Affairs Alex D. Sklut (J.D.’11) said. “Our first-year students will have multiple people to approach with questions, and the program will allow for more individualized attention. Another

benefit is that these students will have someone to talk to on a more casual basis versus having to make an appointment with someone in a particular office.” The mentor matching process will be based on surveys filled out by the mentees and mentors, and eventually the program will be expanded to all students – regardless of what year they are in in law school – so they will at a minimum have a mentor network of four individuals. Sklut said most of the matching will be based on interests and hobbies or other common areas such as undergraduate school/degree or hometowns or location of practice. “We feel students will naturally find the professors who align with their desired practice areas. They will also find ways to connect and network with alums in their intended fields. We do want to guide students about jobs, but this process is about them having a general resource about life as well as law school concerns.”

There are not any time or meeting commitments for mentors or mentees, and the communication method will be what works for each pair. However, a few mentor/ mentee events will be held throughout the year to provide an additional connection time for those who are interested. “We do not want to over structure these relationships so that they lose their flexibility and personalization,” Sklut said. “The key will be a genuine connection that will last and be fruitful for more than just three years of law school and hopefully continue as these students transition into practice and throughout their careers. Law school is not easy for most people. At Georgia Law, we want belonging to our community to be established at the beginning.” Those interested in mentoring should contact Alex Sklut at (706) 542-5167 or asklut@uga. edu. All mentors are supported by the Office of Student Affairs and are provided with a comprehensive resource guide.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

13

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Practitioners deliver diverse curriculum Visiting and adjunct professors, who are skilled practitioners and jurists, fill an important role in delivering a relevant and diverse curriculum to today’s law students. David N. Lefkowitz, who has been teaching legal malpractice law as an adjunct at Georgia Law for the last three years, enjoys his role in the classroom, ensuring that students know Adjunct Professor David Lefkowitz said many attorneys today are running a how to recognize and business and practicing law, which at avoid malpractice. times are entirely consistent with each “I love providing other and at times travel divergent paths. His legal malpractice course practical knowledge to offers real-world guidance on how to students whose previous navigate this sometimes tricky road. knowledge has been mainly theoretical,” he said. “Every lawyer needs to understand the risks – both legal and ethical – that arise in the attorney-client context.” With more than 25 years of experience, Lefkowitz said it is important for lawyers to recognize risky transactions, including conflicts of interest, and to consider the interplay between the Rules of Professional Conduct and the legal duties lawyers owe their clients. “I wish that when I was in law school, someone had taught a class where I could learn about the practical aspects of being a lawyer, including risk management, client relations and legal malpractice,” he said. Practitioners bring “unique and valuable” perspectives that come from their “interesting and exceptional” careers, according to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lori A. Ringhand. “The courses they teach are designed to tap into their expertise and to complement our already strong teaching faculty,” she said. Examples of other practitioners teaching at Georgia Law include: Rupert M. Barkoff, Kimberly R. Bourroughs (J.D.’07), J. Michael “Mike” Levengood (J.D.’80), Kenneth W. “Ken” Mauldin (J.D.’80), Donald F. “Don” Samuel (J.D.’80) and Tina K. Shah. 14

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Clerkship benefits emphasized Georgia Law faculty and career development staff have refocused their efforts on communicating to students the advantages of postgraduate federal judicial clerkships, and these efforts are showing considerable success. Since 2015, 30 students have secured federal clerkships both in the state of Georgia and beyond in states such as New Mexico, Texas and Florida. One student will also clerk for the Delaware Court of Chancery, which is considered the most important court in the country for business law. Furthermore, a recent ranking published by Excess of Democracy places Georgia Law among the top 20 law schools in the nation (and 9th among public law schools) for graduates from the Classes of 2013, 2014 and 2015 securing full-time, long-term federal clerkships. “We found that many students, especially first-year students, did not understand what a judicial clerkship is, the work they will perform or the valuable relationship they will develop with their judge,” said Associate Professor Kent H. Barnett, who also serves as one of the school’s faculty clerkship advisers along with David E. Shipley, who holds the Georgia Athletic Association Professorship in Law. “They did not realize the prestige marker or the gold star this will be on their résumés,” Barnett added. Part of the outreach includes faculty advisers making contact with qualified and interested students to find out their career goals; meeting with judges in locations where the students want to work; inviting these judges to campus, especially those from other circuits or states, to learn more about the quality of education provided at Georgia Law; and emphasizing to students the importance of summer internships and externships in judicial chambers, which are often unpaid but can lead to post-graduate clerkships through the advantages of clerking experience and recommendations to other judges. “Clerkships provide a valuable introduction to the legal profession through the mentoring that takes place,” Barnett said. “One’s writing, thinking and professional demeanor are all shaped during this time. It’s also a useful stepping stone to other prestigious and well-paying jobs, including positions in the federal government and the legal teaching academy.” Laura E. Woodson (J.D.’90), who serves as the judicial clerkship adviser in the school’s Career Development Office, said the office also supports a variety of informational programs for students like the “nuts and bolts” of applying for clerkships in addition to “very hands on” consulting for putting together and improving their application packets. She added that once judges hire from Georgia Law and they see the caliber of our students they often continue to look for other Georgia Law graduates to hire. “There is a real continuity to these relationships with our school, in addition to the lifelong relationships these judges create with their clerks.”

New scholarships bring student dreams closer to reality Scholarships play a critical role in Georgia Law’s ability not only to attract the best and brightest, but also to allow them to graduate with a level of debt that does not hinder them in pursing their chosen career path. Private donations received through the annual fund or other gifts designated for scholarships have a meaningful impact on students, the law school and the legal profession. Over the past year, Georgia Law has been able to announce a number of new fellowships and scholarships resulting from gifts from law school graduates, foundations and friends interested in supporting the next generation of lawyers. Central to this initiative was the Challenge Fund, which was established by an anonymous group of benefactors and matched any new or increased contributions to the Law School Fund during the 2015–16 fiscal year. By hitting the goal of $2 million, the law school will be able to award an additional 33 halftuition scholarships and dedicate an historic level of resources to financial support. Some new fellowships and scholarships secured or awarded this year include: The John N. Goddard Foundation made a $2 million founding gift to establish the Philip H. Alston, Jr. Distinguished Law Fellowships. The program, modeled after the successful UGA Foundation Fellowships, will offer three law students full tuition and

experiences such as domestic and international externships, guided research and interaction with some of the nation’s top legal leaders. The estate of former Georgia Gov. Carl E. Sanders (J.D.’48) made a multimillion-dollar contribution to the law school to support a variety of needs. Approximately $2.4 million was used to create the Carl E. Sanders Law Scholarship Fund and provided financial assistance to more than 15 students during the 2015–16 academic year. Gerald S. Tanenbaum (J.D.’70) created a distinguished law scholarship bearing his name that will provide a full-tuition scholarship. The first Tanenbaum scholar is anticipated to be named this fall. State Rep. Stacey Godfrey Evans (J.D.’03) and her husband, Andrew C. (J.D.’03), donated $500,000 to create the Stacey Godfrey Evans Scholarship for firstgeneration college graduates attending Georgia Law. This gift is the first of its kind to the law school. An anonymous donor made a major contribution to the scholarship fund named in honor of Georgia Law’s legendary R. Perry Sentell Jr. (LL.B.’58) with the hope that others will follow suit in honor of this longtime member of the law school’s faculty.

Alumna Stacey Godfrey Evans (J.D.’03) with her inaugural scholarship holder Trevon Smith.

An anonymous donor created the Pin Point Scholarship to honor U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was born in this Georgia town. The scholarship is for first-generation college graduates who have overcome adversity to achieve academic success. Active alumnus R. Alexander (J.D.’66) and his wife Claire Herd Crumbley, established a scholarship bearing their names to allow a deserving student to attend Georgia Law. The first holder of the Crumbley scholarship will be announced during the 2017–18 academic year. In conjunction with the gift creating the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic, Marlan B. Wilbanks (J.D.’86) created the Aubrey and Marilyn Motz Scholarship in honor of his parents. This scholarship will support students sharing his commitment of supporting survivors of child sexual abuse.

Welcome to career development leader The law school has welcomed Kenny R. Tatum as the senior director of the Career Development Office. In this position, he oversees the school’s legal career services and professional development programs. Tatum previously served as assistant dean of career services at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. He also served as the director of lateral recruiting and diversity strategy for Womble

Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. While at Womble Carlyle he was based in the law firm’s Atlanta office but was responsible for directing his title-related efforts for the firm’s 11 offices. Additionally, Tatum has experience recruiting attorneys for law firms and corporate legal departments as the owner and lead recruiter for Diversity Legal Recruiting. Early in his career he practiced law at Hunton & Williams in Atlanta and Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

15

Advocacy Success

National Title, Intrastate Sweep and Top Five International Finish

Advocacy teams at Georgia Law continue to reflect the school’s commitment to providing first-rate legal training to its students. During the 2015–16 advocacy season, Georgia Law students captured one national title, swept the intrastate competition, finished in the top five in an international contest, brought home four semifinalist trophies in national tournaments and beat the University of Florida in the annual courtroom battle. Additionally, eight oralist honors were earned as well as five brief awards.

National title captured

Winning the top trophy at the 39th J. Braxton Craven, Jr. Memorial Competition were second-year students Tayah Woodard (left), Chris Stokes (center left) and Matt Rosenthal and third-year student Mical Carter (coach). They also captured the competition’s Best Brief Award.

Intrastate sweep

ABA National Appellate Advocacy tournament

After winning the regional round of the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition earlier in the year, third-year students Ty Adams and Kate Hicks posted a strong showing for Georgia Law by finishing as quarterfinalists at the national tier of the tournament. This pair also won the Best Brief Award of the national competition. Competing in the regional round of the tournament was a second UGA team comprised of second-year students Jake Edwards, Hannah Sells and Andrew Smith. They finished as regional semifinalists. Both teams were coached by third-year student Kevin Davis, and Thomas Burch served as the faculty adviser. In the photo are: (l. to r.) Smith, Edwards, Davis, Adams, Hicks and Sells.

Georgia dominates Florida

This year, second-year students Michael Parrish, Troy Stram and Benjamin Stell were named champions of the Intrastate Moot Court Competition. They also captured the Best Brief Award, and Stram was named best oralist. The second UGA team, comprised of second-year students Callen Carroll, Thomas Church and Mary Grace Griffin, finished the contest as semifinalists. Both teams were coached by third-year students Marshall Sims and Jake Ware. Notably, Georgia Law has won 12 out of the last 15 intrastate competitions. In the photo are: (standing, l. to r.) Church, Stram, Parrish, Ware, (sitting, l. to r.) Griffin, Stell and Carroll.

16

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Third-year students Stephen Morrison (left) and Jake Ware defeated a team from the University of Florida to win the annual Florida/GeorgiaHulsey/Gambrell Moot Court Competition. This victory brings Georgia Law’s record in this long-running tournament to 22-9-2.

Top five finish at Vis The Georgia Law team competing in the 23rd Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot posted the school’s best finish ever in this global advocacy battle. Third-year student Stephen Morrison and second-year students Ronald Chicken, Emily Cox and Bethany Edmondson advanced to the quarterfinals and placed among the top five teams in the world. Significantly, they were the last American law school team in this international competition. The Georgia Law students were coached by Sara Burns, an associate in the Atlanta office of King & Spalding. Morrison also served as the student coach.

Georgia Law goes online Georgia Law is moving into cyberspace. To meet student desire for greater scheduling flexibility, the law school is harnessing technology to offer remote instruction in several high-demand courses. “Our face-to-face instruction is a real strength at Georgia Law,” Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lori A. Ringhand said. “Distance learning will complement that and provide students with more options in designing their law school experience.” Delivering courses through distance learning makes sense as the school seeks to provide students with more experiential learning and professional development opportunities outside of the Athens area. This includes participants in the new Atlanta Semester in Practice, the Washington, D.C., Semester in Practice and those in study abroad, as well as students enrolled in the Master in the Study of Law program. As the head of the law school’s distance learning committee, Associate Professor Hillel Y. Levin said the group adopted a stepby-step approach to find what will work best at Georgia Law. “It is an exciting time that presents new opportunities and challenges,” Levin said. “As with anything new there is a learning curve.” He added that there are several different types of distance learning, and that this type of instruction requires something different from traditional law school teaching to be successful. “We want to strike the right balance between innovating our approach to teaching and keeping what makes Georgia Law truly special,” Levin said. “We have a unique law school community here in Athens that we want to retain, even as we explore cutting-edge opportunities in legal education.” This past spring, Associate Professor Christian Turner, who is known for experimenting with the use of different types of technology in his classroom, embraced the opportunity to deliver the law school’s first course using virtual classroom technology. His upper-level course Modern American Legal Theory was taught using downloadable podcasts and live discussions via the video chat app Zoom. One of the challenges of distance learning according to Turner is producing content that students can download at a sufficiently high quality. “You also have to make the correct technical choices so that students have no technological barriers to the class. Additionally, you want technology that creates a sense of presence. … It is very important to maintain the quality of in-person instruction.”

Distance learning provides students with more options for their law school experience.

Corsair Law Society launched Georgia Law publicly launched its Corsair Law Society in early 2016. This prestigious group seeks to foster and improve opportunities for law students who desire to practice in the areas of transactional law or corporate litigation in major financial markets across the country. Among the group’s goals is the formation of a support network for these top-performing students that includes alumni and alumnae nationwide who have excelled in business law careers, likeminded law students, and undergraduate and graduate business students. Associate Dean Usha Rodrigues, Business Law and Ethics Program Instructor Carol Morgan (J.D.’79), Alston Chair in Corporate Law Margaret V. Sachs and Hosch Associate Professor Mehrsa Baradaran currently serve as advisers to this new and exciting group.

Students participating in the Corsair Law Society include: (back row, l. to r.) Wil Alexander, Carol Williamson, Ty Adams, Steven Zavodnick, Anthony Kennedy, (middle row, l. to r.) Audrey Rogers, Matt Rosenthal, Pedro Dorado, Bo Uuganbayar, Jessie Kimball, (front row, l. to r.) Matthew Gobel, John Tomes, Olivia Scofield, Taryn Winston, John Thomas III and Elizabeth DeVos.

Negotiation teams shine Georgia Law students representing the law school in negotiation tournaments during the 2015–16 academic year had a strong showing. In the Transactional LawMeet competition, third-year students Elizabeth A. DeVos and Lily D. Wilkerson and secondyear student Molly H. Cash won the Best Draft Award at the Southwestern regional contest, while third-year students Johnathan Chiu and Frances H. Kim and second-year student Hannah R. Coleman earned the Best Draft Award at the Chicago regional. Adjunct Professor Susan J. Wilson (J.D.’89) and Robert C. “Rob” Davis III (J.D.’99) served as coaches. Of special note, Georgia Law also served as host of the Southeastern regional round of the Transactional LawMeet. During the fall, second-year law students Gregory D. “Greg” Mark and Louis J. “Joe” Potente finished as finalists in the American Bar Association Regional Negotiation Competition. Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

17

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Georgia Law hosts Court of Appeals Last October, the law school hosted the Georgia Court of Appeals in its Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom as the court heard oral arguments on three cases involving medical negligence, sovereign immunity and aggravated assault. A question-andanswer session with Court of Appeals judges followed the arguments. The jurists, all Georgia Law graduates,

included Presiding Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes (J.D.’83) (center), Judge William M. Ray II (J.D.’90) (left) and Judge Carla Wong McMillian (J.D.’98). The last time the Court of Appeals held oral arguments at the law school was in 2007. Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said having the court hear arguments at the law school benefitted students greatly.

“This unique opportunity to witness firsthand Court of Appeals proceedings offered our students a front-and-center view into the legal system that will assist them as they move forward with their education and careers,” he said. “It was also a tremendous opportunity for the public at large to see the Georgia Court of Appeals in action.”

Red Clay focus: Sustainability

WIPI Conference addresses social justice

Making a sustainable lifestyle accessible to all was the working title of the 28th Annual Red Clay Conference, which was held during the spring semester. The daylong program included discussions on solar power in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel Avi Garbow the Southeast and Georgia’s new “Household Solar Panel” bill, flood insurance and the tensions between risk and affordability, and farm-to-school food initiatives and child nutrition reauthorization. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel Avi S. Garbow provided a special address, while Loyola University New Orleans’ Robert R.M. Verchick, a legal expert in environmental regulation, climate change and the developing field of disaster law, delivered the keynote address. The annual Red Clay Conference aims to increase public awareness of environmental issues of regional, national and international significance through a series of educational presentations and open forum discussions. It is entirely student-organized by members of the law school’s Environmental Law Association.

The 11th Annual Working in the Public Interest Conference, held during February, focused on current social issues affecting the law and potential solutions the law can offer in such situations. Key topics explored during the event’s three panels included: the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision on samesex marriage in regard to the administration of probate, estate planning and adoption proceedings; issues with inadequate representation for misdemeanor offenses and how the law can be used to remedy the problem; and opportunities to provide undocumented immigrants with access to higher education and legal advice. Steve Gottlieb, executive director of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, presented the keynote address. The Working in the Public Interest law student organization brings together practitioners, students and faculty to discuss equal treatment under the law, access to legal representation for the currently underrepresented and practical approaches to public interest lawyering.

18

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Morris, Manning & Martin Café Georgia Law held a dedication ceremony on Feb. 1, naming its café in honor of the law firm Morris, Manning & Martin. Pictured (l. to r.) are firm founder Joseph R. Manning, Dean Bo Rutledge, Managing Partner Louise Wells and firm founder Sonny Morris. The widow of the firm’s third founder, the late Arthur B.L. Martin, also attended. Throughout the years, Morris, Manning & Martin has been a consistent employer of Georgia Law graduates. The firm has also taken a leadership role in mentoring students and has supported student scholarships.

Graduates connecting with students Georgia Law’s African-American alumni and alumnae held a reception at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta to network with students and honor Dean Bo Rutledge. The event focused on strengthening ties with the law school’s African-American community and discussing opportunities to engage with Georgia Law. Pictured (l. to r.) are third-year students Kevin Davis, James Graham, NaTasha Webb-Prather and Jonathan Stuart. Photograph by MITE Services.

Law School Life LL.M. students tour Atlanta Georgia Law’s LL.M. students benefitted from a professional development trip to Atlanta this spring. While there, they toured the Supreme Court of Georgia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and ended the day with lunch and a professional briefing at the global law firm Troutman Sanders.

Meeting the U.S. Attorney General Third-year student Austin Ramsey (left) had the opportunity to meet U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch while working at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta as part of the law school’s Civil Externship program. Photo courtesy of Austin Ramsey.

Stevens Public Interest Fellows Rising second-year student Taryn Arbeiter (left) and rising third-year student Jennifer Cross were named recipients of Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Foundation Fellowships, which support students taking summer public interest law positions. Arbeiter interned at The Door in New York City, and Cross worked at the Orleans Public Defenders in New Orleans during the summer. Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

19

ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

STUDENT PROFILES Mical Carter EMPOWERING THE WORLD Recent graduate Mical D. Carter wants to live a life of service more than anything. As a child, she was an observer – someone who took notice of playground politics and how certain groups of people were treated differently, and she knew she had to play a part in equaling the playing field for the underdogs. “Not having financial resources and the education to really know how to stand up for your rights is kind of a handicap,” Carter said. Understanding the power of an education, she attended East Tennessee State University where she earned her bachelor’s degrees in sociology and criminal justice/criminology and her master’s degree in criminal justice/criminology. After serving as an adjunct professor of sociology for one year at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee, Carter made the move to Athens and enrolled at Georgia Law. Here, she found the resources and programs she needed to gain direct access to those who need legal assistance. Through her participation in the school’s Criminal Defense Clinic and Mediation Practicum, she was able to work with clients and make a difference. “I’m most proud of my clinic work and my internship work,” Carter said. “That’s when I’m dealing with real people with real problems, and it’s not a simulated exercise.”

One of her most memorable experiences came from her time interning with the Public Defender’s Office for the Clayton Circuit, where she became involved with its Drug Court Program. “One gentleman – he actually got to be in the delivery room when his granddaughter was born,” Carter recalled. “He had had a horrible relationship with his daughter. They had a rocky road for about 15 years, and he was able to see his grandchild be born. Just seeing people grow and become stronger, healthier individuals was amazing.” In fact, Carter would love to see the law become more of a positive influence in the lives of everyday citizens. “I’m a firm believer that a lot of legal practice should be a hybrid of social work and advocacy,” she said. “I think a lot of the time, depending on the type of law you’re practicing, a lot of our clients need to be empowered. They need to be able to figure out what kind of tools they have in their tool belt that they don’t even know are there.” Carter’s next step is to focus on civil work for Georgia Legal Services in its Athens branch, and eventually she would like to return to teaching to establish a pre-law track at a small college or university that does not already have one. “I just want to be a part of the domino effect. I really believe in paying it forward, and I think that any impact that you have on one individual can then trickle down into the impacts that that individual is empowered to have,” she said.

Matt Rosenthal A PATH TO SUCCESS Rising third-year law student Matthew B. “Matt” Rosenthal lives by his father’s motto that hard work makes the biggest difference. In fact, he attributes his drive to pursue a career in law to his network of support – his family and friends – and especially a family friend Michael R. Duponte, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta. “My dad’s best friend is Michael Duponte, and he’s basically like an uncle to me,” Rosenthal said. “... Ever since I was a little kid, he always encouraged me to try and go to law school, so it was always in the back of my mind. He’s probably been one of the most influential people to encourage me to go to law school and just in growing up in general.” After graduating from UGA with bachelor’s degrees in history and Spanish, Rosenthal enrolled at Georgia Law. During the summer of his first year in law school, he was fortunate

20

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Carson Stepanek A HEART FOR HISTORY Georgia Law student Carson L. Stepanek knew from a young age that she wanted to be where the history was. Growing up, she favored trips to museums while exploring new cities, and she said she even owned a library card before most of her peers and she used the card to browse the history section of the library. She immersed herself in stories of the past, focusing on her favorite time period – Colonial America. Expanding upon her love of history, Stepanek majored in the topic as an undergraduate student at Georgia Southern University, where she was selected to be a part of the Georgia Southern Eagles in D.C. program that offers congressional internships in the nation’s capital. Through the initiative, she interned with U.S. Congressman Austin Scott and was thrilled to learn she could give tours of the U.S. Capitol and provide attendees with heavy doses of history that she acquired throughout the years. “You know, what I really love are just the little side stories,” Stepanek said. “You can talk about the big battles, but really, it’s these little avenues of stories that you just pick up from classes or books. And you wouldn’t think that ‘I have a funny history story’ is a good lead in to a joke, but it really is.” After earning her bachelor’s degree, Stepanek worked at the Georgia Southern library for two years but always knew that she wanted to further her education. Her father’s career as a law professor exposed her to her first taste of the legal field. At the age of eight, she was able to go with her father to observe a criminal trial, which she recalled as an exciting opportunity. That experience cemented her resolve to apply for law school. While researching law schools, Stepanek discovered Georgia Law and its rich history, which was more than enough to draw her

enough to serve as a judicial intern for U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May (J.D.’98). “It was an amazing experience,” Rosenthal said. “She’s just a brilliant person, and she’s very kind. It makes me comfortable knowing that judges like that are out there because they’re really trying to do what’s right.” He also explored both written and oral advocacy as a member of the school’s J. Braxton Craven, Jr. Memorial Competition team earlier this spring. He and his moot court teammates won the national championship and earned the tournament’s Best Brief Award. Additionally, he served as an editorial board member for the Georgia Law Review last year, and he will serve as executive articles editor this coming year. Rosenthal was selected as a member of the inaugural class of the school’s Corsair Law Society, a group that encourages students to pursue work opportunities in transactional law or corporate

in. Upon enrollment, she found the roots and sense of permanence she desired. In Athens, Stepanek has gotten involved with organizations such as the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and Georgia Society for International and Comparative Law. Since this Iowa native moved around the United States multiple times while growing up, her experiences of living in different areas led her to test the waters with international law. “That love of moving has really influenced [me],” she said. “I have a love of international law that I think can really be tied down to, you know, just loving to be everywhere and anywhere.” In the coming years, Stepanek would like to become a published author and potentially study abroad to get more hands-on experience with international law. “I have this love for reading, writing and rhetoric, and that’s what we’re here to perfect. That’s what we’re here to learn,” she said. “… [I am] hoping to hunker down and get some decent writing done and leave my mark on this field and the school in general.”

litigation in major financial markets across the country. Through his participation, he was able to land a position as a summer associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City. “Being a part of the Corsair Law Society and getting to know the different business law professors really sparked my interest in corporate law that I didn’t think I had before,” he said. “I don’t think I would have been able to have this [Sullivan & Cromwell] opportunity without being a part of the Corsair Law Society.” Rosenthal has accepted a judicial clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. that will begin after his graduation. He said eventually he would like to work in New York and develop his legal specialization. “I would like to work hard and just make sure that whoever I am working for, whoever is my client, that I will make their life a little bit better and hopefully be able to be a good force in the world,” he said. —All Profiles by Kelly Tran

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

21

FOSTERING WORLD-CLASS IDEAS

Edith House Lecture EVANS ENCOURAGES WOMEN LAWYERS TO USE THEIR VOICES

“If you’ve got something important and unique to say, I hope you’ll say it.” —Stacey Godfrey Evans (J.D. ‘03)

22

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Georgia state Rep. Stacey Godfrey Evans (J.D.’03) presented “The Voice of a Woman Lawyer: Why it Matters and How to Use It” as Georgia Law’s 34th Edith House Lecturer during the spring. Noting that while there has been progress for women lawyers, Evans said there is definitely a lot more to do, offering several tips on how to use the “woman lawyer voice.” Use it: Evans encouraged each woman to share her unique perspective. Use it to take business risks: During her first legislative term, Evans was offered “the opportunity of the lifetime” to take on a major whistleblower case. It required her to leave the firm where she was working and take a major risk. “I really hope you won’t shy away from those opportunities to take a business or financial risk,” she said. “… Seriously consider smart, calculated business risks.” Use it to stay the course and do what’s hard: While working on the whistleblower case, Evans was serving in the legislature and learned she was pregnant. “It’s okay to be overwhelmed but just remember that this too shall pass,” she said. “Just dig in and make sure you stay the course because I’m pretty sure the best opportunities we all have are not going to pick the time that’s most convenient for us to come along. We’ve kind of got to seize them when it comes.” Use it to do what you want to do, not just what you are asked to do: Evans encouraged lecture attendees to always do their part to make sure tasks in firms are spread equally between men and women. Use it to network: Networking is an important part of building a professional reputation. “Make time for it,” Evans encouraged. “… This is a huge part of getting ahead.” Use it to hear and understand voices different from yours: “It’s human nature to seek out those you know or those who look like you and talk to them because it’s more comfortable, but don’t do that,” Evans said. “Instead, look for people that you don’t know and don’t look like you. Sit

with them. Talk with them. Get to know them. It’s going to help you not only broaden your world but also [give] you a chance to enlighten them.” Use it to encourage others: “We have to be cheerleaders for each other,” Evans said, asking women to encourage each other while also not worrying about the concept of balance. “Life is not going to fit neatly into a box – into little boxes – and sometimes you’re going to have to multitask.” Don’t shy away from using it to discuss a controversial topic: Evans spoke about a bill in the legislature limiting abortion, and how the vote was scheduled for the day she was to give birth to her daughter. “I had every excuse not to speak, but I really wanted to,” she said, so she recorded a statement to play. “I felt it was important for my voice to be heard, even though I didn’t have an invitation to speak and even though I had every excuse not to. … It was very controversial, but I did it anyway. … If you’ve got something important and unique to say, I hope you’ll say it.” Use it to lead and don’t wait for an invitation: “By and large, to get wholesale change, we’re going to have to change policy … ,” she said. “In other words, use your woman lawyer voice to vote, support other women who are running for office and run for office yourself. I don’t care if it’s as a Republican or a Democrat, just run. And please, don’t wait for an invitation to run for office. … Seek it out.” The Edith House Lecture is sponsored by the Women Law Students Association in honor of one of the first female graduates of Georgia Law. House, a native of Winder, Georgia, was co-valedictorian of the law class of 1925, the first to graduate women.

Sibley Lecturers BRINGING TERRORISTS TO JUSTICE Richard C. Tallman, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, presented “Bringing Terrorists to Justice” as the law school’s 114th Sibley Lecturer. Tallman discussed the detention of and debate over terrorists who were captured and housed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after the 9/11 terror attacks. The U.S. government and its courts have been faced with a number of questions on how to prosecute these detainees. After initial plans to try them in federal courts, then-Attorney General Eric Holder eventually declared that detainees would be tried by military tribunal. However, “no trial date has been set for 9/11 suspects and pretrial hearings continue to drag on before the military commissions,” Tallman said. “The Pentagon has built a $12 million courtroom capable of trying six alleged coconspirators before one judge and a jury.” The courtroom is designed such that media and other observers can be sequestered and will hear audio on a slight delay so that it may be muted if court officials suspect someone is about to reveal classified information. “It is predicted that trials and appeals will go on for years [and will] require significant time and money as lawyers identify, produce and examine an enormous volume of classified material,” he said. Courts are currently dealing with a “wide array” of questions regarding burden of proof, the president’s detention power, questions of what offenses can be adjudicated, immigration issues and plans for those charged in the future. “The legality of military commissions and the type of process they must afford to detainees remain open questions,” Tallman said. “The resolution of these questions calls for a delicate balancing between designing procedures to ensure justice for detainees while at the same time successfully prosecuting the war most effectively. … It is the role of the judiciary to hold that delicate balance steady and true.”

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Tallman presented the 114th Sibley Lecture. Attending the event with him was his law clerk, Georgia Law 2015 alumna Amanda McDowell.

David Wilkins, Harvard University’s vice dean for global initiatives on the legal profession, was the law school’s 113th Sibley Lecturer.

GLOBAL LEGAL NETWORK AFFECTED BY ACCOUNTANCY FIRMS’ TRANSFORMATION David B. Wilkins, Harvard University’s vice dean for global initiatives on the legal profession, presented “The Accountants Are Coming – Again! The Rise and Transformation of the Big 4 Accountancy Firms and What It Means for the Global Market for Legal Services” as the law school’s 113th Sibley Lecturer. Wilkins spoke about how at the turn of the 21st century, major accounting firms and the legal field had an “uneasy balance” with the ties between accountants and tax lawyers. He added that accounting firms began to create legal networks of their own and expanded globally. However, the Enron scandal in 2001 caused shifts for the firms, as the corporation’s implosion was blamed on a lack of auditing independence. As a result of new U.S. regulations, big accountancy firms then unbundled their legal networks, he said. However, through his work as the faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession, Wilkins and fellow researchers have determined in the years since Enron, accounting firms have rebuilt and expanded the reach of their legal networks and made them bigger and stronger by diversifying both the type of work they are doing and their regional coverage. Wilkins identified concerns regarding these changes and whether lawyers were turning into consultants whose primary objectives are to integrate laws to achieve business objectives and urged legal stakeholders to “pay attention to what [the firms] are doing and what the increasing success of their model says about the future of global services.” He said that “predictions are difficult, particularly about the future. … [Y]ou don’t know if you’re in a paradigm shift when you’re in the middle of one. … But here’s the thing I think we can be sure of – I don’t think it’s the death of big law, and I certainly don’t think it’s the end of lawyers.”

The Sibley Lecture Series, established in 1964 by the Charles Loridans Foundation of Atlanta in tribute to the late John A. Sibley, is designed to attract outstanding legal scholars of national prominence to Georgia Law. Sibley was a 1911 graduate of the law school. Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

23

FOSTERING WORLD-CLASS IDEAS

Second-year student Pedro Dorado (center) serves as the Dean Rusk International Law Center Fellow, while law fellow students (l. to r.) Danielle Glover, Taryn Arbeiter, Chanel Chauvet and Olga Gambini are members of center’s student ambassador initiative.

Center undergoes exciting changes Georgia Law’s 38-year-old Dean Rusk International Law Center continues to expand its collaborative efforts and increase opportunities for both students and faculty to focus on global legal issues. Led by Associate Dean for International Programs and Strategic Initiatives & Woodruff Chair in International Law Diane Marie Amann, the center itself has a new, modernized look that also acknowledges the rich history of international scholars who have greatly influenced the direction of the law school. Artwork is a focal point, including portraits of former U.S. Secretary of State and Sibley Professor of International Law Emeritus Dean Rusk, the center’s namesake, and the inaugural holder of the Woodruff Chair in International Law, Louis B. Sohn, namesake of the center’s Sohn Library on International Relations. At an October rededication ceremony, Kannan Rajarathinam (LL.M.’88), who serves as head of office for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, delivered a keynote address titled “The United Nations at 70: Pursuing Peace in the 21st Century.” New to the center this year are Director of Global Practice Preparation Kathleen A. Doty, Administrative Assistant Martica Marín and Executive Administrator Elena Williams. They join Amann and Director of International Professional Education Laura Tate Kagel

24

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

(J.D.’06). Assisting them are second-year student Pedro Dorado, the Dean Rusk International Law Center Fellow, and about one dozen other student ambassadors, who provide research and other support. In addition to hiring new staff, the center broadened its adviser base. The Dean Rusk International Law Center Council, comprising faculty, alumni/alumnae and counselors, includes lawyers practicing in a variety of international and transnational law subfields throughout the world. Center initiatives include study abroad in Europe and opportunities to obtain practice experience through the Global Externship At-Home and Global Externship Overseas. GEA offers placements within the United States in legal departments, government offices and nongovernmental organizations, while GEO offers summer placements in a variety of law-office settings around the world. Numerous events are planned for the 2016–17 academic year. Among them is a Sept. 23 conference – sponsored by the center, the Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law and the International Committee of the Red Cross – at which experts will examine the new Geneva Convention Commentary edited by ICRC Legal Advisor Jean-Marie Henckaerts (LL.M.’90).

More on these events and other Dean Rusk International Law Center initiatives may be found on social media, the center’s Exchange of Notes blog (https://deanruskintlaw.com/) and its redesigned website (http://law.uga.edu/RuskIntl).

Top tax scholar joins faculty Georgia Law is pleased to announce that Gregg D. Polsky will be joining the law school’s faculty this fall as the Francis Shackelford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law. Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said Polsky embodies the sort of world-class scholar and first-rate teacher who will help advance UGA’s commitment to excellence. His teaching expertise includes tax, private equity and an innovative course on business basics for lawyers. He is the co-author of the casebook Federal Income Taxation: Cases and Materials. His other key works include: “A Compendium of Private Equity Tax Games” in 146 Tax Notes 615 (Feb. 2, 2015), “Acqui-hiring” in 63 Duke Law Journal 281 (2013) and “Taxing Punitive Damages” in 96 Virginia Law Review 1295 (2010). Polsky, whose work has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal and cited in The New York Times and other media outlets, said he strives to write and research in areas that

have significance with practicing lawyers and policymakers. “I want to research the issues that tax practitioners in private practice and in the government are thinking about so that my work will have real world impact,” he said. In part his specialty was established during his time as a Professor in Residence in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C. During the 2007–08 academic year, Polsky worked on a variety of projects, which stimulated his interest in the tax issues of private equity, venture capital and hedge funds. He said his current research is not results oriented with a predetermined goal or result. “I just want to find the right conceptual and practical approach regardless of who benefits – the government or the taxpayer.” He also likes the way that tax

law is so pervasive. “It affects everything – policy discussions, distributional issues, administrative concerns. … It is a fascinating puzzle, and I am looking to promote good policy results.” Polsky regularly engages in consulting and expert witness activities relating to tax and business issues. He often incorporates these experiences into his classroom to put the lessons into real-life context. Previously, Polsky was the Willie Person Magnum Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He has served on the law faculties of the University of Minnesota and Florida State University. He earned his J.D. and his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida. Before joining the legal academy, he practiced tax and business law in the Miami office of White & Case.

New associate dean named Alexander W. “Alex” Scherr has been named the school’s new associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning. In this role, he will work to enhance and advance the school’s experiential learning offerings, which currently include 15 clinical and practical training courses and a wide range of simulation classes. Scherr joined the Georgia Law faculty in 1996 as its first director of civil clinics. He has played a large role in the establishment of clinical courses at the law school, including the Atlanta Semester in Practice program, the D.C. Semester in Practice program, the Civil Externship, the Family Violence Clinic, the Mediation Practicum and the Community Health Law Partnership. He also served as program coordinator for the Public Interest Fellowship program, which ran from 2007 to 2012. Scherr is a consultant for clinical programs nationally and regularly presents at national and regional clinical legal education conferences. He has played an active role in reforming American Bar Association standards for externship courses. He serves as a drafter of the Multistate Performance Test for the National

Conference of Bar Examiners and of the California Performance Test. He is a member of the Advisory Group for the Aspire Clinic, a multi-disciplinary clinic at UGA that includes legal services offered by students under his supervision. Scherr is the co-editor of the leading text for externship clinics, Learning From Practice: A Text for Experiential Legal Education, 3d ed. He has served as president of the Clinical Legal Education Association, as chair of the American Association of Law School’s Clinical Advisory Committee and as a member of the AALS Clinical Section’s Executive Committee. He chaired the planning committee for the 2015 AALS Clinical Conference that had more than 700 participants and over 200 presenters. Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

25

FOSTERING WORLD-CLASS IDEAS

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS Baradaran is key voice in national debate on postal banking Since the publication of her book How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2015), Hosch Associate Professor Mehrsa Baradaran has become a leading voice in the debate on postal banking. Her publication traces the history of banking in America to show how trends including deregulation and the consolidation of banks have resulted in a banking system that, while enjoying government support in the form of deposit insurance, interest-free loans and bailouts, has no incentive to serve Americans who most need small loans. The solution to this problem, Baradaran argues, is found in every ZIP code: the United States Post Office.

Baradaran has been a sought after speaker participating in a banking reform panel with U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren as well as delivering talks at the World Bank and the U.S. Department of Treasury. She has also received national and international press, including being featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and the Financial Times in addition to appearances on National Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Public Broadcasting Service’s “NewsHour” and as part of TEDxUGA.

Beck receives Garwood Visiting Fellowship at Princeton Randy Beck, the holder of the Justice Thomas O. Marshall Chair of Constitutional Law, has been awarded a Garwood Visiting Fellowship through the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University for the 2016–17 academic year. While in residence, Beck will research early American qui tam statutes that allowed private citizens to sue government officials for failure to perform statutory duties. He said the research is relevant to modern constitutional issues such as who has standing to sue under Article III and permissible mechanisms for ensuring legal accountability of executive officials. “My research would consider the range of public duties enforced by qui tam legislation, as well as case law and other historical materials relating to the effects of enforcement efforts,” he said. Beck’s current view is that use of qui tam legislation to monitor executive officials may be warranted in instances where legal noncompliance is least defensible, where public confidence in government lawfulness is most important, and where other executive officials responsible for enforcing the law may labor under a conflict of interest. 26

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

National conference spotlights Burch’s focus on aggregate litigation Kirbo Chair Elizabeth Chamblee Burch organized a conference titled “The Future of Aggregate Litigation” as part of her receipt of the American Law Institute Young Scholars Medal in 2015. It was held during April at New York University and included some the nation’s leading scholars, practitioners and judges in the field. The keynote speaker was U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit Judge Anthony J. Scirica. According to Burch aggregate litigation is in the state of flux. “Over the last 15 years, the class-action landscape has shifted steadily, with Congress and the appellate courts making class certification more difficult through federal jurisdiction and a series of appellate decisions,” she said. “Alongside other developments in arbitration, multidistrict litigation and administrative agencies, these changes have pushed group litigation in new directions.” The conference’s panel topics centered on areas of concern for both courts and scholars – aggregate litigation outside of Article III courts, judicial power and its limits in multidistrict litigation, individuals within the aggregate, and the future of group litigation.

Lanier receives Borchard Foundation research grant Eleanor Crosby Lanier, the Mediation Practicum managing attorney, recently received a $20,000 research grant from the Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging. Lanier will research both legal and practical barriers to the entry of limited guardianship orders by reviewing statutes and case law as well as surveying people with practical expertise to gain their perspective on the barriers. She will also conduct a content analysis of self-help information on government and court websites to determine the extent to which information about limiting guardianship is available. Her goal is to advance collective knowledge about the practical barriers and provide recommendations for overcoming them so that limited orders can be entered where they are appropriate. The Borchard Foundation awards four grants of up to $20,000 annually to further scholarship about new or improved public policies, laws and/or programs that will enhance the quality of life for the elderly. Each grant recipient is required to publish an article on the subject of their research in a top-flight journal.

Ringhand provides insights about SCOTUS nomination With the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Hosch Professor Lori A. Ringhand has been busy sharing her expertise in the areas of Supreme Court nominations and the confirmation process. Ringhand was quoted in The New York Times stating that a long confirmation fight without so much as a hearing would hurt the Supreme Court. “Law matters to the court, and it is the law that is going to get lost in the media frenzy,” she said. “Interest groups and partisans will dive in with no holds barred, but neither the nominee nor the senators will have the opportunity to talk through important issues at stake in the relatively more disciplined format the confirmation hearings can provide.” Ringhand is the coauthor of Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change and “The Institutionalization of Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings” (41 Law and Social Inquiry 126 (Winter 2016)). In the fall of 2015, she was named associate dean for academic affairs at the law school.

Thompson testifies before judiciary subcommittee Larry D. Thompson, the holder of the Sibley Professorship in Corporate and Business Law, testified in a U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice hearing on “Oversight of the False Claims Act.” The purpose of the hearing was to examine the act’s success and seek ways “to prevent, detect and eliminate false claims costing taxpayer dollars, while ensuring fair and just results.” Thompson drew upon his experience as U.S. deputy attorney general, a U.S. attorney, general counsel of PepsiCo and his years of private practice in addition to his membership on a Blue Ribbon Panel on High Quality Ethics and Compliance Programs convened by the Ethics and Compliance Certification Institute and funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Three win faculty awards

Three faculty members were recognized this year by Georgia Law students. They include Dean Bo Rutledge with the O’Byrne Memorial Award for Significant Contributions Furthering StudentFaculty Relations (left), Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism Lonnie Brown with the Student Bar Association Professionalism Award (center) and Marshall Chair of Constitutional Law Randy Beck with the Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

27

FOSTERING WORLD-CLASS IDEAS

Georgia Law hosts inaugural Rural Healthcare Symposium “Obstacles and Opportunities Going Forward” was the title of Georgia Law’s inaugural Rural Healthcare Symposium, held in conjunction with the health law and consulting firm Boling & Company during the spring. “This inaugural symposium was a focused policy discussion between local and national healthcare executives, policymakers and advocates,” Associate Professor and symposium organizer Fazal Khan said. “This program presented an opportunity to examine the difficult challenges rural healthcare providers are currently facing as well as potential policy solutions to solve some of these concerns moving forward.” The keynote presentation by Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Health Association, analyzed the latest data available regarding many aspects of rural healthcare delivery and presented both barriers and opportunities for providers and policymakers who work in these settings. Morgan has more than 20 years of experience in health policy development, including tenures with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and the Heart Rhythm Society. Morgan has published health policy articles in several publications and served as the co-author of the sixth edition of Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care. Other panelists at the conference included medical and legal professionals from community hospitals, public service, universities and healthcare consulting firms. The daylong conference included four panel discussions which centered on rural hospital consolidation, affiliations and closures; regulatory issues affecting rural healthcare and potential remedies; technological innovations addressing access shortages; and medical staff alignment and recruitment strategies. “This symposium benefited from a diverse composition of panelists and participants that cut across disciplines such as law, medicine and public policy,” Khan said. “The program successfully allowed various rural healthcare stakeholders to have candid and spirited discussions regarding the needs and future of their field.” The law school student group Health Law Society assisted with the organization of the symposium, which was sponsored by the Georgia Partnership for Telehealth and the Community Hospital Corporation.

Rural healthcare stakeholders had “candid and spirited” discussions.

28

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Speaking at the portrait unveiling were UGA President Jere Morehead (J.D.’80) (left) and University Professor and Caldwell Chair in Constitutional Law Dan Coenen. In the photo, the pair poses with White. Photo by Steve Strickland.

White’s portrait presented to law school before retirement During the spring, the portrait of former Dean Rebecca Hanner White was presented to the law school to commemorate her more than 11 years of service as the leader of the institution. During the unveiling ceremony, she announced her intention to retire at the end of the academic year. Her portrait currently hangs alongside those of other former deans in the school’s Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom. Notably, she was the first female dean of the law school. White led the institution from July 2003 to December 2014, and prior to that she served as associate provost and associate vice president of academic affairs for UGA from 2002 to 2003. She specialized in the areas of labor law, employment discrimination, employment law and labor arbitration during her more than 25 years on the law school’s faculty. She is a respected scholar and co-author of Employment Discrimination and Cases and Materials on Employment Discrimination. White was appointed a J. Alton Hosch Professor in 1999, and her teaching recognitions include the receipt of UGA’s highest teaching honor – the Josiah Meigs Award, the law school’s Faculty Book Award for Excellence in Teaching on six occasions and the John C. O’Byrne Memorial Award for Significant Contributions Furthering Student-Faculty Relations. White’s other university level honors include being chosen as a Senior Teaching Fellow, a member of the Teaching Academy and a Senior Faculty Fellow for the Foundation Fellows program.

Celebrating 50 Years

Founded in 1966, the Georgia Law Review has been “a forum for legal egal writing that challenges, questions, and analyzes the nuances of legal institutions utions and theories, judicial opinions, and societal norms” for 50 years. The journal has also enabled Georgia Law students serving on its board the opportunity to hone their writing and editorial skills. In February Georgia Law Review members, past and present, attended a celebratory gala to mark this significant anniversary. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was in attendance and delivered the keynote address.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the keynote address.

At the event were: (l. to r.) second-year student Thomas Hatchett with editorial board members for volume 50 Jacob Edwards, Troy Stram, Audrey Rogers and Dana Schwartzenfeld.

Enjoying the gala were: (l. to r.) Executive Editor for volume 7 Nick Sears (J.D.’73), Editor-in-chief of volume 7 Ken Carroll Jr. (J.D.’73), Martha Carroll, Fran Calhoun and Notes Editor of volume 6 Marc Calhoun Jr. (J.D.’72). All photos by Dennis McDaniel.

Participating in the ceremony were: Editor-inchief for volume 50 Payton Bradford (J.D.’16) and Hosch Professor Elizabeth Weeks Leonard (J.D.’99), editor-in-chief for volume 33.

The Georgia Law Review 50th anniversary gala would not have been possible without the following sponsors: Gold level – Arnall Golden Gregory, King & Spalding, Smith Gambrell & Russell and Womble Carlyle

Silver level – Kilpatrick Townsend and Maynard Cooper Gale

Bronze level – Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, Jones Day and Troutman Sanders

ALUMNI/ 2016 ALUMNAE WEEKEND Georgia Law’s annual Alumni/Alumnae Weekend brought together alumni and alumnae, students, faculty and members of the judiciary for a variety of programs designed for learning and reflection, awards and recognitions as well as networking.

The law school’s first female and male African-American graduates joined the festivities – Sharon “Nyota” Tucker (J.D.’74) and Chester Davenport (LL.B.’66).

A keynote panel of sitting jurists spotlighted pathways to the bench and tips for lawyers appearing in court. Panelists included: U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Julie Carnes (J.D.’75), U.S. District Court Chief Judge Clay Land (J.D.’85) (right) and Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Hugh Thompson. Photo by Steve Strickland.

An “Alumni/Alumnae Through the Decades” panel explored changes at law school from the 1960s to present day. Graduates serving on the panel were: (l. to r.) William Jenkins (J.D.’81), Kellie Casey (J.D.’90), Barbara Mendel Mayden (J.D.’76), moderator Paul Kurtz (Associate Dean and Professor Emeritus), Shannon Shipley Hinson (J.D.’06) and Alex Crumbley (J.D.’66).

Graduates from the Class of 2015 were inducted into the Order of the Coif. Present for the ceremony were: (l. to r.) Associate Dean Erica Hashimoto (presenter), Russell Brown, Daniel Campen, Maria del Rosario Rivera-Diaz, Ricardo Lopez, Hali Anne Hill Cole, Chelsey McDade Lewis, Andrew Mason, William Smith, George Ray, Lee Deneen, Nicola Rossi and Hunter Carpenter. Not pictured: Emily Carlton Cook, Emily Evans, Michael Green Jr., Sarah Anne Hill, Amanda McDowell, Dov Preminger and Michael Sullivan. Photo by Steve Strickland.

30

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Above: Dean Bo Rutledge (center) shares a moment with Benna Ruth Solomon (J.D.’78) (right) and her husband, David Strauss.

Ken Klein (J.D.’76), Beth Chandler (J.D.’88) (center) and Carrie Raeber enjoyed the picnic, which was hosted by father and son Henry (J.D.’71) and Patrick (J.D.’07) Garrard.

Mark your calendar for next year’s Alumni/Alumnae Weekend –

March 17 & 18, 2017 www.law.uga.edu/upcomingalumni-events

DSS AWARD Davenport and Solomon honored Chester C. Davenport (LL.B.’66) and Benna Ruth Solomon (J.D.’78) are this year’s Distinguished Service Scroll Award recipients. This accolade is the highest honor given by the Law School Association and recognizes outstanding dedication and service to the legal profession and law school. Davenport is the law school’s first African-American graduate. Born in Athens, Georgia, Davenport was a cum laude graduate of Morehouse College, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1963. He graduated from Georgia Law in 1966, where he finished in the top 5 percent of his class and helped found as well as served as an editorial board member of the Georgia Law Review. He began his career as an attorney in the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice and subsequently served as a legislative assistant for California Sen. Alan Cranston. Following an appointment as an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Davenport co-founded a Chester Davenport (LL.B.’66) law practice based in Washington, D.C. (right) with fellow Athenian and Davenport is the founder and managing director of Georgetown Partners, a Maryland-based first-year student Nathan Miles, private equity firm specializing in leverage buyouts. He previously served as vice president of the who holds one of nine student scholarships supported by R.H. Lapin Company and as chairman of GTE Consumer Services and Envirotest Systems. He Davenport. is currently the executive chairman of Basho Technologies, a distributed systems company that develops disruptive technology to simplify critical data management challenges for enterprises. In 2005, Davenport gave a gift to endow the Chester C. Davenport Scholarship Fund at Georgia Law. He also has served as a member of the Board of Visitors and the UGA Arch Foundation. Solomon is the first Georgia Law graduate to serve as a judicial clerk for a U.S. Supreme Court justice. She earned her law degree in 1978, graduating first in her class. While a student, she was an articles editor and a member of the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review. Solomon has dedicated her career to public service, beginning as a law clerk to Judge James I. Oakes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Following this clerkship, she served as a judicial clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White. She has represented a number of major national organizations of state and local government officials in the U.S. Supreme Court and filed more than 100 friend-ofthe-court briefs. While at the U.S. Department of Justice, Solomon provided oral advice and written opinions to the president, attorney general and cabinet officials, receiving commendations twice for her contributions and service. Solomon is currently the deputy corporation counsel for the appeals division of the City of Chicago Law Department, where she is responsible for all appellate litigation involving the city in all state and federal courts, as well as providing advice as requested by the trial, transactional and counseling divisions. In more than 25 years with the city, she has filed nearly 2,300 briefs, participated in more than 800 moot courts and presented argument in 67 cases, including three in the U.S. Supreme Benna Ruth Solomon (J.D.’78) Court.

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

31

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IN AND OUT OF THE COURTROOM The relationships that Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves (J.D.’06) has had throughout her life have shaped her both in and out of the courtroom. Growing up in Mississippi, her grandmother and parents instilled in her the importance of kindness and the value of education. After earning her undergraduate degree at Ole Miss, Montgomery-Reeves moved to Georgia to attend law school. While here, she met an “amazing and genuinely kind” professor named Charles R.T. “Chuck” O’Kelley, who held the M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law at the time. Her relationship with him altered the course of her career. “I thought I was going to become a criminal lawyer and do criminal defense work,” she said. “When I got to law school I took Criminal Law and liked it well enough. Then I took Corporations, almost exclusively because of Professor O’Kelley, and I loved the subject matter. I couldn’t get enough of it and was excited to come to class.” It was also at Georgia Law where she met others who would affect her life greatly. “The best part [of my experience at Georgia Law] was the people. I met my husband there, Jeffrey Reeves. And I met one of my best friends, Bisa Ajanaku,” she said. “I think the best things that came from there for me were the relationships.” After graduation, Montgomery-Reeves clerked for Chancellor William B. Chandler III of the Delaware Court of Chancery. Working with Chandler was an “immensely positive” experience for a number of reasons. “[He has] an amazing grasp of the law,” she said, “but the thing that was most impressive to me was that he was a real person, and

Montgomery-Reeves is the first African-American and second woman to serve on the Delaware Court of Chancery. 32

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

he treated each person that he encountered with respect. He was this corporate rock star, but you’d never know that if you met him anywhere. He always treated people the way he wanted to be treated. ... It taught me that you have to be great at your craft. You must put your all into your work product every time you do something. But what is equally important is who you are and how you treat people, and you should work hard not to lose that as you work toward your goals.” One of Montgomery-Reeves’ career aspirations came to fruition recently when she was nominated and unanimously confirmed by the Delaware Senate in October 2015 as a vice chancellor on the Delaware Court of Chancery. She is the first African-American and second woman to serve in this position. “I was humbled that I was chosen,” she said. “… It’s an area of the law that I really enjoy. So to practice at this level, where I am helping to shape this area of the law – not just in this state, as many states look to Delaware corporate law when they’re deciding how to shape their own law – is humbling and exciting! I’m honored to do this important work and to be able to serve the state that I live in and call home now.” Her experience to date has been “thrilling,” she said. “… My judicial colleagues have been warm and welcoming, and I inherited talented and passionate law clerks. It’s been a great experience thus far.” This busy mother of one hopes to continue her work with the court while remembering the lessons she has learned from those who influenced her. “I am focused on doing my absolute best at being a vice chancellor,” she said. “I strive to be well versed in the law and the facts of each case presented to me. I aim to be prepared. I try to be fair and reasonable. And, I really hope to never forget that I’m dealing with people and to treat them as I would want to be treated.”

Catherine Curlet GEORGIA – AND D.C. – ON HER MIND Even from the nation’s capital, Catherine Henson Curlet (J.D.’11) has kept strong ties to her home state. After growing up in Atlanta, this oldest of three girls earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Washington & Lee University, which is located in Lexington, Virginia. During the summer between her junior and senior years, Curlet held an internship in Washington, D.C., with then-Georgia Congressman Johnny Isakson. After graduation, she had an opportunity to once again work for Isakson, so she made the move to the nation’s capital in 2003. “It was a combination of having this job opportunity and knowing I wanted to have a different experience to broaden my horizons,” Curlet said. “… I thought it would be one or two years working for him and was never expecting to love it as much as I did.” During the next five years, Curlet stayed with Isakson as he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and her work for the senator had an added hometown benefit. “I was in D.C., which was a great place to live and work, but I got to travel back to Georgia while I was working for him,” she said. When it came time to further her education Curlet knew exactly where she wanted to go – back south to Georgia Law, to the same school her grandfather, father, uncle and sister had attended. While in law school, Curlet was involved in the Georgia Law Review and the Appellate Litigation Clinic, which offered her one of her most memorable experiences when, as a third-year student, she briefed a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. “We were scheduled for oral argument, and we drew straws, which I loved this about [Appellate Litigation Clinic Director and] Professor [Erica J.] Hashimoto. She said, ‘I’m confident in each of the three of you doing this argument,’” Curlet recalled. “We had varying degrees of oral advocacy experience. I actually didn’t have much at all. … So I appreciated it when she said, ‘Any of the three of you can do this, so let’s draw straws.’” Curlet’s straw was drawn, and with “rigorous training” and support from members of the law school community, she prepared for the argument and flew to D.C. to advocate before the court (a panel that included Judge Merrick Garland, currently President Barack Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee).

Continuous engagement in learning is Curlet’s overarching goal. “I appreciated it at the time, and I knew it was a big deal,” Curlet said. “But now, five years out of law school, I realize even more so what an incredible opportunity that was and how lucky I was to be able to do that as such a young attorney.” After graduation, Curlet held two judicial clerkships – with Judge Rosemary M. Collyer on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and with Judge Margaret A. Ryan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces – which she credits with helping her sharpen her analytical, legal research and writing skills. In 2013, Curlet accepted a position as an associate with Covington & Burling in its Washington, D.C., office, where she focuses on litigation. Her work there keeps the self-described “intellectually curious” mother of one on her toes. “It’s challenging and it’s fast paced. The clients we have present us with very complex problems,” she said. “… The work I’m doing here is not dull or boring. Every day I am challenged.” For Curlet, that engagement in learning is a constant goal, regardless of what her physical address is. While she and her family have made Washington, D.C., their current home, she still has ties to the Peach State and the law school through her extended family and her work with Georgia Law’s Young Alumni/Alumnae Committee, an experience she described as an “incredible way to stay engaged with the law school.” In fact, when she looks into her future, Curlet said she does not know exactly what it will hold, but she knows that she wants to continue learning through her experiences. “I want to continue to be intellectually engaged but do work that is meaningful,” she said. “I want to do meaningful, impactful work.”

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

33

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Alex and Claire Crumbley CONTINUING TO HELP OTHERS Georgia Law 1966 alumnus R. Alexander “Alex” Crumbley has spent much of his life giving back to the citizens of Georgia. After studying journalism at UGA, he enrolled at Georgia Law. “I entered the university in 1960 in the fall and stayed there for six years,” he said. “I went to law school after my third year. In those days, you could go and do law school for your senior year if they thought you could do the work.” Attending college in Athens was an obvious choice for Crumbley. “I never really considered going anywhere else,” he said. “My father had been there. I always wanted to go to the university in Athens, so there was never any consideration of anything else.” After graduation Crumbley briefly moved back to Henry County, where he grew up, to practice law with his uncle but soon entered the Air Force National Guard during the Vietnam War. Once he was through basic training, he returned to Georgia, where he met his future wife, Claire, who is from Midland, Texas. “Claire and I met in Atlanta and decided to get married,” he said. “We lived in Atlanta for 10 years and then moved back [to Henry County] in 1977 and have been here since.” While in Atlanta, Crumbley took a position with the state attorney general’s office before he joined a law firm with formerCongressman and eventual Georgia Supreme Court Justice Charles L. Weltner. “Then we moved to McDonough and I set up a public defender’s office for the judicial circuit that at that time had four counties: Henry, Butts, Lamar and Monroe,” Crumbley said. “… And I went around to those counties representing indigent criminal defendants for a year.” Soon after, he was appointed to a Superior Court judgeship for the Flint Judicial Circuit by then-Gov. George D. Busbee (LL.B.’52). He served on the bench for five years before joining his brother Wade,

“I’ve always tried to make it a job that was geared more toward public service than just trying to make money out of it.” —Alex Crumbley (J.D. ‘66)

34

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

a 1977 Georgia Law graduate, and establishing the law firm Crumbley & Crumbley, where they practiced together for more than two decades. During this time, he also served one term as a state senator. “I’ve been able to do a lot of different things which is good and provided a lot of variety,” he said. “I enjoyed all of it. … Being a Superior Court judge was the biggest challenge, I suppose, but I decided after I served for five years that I did not want to stay there for my whole career for a lot of reasons, but one of which was I wanted to practice with my brother and I’ve never regretted that decision.” In his practice, Crumbley said he has primarily helped regular people with “the common problems that ordinary people have” and has enjoyed his career focus. “I’ve had some rich clients and a lot of poor ones but I’ve never represented any institutional-type clients, mostly just individual people with problems,” he said. “I’ve always tried to make it a job that was geared more toward public service than just trying to make money out of it. The thing I am proudest of is that our law firm produced six judges – two Superior Court judges, three State Court judges and a Probate judge – five of whom are still on the bench today.” In the 50 years since Crumbley graduated from Georgia Law, he has maintained contact with and helped his alma mater. He and Claire have recently established a fund at the law school to assist a deserving student earn a law degree. “We were able to endow a scholarship recently and it’s just something that we could do and we hope that it will help somebody afford to go to school,” he said. The Crumbleys also have both been honored by UGA. Claire is a lifetime master gardener, as granted by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and in 2009 Alex was awarded the John Holliman Jr. Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Alex and Claire Crumbley have one son, a clinical psychologist in New York City, who is married with two daughters.

Law School Life

Chaffin celebrates 97th birthday On Sept. 26, Callaway Chair Emeritus Verner Chaffin (LL.B.’42) (center) celebrated his 97th birthday. A pre-birthday gathering was held on Sept. 12 with Chaffin’s wife, Ethel, and family, Dean Bo Rutledge and friends including Larry Walker (J.D.’65) (left) and Bobby Sherrell (J.D.’65).

Law library hosts black history collection Georgia Law 1983 alumnus Roy Copeland and his wife, Cheryl, loaned the Alexander Campbell King Law Library a portion of their black history artifacts collection, which includes more than 200 items of largely handwritten and printed materials focusing on the slave era, the post-slavery period, sports and entertainment, and Civil Rights. The loan coincided with Black History Month.

Twilight Affair held this spring William Barwick (J.D.’74) (left), Donna Barwick (J.D.’77) and Georgia Law Dean Bo Rutledge pause for a photo at the law school’s 2016 Spring Twilight Affair, which honors JHL Society members. The event was hosted by the Barwicks and Duane Morris LLP.

Artwork donated to law school Betty Foy Sanders, widow of the late Gov. Carl Sanders (J.D.’48), donated a selection of her artwork to the law school. The untitled mixed media piece was inspired by a 2001 trip to Arizona, and it now hangs in the Sanders Deans’ Suite entryway in Hirsch Hall.

Alumna presents on campus Alumna Tess Davis (J.D.’09) presented “Tomb Raiders and Terrorist Financing: Cutting Off the Islamic State’s Illicit Traffic in ‘Blood Antiquities’” at UGA in April. Davis (second from left), who works at the University of Glasgow, is pictured with first-year students (l. to r.) Hannah Williams, Ava Goble and Karen Hays.

Conference room named in honor of Wooten An event in the fall was held to dedicate a Hirsch Hall conference room in honor of Joel Wooten (J.D.’75), who was celebrated by the law school for his outstanding counsel and support of Georgia Law. Photographed at the reception are (l. to r.) UGA President Jere Morehead (J.D.’80), Wooten and Dean Bo Rutledge. Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

35

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Hanson receives employee award Georgia Law’s Staff Representative Group presented Administrative Associate II Susan M. Hanson with the 2015 Emma Terrell Distinguished Employee Award. The award is given each year to an employee who demonstrates dedication and service to the law school. Hanson joined Georgia Law in 2014, and she supports the many needs of the eight members of the school’s Office of Law School Advancement. She was recognized for her “strong work ethic, commitment and exceptional job performance.” According to written nominations, Hanson’s “work product shows great skill. … Her work ethic is beyond reproach and she never misses a detail.” Formerly known as the Employee Distinguished Service Award, this honor was renamed in February 2005 in memory of Emma P. Terrell, a longtime employee remembered for her dedication to and enthusiasm for the law school.

Georgia Law Moments FROM SENIOR DIRECTOR OF LAW SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT ANNE S. MOSER Each Monday morning, Georgia Law’s advancement team gathers around a table in my office. Not only does this provide an opportunity to update one another, but it is the perfect time to share the incredible stories we gather from the road or campus. Regardless of their origin, these stories – or “Georgia Law Moments” – fuel our team’s enthusiasm for the work we do to strengthen the law school. For example: • the scholarship student who meets the scholarship fund donor over coffee and discovers shared interests – forming a lasting mentor relationship. • an alumna from the New York City area tells of a promotion that will enable her to invest in a newly created scholarship – crediting her law school education for her success. • a volunteer from South Georgia reports a lively phone conversation with a law school applicant from his hometown – leading to the applicant enrolling in Georgia Law. • an alum returns to campus to visit with current and retired faculty to celebrate a faculty award – witnessing firsthand the return on his investment. • a donor in Atlanta discusses the formation of a planned gift that will honor a late friend and mentor – ensuring a mentor’s impact and story will be perpetuated.

Susan Hanson (left) was presented the 2015 Emma Terrell Distinguished Employee Award by Marie Mize, chair of the Law School Staff Representative Group.

36

Georgia Law / Advocate 2016

Individually and collectively, these “Georgia Law Moments” enrich our work and, ultimately, your law school. Each one of these moments started with a choice. A choice that somebody made to take time out of their day and connect with a current student personally. A choice to take the time to travel to Athens or even to simply take the time to strategically think about their philanthropy and the impact it could have on others.

Georgia Law’s advancement team solicits charitable gifts, creates stewardship opportunities and fosters alumni/alumnae engagement all in support of the school’s mission. Our mission – consistent with the University of Georgia’s mission – is to teach, to serve and to inquire into the nature of things. And it is because of the outstanding support the law school receives – of time, talent and treasure – that we are able to prepare our students for successful careers in the law, public service and business; to serve our state and nation through the extensive network of our clinical and experiential learning programs; and to foster our faculty’s world-class scholarship that will shape the discourse in communities both near and far. This past year, the successful Georgia Law Challenge was the backdrop for many of these “Georgia Law Moments.” As the advancement team called, wrote, traveled, visited and talked, more and more “Georgia Law Moments” were uncovered. And we collectively exceeded the $2 million Law School Fund goal. Please know how grateful our students, faculty and staff are to all of those who participated. We will be awarding more scholarship support in the near future than ever before because of you. Looking ahead, UGA President and Georgia Law graduate Jere Morehead will publicly announce our institution’s capital campaign later this year. Please know that your law school will have an important role in this initiative. This campaign will, along with many new “Georgia Law Moments,” propel our efforts in the months and years to come and make Georgia Law a law school of unparalleled excellence in educating the legal leaders of tomorrow. The law school advancement team welcomes the opportunity to be a part of and to help shape your “Georgia Law Moment.”

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 165 Athens, GA

Jere W. Morehead UGA President president@uga.edu Kelly Kerner UGA Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations kkerner@uga.edu Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge School of Law Dean borut@uga.edu

NO GLOSS UV ON MAIL PANEL

YOU CAN SUPPORT + ENRICH OUR SCHOOL

BECOME A SUSTAINER One of the law school’s highest fundraising priorities is the growth of the Law School Fund. The majority of the fund supports student scholarships, but it also supports student groups, faculty projects and alumni/alumnae activities.

THE LAW SCHOOL FUND IS OUR LARGEST SINGLE SOURCE OF SCHOLARSHIPS DOLLARS. Sustainers make convenient, ongoing contributions that are automatically drafted each month. It’s an easy and efficient way to support Georgia Law through secure payments from your credit card, debit card or bank account.

Your gift to the LAW SCHOOL FUND can have an immediate impact: $840

Provides a

monthly

HALF SCHOLARSHIP

$600

Supports first-year

monthly

ORIENTATION

$420

Funds a

monthly

QUARTER SCHOLARSHIP

$250

Hosts a NETWORKING EVENT for students and alumni/alumnae

$100

Makes MOCK INTERVIEWS available for students

monthly

monthly

BECOME A SUSTAINER VIA: • Credit or Debit Card: Set up your monthly contribution online right now at www.law.uga.edu/gifts-advocate • Automatic Bank Draft: Download the form to authorize the UGA Foundation to draft directly from your bank account. www.law.uga.edu/gifts-sustainer

For more information, please contact:

Phyllis Cooke,

Director of Annual Giving (706) 542-7637 or cooke@uga.edu

Brittany Bullock

Annual Giving Officer (706) 621-0813 or bullock@uga.edu

$50

Pays for ONE STUDENT’S TRAVEL to a national advocacy competition

$25

Funds the judicial clerkship program’s

monthly

monthly

NUTS & BOLTS WORKSHOP