The University of Georgia has announced a new initiative to complete a comprehensive review of staff compensation. Made possible through a partnership with Deloitte Consulting, the Staff Comprehensive Compensation Review initiative will evaluate the university’s current classification and compensation structure, while analyzing job and market salary competitiveness as well as related policies and procedures. The School of Law's Senior Director of Business and Finance Blake Waldrop will serve on the advisory committee.
Summer public interest fellowships provide important hands-on learning opportunities for law students. At the School of Law, financial support for these experiences has been on an upward trajectory since 2017. In fact, funding has significantly grown over the last five years, resulting in a 450% increase in support. During the 2022 summer, 85 students were awarded $305,750 for legal work in nonprofits, state and federal government, legal services and policy/impact organizations in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
A Community Health Law Partnership Clinic client was recently granted asylum. The clinic's client fled to the United States alone as a 16-year-old after facing death threats and physical violence in Guatemala, requesting asylum at the border. In 2022, the Community HeLP Clinic successfully argued that the Guatemalan government was unable or unwilling to control persecution against its client by private actors. As a result, the client no longer faces deportation. Staff Attorney Kristen Shepherd handled the initial presentation of the case before the Asylum Office. Navroz N. Tharani (J.D.'22) wrote the 2022 brief, supervised by Shepherd and Assoc. Dean & Clinic Director Jason A. Cade, while Eddy Atallah (J.D.'21) assisted with earlier research.
The Appellate Litigation Clinic recently achieved a partial win for its client from the Georgia Court of Appeals in the case Williams v. DeKalb County. The clinic’s client is challenging the county commission’s ability to give itself a pay increase and the commission’s compliance with the Open Meetings Act when passing the increase. In the ruling, the Court of Appeals remanded the Open Meetings Act claim but found that Williams did not have standing to challenge the pay increase.
The Jane W. Wilson Family Justice Clinic, which provides survivors of domestic violence with direct representation as well as legal and extra-legal support – is on pace to assist more individuals than ever before in a calendar year. Through June 30, the clinic has taken calls from 209 distinct individuals and has provided representation in 27 protective order cases and 20 other pieces of domestic relations litigation for survivors of domestic violence and stalking.