The University of Georgia School of Law honored four women for their service during the school's virtual Alumni/Alumnae Week. Valerie Caproni, B. Lynn Chastain and Santhia L. Curtis received the Law School Association's highest honor - the Distinguished Service Scroll Award - for their outstanding dedication and service to the legal profession and the law school. Additionally, Lt. Cmdr. Catherine T. "Katie" McMahon was presented with the Young Alumni/Alumnae of Excellence Award.
Congratulations to third-year students Elizabeth J. Poland and Megan R. "Meggie" Willinger for winning the Best Draft Award at the Transactional LawMeet hosted by the University of Missouri at Kansas City. They represented the buyer in a complex stock purchase transaction and spent over two months drafting an amendment to the stock purchase agreement, interviewing their client and marking up the other side's draft.
Congratulations to third-year students Amelia Welch Ortiz, Charles W. Hoffman and Ian L. Kecskes and second-year student Haley K. Kairab for winning the Tenth Annual South Texas Mock Trial Challenge. Kairab received the Best Advocate Award for the final round. Notably, UGA has won this national mock trial competition four times in the tournament's history.
Appellate Litigation Clinic participant and third-year student Madison "Maddie" Conkel argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in the case Denis Aguilera Fernandez, Petitioner v. U.S. Attorney General. The clinic's client was detained and beaten by Cuban police 7-10 times over the course of two years to prevent him from protesting the Cuban government. The issues in the case were: what is the appropriate standard of review for past persecution rulings, did the clinic's client show past persecution, and does the client have a reasonable fear of future persecution.
The University of Georgia School of Law is pleased to announce that it will begin offering an undergraduate minor in the fall of 2021. The minor's flexible curriculum is specifically designed for UGA undergraduate students by allowing them to integrate their legal studies with other academic interests and courses of study. There are two required courses that are taught by School of Law faculty - Foundations of American Law and Law, Justice, and the State - while the other three elective courses can be chosen from classes taught by faculty at the law school or other units across the university.