Through the Mediation Practicum, third-year law student Allison "Allie" Evans and second-year students Hiance M. Castro Guerrero and Marissa G. Hill are helping to create an online mediation program for the State Court of Athens-Clarke County. Judge Charles E. Auslander III (J.D.'97) asked the Mediation Practicum to assist Georgia's 10th Judicial District ADR Program with the virtual delivery of services. Since practicum students receive training to become approved mediators with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and have had success with remote dispute resolutions in the Savannah area, they were ideal candidates to assist the local court, according to practicum supervisor Rob McNiff. "Many parties are finding that virtual mediations provide greater and safer access to an important process for resolving their cases," McNiff said.
As the month celebrating Latinx heritage draws to a close, the University of Georgia School of Law recently held a virtual portrait unveiling for Luis Aguilar, a 1979 graduate of the law school whose service on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission helped lead the country out of the economic upheaval of the 2008 recession. Aguilar immigrated to the United States as a child refugee from Cuba and describes himself as "the product of the generosity of the American people and the opportunities offered by the United States." He served as a commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2008 to 2015 - making Aguilar the eighth longest-serving commissioner in SEC history as well as only the third individual to have been nominated by two U.S. presidents from different political parties.
The First Amendment Clinic is training student journalists at universities across the state. Consistent with the clinic's mission to educate the public about free speech and press rights, the clinic provided media law training to the Cluster newspaper staff at Mercer University, Grady Newsource staff at UGA and communications department students and faculty at East Georgia State College. Third-year law student Anish Patel, second-year law student Davis M. Wright and First Amendment Clinic Legal Fellow Samantha Hamilton covered tops such as defamation, privacy, copyright fair use and access rights under Georgia's Open Meetings and Open Records Acts.
The Appellate Litigation Clinic recently won its argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in the case McIlwain v. Burnside. The clinic's client filed five grievances after not receiving proper medical care for stab wounds, and the District Court claimed the client failed to exhaust his administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The Eleventh Circuit judges agreed that the District Court dismissed the case prematurely and instructed the District Court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the first grievance and make fact findings on the rest that respond to the client's exhaustion-related arguments. This ruling was featured on Bloomberg Law in the article titled "Georgia Prisoner's Indifference Complaints Revived On Appeal," which was authored by Porter Wells and published 10/9/20.
The School of Law regrets to announce former employee Karen "Kay" Hardeman (Bramlett) Kirk passed away October 2, 2020, at the age of 64. Kirk served as an administrative assistant at the law school and retired in June 2008. She will be missed by law school faculty, staff and students.