Alumnus Named Bristow Fellow

Adam Sorensen, a 2017 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, has been chosen to serve as one of four Bristow Fellows in the Office of the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice.

“It’s a thrilling and humbling opportunity,” Sorensen said. “The Solicitor General’s Office employs some of the very best appellate advocates in the country. I hope I can learn a lot from them.”

As a Bristow Fellow, Sorensen will help attorneys draft briefs in Supreme Court cases and prepare for oral arguments there. Fellows also make recommendations to the solicitor general about government appeals in lower federal courts.

He is currently clerking for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III ’72 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Sorensen has previously worked as a legal intern at the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Appellate Staff, a summer associate at Sullivan & Cromwell and a research assistant for Dean Risa Goluboff.

“I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the UVA Law faculty and to Judge Wilkinson,” Sorensen said. “They have done so much to support me and help me prepare for this next challenge. It's going to be fun.”

At UVA Law, Sorensen earned the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence for graduating with the highest GPA in the Class of 2017. He also received the Jackson Walker LLP Award, served as articles development editor for the Virginia Law Review and participated in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.

“I am not at all surprised that Adam was chosen as a Bristow Fellow. He is exceptionally smart, a beautiful writer, quick on his feet, and a truly good person on top of it all,” Goluboff said. “He will thrive in the Office of the Solicitor General as he thrived at the Law School. This is not only a supreme accomplishment but also an important act of service. On both counts, he does us proud.”

He graduated summa cum laude from his undergraduate alma mater, Northwestern University.