As the sun sets on the 2024-25 school year, check out memorable moments at the University of Virginia School of Law.
When Leslie Kendrick ’06 took the helm as dean on July 1, she reflected on her interest in returning to the Law School in 2008 to teach after clerking at the Supreme Court.
UVA Law reclaimed its No. 1 spots in both Best Professors and Best Classroom Experience in The Princeton Review’s annual law school rankings.
Chris Baldacci ’22, Julia Grant ’23 and Jack Tucker ’22 will be serving in U.S. Supreme Court clerkships for the 2026 term.
More than 100 alumni clerked across the country for the sixth straight year (including clerks from the Class of 2024, pictured).
Plaintiffs will have wider latitude to pursue claims alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, thanks to a unanimous victory for the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and Professor Xiao Wang, who made his oral argument debut before the nation’s high court.
Professor John C. Jeffries Jr. ’73, a former dean who ensured the Law School’s financial footing and set the stage for its future, marked 50 years on the faculty.
The school year kicked off with orientation for the Class of 2027. U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh ’06 welcomed the class by recalling what made the Law School feel like home.
Professor Mitu Gulati was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vice Dean Michael Gilbert was elected a member of the American Law Institute, and Professor Michael Doran won the 2025 Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award.
Ashley Anumba ’25 reported on her experience competing in discus for Nigeria at the Paris Olympics.
U.S. Judge Jasmine Yoon’s investiture ceremony took place at UVA Law in October. Yoon, the first Asian American federal judge in Virginia, posed with her 2006 classmates, including Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06 and U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh ’06. Yoon serves on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
When UVA Law outgrew its home on Central Grounds 50 years ago, students and faculty experienced a few growing pains after their move to a new building. Alumni look back on what their new digs were like as the school continued to expand in the decades since.
Jake Flansburg and Malia Takei won the 96th William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition.
Faculty, alumni and friends remembered the late Professor Frederick Schauer and Professors Emeriti Earl C. Dudley Jr. ’67 and Charles J. Goetz.
Clockwise: Students in the International Human Rights Law Clinic attended a hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica and visited the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Students in the Human Rights Study Project spent a week in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Members of the Black Law Students Association conducted pro bono legal research in South Africa.
The new year brought a frozen landscape — and an unusual number of snow days in the succeeding weeks.
Faculty scholarship was recognized by peers. Papers co-authored by Mitu Gulati and Cathy Hwang were among the top 10 corporate law articles of 2024; Alison Gocke won the 10th annual Morrison Prize; Deborah Hellman was awarded the 2024 AI2050 Prize for Established Researchers by the American Philosophical Association …
Ashley Deeks was awarded the 2024 Mike Lewis Prize; Edwin Hu’s co-authored paper won the Northern Finance Association’s Best Paper Award in Corporate Finance, the Weinberg Center/IRRCi Research Paper Competition and the Paul Van Arsdell Award in Corporate Finance. Professor Emeritus A. E. Dick Howard ’61 received the American Bar Association’s Robert J. Kutak Award.
The Libel Show, one of UVA’s oldest traditions in its 117th year, showcased student-produced skits and songs.
Members of the Class of 2026 were tapped for leadership roles: Mark Graff was elected president of the Student Bar Association, Julia Sabik was named editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review, and Joshua McKinney and Rachel St. Louis were elected national chair and attorney general of the National Black Law Students Association, respectively.
Professor Ashley Deeks, a national security law expert, was named the next vice dean, starting July 1. Outgoing Vice Dean Michael Gilbert reflected on what it was like to help the school get back to life in person after the COVID-19 pandemic.
State and Local Government Policy Clinic students worked with state lawmakers to shepherd bills on preventing gun violence, math education, victims’ rights and other policies that were signed into law.
A team of UVA Law students earned its best finish in a generation, and Daisy Johnston ’26, second from right, won best oralist in preliminary rounds, at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.
UVA Law professors, including Gregory Mitchell, took a pie to the face for charity at the spring carnival sponsored by the First Year Council. The proceeds benefited the Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle.
Faculty, staff and students celebrated Professor Ruth Buck ’85 as she walked out of her last Legal Research and Writing class at UVA Law. The Triple Hoo retired after 37 years on the faculty.
The 42nd annual North Grounds Softball League Invitational, organized by UVA Law students, raised a record $45,000 for charity.
U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler ’74, this year’s recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law, encouraged students to pursue public service during a talk at the Law School. He received a standing ovation at his last Supreme Court argument in April.
Wahoos returned to North Grounds for Law Alumni Weekend in May.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ’03 asked the graduating class to answer one simple yet fundamental question as they prepared to begin the next chapter of their lives: What’s your “why”?
Several graduating students were recognized for their accomplishments and contributions at UVA Law, including Jared Tay ’25. See all graduation awards and stories about the Class of 2025.
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
