Explore the milestones and achievements of the 2018-19 school year at the University of Virginia School of Law.
For a record 13th year in a row, more than half of UVA Law alumni made a gift to the school.
Two alumnae — Katie Barber ’15 and Megan Lacy ’10 — clerked at the court for the 2018 term. An additional 38 alumni clerked at federal appellate courts for the 2018 term, a Law School record.
The U.S. Supreme Court cited three professors in Ortiz v. U.S. last June, including Aditya Bamzai, who presented oral argument as an independent amicus and was mentioned 31 times in the decision.
After joining UVA in August, Jim Ryan ’92 was installed in October as the University’s ninth president. In April, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In September, members of the Innocence Project welcomed back to freedom their paroled client, Darnell Phillips, who had been in prison for nearly three decades.
University of Tokyo professor Yuji Iwasawa S.J.D. ’97 was elected to a judgeship on the International Court of Justice. McCoy Pitt ’13 will clerk for Iwasawa in the upcoming year, funded through the Law School’s International Law Fellowship.
Amanda Lineberry ’19 and Kendall Burchard ’19 won a rare double appeal for an Appellate Litigation Clinic client after presenting oral argument at the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018. In a separate case, clinic students Thomas Howard ’19, Alicia Penn ’19 and Marie Hanewinckel ’19 prevailed for their client in an employment discrimination lawsuit at the Fourth Circuit in April.
The U.S. Supreme Court cited professors at UVA Law more than any other school’s faculty in the past two terms, according to a study of academic journal citations. Professor Caleb Nelson led all authors with six citations, while Professor Saikrishna Prakash was cited four times.
Betty Snow, who worked in copy services at the University for 46 years, retired from the Law School in October.
Virginia Del. Danica Roem, the first openly transgender elected state lawmaker in the U.S., spoke at the Ele(Q)t Project symposium in October. The event was designed to inspire LGBT community members to seek office.
The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled in favor of a plaintiff represented in oral argument by Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06, in a landmark ruling over state tort law and corporate negligence.
A $50,000 matching-fund challenge to prospective donors was one of the highlights of a fundraiser for the Virginia Innocence Project Pro Bono Clinic that featured Jason Flom, attorney Dean Strang ’85, attorney Jarrett Adams and clinic client Darnell Phillips.
Students hosted a Halloween carnival for children in the UVA Law community.
UVA Law ranked in the top 10 of The Princeton Review’s five most competitive categories for 2019, including No. 1 in Best Quality of Life and Best Professors, No. 2 Best Classroom Experience, and No. 4 Best Career Prospects. Also, UVA Law’s Class of 2018 was ranked the best in the nation at landing elite jobs.
The Serpentine Society recognized two alumni for their efforts on behalf of the LGBT community at UVA and beyond. U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney ’92 garnered the group’s Bernard D. Mayes Award, while Cordel Faulk ’01, UVA Law’s assistant dean and chief admissions officer, received the 2018 Serpentine Society Outstanding Service Award.
Students with a passion for fighting injustice are able to gain experience doing so through the new Civil Rights Clinic. Two instructors, Adeola Ogunkeyede and Kim Rolla ’13, stand with student Taylor Mitchell ’20, center.
The Virginia Law Weekly won the American Bar Association Student Division’s 2018 Law School Newspaper Award.
Graduates in the Class of 1990 reported 91 percent career and life satisfaction in a new study published in January in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. Professor John Monahan has tracked the progress of the class for almost 30 years.
During winter, the Law School had its share of snow — and snowmen.
Members of the Black Law Students Association returned to Cape Town, South Africa, to aid those displaced by apartheid for the organization’s annual service trip.
The Supreme Court Litigation Clinic won a unanimous decision in January that may benefit Social Security claimants. Professor Daniel Ortiz, the clinic’s director, presented oral argument.
The Law School hired Professor Kimberly J. Robinson, an acclaimed scholar and speaker on civil rights and education, who will join UVA this fall. Kevin Cope, an expert in international law, joined the faculty as an associate professor of law in January.
Students in the yearlong Human Rights Study Project trekked through Nepal in January, a trip made possible through a gift from David Burke ’93, the chief executive officer of Makena Capital Management.
“Common Law,” a podcast sponsored by the UVA Law and hosted by Dean Risa Goluboff and Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06, launched in February. Two other podcasts also kicked off: The Admissions Office talked to diverse members of the UVA Law community about getting in and thriving in “Law Schooled,” and the Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center began “Let’s Talk Public Service.”
The third annual Shaping Justice conference honored Chinh Q. Lee ’00 and Julia Pierce ’98 with the Shaping Justice Award for Extraordinary Achievement, and Michelle Harrison ’12 with the Shaping Justice Rising Star Award. Larry Krasner, district attorney of Philadelphia, delivered the keynote.
Jasmine Lee ’20 was elected president of the Student Bar Association. Laura Toulme ’20, pictured center with the managing board, was named editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review.
In songs and skits, students lampooned life as a law student in the 111th Libel Show.
From technology’s impact on democracy to corporate responsibility and shareholder activism, events at the school reflected the changing state of law and its impact on society.
UVA Law’s student team — with Colin Giuseppe Cox ’19, Elizabeth Donald ’19, Benjamin Kramer ’19 and Griffin Peeples ’20, and student coach David Rubin ’19 — won the International and European Tax Moot Court for the second straight year. Professor Ruth Mason again served as faculty adviser.
The courts may be an avenue to regain traction on climate change, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ’82 said in April at the Law School during the annual Lillian K. Stone Distinguished Lecture.
Professor Douglas Laycock was appointed a reporter for the American Law Institute’s restatement on torts.
The Law School community celebrated the Virginia men’s basketball team during a historic Final Four run en route to a national championship in April, and Dean Risa Goluboff and Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06, along with President Jim Ryan ’92, attended the final game to cheer on the team.
A Virginia General Assembly decision in April effectively wrapped up a multiyear campaign led by UVA Law alumni and spearheaded by the Legal Aid Justice Center to end driver’s license suspensions for unpaid court fees and costs. In another LAJC effort, alumni and students won an injunction to enforce adequate health care for female prisoners in Fluvanna.
U.S. Judge Carlton W. Reeves ’89 appealed for the defense of the judiciary in a speech marking his receipt of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law.
Professor George Geis was named a recipient of UVA’s All-University Teaching Award.
Students traveled abroad to share and increase their knowledge. Students with the International Human Rights Clinic traveled to Geneva in April to present their research at sessions of a U.N. committee on migrants. Clinic students visited Colombia to research legal remedies for the nation’s air pollution crisis. A group of 16 students traveled to Israel to learn more about how the nation’s laws shape its entrepreneurial culture.
Professor George Yin retired in the spring after 25 years at the Law School and a rich career as an influential tax expert.
The Black Law Students Association named Dana Weekes ’09, a managing director at Arnold & Porter, recipient of the BLSA Alumni Spotlight Award.
Students and alumni gave back through public service. UVA Law’s grant program supporting summer public interest work gave out a record $703,370 to 166 students; they are among many other students whose work is funded by fellowships and awards. Clayton “Tex” Pasley ’17 was named the 18th Powell Fellow in Legal Services, and will work on housing issues in Chicago. Lindsay Gorman ’21 and Jennifer Kelso ’21 were named 2018 recipients of the Virginia Public Service Scholarship.
The UVA Law community mourned Professor Emeritus Walter Wadlington, an expert in family law, law and medicine, medical malpractice and children in the legal system who was known for his kindness and influence as an academic.
This year’s Law Alumni Weekend attracted more than 1,200 guests.
Commencement speaker Linda Howard ’73, vice president for legal at Landmark Worldwide, told the graduating Class of 2019 that standing for something is a powerful approach to life.
M. Elizabeth Magill ’95, a former UVA Law vice dean and dean at Stanford Law School, began her role as UVA’s executive vice president and provost in May.