The year at the University of Virginia School of Law was marked by new achievements and milestones, even as the community was tested in the spring when classes moved online due to COVID-19.
First-year orientation began with a welcome address from appellate litigator Cate Stetson ’94.
Five students’ stories and related statistics painted a picture of the Class of 2022. Pictured are Mike Blochberger, Trust Kupupika, Marlyse Vieira, Chad Kenney and Jeffrey Stiles.
For a record 14th year in a row, more than half of alumni gave to the school.
Class of 2020 members Read Mills, Molly Cain, Manal Cheema and Eleanora Kaloyeropoulou were named Ritter Scholars in August.
A letter written by Thomas Jefferson about the hiring of the first UVA law professor was installed at the Arthur J. Morris Law Library in September.
Daniel Richardson ’18 will clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer in the 2020 term. A total of 104 alumni clerked during the 2019 term, including 20% of the Class of 2019, the highest percentage in more than a decade.
In the second season of “Common Law,” hosts Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06, left, and Dean Risa Goluboff interviewed scholars such as Professor Kimberly Robinson, right, about times when law, and lawyers, changed the world.
Megan Mers ’20 and Henry Dickman ’20 won the 91st William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition in October.
UVA Law ranked in the top five in The Princeton Review’s six most competitive categories for 2020, ranking No. 1 in Best Professors, Best Classroom Experience and Best Quality of Life.
UVA Law launched its Honor the Future campaign in October with help from campaign chairs J. Warren Gorrell Jr. '79, Dasha Smith '98, Catherine M. Keating '87 and David C. Burke '93, pictured with Dean Risa Goluboff, center, and (not pictured) Bruce A. Karsh '80 and Martha Lubin Karsh '81. In the lead-up to and launch of the campaign, Nancy L. Buc ’69 funded the first of 20 new Research Professorships in Democracy and Equity at UVA, and three new endowed professorships tied to the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy were announced.
Faculty discussed the legal implications of the impeachment inquiry in a three-part series hosted by the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy. Professors Deborah Hellman and Michael Gilbert, pictured, also are among a team of UVA scholars fighting to make CLEAR how corruption hurts democracies.
Families in the UVA Law community enjoyed the First-Year Council’s annual Halloween Carnival.
First-generation students, including Jenny Kwun '21 and Nicole Pidala '21, formed a new organization to help mentor and advise their peers.
Janice Johnston ’95, an Emmy-award-winning “20/20” and “Good Morning America” producer, was selected as commencement speaker.
<p>The 2019-20 school year marked the Law School’s bicentennial as well as its centennial of coeducation. The <a href="/uvalawyer/fall/10232019">fall 2019 issue of UVA Lawyer</a> showcased women who led the way and who became leaders in their fields.</p>
Andy Beshear ’03 was interviewed by UVA Lawyer after being elected governor of Kentucky.
Professors Ashley Deeks and Deborah Hellman were elected members of the American Law Institute in December.
A decade after the birth of the Program in Law and Public Service, three alums who were there in the beginning, including Jeree Thomas ’11 and Aditi Goel ’12, shared their career stories at an event in December.
Professor John Norton Moore, an educator and public servant who has worked to promote the rule of law, retired in January. Professor Robert F. Turner ’81 S.J.D. ’96, associate director of the Center for National Security Law at UVA and Moore’s frequent co-teacher, also retired.
“Healing Hate: A Public Health Perspective on Civil Rights in America,” a conference hosted by the Schools of Law and Medicine in January, focused on the impact of racial and ethnic discrimination in driving public health disparities. Pictured are Vernice Miller-Travis of Metropolitan Group, Columbia law professor Jeffrey A. Fagan, and Yale lecturer and Vermont Law School professor Marianne Engelman-Lado.
New books written or edited by (clockwise) Professors Pierre-Hugues Verdier, Saikrishna Prakash, Jessica Lowe, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan, Kimberly Robinson and Paul B. Stephan ’77 showcased faculty members’ contributions to the law.
In January, Erin Seagears ’20 was named this year’s recipient of the Gregory H. Swanson Award, an honor named for UVA and the Law School’s first black student that recognizes students who demonstrate courage, perseverance and a commitment to justice within the community.
Three alumni — Claire Blumenson ’11, Chioma Chukwu ’12 and Chris Kavanaugh ’06 — were honored for their public service work at the fourth annual Shaping Justice conference in February.
The Law School launched Star Witness, which profiles students; Life Outside the Law, a photo blog about community; and a series on the stories behind faculty research, Behind the Scholarship.
Some familiar faces returned to the Law School. Professor Sarah Shalf ’01 was named director of clinical programs, and Professor Scott Ballenger ’96 joined the faculty as director of the Appellate Litigation Clinic. Juvenile justice and child advocacy expert Andrew Block, and water law and policy expert Leon Szeptycki rejoined the faculty.
Students took their legal education worldwide. Eight students in the Human Rights Study Project, above, learned about human rights law in India. Members of the Black Law Students Association returned to Cape Town, South Africa, to aid efforts aimed at reducing violence.
The school’s first African American female tenured professor, Mildred Robinson, a groundbreaking tax law instructor whose scholarship and community service emphasized equity, wrapped up teaching in the fall and retired in the spring.
Professor John Duffy testified before Congress on reforming the U.S. Patent Board. Professor Saikrishna Prakash testified on the Mueller report, and lawmakers’ constitutional role in matters such as national emergencies, foreign policy and government funding.
Arjun Ogale ’21, pictured third from right with other Virginia Law Review leaders, was named editor-in-chief of the journal. The 29 students who make up the new board began their roles in February.
Faculty scholarship and teaching was awarded or otherwise recognized. (Clockwise) Barbara Spellman, a professor of law and psychology, received the Women in Cognitive Science Leadership Award. Frederick Schauer received an honorary doctorate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. Dayna Matthew was named director of the UVA Equity Center. Michael Gilbert earned an All-University Teaching Award in April, and Cynthia Nicoletti won a UVA Student Council Distinguished Teaching Award in May. George Geis is lending his corporate law expertise to The Great Courses series. ...
... Professors Pierre-Hugues Verdier and Mila Versteeg were cited in a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Darryl Brown ’90 will conduct research at the University of Cambridge as a Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow in spring 2021. Professor Joe Fore ’11 was elected a board member of the Legal Writing Institute.
John Merchant ’58, the first black graduate of the Law School, who opened doors for minority golfers, died in March.
A new environmental program launched in March. The Program in Law, Communities and the Environment, housed at the Law School, focuses on how communities can respond to climate change.
In March, the Black Law Students Association was named national chapter of the year for the sixth time since 2002. Former chapter President Rachel Barnes J.D.-MBA ’21 was elected to a full term as NBLSA national chair after assuming the position in the fall. She was elected vice chair last year.
Katharine Janes ’21 was elected president of the Student Bar Association, beginning her term in March.
The UVA Law Federalist Society chapter was named winner of the James Madison Award for national student chapter of the year for the first time.
In March, former Student Bar Association President Jasmine Lee ’20 was named this year’s recipient of the Law School’s Rosenbloom Award, which honors students with a strong academic record who have significantly enhanced the academic experience of other law students.
In the span of eight days in March, the novel coronavirus changed almost everything about how the Law School operates, as classes moved online. Pictured, Professor Aditya Bamzai teaches in an empty classroom, one of several images captured by UVA photographer Sanjay Suchak.
UVA Lawyer’s spring issue looked at what’s next for democracy, with perspectives from faculty and alumni.
The Law School won its third consecutive victory in the International and European Tax Moot Court in April.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was named the 2020 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law in April.
Kevin Jackson ’20 will help support immigrant children in Georgia’s foster care system as the 19th Powell Fellow in Legal Services.
Virginia’s wrongly convicted now stand a better chance of being declared innocent thanks to the policy efforts of the Innocence Project.
Faculty continue to serve in public service roles. Professor Andrew Block served as vice chair of the Governor’s Commission to Examine Racial Inequality. Professor Thomas Nachbar was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission advisory subcommittee that promotes the resiliency of the nation’s communications system. Professor Margaret Foster Riley was appointed to a new National Institutes of Health advisory committee that’s exploring challenges with emerging biotechnologies.
The Law School is leading the UVA CARES Project, which provides information to University contracted and student workers, employees referred by UVA Human Resources, and others in the community seeking unemployment benefits in the wake of the novel coronavirus.
Professor Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87 was named the next dean of George Washington University Law School. She is the fifth woman to serve on the UVA Law faculty before becoming dean at a top law school. Professor A. Benjamin Spencer was named the next dean of William & Mary Law School and will be the first black dean of any school at William & Mary.
As states struggle with significant budget shortfalls nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, UVA Law professors Ruth Mason and Andrew Hayashi helped organize a coalition of tax scholars to form Project SAFE, which provides policy recommendations to help ease the crisis. See how other UVA Law scholars weighed in on COVID-19.
The Public Interest Law Association grant program supporting summer public interest work is giving a record $710,351 to 168 students this summer. Taylor Fatherree ’22, Austin Hetrick ’21, Donna Faye Imadi ’22 and Sydney Phipps ’22 are among grant recipients.
On the eve of what would have been graduation weekend, faculty toasted the Class of 2020.
A virtual celebration May 16 honored UVA graduates with musical performances, videos and an address by President Jim Ryan ’92. Dean Risa Goluboff offered remarks to law grads, and the celebration included performances by Yo-Yo Ma and Dave Matthews.
UVA Law’s Student Bar Association and Student Affairs Office honored Unsung Heroes for making a positive difference in the community, including, clockwise, Judy Baho ’20, Cat Guerrier ’21, Wilson Miller ’21, Lena Welch ’20, Will Kelly ’21, Jana Ruthberg ’21 and Grace Tang ’21.