News & Announcements
Judge Lisa Godbey Wood to serve as graduation speaker
Judge Lisa Godbey Wood (J.D.'90) of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia will deliver the keynote address at Georgia Law's commencement ceremony on May 16. The processional will begin at 10 a.m. on the quadrangle in front of the law school on UGA's North Campus. At this year's commencement, approximately 215 students will be honored for the completion of all requirements for a Juris Doctor. Additionally, 15 Master of Laws candidates, who have completed one year of graduate legal study, will be recognized. (learn more)
A link to a live feed of the ceremony will be available at www.law.uga.edu the day of the event.

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears to teach at Georgia Law
Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears will serve as a visiting professor at the law school for the 2009-10 academic year. As an instructor, she will address contemporary issues in family law. Sears currently serves as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia but will retire when her term ends in June. (learn more about Sears and other visiting faculty members)

Georgia Law dominates state advocacy tournament; finishes strong in nationals
Georgia Law recently swept the Intrastate Moot Court Competition, which has teams from all five of the state's law schools vying for the top trophy. This is the second year in a row Georgia Law has swept this tournament, winning all three trophies, and marks the school's fourth straight championship title. Additionally, the law school placed both as semifinalists and quarterfinalists in the 2009 Texas Bar Association National Trial Competition and as quarterfinalists in the national round of the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition. (learn more)

Puckett to receive AALL's highest honor
Georgia Law Library Director and Professor E. Ann Puckett has been named a recipient of the most prestigious award presented by the American Association of Law Libraries, the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award. This accolade is given annually by the association in recognition of outstanding, extended and sustained service to law librarianship and to the AALL. Puckett will be formally presented with the award in July at the AALL's annual meeting. (learn more) 

Georgia Law provides an excellent return on investment according to The New York Times
Recent survey data appearing in The New York Times, comparing starting salaries and degree costs for a select group of law schools, has Georgia Law graduates earning some of the highest salaries in the country while their educational costs were reported among the very lowest, speaking to the quality of the education as well as the excellent return on investment provided at Georgia Law. (view survey data)

Indian Supreme Court Justice speaks on individual rights
Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan of the Supreme Court of India recently delivered a lecture titled "Individual Rights in India: A Perspective from the Supreme Court." The chief justice was visiting Athens as part of a distinguished delegation, which also included Supreme Court of India Justice Arijit Pasayat and several high-ranking members of the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Indian Law Institute. (learn more)

Five professors earn promotions; one professor added
J. Randy Beck and Lonnie T. Brown Jr. were recently promoted to the rank of full professor, while Robert P. Bartlett III and Usha Rodrigues were named associate professors and Erica J. Hashimoto was awarded tenure. Additionally, Matthew I. Hall will join the Georgia Law faculty in the fall as an assistant professor teaching Civil Procedure and Legal Profession.

Listen online to recent lecturers and conferences
This spring, Georgia Law hosted a variety of guest speakers and conferences that ranged from hour-long presentations to two-day events. Below is a sampling of some of our most recent distinguished speakers with links to listen to their talks online.
- Presentation by Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to Georgia Law students (video, photos)
- 27th Edith House Lecture, "Are We Our Mother's Law Students?: Women's Law School Experiences and an Agenda for Action," by Chicago-Kent College of Law's Felice J. Batlan (video, photos)
- "The Conduct of Foreign Policy under the Obama Administration," by former U.S. Foreign Service Officers Earle St. A. Scarlett and Barbara A.H. Scarlett (video, photos)
- Red Clay Conference keynote speech, "Sustainable Commerce: Georgia's Next Economy," by Georgia Law's Peter A. Appel and Dr. T. Rick Irvin (J.D.'08) (video, photos)  
- 104th Sibley Lecture, "Saving Lives, Saving from Death, Saving from Dying," by Stanford Law School's Mark G. Kelman (video, photos) 
 
Faculty on the Record
Professor David A. Brennen was selected as dean of the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Hosch Professor Thomas A. Eaton's article "The Contours of a New FRCP, Rule 68.1: A Proposed Two-Way Offer of Settlement Provision for Federal Fee-Shifting Cases" (252 F.R.D. 551 (2008) (with H. Lewis)) has been selected for special recognition at this summer's Southeastern Association of Law Schools conference.

Associate Professor Usha Rodrigues has been chosen to present her article "Placebo Ethics" (95 Virginia Law Review (forthcoming) (with M. Stegemoller)) as part of a select group of distinguished young scholars from around the country at the Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum. She was also recently appointed as reporter of the American Bar Association's Special Joint Task Force on the Impact of the Troubled Asset Relief Program on Corporate Governance.

Assistant Professor Harlan G. Cohen was recently named co-chair of the Junior International Law Scholars Association.

Dean Rebecca H. White was featured in Diverse magazine as one of the "First Ladies of Law." In the article, she answers questions on topics relating to legal education and the legal profession.

Associate Professor Peter A. Appel co-authored an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution with Dr. T. Rick Irvin (J.D.’08), regarding the need for Georgia to recruit sustainable commerce companies to the state.

More Faculty Activities 

 Around the Law School
Ellington and O'Kelley retire
Georgia Law professors C. Ronald Ellington and Charles R.T. O'Kelley are retiring this spring. Ellington, who holds the Cleveland Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism and is a Josiah Meigs Professor, has taught at the law school for nearly 40 years and served as Dean from 1987 to 1993. He specialized in the areas of civil procedure, Georgia practice and procedure, complex litigation and legal profession. O'Kelley, who holds the Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law, has been with the law school since 1997. Considered an expert in corporate governance, he was the first holder of the Kilpatrick Chair at the law school. 

Congratulations to all Awards Day recipients
Awards Day provides the opportunity for the Georgia Law community to pause and recognize the achievements of students and faculty. For a list of this year's recipients, please click here. Photos of the event are also available. (view photos)

Class of 2009 Legacy Gift total tops $88,500
The Class of 2009 set a record by pledging $88,925 for its Legacy Gift to the School of Law. Their gift exceeds the previous record by more than $20,000. Despite the challenging job market, 54 percent of the graduating class made a pledge to the gift, which will be officially presented during the graduation ceremony this Saturday. Congratulations to Legacy Gift Chairs Benjamin F. Carlsen and Valerie Alva-Ruiz and the members of the Class of 2009. (make your gift to the School of Law)

Alumni directory update
As you may know, Georgia Law has begun working with Harris Connect to produce the school's fifth alumni directory, which is being published later this year to help mark the school's sesquicentennial anniversary. You should be receiving communications inviting you to update and verify your profile for inclusion in the directory. Please take a few moments to verify with Harris Connect that your information is both complete and accurate. Thank you for your time and help in making this project a truly useful resource.

Kurtz dances with the Athens "stars"
This spring, Georgia Law Associate Dean Paul M. Kurtz participated in Dancing with the Athens Stars. The event, modeled after the popular TV show "Dancing with the Stars," paired notable Athenians with local dance instructors to raise money for Project Safe, an anti-domestic violence agency that serves Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties. (read the Athens Banner-Herald article, watch a video of Kurtz's performance)

Students on the record
Second-year law student William F. McFetridge co-authored an article published in the Fall 2008 issue of Trial Advocate Quarterly  titled "The Lamz Effect: Identifying UM/UIM Carriers at Trial." Additionally, third-year law student Terressa M. Davis was quoted in ScienceNews  magazine regarding the looting of antiquities from archeological sites.