The University of Georgia School of Law took home the top trophy in the Intrastate Moot Court Competition for the second year in a row and the seventh time in 10 years. Second-year law students Huel M. "Kip" O'Kelley IV, S. Frances Plunkett and Justin C. Van Orsdol captured the title for UGA and also won the Best Brief Award. All five law schools in Georgia field two teams in this annual Peach State courtroom contest. The law school's second team, comprised of second-year students Eric S. Abney, Addison Smith and Georgia L. Turner, finished as semifinalists. They were coached by third-year students Thomas Grantham and Timia Skelton.
The School of Law's Lonnie T. Brown Jr., A. Gus Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism, is one of five University of Georgia faculty members who have been named Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professors, the highest university recognition for excellence in instruction.
Congratulations to second-year student DeVaughn J. Swanson for being elected to the National Board of Directors for the National Black Law Students Association. He will serve as a national member-at-large starting April 1. NBLSA is one of the largest student-run organizations in the country. Swanson currently serves as president of the Davenport-Benham Chapter of the Black Law Students Association at the School of Law.
The 2020 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings have been released. We are proud to share that the University of Georgia School of Law is on the rise, moving up an extraordinary five positions to #27. While this is fantastic news, even more exciting is the building momentum toward our vision to be the nation's best return on investment in legal education. With your support, our law school and its alumni/alumnae leadership are executing on a strategy to achieve that goal.
Congratulations to third-year students Joseph Natt and Meryl See who won the inaugural Magnolia Cup, a transactional law negotiation competition hosted by the University of Mississippi this month. See was also presented with the Professionalism Award. A second team comprised of second-year students Andrew J. "Andy" Klemm and Savannah B. Phinney finished with the second highest score of the tournament.