Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism & Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor Lonnie T. Brown Jr. has been elected to the American Law Institute. The ALI is "the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law." The ALI's members work to "influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas," collaborate with other "eminent lawyers, judges and academics," give back to the legal profession and "contribute to the public good."
Dr. Monica Bell, who serves as an associate professor of law and sociology at Yale University, will serve as the 118th Sibley Lecturer on Nov. 11. Bell specializes in criminal justice, welfare law, housing, race and the law, qualitative research methods, and law and sociology. The title of her talk is "The Case for Racism Response Funds: A Collective Response to Racist Acts" and is based on an op-ed she published this summer. Please be sure to RSVP to Nikko.Terry@uga.edu by November 9 to receive a Zoom link prior to the event.
Ian L. Kecskes was named Best Overall Advocate and Amelia Welch Ortiz received an Outstanding Advocate Award at The 2020 All Star Bracket Challenge. The pair teamed up with fellow third-year students Janay S. Alexander and Ayman Tartir to compete in the virtual mock trial tournament featuring 64 law schools from across the country. As a group, the students finished fifth in their region. Alumnus Jeremy B. Dailey (J.D.'14) served as the volunteer alumni coach.
Through the Mediation Practicum, third-year law student Allison "Allie" Evans and second-year students Hiance M. Castro Guerrero and Marissa G. Hill are helping to create an online mediation program for the State Court of Athens-Clarke County. Judge Charles E. Auslander III (J.D.'97) asked the Mediation Practicum to assist Georgia's 10th Judicial District ADR Program with the virtual delivery of services. Since practicum students receive training to become approved mediators with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and have had success with remote dispute resolutions in the Savannah area, they were ideal candidates to assist the local court, according to practicum supervisor Rob McNiff. "Many parties are finding that virtual mediations provide greater and safer access to an important process for resolving their cases," McNiff said.
As the month celebrating Latinx heritage draws to a close, the University of Georgia School of Law recently held a virtual portrait unveiling for Luis Aguilar, a 1979 graduate of the law school whose service on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission helped lead the country out of the economic upheaval of the 2008 recession. Aguilar immigrated to the United States as a child refugee from Cuba and describes himself as "the product of the generosity of the American people and the opportunities offered by the United States." He served as a commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2008 to 2015 - making Aguilar the eighth longest-serving commissioner in SEC history as well as only the third individual to have been nominated by two U.S. presidents from different political parties.