The First Amendment Clinic filed an amicus brief in the matter of ACLU v. Zeh requesting the Georgia Supreme Court to review a matter that can weaken First Amendment protections under Georgia's anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation statute ("anti-SLAPP"). Representing fellow amici curiae the University of Virginia School of Law's First Amendment Clinic and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, the UGA First Amendment Clinic argues that the lower court in Zeh failed to apply the "actual malice" standard in deciding whether a defamation lawsuit survives a motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute.
Congratulations to 2020 alumna Maria Carruthers Ferrero for being selected as a 2021 Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. This one-year fellowship places early career professionals in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. Since 1979, over 1,400 fellows have completed the program, becoming leaders in science, policy and public administration roles. Notably, Carruthers Ferrero is Georgia Sea Grant's first law fellow to earn this fellowship, and she is the only J.D. candidate in the 2021 Knauss fellowship class.
The University of Georgia Foundation approved changes in board positions during its June 11-12 annual meeting, which was held virtually. The changes took effect July 1. The UGA Foundation welcomed 12 new trustees and accorded six trustees emeritus status, among them are: Vernon "Trey" Googe III (J.D.'94) as trustee, and Elizabeth W. "Betsy" Camp (J.D.'74) and law school Sibley Professor in Corporate and Business Law Larry D. Thompson as emeritus trustees.
Three members of the law school community have been selected to help steer recently announced UGA diversity and inclusion initiatives. University Professor & Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law Usha Rodrigues will serve on the Presidential Task Force on Race, Ethnicity and Community, while UGA Associate Provost Elizabeth Weeks - who also holds the law school's Kirbo Chair - and rising second-year student Roya Naghepour will serve on the Planning Committee on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence.
The School of Law's Mediation Clinic students have handled over 1,700 cases in Athens-Clarke County with a positive settlement rate of approximately 75% since the program began tracking data in 2008. More than 200 students have participated in the clinic and slightly more than two-thirds of the cases mediated involved landlord/tenant issues.