The University of Georgia School of Law will host the 32nd Annual Red Clay Conference Feb. 21. "Overcoming Toxic Relationships" is the title of the daylong event, which will address coal ash disposal, brownfield redevelopment in Georgia and PFAS in drinking water. The Peter Appel Lecture will be delivered by environmental activist Lois Gibbs, who is known for her work with New York's Love Canal. Registration for the conference is required, and lunch will be provided. The event is free for members of the UGA community. For attorneys seeking four continuing legal education credits, the cost is $60. The fee for all other entrants is $12.
The School of Law's innovative mentorship program has connected more than 700 law students with four-person support teams since its start in 2016. The mentor teams consist of upper-level law students, faculty members, career development officers and alumni/alumnae/professional mentors. The program is quite flexible as mentors and mentees are encouraged to find the communication style and frequency that works best for them. The law school also hosts a few events each year for students and mentors to meet face-to-face.
Renowned scholars and leaders in government, global affairs, the sciences, humanities and several other fields will visit the University of Georgia this semester as part of the spring 2020 Signature Lecture series. Signature Lectures highlight speakers noted for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work. Many of the lectures are supported by endowments, while others honor notable figures and milestones in the university's history. School of Law graduates Georgia Supreme Justice Robert Benham (J.D.'70) and University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel (J.D.'93) are among the 2020 lecturers.
The School of Law will host a discussion of the recently published book Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics and Guilt in America, which was co-authored by Andrea L. Dennis, the holder of the law school's John Byrd Martin Chair of Law. The discussion will be held Jan. 30 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Larry Walker Room of Dean Rusk Hall. Published by The New Press, Rap on Trial examines the use of "rap lyrics as criminal evidence to convict and incarcerate young men of color" based on hundreds of court cases from across the country.
By many accounts Phyllis A. Kravitch was a trailblazer. She entered the practice of law in 1944 when female attorneys were few and far between. She built her reputation at her father's law firm, becoming the first woman Savannah Bar Association president in the mid-1970s, the first woman elected as a Georgia Superior Court judge in 1976 and the third woman to serve our nation as a U.S. Circuit Court judge in 1979. Her service on the U.S. Courts of Appeals lasted almost four decades. As a permanent tribute, more than 40 of her former judicial clerks created the Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch Scholarship Fund at the University of Georgia School of Law.