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.
Congratulations to third-year student Lyddy O'Brien for being named the best oralist of the U.S. South Regional of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The full team - comprised of second-year students Samuel L. "Sam" Hatcher, Andrew K. "Drew" Heddin and Hanna C. Karimipour - finished as quarterfinalists and brought home the fourth best brief award. Additionally, Hedin was named sixth best oralist of the tournament. Third-year student Allison Gowens served as student coach. The Jessup competition is the world's largest moot court tournament, with participants from over 680 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions.
Usha R. Rodrigues has been named University Professor, an honor bestowed on faculty members who have made a significant impact on the University of Georgia beyond their normal academic responsibilities. Rodrigues has expanded curricular and experiential learning opportunities for students while also fostering a culture of women's leadership at UGA and the broader academy.
Congratulations to third-year student Robert Daily who won second place in the 2019 Donald C. Alexander Tax Writing Competition for his paper on the tax treatment of income-sharing agreements to finance higher education (in lieu of traditional fixed amount student loans). This competition is sponsored by the Federal Bar Association Section on Taxation.