Spring 2012

• Three student editors of the University of Memphis Law Review were honored as the 2012 recipients of the "Best Note Award": Carl Eppler, William O'Connor & Matthew Kernodle.  To read more about these recipients, please click here.

• Congratulations to the co-recipients of the 2011-12 Rodney K. Smith Award:  Ryan Dalton & Anna Santos. The Rodney K. Smith Award is highest service award given to the law student who has donated the most service in one year.  To read more about these recipients, please click here.

• Admissions Open House was held on Saturday, April 14th.  A special thank you to our sponsors.

• U of M teams did well at ABA Regional Mediation Competition. One team from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law took first place at the regional level of the American Bar Association (ABA) Mediation Competition earlier this month, and another U of M team placed fourth. The first-place winners beat the University of Florida in the final round, after besting Washington & Lee and William & Mary in preliminaries. First-place team members are Christopher Martin and Thomas Williams.  Making up the fourth-place team are Caroline Giovannetti and Ryan Hagenbrok. Stephen Shields, of the Memphis law firm Jackson, Shields, Yeiser & Holt, coached both U of M teams.

• Professor Christina Zawisza and the Alternative Spring Break for Law Students were featured in the Commercial Appeal on March 18, 2012. Please click here to read the full article. Professor Zawisza and the Alternative Spring Break were also recognized by the Tennessee Bar Association on March 27, 2012. Please click here to read the TBA's recognition.

• On Being a Black Lawyer has named Professor Lee Harris as one of the 100 most influential black lawyers in the United States. Read more here>>

• Professor Daniel Schaffzin was a presenter at the Externships 6 Conference, Preparing Lawyers: The Role of Field Placement, co-hosted by Harvard Law School and Northeastern University School of Law on March 1-4, 2012.  Professor Schaffzin presented part of a session entitled "Necessary Control or Control Freak? For and Against Faculty Selection of For-Credit Field Placements for Externship Students."

• The Public Action Law Society hosted a successful alternative spring break program March 5-9. A closing lunch honoring all participants, and with keynote speaker Morris Dees, took place on Friday, March 9. Read more here >>
  
  
• Memphis Law hosted the National Trial Regional Competition February 17-19. We would like to congratulate all 32 teams on a successful competition. Region V Champions advancing to Nationals were The University of Georgia School of Law and Wake Forest University School of Law.
  
  
• William E. Godbold, III (JD 76) was recently elected as a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. Read more in The Chattanoogan.
  
  
• Jayniece Higgins, a current 1L, attended the Southern Region of Black Law Students Association's regional conference in Birmingham, Alabama and was nominated and elected to a regional board position. She will be serving as SRBLSA's Sub-Region 1 Director over the law schools in Tennessee and Arkansas
  
  
• Several Memphis Law students are featured in the most recent edition of the TN Volunteer Attorney.
  
  
• At its Barristers Ball held in late December, the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association honored several members of the Memphis bar, including Memphis Law students, alumni and an administrator. Read more in the Commercial Appeal.

Fall 2011

• Memphis Law's first-time takers had the highest passage rate in the state for the July 2011 bar exam, 92.59 percent. Congratulations to our recent grads! Read more here>>
  
  
• Shayla Purifoy (JD 08), a staff attorney with Memphis Area Legal Services, received the 2011 Advocate of the Year Award from the TN Alliance for Legal Services.
  
  
• Congratulations to Professor Lee Harris, Memphis City councilman for District 7! Read more about his victory in the Commercial Appeal.
  
  
• The Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association honored Dean Yolanda Ingram, Judge Bernice Donald (JD 74) and Gregory Duckett (JD 85) at its annual Barrister's Ball in early November.
  
  
• At the annual Memphis Bar Association Fellow's Reception in early October, the Irvin Bogatin Social Justice Award was presented to Danielle McCollum (JD 11) and Claude Gatebuke (1L). Read more here. 
  
  

• Memphis Law is hosting the 2012 National Trial Regional Competition, February 17-19. Contact mootcourt@memphis.edu for information about sponsorship opportunities, judging the competition or volunteering to serve as a witness.
  

• The Memphis Law Review's March 30, 2012 Symposium will discuss death penalty issues, including the "West Memphis Three" Case.
  

• The Public Action Law Society celebrated Pro-Bono Month this October. Read more here. 
  
  
• Senator Lamar Alexander spoke at the law school on Thursday, Sept. 29 to more than 100 students, faculty and staff. To learn more about his visit, read articles from The Daily News, The Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Flyer. 
  
  
• Memphis Law would like to congratulate the following people for being named in the Memphis Business Journal's "Top 40 Under 40": Taylor Berger (JD 07), Hemant Gupta (JD 05), Professor Daniel Kiel, and Legal Methods Adjunct Professor Kevin Ritz.
   
• The Honorable Bernice Donald (JD 74), a Memphis federal judge, was elevated to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 6, 2011. Read more in the Commercial Appeal, Daily News and the ABA Journal. We are proud to call Judge Donald one of our own!
  
  
• The quality of life at Memphis Law has been ranked seventh in the nation by The Princeton Review.  The organization’s “Best Quality of Life” designation is based on currently enrolled students’ answers to questions about a variety of factors.
  
  
• Adjunct Professor Stephen McDaniel (JD 73) has been listed in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Litigation - Trusts & Estates and Trusts and Estates.
  
  
• Memphis Law once again named a "Best Value" by preLaw Magazine. Read more in the MBJ.
  
  
• David L. Bearman (JD 96) received the 2011 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award for the Memphis chapter of his firm. Read more in the Daily News.
  
  
• Memphis Law joins with the Tennessee legal community in mourning the loss of Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. Justice Birch was truly an inspiration to us all. Reflections on the life and legacy of Justice Birch can be found here.
  
  
• Corey Strong is the first recipient of the Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks Scholarship. Read about it in the Commercial Appeal. 
  
  
• Allie Prescott (JD 76) has been appointed president of the UM Alumni Association National Executive Board of Directors.
  
  
• The class of 2014 was welcomed at orientation in August. To read more click here.
  
• Memphis Law names five new faculty.
  
  
• The Law School has been named in the top 10 of the "nation's most popular law programs" by U.S. News and World Report.
  
  
• Michael Joiner (JD 09) was featured in an article in the Daily News about his journey from being a truck driver to an attorney.

For additional details about Memphis Law news and events, or to submit information for the News and Events sections of the Memphis Law website, please e-mail lawevents@memphis.edu.