Professor Bryan Fair Named Fred Gray Institute Fellow
At its inaugural symposium in Montgomery on March 14-15, the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights named Professor Bryan Fair to its second cohort of Gray Institute Fellows. The Fellows are named to two-year terms where they provide leadership, foster external relationships to benefit the Institute, and work on projects focused on the Institute’s initiatives: medical ethics, voting rights, gerrymandering, human and civil rights law, and ensuring equal access to quality education. Read more here.
Alabama Law Team Wins First Place at Nelson Mandela International Negotiations Competition
Tionna Taite and Claudia Bonney Amamoo represented Alabama Law at the Nelson Mandela International Negotiations Competition and took home first place after going up against 16 other law schools from around the country. The team was coached by Professor Susan Donovan. Read more here.
Appellate Advocacy Clinic Students Argue Before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
This academic year, four pairs of students have been invited to travel to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to present oral argument for their respective cases as part of their service to the Law School’s Appellate Advocacy Clinic, directed by Professor Travis Ramey. Camdyn Neal and Cooper Moran, Alli Swann and Dalton Counts, and Christopher Alhorn and Sanderson Wall have already presented their arguments, and Tyger Quarles and Carson Freund will travel to the Eleventh Circuit in May. The chance to argue before a federal appellate court marks a significant advancement in the professional and academic careers of each participant. Click here to learn more about these students’ experiences.
Gifts
Recognition of gifts of $5,000+ over the past month
An anonymous pledge of $25,000 was made in support of the Public Interest Summer Grant Program.
Martin E. Roberts Jr. (‘85) and John R. Rhodes have included the Law School in their estate plans.
J. Cole Portis (‘90) contributed $5,000 to the Path Makers Legacy Plaza.
The Estate of Albert G. Rives (1924) contributed $5,916.66 to the Albert G. and Hester Rives Fund.
The following alumni and friends (not mentioned above) either made or renewed an annual giving contribution to the Alabama Law Alumni Society this past month. Visit www.give.ua.edu to make or renew your contribution.
Harwell E. Coale Jr. (‘64)
Michael T. Dawkins (‘88)
William R. Gordon (‘69)
Edward T. Hines Sr. (‘76)
J. Fredric Ingram Sr. (‘62)
William M. Logan IV (‘17)
William R. Lunsford (‘00)
Mary Parrish McCracken (‘20)
Wesley Smithart (‘20)
Jack P. Stephenson Jr. (‘73)
Jeff Wells (‘06)
Jennifer Butler Wells (‘06)
Class Notes
David Benck (‘93) has been promoted to SVP and North American General Counsel for JD Sports Fashion Plc with legal responsibility for 2,500 retail locations in North America comprised of JD Sports, Hibbett Sports, Shoe Palace, DTLR, City Gear, and the Finish Line.
Stanley Blackmon (‘15) was named to Mississippi State University’s Reveille Class of 2025 by the Mississippi State University Alumni Association.
Timothy H. Courchaine (‘14) was appointed interim U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona.
Tucker Crain (‘22) joined Kabat Chapman & Ozmer LLP as an associate in their labor and employment practice group in Atlanta.
Stephen Davis (‘08) and Jordan Hennig (‘15) joined Butler Snow’s labor and employment group in Huntsville.
Barrett Hails (‘12) was named partner at Phelps in Birmingham.
Elizabeth Huntley (‘97) was one of four speakers for the inaugural Legends Live conversation, titled Female Legends Making Their Mark. The event was hosted by the University of Alabama’s Student Government Association, the 1893 Society, and the Blackburn Institute.
Parker Jennings (‘24) joined Lightfoot, Franklin & White as an associate in Birmingham.
Christa Ketchum (‘05) joined Jones Walker as special counsel on the tax credit finance team in Birmingham.
Jonathan Maples (‘07) joined Phelps as counsel in Mobile.
Alan B. Miller (‘03) was named to Business Alabama’s Spotlight on Shelby County: Movers & Shakers list.
David E. Rains (‘96) joined Maynard Nexsen as a shareholder in the firm’s corporate and business transactions practice group in Birmingham.
Ellenann Yelverton (‘02) was named general counsel for Gray Media in Atlanta.
Faculty Notes
Professor Bryan Fair presented at the Inaugural National Symposium for the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human & Civil Rights in Montgomery. He was also selected as a fellow for the Institute.
Professor Stefania Fusco’s article, The Enduring Value of Copyright Harmonization, was accepted for publication in Villanova Law Review. She was also interviewed on the podcast A Fashion Law Dinner Party to discuss geographical indications and will act as a moderator for Texas A&M University School of Law’s Center for Law and Intellectual Property’s symposium, Change and Continuity in the Global Intellectual Property Order.
Professor Susan Pace Hamill was a featured expert on WalletHub’s recent survey about Americans’ attitudes toward taxes.
Professor Luke Herrine recently placed three articles: The Student Debt Reset in California Law Review (with Jonathan Glater, UC Berkeley Law School, forthcoming 2025), Unfairness, Reconstructed in Vol. 42, Issue 1 of Yale Journal on Regulation, and Regulating Cutthroat Business in North Carolina Law Review (forthcoming 2025). He was also named an inaugural Reimagine America Fellow by the Roosevelt Society.
Professor Dan Joyner published an article in National Law Review, Tariffs and Other Regulatory Charges on Imported Goods (with Angela Ennis, Scott A. Jones, and John McCollough).
Professor Ron Krotoszynski was the speaker for the Judge Harry J. Wilters Jr. Endowed Lecture, hosted by the University of South Alabama in Mobile. He presented on Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. and the role of federal courts in protecting fundamental constitutional rights.
Professor Meredith Render’s article, Waste, Property, and Useless Things, was published in Vol. 138 of Harvard Law Review.
Professor Joyce Vance announced the publication of her new book, Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy, with Penguin Random House. It is available for presale now and will be published in October. She has also given a series of television interviews, mostly on MSNBC, to analyze the various legal challenges to Executive Orders issued by the Trump administration, and wrote an op-ed for MSNBC in response to the Secretary of Agriculture suggesting Americans raise “backyard chickens” to combat the rising price of eggs.
Professor Fred Vars published an op-ed in The Washington Post titled Mel Gibson should have a way to get his guns back. Here’s why. (with Ian Ayres, Yale Law School).