News
Welcome, Alabama Law Class of 2024
Alabama Law’s 1L incoming class consists of 152 students-drawn from a pool of over 1,500 applicants. More than 50 percent of the 1Ls are women and just under 20 percent identify as members of a racial or ethnic minority. Members of this class have studied, lived, or worked in 43 countries outside of the United States, including those in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, and they read or speak 12 different languages and dialects from around the world. Read more about this year’s incoming class here.
Professor Daiquiri Steele Re-Joins Alabama Law
Alabama Law is proud to announce that Professor Daiquiri Steele has rejoined the School of Law as an Assistant Professor. Her research examines whether and how anti-discrimination laws help ensure equal access to employment and education-both of which are crucial determinants of socioeconomic mobility. Read more about Professor Steele’s work and new position here.
Alabama Law Alum Frees Man from Lifelong Prison Sentence
Alabama Law alum and Alabama Appleseed intern, Allen Slater (’21), recently helped free a man after 27 years in Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County, Alabama. Read more about it on the Alabama Appleseed webpage.
Class Notes
Donald “Keith” Andress (’94) joined the firm of Burr & Forman as a Partner in Birmingham, AL.
Jenna M. Bedsole (‘97) was named managing shareholder of Baker Donelson’s Birmingham law office.
Danielle Blevins (’12) recently began a part-time detail with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs as a Public Affairs Specialist. She will also retain her current position and duties at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of the General Counsel as an Attorney-Advisor.
Mark Boardman (’82), Jeff Bowling (’92), Mike Ermert (’90), Courtney Gipson (‘14), Cliff Mendheim (’00), Rebekah McKinney (’95), Tom Perry (‘86), Clay Ryan (‘02), Terri Tompkins (’99), and Hal Turner (‘84) received the Alabama State Bar President’s Award.
David R. Boyd (’76) was elected president of the Alabama Law Institute in Montgomery, AL.
John Brinkley (’74), Mike Ermert (‘90), and Rebekah McKinney (‘95) received the Alabama State Bar Commissioner’s Award.
Ellen Brooks (’76) received the Alabama State Bar Award of Merit.
Chandler Combest (’10) rejoined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group in Birmingham, AL.
Christy Crow (’97) received the Alabama State Bar William D. “Bill” Scruggs, Jr. Service to the Bar Award.
Christopher J. England Sr. (’02) was named a fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation.
Judge John H. England, Jr. (’74) received the SCLC’s Drum Major for Justice Lifetime Achievement Award in Tuscaloosa, AL, and he has been appointed by Governor Kay Ivey to the Tuskegee University Board of Trustees.
Malvern U. “Griff” Griffin III (’93) was elected to Eversheds Sutherland‘s US Executive Committee in Atlanta, GA.
Sarah E. Gunn (’19), Hirshel M. Hall (’20), William A. Stoll (’20), and Mary Katherine White (‘20) joined Bradley Arant in Birmingham, AL.
Aisha Hall (’15) joined the Southfield office of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss PC as an associate in the electronic payments practice group in Detroit, MI.
Johnjerica Hodge (’13) was promoted to Partner at Katten Muchen Rosenman LLP in Washington D.C.
Shelby Hudspith (’19) joined McIlveen Family Law Firm as an Associate in Charlotte, NC.
Adam K. Israel (‘09), Hon. P. Bradley Murray (‘95), Hon. Teresa T. Pulliam (‘83), John D. Saxon (‘77), and Hon. L. Bernard Smithart (‘89) were named fellows of the Alabama Law Foundation.
Josh Kravec (’20) was named the Pro Bono Committee Chair for Baker Donelson’s Law Office in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Major David F. Lasseter (’05) joined Heat Biologics Biothreat Advisory Board in Durham, NC.
Scott E. Ludwig (’83) was recognized as a Fellow of the Alabama Law Institute in Montgomery, AL.
R. Sid McAnnally (’90) was named president and CEO of ONE Gas Inc. in Tulsa, OK.
Jared Mitchem (’00) was named regional vice president for TVA’s South Region in Huntsville, AL.
Bill Poole (’04) was appointed state finance director of Alabama in Montgomery, AL.
Jessica H. Pope (’21) was named assistant athletic director for compliance and senior woman administrator at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, TX.
Leanna B. Pittard (’03) moved to Blasingame Burch Garrard & Ashley PC’s new office in Birmingham, AL.
Alexandra Priester (’20) joined Dominick Feld Hyde PC’s Estate Planning and Estate Administration Group in Birmingham, AL.
Barry A. Ragsdale (’85) joined the law firm of Dominick Feld Hyde PC as a shareholder in Birmingham, AL.
Judge Sibley Reynolds (’82) received the Alabama State Bar Judicial Award of Merit.
Martin E. “Marty” Roberts Jr. (’85) was appointed General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Treasury Prime in San Francisco, CA.
Ryan P. Robichaux (’09) was elected to a three-year term as commissioner on the Alabama State Bar for the 10th Judicial Circuit, Place 8, in Birmingham, AL.
Tazewell “Taze” Shepard III (’79) started his term as 146th Alabama State Bar President.
Bruce Siegal (’86) joined Greenspoon Marder LLP in Atlanta, GA.
Jade E. Sipes (’12) joined the office of Burr & Forman as Counsel in Birmingham, AL.
Jonathan L. Shugart Jr. (’13) launched a fintech platform to make crowdfunding donations tax-deductible in Birmingham, AL.
Stephen W. Still Jr. (’05) was elected president of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association in Auburn, AL.
Michael Windom (’86) was sworn in on Friday as the Mobile county’s newest circuit judge in Mobile, AL.
Gifts
The University of Alabama Federal Tax Clinic contributed $37,500 to the University of Alabama’s Federal Tax Clinic Scholarship fund.
Tim Francis (’84) gifted $10,000 to the James Timothy Francis Endowed Scholarship fund.
The Scott Family Fund / Thomas J. Scott, Jr. allocated $5,000 in support of the Judge Irene Feagin Scott Tax Library Collection Fund.
Susan Doss (’89) contributed $32,540 to the L. Susan Doss Endowed Scholarship.
Scholarship Foundation Inc/H. Thomas Heflin (’79) donated $5,000 to the Howell T. Heflin Fund & $5,000 to the Class of 1979 In Memoriam Scholarship.
Susan R. Miller gifted $175,000 to the John C.H. Miller, Jr. Scholarship.
The Estate of William H. Mills (’56) allocated $200,000 to establish the William H. Mills Symposium on Legal Ethics and Professionalism Endowment Fund.
Penny A. Davis (’78) contributed $5,500 to the Alabama Law Alumni Society.
Paula W. Hinton (’79) donated $15,000 to the Paula W. Hinton (1979) and James F. Hinton, Sr. (1948) Scholarship.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP gifted $13,000 to the Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Endowed Scholarship.
M. Wayne Wheeler (’66) contributed $100,000 to the Judge Robert J. Wheeler Endowed Scholarship Fund.
David and Geri Butterfield donated $250,000 to establish The Ashley Lauren Butterfield Memorial Endowed Law Scholarship. The Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions Committee donated $10,000 for the Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions/William C. Sullivan Scholarship.
Faculty Notes
Professor Deepa Das Acevedo‘s essay, (Im)mutable Race? was published in the Northwestern University Law Review Online, on July 15. The essay applies the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County to cases of racial transformation and uses an anthropologically-informed interpretive posture called “cultivated attentiveness” to guide courts.
Additionally, Professor Acevedo presented her book project, The Battle for Sabarimala, at a roundtable discussion during the Society for the Anthropology of Religion’s biennial conference on May 15. She also organized the roundtable, which was titled “Institutional Matters: Controversies at the Center of Religion, Law, and Politics,” and featured Deonnie Moodie (Oklahoma) and Leilah Vevaina (Chinese University of Hong Kong).
Professor John Felipe Acevedo participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Institute on Law and Culture in Medieval England.
At the Law and Society Association’s Annual Meeting (May 27-30) Acevedo presented his draft paper, “Prurient Zoning: The Theory and Practice of Sex Speech Zoning.” He also chaired a round table, “Race and Property Law” and a paper session, “Addressing the Housing Crisis” as part of the Socio-Legal Approaches to Property Collaborative Research Network, which he organizes with Bernadette Athuahene (Chicago-Kent College of Law).
Professor Richard Delgado‘s article, Remedies for Police Shootings: A Comment on Slater, was a Top Ten Download on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) list for several weeks. The article appeared in the Berkeley Journal of African American Law & Policy.
His article, Groundhog Law received the same recognition after appearing in Journal of Law in Society, as did Rodrigo’s Reappraisal, co-authored with Professor Jean Stefancic. Their article appeared in B.U. L. Rev.
Their book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction was the #1 best seller on Amazon’s list for general constitutional law most of the summer. The Kindle version was often rated #2 bestseller, and the audiobook #3.
Their contribution to critical race scholarship was covered by Michelle Goldberg (N.Y. Times), Ian McWhorter (N.Y. Times), and publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Washington Post, AL.com, Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Conversation.
They submitted the final manuscript for a new edition of their casebook, Latinos & The Law: Cases and Materials. Co-edited with Leticia Saucedo (UC-Davis) and Marc-Tizoc Gonzalez (New Mexico), the 1063-page book will be published by West Law Group in October 2021.
Jean Stefancic also spoke on a Presidential Panel at the American Sociological annual meeting, on the subject of emancipatory sociology and the “Future of Critical Race Theory.”
Professor Russell Gold published the Oxford Handbook of Prosecutors and Prosecution, of which he is a co-editor. Professor Gold also authored a chapter in that volume and co-authored the Introduction.
On July 15 and July 19, Professor Gold presented via Zoom his work in progress, Power over Procedure, at the Civil Procedure Workshop and CrimFest.
Professor Amy Kimpel‘s article Paying for a Clean Record was accepted for publication in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (forthcoming 2022). The article looks at the twin criminal justice reforms of diversion and expungement and the ways in which, in some jurisdictions, they enable defendants with financial means to pay to avoid or erase a criminal record. Because of the racial wealth gap, allowing defendants to pay for a clean record can calcify race and class-based disparities both in the criminal legal system and in society at large.
Professor Ron Krotoszynski, Jr. was elected, by acclamation, Vice-President and President-Elect of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. He will serve as Vice-President/President-Elect at the 2022 annual meeting, President at the 2023 meeting, and Past-President at the 2024 annual meeting. His election took place at the SEALS Annual Meeting, held at Amelia Island, Florida, from July 26, 2021 to August 2, 2021. Krotoszynski’s position includes a three-year term of service on the SEALS Board of Directors. In addition, he moderated two workshops for law school research deans focused on how best to support faculty with researching, writing, and marketing their scholarship.
Finally, Krotoszynski represented the University of Alabama School of Law on the SEALS Steering Committee.
Professor Shalini Bhargava Ray published The Emerging Lessons of Trump v. Hawaii, in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal as part of its symposium on The Presidency and Individual Rights.
Professor Adam Steinman published two books: Civil Procedure(West 6th ed. 2021) (co-authored with Jack Friedenthal, Mary Kay Kane & Arthur Miller), and 2021-2022 Civil Procedure Supplement, for Use with All Pleading and Procedure Casebooks (West 2021) (co-authored with Jack Friedenthal, Arthur Miller, John Sexton, Helen Hershkoff & Troy McKenzie). Professor Steinman also spoke and presented at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools 2021 Annual Conference (July 30) and at the Civil Procedure Workshop Works-In-Progress Series (August 12). In addition, Professor Steinman recently joined five other federal courts scholars in filing a Supreme Court amicus brief in Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, which is scheduled for oral argument in October.