Sign up to join us virtually on February 26 for our annual Alabama Law Alumni Society Banquet. A reception will begin at 6 p.m. CT, with the award ceremony to follow 7 p.m. CT. Two new awards —the Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor and the Rising Young Attorney Award—will be presented at this year’s ceremony alongside the annual Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award.
The Sam W. Pipes Award is the highest honor bestowed by the School of Law, and it is given to an outstanding alumnus or alumna who has distinguished himself or herself through service to the Bar, The University of Alabama, and the School of Law. This year, the Managing Committee of the Board of Governors of the Law School Foundation is proud to announce Mr. Frank M. Bainbridge as the 2021 Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner.
Frank M. Bainbridge took his LL.B. (now known as a J.D.) from The University of Alabama School of Law in 1956. He is a partner with Bainbridge, Mims, Rogers & Smith in Birmingham, Alabama, and he has practiced law for more than fifty years—representing individuals, small businesses, and closely held corporations. Bainbridge is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a charter member of the Atticus Finch Society of the Alabama State Bar, a recipient of the Lawyer of the Year Award from the Birmingham Bar Association, and a recipient of the Lawyer of the Year Award from the Black Law Students Association (BLSA). He has also been repeatedly listed in Best Lawyers in America.
Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor Inductees
The Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor is an award established by the Board of Governors of the Law School Foundation that recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to the legal profession and to the Law school over an extended period of time. In this inaugural year, the Board of Governors of the Law School Foundation is proud to announce the 2021 inductees:
Walker Percy Badham III took his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law and is a founding partner of Badham & Buck in Birmingham, Alabama. He has practiced law for more than 33 years, focusing on complex litigation, business disputes, insurance coverage, class actions, and personal injury litigation. Throughout his career, he has served as President of Alabama Young Lawyers, Director of the Trial Academy for the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) of the American Bar Association, and has consistently been listed in Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. 
Bryan K. Fair took his J.D. from UCLA and is the Thomas E. Skinner Professor for The University of Alabama School of Law. Fair has served as Director of Diversity, Director of International Programs, Associate Dean for Special Programs, Coach of Moot Court Teams and Faculty Advisor to numerous student organizations throughout the Law School. Throughout his career, Fair has been a tireless advocate for the recruitment and retention of minority students. He is also the author of Notes of a Racial Caste Baby: Color Blindness and the End of Affirmative Action (NYU Press, 1997) and has served as an Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Alabama for several years. 
Julia Smeds Roth took her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law, and she is a partner with Eyster, Key, Tubb, Roth, Middleton & Adams, LLP, in Decatur, Alabama. Her practice includes matters of family law, wills and estate planning, and litigation. Roth served as Chair of the Client Security Task Force of the Alabama State Bar, President of the Morgan County Bar Association, special counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the Alabama House of Representatives, and is a member of the prestigious Alabama Law Institute—having served on the Executive Committee for the Institute. Roth is also serving of the Law School’s Capital Campaign Committee, is a member of the Law School Patrons, and is a past President of the Law School Foundation’s Board of Governors.
Sharonda Childs Fancher took her J.D. from The University of Alabama School of Law, and she is an associate with Baker Donelson where she has built a thriving legal practice advising clients on a variety of employment matters. Previously, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Inge P. Johnson, Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Fancher has been listed among the Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch,” was named the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2015 Birmingham Woman of the Year, and has provided pro bono legal assistance to the United States Conference of Mayors and other organizations seeking to add the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Shaila Dewan of the The New York Times highlighted Professor Joyce Vance’s insights on the potential charges stemming from the Capitol siege. Read the full article title “People Died at the Capitol. Will Rioters Be Charged With Murder?” here.
Professor Tara Leigh Grove’s insights on the history of “court packing” was highlighted on CNN. You can read the article titled “Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Set to Launch as Some Liberals are Eager to Pack the Court” here.
Professor Adam Steinman shared his insights in as recent Bloomberg Law article discussing the “doctrinal puzzle” of what to do with an adverse judgment from a lower court that the losing party no longer has the ability to challenge. Read the full Bloomberg Law article here.
Professor Tara Leigh Grove is quoted in USA TODAY discussing the upcoming Senate impeachment trial.
Professor Heather Elliott recently published “What We Can All Learn from Ruth Bader Ginsburg” in the California Law Review. You can read her reflections on RBG here.
Professor Joyce Vance was quoted in the Washington Post this week. Read the full Opinion piece titled “Finally, a President Who Takes White Supremacist Violence Seriously” here.
Professor Joyce White Vance published a new essay titled “Treat Every Defendant Equally and Fairly: Political Interference and the Challenges Facing the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices as the Justice Department Turns 150 Years Old” in the Yale Law Journal as a part of their collection published at the DOJ’s sesquicentennial. Read Professor Vance’s piece here.
Professors Fredrick Vars from The University of Alabama Law School and Ian Ayres of Yale Law School discuss how we can begin reducing gun deaths without infringing on Second Amendment rights. Listen to their interview with Julie Rose on BYU Radio here.
