News
Senator Richard Shelby Receives 2019 Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award
Senator Richard Shelby (’63) received the 2019 Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award at the Alabama Law Alumni Society Banquet in Birmingham.
The award is given by The Law School Foundation to an outstanding alumnus who has distinguished himself or herself through service to the bar, The University of Alabama, and the School of Law. The award is named for the late Samuel Wesley Pipes (’38), who was a partner in the Mobile law firm of Lyons, Pipes & Cook until his death in 1982.
Before presenting the award, Dean Mark E. Brandon thanked Senator Shelby for his remarkable service.
Senator Shelby said during his acceptance speech that receiving the award was a “great honor.”
“I knew Mr. Pipes, somebody we all respected,” he said. “He was a pillar of the bar, a pillar of the legal profession, very well respected not only in Mobile but all over the state, someone who loved the law and loved the Law School.”
Shelby noted the Law School’s legacy and said it’s being perpetuated by Dean Brandon, students, faculty, and alumni. He said he often thinks about the Law School and the foundation of its legacy: honor, purpose, and justice.
“Put those together,” Shelby said. “That’s what you’re all about; that’s what we’re all about. That’s what we should be about. Thank you for this distinct honor tonight.”
Senator Shelby is the senior United States Senator from the State of Alabama. He was first elected to the Senate in 1986 and is currently in his sixth term. In April 2018, Senator Shelby became Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and its Subcommittee on Defense. He served as chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and remains a senior member on each of these committees. He also serves on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
2L Moot Court Fellows Team Wins National Moot Court Competition
Lindsey Barber, Cory Church, and Anne Miles Golson, all 2Ls, won the 69th Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York. This is the first championship for The University of Alabama in the event’s history.
The Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law’s team won two preliminary rounds and then defeated William & Mary in the Round of 16, South Texas College of Law in the quarterfinals, and Iowa in the semifinals. In the championship round, the team defeated the defending national champion, Northwestern, completing an undefeated run at the national tournament.
Before a panel of six federal and state appellate court judges, the Law School’s team defeated Northwestern in a round that Judge Richard C. Wesley described as having “advocacy better than he had heard in his hearings that day.”
More than 150 teams entered the competition. The top 28 qualified for the National Finals. Of the 28 teams that competed at the national tournament, the Alabama team was the only team comprised solely of second-year law students.
The Moot Court Fellows program was started in 2011 to train a team of 2Ls in moot court so that they would be more likely to achieve success in their third year. This is the second year in the last four years that the Alabama Moot Court Fellows team has advanced past regionals to the national tournament.
Golson was named the Best Advocate for the tournament. The team was coached by Assistant Dean for Students Mary Ksobiech and managed by Josh Kravec, 2L.
This summer, Barber will work for Baker Donelson and Waller Lansden in Birmingham. Church will spend his summer at Bradley Arant and McGuire Woods in Charlotte, North Carolina. Golson will split her summer between Bradley Arant in Birmingham and Jones Day in Washington, D.C.
Mock Trial Team Wins Third Place in BLSA Regional Competition, Advances to Nationals
Darrius Culpepper, 3L, Maya Hoyt, 2L, Florence Thompson, 3L, and Alex Williams, 2L, competed against 13 other teams from across the southeast during the National Black Law Students Association’s Southern Regional Competition held at The University of Memphis School of Law.
The team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament and defeated the highest seeded team from preliminary rounds, The University of South Carolina. Alabama then advanced to the semifinals and competed against a strong team from Campbell University’s law school. Although they did not advance to the final round of the regional meet, the team earned enough points to place third in the overall competition and secured a place in the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial National Competition.
Prior to the regional competition, three of the four students had never competed in trial advocacy competitions at the law school level. Thompson, the lone veteran of the competition, served as team captain. All four advocates showed tremendous skill at the tournament and immense dedication by working on the problem over the past five months.
The competitors were coached by Kayleigh Mohler (‘16) and Justin Jones (‘12). The team will travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, in March to compete against 17 teams in the National Competition.
Alabama’s Culverhouse Law Honors the Life and Legacy of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.
Legal scholars, judges, and former law clerks gathered at the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law on Friday to reflect on the life and legacy of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.
The Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Centennial Symposium and Law Clerks Reunion celebrated Judge Johnson in the centennial year of his birth and focused on his commitment to enforcing the constitutional rights of all citizens. The Law School’s symposium, sponsored by the Alabama Law Review, marked the third day of events honoring Judge Johnson. For two days in Montgomery, lawyers and community leaders ruminated on their time with him and recounted his contributions to the law.
In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Judge Johnson to serve on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Just weeks after he arrived in Montgomery, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus, an event that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
During his tenure, Judge Johnson issued decisions that integrated buses in Montgomery, desegregated schools in Alabama, threw out the poll tax, protected the Freedom Riders, and allowed the Selma to Montgomery March to move forward. He also set standards on voting rights, employment discrimination, affirmative action, the rights of mental health patients and prison inmates.
“Judge Johnson was a courageous defender of the Constitution and the rule of law – sometimes against powerful and violent forces of resistance,” said Dean Mark E. Brandon during his welcoming remarks. “His jurisprudential record was consistently underwritten by a commitment to the values of equal justice and human dignity.” R
Nick Wilson (’16) Wins 37th Season of “Survivor”
“Survivor” winner Nick Wilson (’16) didn’t dare tell cast members that he was a lawyer.
On “Survivor: David vs. Goliath,” cast members were divided into two tribes: those who came from a place of privilege and those who had worked hard for their station in life.
Wilson’s omission was part of his strategy. Instead of revealing he was a public defender from Whitley County in Kentucky, he told contestants he was a social worker in the public defender’s office. He wanted the other players to underestimate him and his abilities. He wanted them to see him as a “friendly country boy.”
“I made a lot of friends out there, and a lot of people trusted me. So, they would tell me a lot of information,” Wilson said. “Once I had the information, I would use it to get my goals accomplished and to take out the people I wanted to vote out.” R
Class Notes
Josh Bennett (’11) was elevated to Shareholder of Maynard Cooper Gale in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Weathers Bolt (’12) was named Partner of Starnes Davis Florie in the firm’s Mobile office.
Stephen Brotherton (’99) joined KPMG as a Principal in the firm’s San Francisco office.
The Honorable Stephen F. Brown (’00) was elected to the Morgan County Circuit Court.
Andy Campbell (’08) was elected Partner at Morrison & Foerster in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Reid C. Carpenter (’10) has been named Partner at Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Colin T. Dean (’11)joined Maynard Cooper & Gale as an Associate in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Starr Drum (’09)was elevated to Shareholder of Maynard Cooper Gale in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Chris England (’02) has been elected Vice Chair of the Tuscaloosa Legislative Delegation and re-elected to the Tuscaloosa County Road Improvement Commission.
Andrew Garner (’04) was elected Partner of Phelps Dunbar in the firm’s Tupelo, Mississippi, office.
David A. Gilbert (’12) joined Blank Rome LLP as an associate in the New York office.
Rudy Hill (’10) was elevated to Partner of Bradley in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Nicole Jobe (LL.M. ‘11) was elected Partner of Thompson Coburn LLP in the firm’s St. Louis office.
Taylor Johnson (’10) was elected Partner of Burr & Forman in the firm’s Mobile office.
Blake A. Madison (’94)was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. He was appointed Co-Chair of the City of Tuscaloosa’s Steering Committee for Framework, the city’s long-term comprehensive plan.
The Honorable Tammy Montgomery (’84) received the 2018 Karen LaMoreaux Bryan Lifetime Achievement Award from the Girl Scouts during the The West Alabama One Smart Cookie Celebration in Tuscaloosa.
Lorin G. Page (’12) joined McGuire, Wood & Bissette in Asheville, North Carolina.
Day Peake (’05) was elected Partner of Phelps Dunbar in the firm’s Mobile office.
Travis Ramey (’11) was elected Partner of Burr & Forman in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Ryan P. Robichaux (’09) was named Counsel of Bradley in the firm’s Birmingham office.
The Honorable Scott E. Stephens (LL.M. ’17) was elected to the Sixth District Court of Appeal in Texas.
Corbitt Tate (’11) was promoted to Partner of Balch & Bingham in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Lauren Davis Tice (’07) has been named Partner of Huie in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Kimberly Vines (’14)joined Cantor Colburn LLP as an Associatie in the firm’s Atlanta office.
Ashley Wright (’11) was elevated to Shareholder of Maynard Cooper Gale in the firm’s Birmingham office.
Events
D.C. Externship Reception for Alumni
The Law School is planning a D.C. Externship Reception for Alumni. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5 at Hogan Lovells. For more information or to register, visit https://culverhouselaw_alumnireception_dc.eventbrite.com
Alumni Weekend
Save the date for the Alumni Weekend. The Law School is planning activities for class years 1969, 1979, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2009. Reunion cocktail receptions are scheduled for Friday, April 5 at the Law School. All alumni classes are invited to a pre-game tailgate at the Law School on Saturday, April 6, for the Alabama v. South Carolina baseball game.
Gifts
J. Alan Bannister (‘88) donated $7,500 to the Program for Law and Business.
Christian and Small LLP contributed$5,000 to the Christian & Small Annual Diversity Scholarship.
Mark Crosswhite (‘87) pledged $10,000 to the Program for Law and Business.
Joseph G. Gamble, Jr. (’50) contributed $6,287 to the Alabama Law Alumni Society.
The Honorable and Mrs. Truman M. Hobbs, Jr. (’83) contributed $8,500 to the Law School Foundation’s unrestricted fund through The Hobbs Foundation.
Stephen Kane (‘69) donated $25,000 to the Program for Law and Business.
Mrs. Clare Mackey contributed $5,000 to the M. Cecil Mackey Endowed Scholarship.
Michael R. Mills (‘85) donated $5,000 to the Order of the Coif Endowed Scholarship.
Porterfield Harper Mills Motlow & Ireland, P.A. contributed $5,000 to the Porterfield Harper & Mills Scholarship.
The Albert G. Rives Charitable Trust donated $11,083 to the Albert G. and Hester Rives Fund.
Irving Silver (’65) contributed $50,000 to The Irving Silver and Frances Grodsky Silver Faculty Scholar Endowment Fund.
The Henry G. and Henry U. Sims Foundation donated $8,100 to the Public Interest Law Fellowship.
Faculty Notes
PROFESSOR DEEPA DAS ACEVEDO was invited to participate in a conference on personal status before the law from antiquity to the present, to be held at Washington and Lee University. She will present her work-in-progress analyzing the Indian Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the Sabarimala temple’s practice of excluding women aged 10-50 violates the religious freedom rights of women devotees.
PROFESSOR RICHARD DELGADO was featured in an article by Frank Green. The article, published in The Crime Report, analyzed Professor Delgado’s two articles on a “Rotten Social Background” defense for criminal defendants whose crimes stem from an extremely underprivileged background marked by poverty and destitution. Titled “The Environmental Factor: When Criminals are also Victims,” Green’s article traces the history of Delgado’s idea and shows its place in conversations about extreme poverty and criminogenesis. https://thecrimereport.org/2019/01/04/the-environmental-factor-when-criminals-are-also-victims/
Professor
Delgado’s new book, with Jean Stefancic, Must
We Defend Nazis? Why The First Amendment Should Not Protect Hate Speech
and White Supremacy, received a glowing review by NYU
Professor and Vice Provost Ulrich Baer.
https://www.publicbooks.org/free-speech-and-equality-on-campus/.
Professor Delgado continues editing articles for Case Western Law Review and UC-Davis Law Review and has completed drafts of two others that he expects to send out soon.
PROFESSOR SHAHAR DILLBARY presented his experimental scholarship at the Law and Economics Workshop at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Professor Dillbary was invited by the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods (Portugal) to present his new scholarship on the economic effects of liability doctrines involving third parties (e.g. vicarious liability) and legal presumptions. His most recent article, An Empirical Analysis of Sexual Orientation Discrimination (co-authored with professor Griffin Edwards) will be published this month as the Lead Article in the University of Chicago Law Review (86 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1). The article is available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3152015.
PROFESSOR PAUL HORWITZ is spending the spring semester of 2019 as a fellow at Emory Law School’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion, where he will be presenting a paper and participating in various events at the Center.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL PARDO presented his recent scholarship at an annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association, on a panel on epistemology and law. His article, “The Paradoxes of Legal Proof: A Critical Guide” (available here: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3293023) will be published this month in volume 99 of the Boston University Law Review.
PROFESSOR JOYCE WHITE VANCE is frequent contributor on MSNBC, where she discusses legal issues generated during the Mueller investigation. Professor Vance published an Op-Ed in Slate on selecting a new Attorney General. https://slate.com/comments/news-and-politics/2018/12/matt-whitaker-bill-barr-donald-trump-doj-attorney-general-congress.html
The views, opinions, and conclusions expressed by faculty in their publications or research activities are those of the author and not necessarily those of The University of Alabama or its officers and trustees. The content of faculty publications has not been approved by The University of Alabama, and the author is solely responsible for that content.