News
Alabama Law Ranks Top 10 in Federal Clerkships
Data from the most recent ABA Employment Report show that the Alabama Law Class of 2020 ranks 10th in the nation for federal clerkship placements. A few students from this class shared their clerkship experiences with us, which you can read about here. 
The annual Alabama Law Alumni Society Banquet is scheduled for February 11, 2022, at Haven in Birmingham. More details will follow. We hope to see you there!
Alabama Law Student Receives Prestigious Scholarship
Alabama Law 2L, Crystal Armstrong, recently received the 2022 Deborah J. Broyles Diverse Scholar Award from the global law firm, Reed Smith LLP. This award provides a $20,000 scholarship and summer associate position to two law students nationwide. Read more about Armstrong and the Deborah J. Broyles Diverse Scholar Award here.
Class Notes
Nwando Anwah (’21), Kristin Martin (’21), and John Morson (’21) joined Dentons Sirote’s Birmingham office as associates. Judge Bob Baker (’83) retired after nearly 20 years of service to Limestone County, AL. Ross H. Benson (’18) earned the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification from the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. Thomas Hall (’18) joined Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison as an associate in Nashville, TN. Robert Humphrey (’21) joined Balch and Bingham’s Birmingham office as a member of the Corporate Practice group. Laura Leigh Latta (’11) joined the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) as State Relations Regional Vice President. The Honorable Gerald M. Martin (’92) was elected vice-chair of the Mississippi Conference of Chancery Court Judges. Catherine Milling (’21) joined Maynard Cooper & Gale’s Birmingham office as an Associate in the Litigation Practice. Taze Shepard (’79) received the 2021 Outstanding Service Award from the Alabama State Bar Solo and Small Firm Section. Bradley “Brad” J. Sklar (’87) was named to the Birmingham Business Journal’s 2021 Who’s Who in Commercial Real Estate list. Madison Tucker (’21) joined Balch and Bingham’s Birmingham office as a member of the Litigation and Banking and Financial Services Practices.
Gifts
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP donated $8,150 to the Alabama Law Alumni Society on behalf of the firm’s Alabama Law graduates.
The University of Alabama Chapter of the Order of the Coif donated $10,000 to the Order of the Coif Endowed Scholarship and $12,000 to the Order of the Coif Annual Scholarship.
Thomas J. Scott, Jr. contributed $5,000 to the Judge Irene Feagin Scott Tax Library Collection Fund. The gift was facilitated by Morgan Stanley.
Faculty Notes
Professor Shalini Bhargava Ray’s article, Immigration Law’s Arbitrariness Problem, was published in Volume 121 of the Columbia Law Review.
Professor Deepa Das Acevedo was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Law and Society Association, the premier association for socio-legal studies in the United States and one of the leading interdisciplinary legal associations worldwide. As a member of the eight-person trustee Class of 2024, Professor Acevedo will join 23 other Trustees as well as 7 executive officers in shaping the Association’s direction.
Additionally, Professor Acevedo’s essay,(Im)mutable Race? (116 Nw. U. L. Rev. Colloquy 88 (2021)), was reviewed in the Journal of Things We Like (Lots), marking the second time her scholarship has been reviewed in JOTWELL in 2021.
Her article From Mythic Saviours to #MeToo at the Indian Supreme Court, was also recently published in the Asian Journal of Law and Society.
Upon invitation from Casey Duncan, Professors Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic spoke on critical race theory to the Law Libraries Association of Alabama.
With two other co-authors, they published Latinos and the Law (2d ed., West Academic 2021) a 1,000-page casebook and accompanying Teachers Manual covering the legal and social histories of this large and growing group.
The New Press just published Delgado’s chapter, titled Derrick Bell’s Toolkit–Fit to Dismantle that Famous House?, in a volume edited by Janet Dewart Bell and Vincent Southerland. Titled Race, Rights, and Redemption, the volume contains edited versions of selected addresses in the NYU Law School series of annual Derrick Bell Lectures. Kirkus Reviews gave the volume a starred review, noting that it contains “Penetrating essays on race and social stratification within policing and the law, in honor of pioneering scholar Derrick Bell.”
Both Delgado and Stefancic ranked near the top in Brian Leiter’s five-year assessment (2016-2020) of critical scholars by citation impact. And their students have published or had accepted for publication at least eight law review articles on such subjects as the legal construction of whiteness, police shootings, K9 policing, immigration, and animal rights.
Professor Mirit Eyal-Cohen presented her paper “Rehabilitation by Taxation” at the National Tax Association conference in Nov. 2021. The paper looks into offsetting the effect of tax collection and enforcement processes on low-income taxpayers.
Professor Tara Leigh Grove was interviewed on Bloomberg radio about the Supreme Court’s agreement to take up a Mississippi abortion case. She also was quoted in The New York Times article titled In Texas Abortion Law Case, a Spotlight on Brett Kavanaugh.
In addition, Professor Grove was recently quoted in an article on Supreme Court legitimacy in The National Law Journal. Her Harvard Law Review essay The Supreme Court’s Legitimacy Dilemma, which reviews Richard Fallon’s Law and Legitimacy in the Supreme Court, was referenced in the piece. You can access the full article on The National Law Journal’s website (subscription required to access the article).
Professor Anil Mujumdar was re-elected to a three-year term on the ACLU’s national executive committee.