Considered UGA Law’s most prestigious scholarship, the Distinguished Law Fellowship offers unparalleled opportunities for some of the school’s brightest students as they pursue their law degrees. Beyond financial aid, students benefit from domestic and international externships, guided research experiences and opportunities to meet some of the country’s top legal, business and government leaders.

Distinguished Law Fellowships not only provide scholarships and professional development opportunities to support students in achieving their academic and career goals, the program also fosters a close-knit and supportive cohort across the various class years. At a Board of Visitors reception earlier last academic year are second-year students (l. to r.) Hannah Peters (Motz Fellow), Sydney McRae (Wilson Fellow) and Catherine Brennan (Edge Fellow).

Over the past year, fellowship recipients enjoyed private lunches with members of the federal judiciary such as U.S. Court of Appeals Judges J. Michelle Childs (D.C. Circuit) and Stephen A. Higginson (Fifth Circuit) and U.S. District Court Judge for the District of South Carolina Richard M. Gergel. Additionally, first-year fellows had the opportunity to connect with members of the school’s alumni boards and with many of their benefactors at receptions.

Initially established in 2016 by a gift from The John N. Goddard Foundation, the Distinguished Law Fellowship program currently has the ability to offer more than 25 full-tuition-plus scholarships. The program is modeled after the university’s prestigious Foundation Fellows initiative, which was established in 1972.