Weeks elected to ALI

UGA Associate Provost & Kirbo Chair Elizabeth Weeks (J.D.’99) was recently elected a member of the American Law Institute. Members work to “influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas,” collaborate with other “eminent lawyers, judges and academics,” give back to the legal profession and “contribute to the public good.”

Weeks is the co-author of Healthism: Health Status Discrimination and the Law and The Law of American Health Care, now in its third edition. Presently, she serves as chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Torts and Compensation Systems.

Her scholarship has been published in the Boston University Law Review, the Utah Law Review, the Hofstra Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, the Washington University Law Review and the North Carolina Law Review, among others.

She recently presented on the panel “What Caused This Policy Disaster? Constitutional Design, Constitutional Culture, or the Human Condition?” as part of the Coronavirus and the Constitution virtual conference hosted by the Yale Law School.

A member of the UGA Law faculty since 2011, she served as the law school’s associate dean for faculty development from 2018 to 2020.

Wells named ALI associate reporter

Carter Chair in Tort and Insurance Law Michael L. Wells has been named associate reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts project. He will help “examine the law of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which provides an individual the right to sue state government employees and others acting ‘under color of state law’ in federal court for violations of federal law.”

An authority in torts, federal courts and constitutional litigation, Wells has published numerous articles in such leading journals as the Cornell Law Review, the Duke Law Journal, the Virginia Law Review, the William & Mary Law Review, Constitutional Commentary and the Yale Journal of International Law.

His recent work includes: “Absolute Official Immunity in Constitutional Litigation” and “Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, Nominal Damages, and the Roberts Stratagem” in the Georgia Law Review as well as “European Union Law in the Member State Courts: A Comparative Review” in the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law.

Wells joined the School of Law faculty in 1978 and has taught Torts, Federal Courts, Constitutional Law, Insurance, Constitutional Litigation and European Union Law.

White receives President’s Medal

Earlier this year, UGA bestowed one of its highest honors on Dean & Hosch Professor of Law Emerita Rebecca Hanner White.

The President’s Medal recognizes individuals, not currently employed at the university, who have made extraordinary contributions to the UGA community by supporting students and academic programs, advancing research or engaging in public service to enhance the quality of life of citizens in Georgia.

She is regarded as “one of the most effective deans and professors in the history” of the School of Law. She served as dean from 2003 to 2015 and has continued to support the law school and its goals since her retirement in 2016.

White, who specializes in labor law, employment discrimination, employment law and labor arbitration, joined the UGA Law faculty in 1989. She rose through the academic ranks at UGA, becoming full professor in 1998. She served as UGA’s associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs from October 2003 to June 2004 before taking over the helm of the law school.

In addition to being the first female dean of the law school, she was the first female faculty member from the law school to be named a UGA Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor. She has also received the UGA Alumni Association’s Faculty Service Award and the law school’s Distinguished Service Scroll Award.

Students recognize faculty and staff

Nathan S. Chapman – Cleveland Chair – Brown Professionalism Award

Dan T. Coenen – University Professor, Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor & Caldwell Chair in Constitutional Law – Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching and Graduation Faculty Marshal

Patrick D. Conner (J.D.’98) – Senior Lecturer – Watson Award for Outstanding Legal Research or Writing Instructor

Elizabeth M. Grant (J.D.’94) – Clinical Associate Professor & Director of the Civil Externship and Public Interest Practicum – Lanier Award for Excellence in Clinical Education

Scott Lowry (J.D.’07) – Clinical Assistant Professor – O’Byrne Memorial Award for Significant Contributions Furthering Student-Faculty Relations

Laura Phillips-Sawyer – Wilson Associate Professor in Business Law – UGA Law Excellence in Undergraduate Education Award

Usha Rodrigues – University Professor & Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law – Graduation Faculty Marshal

Anthony E. “Tony” Waller (J.D.’93) – Assistant Dean for Career Development – Student Bar Association Award for Outstanding Staff Member