Recognizing Exceptional Students

April 18, 2023

Typically included in our graduation ceremony, this year, we held a separate event to honor students who excelled in exceptional ways. Congratulations to all award winners and the entire Class of 2023 on a job well done.

 

Class of 2023 Award Recipients:

 

Auzville Jackson, Jr. Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property: Recognizes the graduating students who have made enduring contributions to the study of Intellectual Property law through activities both in and outside the classroom and who show great promise as future Intellectual Property practitioners.
Winners:

  • Michaela Elizabeth Fuller
  • Kelly Sun O'Brien

Charles T. Norman Award: Awarded by the faculty to recognize the best all-around graduating student in the class. 
Winner: Ryan Glenn Dunn

Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award: Awarded to the graduating students who have contributed most significantly to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the law school, and thereby demonstrated potential to contribute to ending historical and enduring forms of subordination and structural inequality and injustice.
Winners:

  • Zhue Daniela de Lourdes Azuaje
  • Claudia Regina Leonor
  • Annalisa Gobin

Excellence in Legal Scholarship Award: Presented to the students who have made the most significant contributions to overall legal scholarship during law school.
Winners:

  • Madison Cheyenne Blevins
  • Matthew Lee Brock
  • Joshua T. Stenhjem

Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers: Presented to a graduate who demonstrates promise and potential for the practice of Family Law.
Winner: Thomas L. Hall

International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award: Recognizes the student who has distinguished themselves in the field of trial advocacy.
Winner: Mallory Lauren Duplantis

Law Faculty Award for Clinical Excellence: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior performance in client representation or other intensive advocacy work through in-house clinics, or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding clinical students.
Winners:

  • Sebastian Estrada
  • Claudia Regina Leonor 

Law Faculty Award in Commercial Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Commercial Law.
Winners:

  • Nicole Anne Dalrymple
  • Catherine Grace Norwood

Law Faculty Award in Constitutional and Civil Rights Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Constitutional and Civil Rights Law.
Winners:

  • Hannah Branch Laub
  • Stephen Alexander Reinhardt Taft 

Law Faculty Award in Corporate and Securities Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Corporate and Securities Law.
Winners:

  • Gil Topaz
  • Mary Elizabeth Tursi 

Law Faculty Award in Criminal Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Criminal Law.
Winners:

  • Jennyfer Leticia Hernandez Austria
  • Elizabeth Ann Foster 

Law Faculty Award in Energy, Environmental, and Land Use Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Energy, Environmental, and Land Use Law.
Winners:

  • Haley Sue Edmonds
  • Alexis Grace Laundry 

Law Faculty Award in Family Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Family Law.
Winners:

  • Danika Eve Riddlebarger
  • Elizabeth Rose Diehr

Law Faculty Award in Intellectual Property Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Intellectual Property Law. 
Winners:

  • Sophia Lynn Arnold
  • Laura Elizabeth Brashear

Law Faculty Award in International Law: Presented to the student who demonstrated superior academic performance or who is otherwise regarded as outstanding in International Law. 
Winner: Dilwyn John Koutnik Piner

Law Faculty Award in Labor and Employment Law: Presented to the students who demonstrate superior academic performance or who are otherwise regarded as outstanding in Labor and Employment Law.
Winners:

  • Kelly Morgan Boppe
  • Kenneth George Revoredo

National Association of Women Lawyers Award: Awarded by the faculty for academic achievement, professionalism, and potential to contribute to the advancement of women in society.
Winner: Taylor Anne Moffett 

Order of the Barristers: Awarded for excellence in advocacy, through participation on Moot Court teams, as chairs of a Moot Court Board, or on the Trial Advocacy Board.
Winners:

  • Robert Murray Belser
  • Kira Lauren Davis
  • Mallory Lauren Duplantis
  • Daniel-Lester Simpson Edwards
  • Seely Andrews Kaufmann
  • Carley Ruival
  • Willa Jacqueline Sharpe
  • Mason A. Storm
  • Alyssa Dawn Thompson
  • Najah J. Walker

Orell-Brown Award for Clinical Excellence in the Children’s Law Center: Awarded to the students who have excelled in the skills necessary for direct representation of clients.
Winners:

  • Kaylin P. Cecchini
  • Kyle Redmond Jourden
  • Elizabeth Garrett Vanasse

Professor Nina R. Kestin Service Award: Honors the student who has contributed most significantly to the law school, the community, and the profession.
Winner: Amari Faith Wright

Public Interest Law Association Pro Bono Award: Recognizes the graduating students who have shown extraordinary commitment to public interest work. 
Winners:

  • Emily Rose Casey
  • Seneca E. Tsang
  • Bryson Thomas Strachan

Racial Justice and Anti-Racism Advocate Award: Awarded to the graduating students who have contributed most significantly to advancing anti-racism in the law school, and thereby demonstrated potential to contribute to ending structural racism, racial inequality, and other forms of injustice based on race.
Winners:

  • Gabrielle Andrea Sandoval
  • Bushra Zareen Haque
  • Syed Mohammad Fawad

Virginia Bar Association Tax Award: Recognizes a graduating student who has approached the study of Tax Law with distinction through activities both in and an outside the classroom and who demonstrates great promise as a future Tax Law practitioner.
Winner: Amanda Rose Markarian

Virginia State Bar Section on Criminal Law Award: Awarded to the outstanding student in the field of Criminal Law and Procedure.
Winner: Robert Murray Belser

Virginia Trial Lawyers Association: Awarded to the student who has excelled in demonstrating the talent and attributes of a trial advocate.
Winner: Brian C. Krach