Honoring Student Achievement
Richmond Law was delighted to honor outstanding graduates in the Class of 2024 at its awards ceremony last week. Awards were presented to students who have excelled in 26 categories including practice areas, academic and scholarly accomplishments, clinical education, and student life.
Congratulations, Class of 2024 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:
- Jessica M. Birdsong
- Madison Elaine Edenfield
Charles T. Norman Award: Awarded by the faculty to recognize the best all-around graduating student in the class.
- Winner: Zoë Jackson
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:
- Joshua J. Hall
- Alexis Sabina Hills
- Cleo-Symone Scott
Excellence in Legal Scholarship Award: Presented to the students who have made the most significant contributions to overall legal scholarship during law school.
Winners:
- Caleb Cordova Briggs
- Kimberly Nicole Furtado
- Cleo-Symone Scott
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: Katharine Perry Gill
International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award: Recognizes the student who has distinguished themselves in the field of trial advocacy.
- Winner: Rita Rose Gentile
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:
- Bailey Ellen Ellicott
- Isabel Wadsworth
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.
Winner: Jonathan A. Pucci
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:
- Alexis Sabina Hills
- Zoë Jackson
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:
- Sidney Rose Fox
- Jonathan A. Pucci
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:
- Bailey Ellen Ellicott
- Francis William Robert Morris
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:
- Heather Maria Barden
- Marley Dia Macauley Manjarrez
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:
- Lauren Alexis Pixley
- Erin F. Sweet
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:
- Virginia Katherine Lynch
- Payton Anne Miles
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.
Winners:
- Julia Paulina Fabian
- Brittany B. Guempel
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:
- Kasey Darrell Hall
- Gwyneth Edna Powers
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: Callista Marie Loveland
National Order of Scribes Award: Presented to the students who demonstrate excellence in legal writing.
Winners:
- Caleb Cordova Briggs
- Sidney Rose Fox
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:
- Kathleen Lea Beatty
- Merle Damico
- Kennedy Anne Eagle
- Rita Rose Gentile
- Anna Elias Katogiritis
- Olamitundun Oladipo
- Benjamin Crittenden Owen
- Eric Christof Ramputh
- Rachel Ranieri
- Abigail Rose Scanga Blackburn
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:
- Rachel Ranieri
- Courtney Jean Squires
- Alexandra Marie Voehringer
Professor Nina R. Kestin Service Award: Honors the student who has contributed most significantly to the law school, the community, and the profession.
Winners:
- Kathleen Lea Beatty
- Amanda Nicole Palini
Public Interest Law Association Pro Bono Award: Recognizes the graduating students who have shown extraordinary commitment to public interest work.
Winners:
- Isabel C. Longstaff
- Marley Dia Macauley Manjarrez
- Erin F. Sweet
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:
- Tanasia M. Hicks
- Courtney Danielle Mason
- Diondra Anita Musgrave
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: Caleb Cordova Briggs
Virginia State Bar Section on Criminal Law Award: Awarded to the outstanding student in the field of Criminal Law and Procedure.
- Winner: Daniel Jared LaLonde
Virginia Trial Lawyers Association: Awarded to the student who has excelled in demonstrating the talent and attributes of a trial advocate.
- Winner: Kennedy Anne Eagle