Linda L. Berger
Professor of Law
Walter F. George School of Law

Professor Berger obtained her B.S., cum laude, in General Studies, very special honors, Journalism from the University of Colorado.  She received her J.D., summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.   Before joining Mercer, Linda was a Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, CA.  Professor Berger’s expertise and areas of teaching include Legal Writing, Law & Rhetoric, Media Law, Constitutional Law, First Amendment Practice, Scholarly Legal Writing, and Legal Drafting.

Scott Titshaw
Assistant Professor of Law
Walter F. George School of Law

Scott Titshaw obtained his B.A. in English and Government from Georgetown University.  He received his J.D., cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law and an LL.M., magna cum laude from the Universität Hamburg.  Before joining Mercer, Scott practiced immigration and international business law at Arnall Golden & Gregory, LLP in Atlanta.  Professor Titshaw’s expertise and areas of teaching include Sexual Orientation and the Law, Property, and Immigration Law.

Learn more about our faculty . . .

The 2008 JOHN E. JAMES DISTINGUISHED LECTURE will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. in the Moot Court Room of the Law School. Professor The Lord McColl of Dulwich CBE will speak on Human Trafficking—A World-Wide Problem.

Lord McColl studied medicine at London University and was Professor of Surgery at Guy’s Hospital until 1998. He continues to teach at King’s College on the Guy’s Campus. Lord McColl is also Surgeon to the international charity Mercyships and frequently operates in the poorest countries of West Africa.

Lord McColl was made a Life Peer for his work for disabled people in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 1989. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister John Major from 1994-97. Since 1997, he has been a Shadow Minister for Health.

Lord McCall was made a CBE in 1997 and a Fellow of King’s College in 2001. for his charitable work for Mercyships, he received the Great Scot Award 2001 and the Distinguished Maritime Award of the National Maritime Association, USA 2002.

On Thursday, May 29, Chief Judge Martha C. Christian administered the oath of office under the Third Year Practice Act to six Mercer Law Students.

The students will be serving in the Macon Circuit Public Defender's Office over the course of the next year.

They are (from left to right): Gabby Lawrence, Devin Franklin, Amanda Cosson, Chief Judge Martha Christian, Kadee Reynolds, Andrew Dillon, Anne Carroll.

Grant Michael Jensen is the 2008 recipient of the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service, the highest honor Mercer University bestows on a graduating student nominated from all of its 11 schools and colleges. The Houston, Texas, native was presented a crystal Steuben sculpture and a frame certificate during the May 10th commencement of the Walter F. George School of Law, where he received a juris doctor degree.

Named in honor of Mercer alumnus and former United States Attorney General Griffin B. Bell, the award recognizes students who have exemplified the true meaning of community service during their studies, improving the lives of others through their dedication and commitment.

Jensen, while completing his studies at the Mercer Law School, has provided an outstanding example of what it means to serve others. His highly respected leadership and generous giving of personal time and energy have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to community service.

Read more . . .

Mercer has been named by National Jurist Magazine as among the top 50 schools on a list entitled "Where Public Interest Lawyers Go to Law School."  Mercer is listed at number 41.  The March 2008 edition of the magazine, in which the article appears, is available at www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/nationaljurist0308/index.php  Information about Mercer's Law and Public Service program is available at www.law.mercer.edu/academics/service/

The Legal Writing Program at the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University is again the top-ranked program among all of the law schools in the nation as announced today by U.S. News and World Report. The 2009 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools lists Mercer’s program first in the country after being tied for first with Seattle University in 2006, second in 2007 and first in 2008. Seattle this year is ranked second, followed by University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Temple University, John Marshall Law School, Stetson University, Boston College, Northwestern University, Brooklyn Law School and the University of Oregon.

The specialty ranking, begun by U.S. News in 2006, is voted on by legal writing directors throughout the country, reflecting the opinion of those with specialized knowledge.

Overall, the Mercer Law School remains among The Top 100 Law Schools in the country, tying four other schools at that mark – Stetson University, Syracuse University, University of Buffalo-SUNY and University of Louisville. This is the fifth consecutive year the Mercer Law School has been among the top 100 in the country. Founded in 1873, it is one of the oldest law schools in the country.

The Georgia Court of Appeals will once again hear oral arguments at the Law School on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 2:15pm in the Moot Courtroom. 

The public is welcome. 

Read the briefs for the cases to be heard . . .

Karl P. Warden, J.D., LL.M., 77, died Monday, March 17, 2008 in a local hospital. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mulberry United Methodist Church, Stephens Chapel with the Rev. Cil Mitchell officiating. Burial will be private. THe family will meet friends from 12:00 noon to service time oin Wednesday at the church. -Born in Fayetteville, WV, Professor Warden received a J.D. from West Virginia University, LL.M. from the University of Michigan. He was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin. He was admitted to practice in West Virginia and Tennessee. Professor Warden served at the University of Denver School of Law and Vanderbilt University School of Law, Dean and Professor of Law, University of North Dakota School of Law, Dean and Professor of Law, Mercer University Law School, Griffin B. Bell Professor of Law, Mercer University and was Professor of Law Emeritus, Mercer University. Professor Warden has also served as Visiting Professor of Law at University of Kansas, Indiana University, University of Florida, Louisiana State University, University of Papua New Guinea, Cambridge University in England, Emory University Law School, University of Tennessee, Modern University for the Humanities in Moscow, Russia. He received numerous honors and award including W. W. Cook Fellow, University of Michigan, Fulbright-Hays Fellow, Visiting Scholar, Wolfson College, Cambridge University (two times), Visiting Professor of Law, Cambridge University, Griffin Bell Distinguished Professor of Law, Mercer University, Outstanding Professor awards at Denver, Vanderbilt and Mercer and Honorary Professor, Modern University for the Humanities, Russia. A published author, he has written Criminal Law, Vanderbilt University, Legal Medicine with Special Reference to Diagnostic Imagine, Procedure After Judgment or Decree, two volumes and numerous articles in legal and non-legal publications. He also published three not pertaining to law, Professor Thief, Clumsy Foot and Jacks Joke. Professor Warden was a member of Mulberry United Methodist Church. He was also member of Central Georgia Model Railroad Club. -Professor Warden is survived by his wife of fifty-three years, Betty Warden; his daughter, Cindy Warden Bowden (Tom); his son, Karl Duval Warden (Marsha Hagan) and his grandchildren, Christina Bowden, Karl Brennan Warden and Zachary Smith Warden. -Visit www.mem.com to express tributes. -Snows Memorial Chapel Funeral and Cremation Services, Cherry Street has charge of arrangements.

On Wednesday, February 27, 2008, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) of the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University cosponsored with Suntrust Bank and the Macon Bar Association in presenting the movie: Summer Hill, A story of Community.  The screening was a black history month presentation by the Historic Douglass Theatre in Macon, Georgia.

The Summer Hill project documents and interprets the history and culture of Summer Hill, a historically predominate African American neighborhood that formed just outside of Cartersville, Georgia in the late 1800s.  Summer Hill native son, Justice Robert Benham, the first African American Justice and Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, was featured in the movie and led a discussion after the screening.

Pictured is Supreme Court Justice Benham (center) and BLSA Students.

Learn more about Mercer's Black Law Students Association . . .

Hricik	Scott

An article by Mercer 2L Chase Scott and Professor Hricik on metadata is the cover story of the Georgia Bar Journal.  The article, the first of a two-part piece, explains in plain English how software can include in e-mailed documents important and sometimes confidential information.  Many lawyers are unfamiliar with metadata, and the ethical issues that it creates are splitting the authorities.  The second part will address the ethical issues.  Together, Professor Hricik and Chase have published three articles, and are working on a fourth.  Professor Hricik has co-authored at least one article with every one of his research assistants.  Their Georgia Bar Journal article was also cited and discussed in the National Law Journal and in an article now on law.com.

Read the article now . . .

Learn more about Professor Hricik . . .

The Law Schools 2008 Annual Law Day celebration will take place March 7, 2008. The event will honor the Class of 1948. 

Keynote speaker for the luncheon is the Honorable Jim Marshall, United States Representative, Georgias 3rd Congressional District and former Mercer Law professor.

View more details, including the paper registration form . . .

Online RSVP form . . .

Students in the Mercer Law School Law and Public Interest program are sponsoring a Showcase and Benefit Concert on Thursday, Feb. 28, at the Cox Capital Theatre in downtown Macon. Proceeds from the event will fund stipends for students in unpaid public interest summer internships.

Two distinguished individuals will be recognized at the event for outstanding leadership in public service: the Honorable Bryant Culpepper and Tomieka Daniel of the Georgia Legal Services Program.

The event will be held from 6:30 p.m. - 12 midnight with the awards and raffle to begin at 8 p.m. Among the many items in the raffle include a Waterford crystal lamp and a framed Sterling Everett print.

Live entertainment will be provided by two bands composed of faculty and staff from the Law School.

Admission is $25. All contributions are tax-deductible. For more information, contact Courtney Dickey at dickey_ca@mercer.edu or (478) 301-5023.

Both of Mercers moot court teams advanced to the final round this weekend in Charlestons Moot Court Competition, beating out two teams from Seton Hall during the semi-final rounds. Second year students Jonathan Adams and Stacey Furgason took first place in the competition overall, despite tough competition. Ms. Furgason won best oralist for her efforts in this round.

Second year students Leah Fiorenza and Jamie Flowers took second place in the competition and also took home the award for best petitioners brief.

The students were coached by third-year students Laura Murtha and Tara Conway and Professor Linda Jellum. Another terrific showing by Mercers Moot Court Program.

See our entire trophy case . . .

Mercer Law School will hold its Inaugural Black Law Students Association Alumni Reunion on Friday, February 15 and Saturday, February 16, 2008.  The event will "kick-off" at a reunion commencement dinner with Dean Daisy Hurst Floyd on Friday at 6:30 p.m.  Early bird programs will begin at 9:00 a.m. for guests arriving early on Friday.  More details, including a complete reunion schedule can be found here.

Print an RSVP form here

All prospective students are encouraged to attend an Open House at the Law School on Friday, February 15, 2008 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. Information on Admissions, Financial Aid, and Career Services will be provided. Additionally, prospective students have the opportunity to meet faculty and current students at the Open House.

Please RSVP by contacting the Admissions Office at 478-301-2605, 800-342-0841 ext. 2605 inside Georgia, 800-637-2378 ext. 2605 outside Georgia.

Visit the Admissions web site

On Friday, November 9, 2007 the Mercer Law Review will host its annual symposium. This year the theme of the symposium is The Opportunity for Legal Education. Speakers include Dean Daisy Floyd, Roy T. Stuckey from The University of South Carolina School of Law, William M. Sullivan from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Alice M. Thomas from Howard University School of Law, President William D. Underwood, and Judith Welch Wegner, also from The Carnegie Foundation. The symposium will run from 9:40 am to 4:00 pm. Transcripts of the proceedings, along with papers by the participants, will be published in Volume 59 of the Mercer Law Review. 

More information about the symposium ...

On Sunday, October 21st, members of the Mercer Law School Sports and Entertainment Law Society, Phi Alpha Delta, and the Student Bar Association, along with Rebuilding Together Macon, volunteered to help renovate the home of an elderly and disabled Macon resident.  The group repainted the entire house, built a screened in porch, and performed some minor internal repairs.  This is the third home Mercer Law students, faculty, and staff have renovated over the last two years, and we hope to continue to participate in future Rebuilding Together projects.

Learn more about Student Organizations at Mercer Law School . . .

Chuchev	Ressmeyer

The Adam A. Milani Disability Law Writing Competition is a national disability law writing competition sponsored by the Mercer University School of Law and the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law.  The competition honors the work of the late Professor Adam Milani, a passionate advocate for disability rights, an accomplished legal scholar, and a beloved faculty member at the Law School.   This year’s winners are:

Kellen Ressmeyer (Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington) (Essay category)
Krum Chuchev (Franklin Pierce Law School) (Law Practice category)

Congratulations to these fine legal writers.

On Tuesday, September 18, environmentalist and international affairs expert Sir Crispin Tickell presented "Environment on the Edge" at the Seventh Annual John E. James Distinguished Lecture. Tickell is Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University.   A streaming video broadcast of the lecture is available at www.law.mercer.edu/johnjameslecture.htm.

Most of Sir Crispin Tickell’s career was in the Diplomatic Service. He has been Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission, Ambassador to Mexico, Permanent Secretary of the Overseas Development Administration and British Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He is author of Climate Change and World Affairs and Mary Anning of Lyme Regis.

Previous lecturers in the John E. James Distinguished Lecture Series have included Professor Jean Yves de Cara, 2006; Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf, 2005; The Right Honorable the Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, 2004; Baron Walter van Gerven, 2003; The Honorable Louise Arbour, 2002; and The Right Honourable Gordon Slynn of Hadley, 2001.

Macon attorney and Mercer Law School alumnus John E. James created this Distinguished Lecture Series as an opportunity for Mercer Law School students and other citizens in the community to hear from some of the world's renowned legal orators. The lecture series is facilitated with the assistance of Lord Gordon Slynn of Hadley and the lecture series committee composed of The Honorable Tommy Day Wilcox, The Honorable Hugh Lawson, Robert F. Hatcher, Candi Nobles James, M.D., and Mercer Law School Dean Daisy Hurt Floyd.

First-year students in Sections 2, 3 and 6 unpeeled into the mysteries of burdens of proof in slip and fall cases in Professor Dick Creswell’s annual Banana Day Class.  While Emily Macheski-Preston, Kristine Pham, Emmanuel Donate, Maya Guntz, and Joy Davis explained the intricacies of cases involving hapless plaintiffs taking pratfalls after stepping on such hazards as banana peels in supermarkets and train stations, the entire Torts class introduced the bananas they had brought as demonstrative evidence. 

Award winners shown here are:
(right to left) Joy Davis – Most Beautiful Banana, Joe Stephens – Ugliest Banana,  Amanda Lewis – Smallest Banana, and Audrey James – Biggest Banana (a record 8 5/8 inches, 7.8 ounces).  Creswell concluded:  “The thing speaks for itself!”

Environmentalist and international affairs expert Sir Crispin Tickell will present "Environment on the Edge" at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the Seventh Annual John E. James Distinguished Lecture. Tickell is Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University. The presentation will take place in the Moot Court Room of Mercer's Walter F. George School of Law in Macon.

Most of Tickell’s career was in the Diplomatic Service. He has been Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission, Ambassador to Mexico, Permanent Secretary of the Overseas Development Administration and British Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He is author of Climate Change and World Affairs and Mary Anning of Lyme Regis.

Previous lecturers in the John E. James Distinguished Lecture Series have included Professor Jean Yves de Cara, 2006; Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf, 2005; The Right Honorable the Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, 2004; Baron Walter van Gerven, 2003; The Honorable Louise Arbour, 2002; and The Right Honourable Gordon Slynn of Hadley, 2001.

Macon attorney and Mercer Law School alumnus John E. James created this Distinguished Lecture Series as an opportunity for Mercer Law School students and other citizens in the community to hear from some of the world's renowned legal orators. The lecture series is facilitated with the assistance of Lord Gordon Slynn of Hadley and the lecture series committee composed of The Honorable Tommy Day Wilcox, The Honorable Hugh Lawson, Robert F. Hatcher, Candi Nobles James, M.D., and Mercer Law School Dean Daisy Hurt Floyd. The program is free and open to the public.

The Law School welcomed 148 members of its new 1L class on August 13.

The Class of 2010 was chosen from 1,367 applicants.  The new class hailed from 17 states, representing a wide range of majors from 63 undergraduate schools.

Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University presented Laura Watts Harper of Huntsville, Ala., the 2007 George Waldo Woodruff Award of Excellence during spring commencement in Macon.  The most prestigious honor the law school bestows on a student, the Woodruff Award is presented to the law graduate with the highest cumulative academic average for the three years of law study.

The wife of Dave Harper, she is the daughter of William and Nancy Watts of Huntsville, Ala., and the granddaughter of Charles and Ruth Hill also of Huntsville and Josie and Bill Watts of Tuscaloosa, Ala. She is a graduate of Randolph School in Huntsville.

She completed her undergraduate studies at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., where she was tapped for the esteemed Phi Beta Kappa national honor society. Mercer awarded her the Agnes Scott Presidential Scholarship, which covered her educational expenses at the Law School. 

At Mercer, Ms. Harper completed her studies for the juris doctor degree magna cum laude. A member of the Mercer Law Review, she received the Faculty Legal Writing Award in 2005. Her superior academic accomplishments earned her membership in the prestigious Order of Barristers and the Brainerd Currie Honor Society. Throughout her law studies, Ms. Harper earned a number of CALI Awards, which are presented to students who have the highest grade in their individual classes each semester. She was also the recipient of a Faculty Award to Outstanding Seniors in recognition for her academic and leadership qualities. Through Mercer’s Habeas Project, Ms. Harper assisted in the representation of indigent criminal defendants, signing an amicus brief to the Georgia Supreme Court.

After completing the Bar exam in July, she will join the law firm of Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne in Huntsville, Ala.

About the George Waldo Woodruff Award of Excellence:George Waldo Woodruff Award of Excellence was established to honor the memory of George W. Woodruff, a distinguished businessman, proponent of education and a friend of the Walter F. George School of Law. It is given to the graduate having the highest cumulative academic average.

Former Secretary of State of Georgia Cathy Cox received the honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the 2007 commencement of the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University on May 12. Mercer President William D. Underwood and Law School Dean Daisy Floyd hooded Cox and presented the Mercer alumna with the framed degree.

In her commencement address, Cox told the law graduates that as new lawyers they have one particular responsibility – to give “the respect due our judicial system.” 

She said, “When a court makes a decision that is controversial or unpopular, and the media and bloggers go wild with the ‘activist judge’ tripe – you and I need to find opportunities to re-educate our neighbors on a judge’s duty to follow the law, not public opinion polls.”

Recently named the president of Young Harris College in north Georgia, Cox was the first woman to hold the statewide office of Secretary of State in Georgia, when elected to the first of her two terms in 1999. Before her election to the statewide office, she served two terms as a state representative in the Georgia legislature.

As Secretary of State, she led Georgia to become the first state in the nation to deploy a modern, uniform voting system and moved Georgia from having the second worst to the second best voting accuracy rate in the nation. Governing magazine named her one of its 2002 Public Officials of the Year, the first Secretary of State in the nation to receive the recognition.

After completing her second term as Secretary of State earlier this year, she became the Carl E. Sanders Political Leadership Scholar at the University of Georgia School of Law.

In March, the Board of Trustees of Young Harris College elected her as the 21st president of the 121-year-old private institution of higher education. Cox will assume her presidential duties at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year.

 A native of Bainbridge, she earned an associate’s degree in agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Georgia. She was a newspaper reporter with The Gainesville Times and The Post-Searchlight in Bainbridge.

 In 1983, she entered the Mercer Law School, where she was editor in chief of Mercer Law Review and a member of the Brainerd Currie Honor Society. She graduated magna cum laude with a juris doctor degree in 1986 and, for 10 years, practiced law in Atlanta and Bainbridge.

She has served on the Board of Trustees of Mercer University and on the Board of Visitors of the Walter F. George School of Law.

Her husband, Mark Dehler, is also an attorney.

Read Ms. Cox’s entire commencement address here . . ..

The Law School community gathered at noon on Tuesday, April 17, to remember those affected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

The Legal Writing Program at the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University is the top-ranked program among all of the law schools in the nation as announced today by U.S. News and World Report. The 2008 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools lists Mercer’s program first in the country after a ranking of second in 2007 and tied for first with Seattle in 2006.   The specialty ranking, begun by U.S. News in 2006, is voted on by legal writing directors throughout the country, reflecting the opinion of those with specialized knowledge.

Overall, Mercer Law School remains among The Top 100 Law Schools for the fourth consecutive year.

Professor Jim Fleissner continues his government service as deputy to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in the prosecution of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of Staff to Vice-President  Cheney.  Professor Fleissner began work on the CIA leak investigation in early 2004 during a leave of absence from the law school, and has continued working on the case under a special appointment since his return to the law school in 2005.  Libby was indicted in October 2005. On March 6, 2007, after a trial held in the federal district court in Washington, D.C., a jury convicted Libby of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to the FBI.  Professor Fleissner will be working on post-trial motions, sentencing submissions, and will be representing the government on appeal.

(The following article was published Saturday, March 10, 2007, in the Macon Telegraph.)

By Jennifer Burk
TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

The mix of lawyers, social workers and landscapers who work for the Georgia Justice Project may seem unusual, but they work toward one common goal: representing people accused of crimes and helping them turn their lives around.

"What we're really about is trying to change people's lives," said Douglas Ammar, executive director of the Georgia Justice Project.

Ammar was the keynote speaker Friday at the Walter F. George School of Law's Law Day. He spoke at an afternoon luncheon to about 100 lawyers, judges, law students and law faculty about the importance of public service.

The Georgia Justice Project was founded by an Atlanta lawyer in 1986. It defends people accused of crimes and then helps them rebuild their lives, whether they win or lose the case.

The free legal services get people in the door, Ammar said, but after that, the project offers its clients social services and even a job through a landscape company it operates.

The project receives no government funds and raises all its money privately, Ammar said. Clients come as referrals from community groups and must be willing to work to turn their lives around.

The project has seen success. The relapse rate among its clients is about one-third that of the national population, according to the group's Web site, www.gjp.org.

"We all have an opportunity and responsibility for how we engage in the power of being a lawyer," Ammar said. "Your power is in your humanity."

Ammar related a conversation with a man serving a 15-year sentence for murder. The Georgia Justice Project provided his legal services, watched over his family and came to visit him in jail.

Ammar recalled the man saying: "You've been more than my lawyer. ... You've been my friend."

That is what the Georgia Justice Project strives for, he said.

The project hasn't started any cases in Middle Georgia - the vast majority of them are in metro Atlanta - but it occasionally makes its way down here as workers visit clients in jail, Ammar said. It's difficult for the project to expand because of its limited resources, he said.

The Georgia Justice Project has only 22 paid employees and turns away 90 percent of people who contact it each year, he said. Last year, the project had around 150 active cases, he said.

Similar programs are starting to crop up around the state, though, he said, and other states and countries have reached out to the Georgia Justice Project for help starting similar programs.

In July, Mercer University's law school started a law and public service program in which students work on real cases with offices such as legal services and the public defender, said Tim Floyd, director of the program and a law professor. Some Mercer students intern with the Georgia Justice Project.

The program was created to encourage a spirit of public service among law students, Floyd said.

"Our justice system really only works if everyone involved has an effective advocate," he said.

Randy Aderhold, chief of the civil division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle Georgia District, said public service is a necessary component of the justice system.

"Pure public service is the only way some in our society are taken care of," said Aderhold, who was awarded a meritorious service award at Law Day.

Superior Court Judge Lamar Sizemore, a Mercer law graduate, was also recognized at the event and was given the outstanding alumnus award.

"I think we all have a duty to give back to our community whenever we have the opportunity," he said.

To contact Jennifer Burk, call 744-4345 or e-mail jburk@macontel.com.

The Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute Inc. (SBLI) and Judge Homer Drake have pledged a gift to establish the SBLI/W. Homer Drake, Jr. Endowed Chair in Bankruptcy Law at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law.

The establishment of the endowed chair, formally announced Feb. 22 at a recognition dinner in Atlanta, honors Mercer alumnus, Trustee and United States Bankruptcy Judge Walter Homer Drake Jr., A.B. ’54, LL.B. ’56, of Newnan.

"We are thrilled that the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute has chosen to establish the SBLI/Homer Drake Endowed Chair at Mercer," said Law School Dean Daisy Floyd. "Judge Drake has been for many years a national force in the area of bankruptcy law, and the endowed chair in his honor will greatly supplement our teaching resources in this increasingly important area of the law."

A United States bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of Georgia, Judge Drake served as chief judge from 1968 to 1976. He is a former partner in the Atlanta law firm of Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers. He is a founder of, and adviser to, the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, a former member of the Judicial Conference of the United States’ Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.

A loyal alumnus, Judge Drake is a past president of the Mercer Law School alumni association and past chairman of the Law School Board of Visitors. He currently serves on the Mercer Board of Trustees. The University honored him in 2002 with the Monroe F. Swilley Award for Christian Statesmanship and in 2003 honored him with the Mercer Law School Outstanding Alumnus Award.

He has served as an adjunct professor of law at Emory University School of Law and the University of Georgia School of Law. The author of two books and numerous articles, he was recipient of the first David W. Pollard Achievement Award presented in 1994 by the Atlanta Bar Association for contributions to bankruptcy law and practice.

Professor Michael Sabbath, a Law School faculty member of more than 28 years who has held the SBLI/Homer Drake Endowed Professorship, will be the holder of the endowed chair. Sabbath earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and holds the J.D. and LL.M. degrees from Emory University and Columbia University, respectively.

Everyone knows who wins the court cases.  Just look in the legal news for accounts of the prominent victors and losers.  But who are the best lawyer-counselors behind the closed doors of the confidential law office?

The American Bar Association understood that question to be one of the most interesting unanswered queries in the study of law practice, so it started the Client Counseling Competition in loose parallel with moot court competitions that test more public lawyering performance.

As an integral part of the Woodruff Curriculum, Mercer Law School in 1990 began to require that each Mercer student take an intensive one-week, one-credit course at the start of the second year in which each student would study and practice interviewing and counseling clients. Medical schools have been doing the same sort of thing for years, but law schools have been slower to accept the concept. Mercer is presently the only law school in the nation that requires each student to study the art of clientcounseling as a stand-alone subject.

Not surprisingly, Mercer has emerged as one of the leading law schools in the country in competing consistently for top honors in the ABA's Client Counseling Competition.  In the past 14 years, Mercer has won the regional competition five times, and placed no lower than fifth in the nation in each of those years.

In the ABA's 2007 Southeast Regional competition, Mercer's Webster-Award-winning counseling team of Alexandra Cornwell and Sidney Simms advanced to the regional championship round.  For the second year in a row, unfortunately, Mercer narrowly lost in that championship round, this time to the University of Miami Law School.  Miami will represent the Southeast at the ABA Nationals in Texas in March -- but Mercer served notice to all that it continues to prepare its students for counseling at the highest levels of excellence.

Mercer's other team of Courtenay Miller and Lindsey Zittrouer also performed admirably at the Southeast Regionals, placing ninth as a late entry after Vanderbilt unexpectedly withdrew from the competition, opening up the slot.

The entire Mercer Law School community joined in congratulating all these fine students who collectively contributed to Mercer's regional and national reputation in client counseling.  Unlike the students at other schools, each Mercer student could appreciate on a very personal, practical level why client counseling is not such an easy thing to do, and is worth serious study.  Go Bears!

Mercer Law School’s Annual Law Day celebration is scheduled for Friday, March 9. This year’s Law Day will celebrate the University’s new Law and Public Service Program, which is housed in the Law School, and honor Law School graduates working in public service.

Keynote speaker for the Law Day luncheon is Doug Ammar, executive director of the Georgia Justice Project. Ammar is a graduate of Davidson College and the Washington & Lee Law School. He is in demand as a speaker both nationally and internationally, and has spoken about the Georgia Justice Project’s innovative and holistic approach to representing clients in Israel and Italy in the last year. More information about the Georgia Justice project is available at www.gjp.org.

The Law and Public Service Program at Mercer began in July 2006 and offers public service learning for students through clinical courses, public interest practicum opportunities, and volunteer community service.

Law Day Brochure and Online Registration Form

Learn more about the Law and Public Service Program

All prospective students who did not attend the January Open House are encouraged to attend an Open House at the Law School on Friday, February 9, 2007 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. Information on Admissions, Financial Aid, and Career Services will be provided. Additionally, prospective students have the opportunity to meet faculty and current students at the Open House.

Please RSVP by contacting the Admissions Office at 478-301-2605, 800-342-0841 ext. 2605 inside Georgia, 800-637-2378 ext. 2605 outside Georgia.

Visit the Admissions web site

Mercer Law School’s National Moot Court team won the Region 5, National Moot Court Competition. Mercer also captured the best brief award, and Tiffany Williams, a Mercer student, was named the best oralist in the final round. The team, composed of Barton Black, Mary Weeks, and Tiffany Williams, will advance to the national championship, to be held in New York City January 29-February 1, 2007. Madison Roberts served as student coach for the team, and Professor Reynold Kosek serves as faculty coach.

Learn more about our Moot Court program

Dra. Profa. Fernanda Duarte Lopes Lucas da Silva, a Federal Court Judge from the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil visited the Walter F. George School of Law from November 9th to 14th . During her time in Macon, Dra Duarte–who is a member of the faculty at the law school of the Universidade Gama Filho, Rio de Janeiro– attended the Mercer Law Review symposium “Using Metaphor in Legal Analysis and Communication.” She also met with the faculty and administration of the law school on November 14th, discussing aspects of Brazilian law.

Pictured are Dra Duarte (right) with Dean Daisy Floyd

Learn more about the Mercer Law Review

The Mercer Law Faculty was ranked ninth in the nation by The Princeton Review on its top ten list entitled "Professors Rock (Legally Speaking)." The ranking, contained in The Best 170 Law Schools, 2007 Edition, is based on responses from student surveys on two ratings: the quality of teaching and the accessibility of faculty. This is the third consecutive year that the Mercer faculty ranked in the top ten. Rock On, faculty. More information is at www.princetonreview.com.

Read about recent scholarship by our faculty

On Friday, November 10, 2006 the Mercer Law Review will host its annual symposium.  This year the theme of the symposium is Using Metaphor in Legal Analysis and Communication. Speakers include Linda Berger from Thomas Jefferson Law School, Michael Goldberg from Vitas Hospice, Mark Johnson from the University of Oregon, David Ritchie from Mercer Law School, Michael Smith from the University of Wyoming, and Steven Winter from Wayne State Law School.  The symposium will run from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm.  Transcripts of the proceedings, along with papers by the participants, will be published in Volume 58 of the Mercer Law Review.

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During the 2005-2006 academic year Associate Professor Jim Hunt was a Fulbight Scholar in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine, a former republic within the Soviet Union, has been independent since 1991. Ukraine is experiencing profound changes in politics, economics, and education as it shifts from a communist planned economy to a market-oriented multi-party democracy. Professor Hunt was affiliated with the law department and the master's program in economics at the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the oldest university in Ukraine.

At Kyiv-Mohyla he taught graduate students in Law and Economics, Economic History, and Legal Analysis. He also lecured on American history and law at universities in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyy, as well as at the Belarusian State University in Minsk, Belarus. He was an official observer in Ukraine's March 2006 parliamentary elections for the European Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

WHO:                  Candidates for the Macon Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judgeship

WHAT:                Judicial Forum

WHEN:                Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006, 6-7:30 p.m.

WHERE:             Walter F. George School of Law, Moot Court Room, Mercer University

WHY:                   Dean Daisy Floyd and the Mercer Law School are sponsoring a Judicial Forum for the five candidates for the Macon Judicial Circuit Court judgeships. The five candidates include Pamela White Colbert, Ed Ennis, Cedric Leslie, Charles E. Jones and Tripp Self. The Forum is open to the public.

The Adam A. Milani Disability Law Writing Competition is a national disability law writing competition administered by the Mercer Law School.  The competition honors the work of the late Professor Adam Milani, a passionate advocate for disability rights, an accomplished legal scholar, and a beloved faculty member at the Law School.  This year, over 50 student writers participated, representing nearly 30 law schools across the nation.  We are pleased to announce this year’s winners:

Stacy Mikulik (Emory University), who won the Essay category;

Gilbert Hain (Florida Coastal), who won the Law Practice category for appellate briefs; and

Elizabeth Stawarski (St. Thomas, MN), who won the Law Practice category for trial-level briefs.

Congratulations to these fine legal writers!

Tim Floyd

Sarah Gerwig-Moore

The centerpiece of the program is experiential learning by students, through new clinics and expanded public interest practicum opportunities in which students work on real cases and receive academic credit.  In addition, the program will coordinate and encourage volunteer community service and legal service opportunities by students, and will assist students with summer placements in public service offices and in full time public service careers after graduation.  Although the program is housed at the Law School, this a University-level program; a central feature of the program will be finding opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation in service between law students and students in other schools and colleges of Mercer. 

Students at the Law School have a strong record of volunteer public service, but the Law and Public Service Program marks the first effort toward a centralized coordination and development of such efforts.  Two new faculty members, Professor Tim Floyd and Professor Sarah Gerwig-Moore, have been hired to develop the Program.  They will find and coordinate service opportunities, supervise the work of individual students, and teach the classroom components of the courses.  As Director of the Law and Public Service Program, Floyd reports to Dr. Horace Fleming, Executive Vice President and Provost of the University.

 “This program will involve students from many fields in the University other than Law, including at the undergraduate level,” says Fleming.  “The program will educate students about public service and acquaint them with opportunities for serving their community.  Through clinics, our students will gain practical insights into the legal system and how it works.  At the same time, they will help provide valuable legal services to underrepresented persons in the community.” 

According to Floyd, “Mercer is an institution with a long history of concern for public service, and the breadth of our academic and professional programs provides numerous opportunities to work together to find creative and holistic solutions to client problems.”

The 2006 JOHN E. JAMES DISTINGUISHED LECTURE will be held on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 at 5:30 p.m. in the Moot Court Room of the Law School.  Professor Jean-Yves de Cara of the Faculty of Law at the Université Jean Moulin in France will speak on The Role of Law in International Trade and Investment.

The Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University continues to advance in the national rankings due in good part to the opinions of the nation's judges and lawyers. In the 2007 U.S. News and World Report edition of America's Best Graduate Schools now hitting the stands, the school was rated an average of 3 out of a possible 5 by judges and lawyers across the nation, which accounts for 15 percent of a school's overall ranking.

The Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer jumped 13 places among "The Top 100 Schools."  While the school tied with five other law schools – LSU, Northeastern University, Penn State, Pepperdine and Santa Clara, Mercer had the highest rating of the five among judges and lawyers.

The other most influencing factor, Mercer Law School Dean Daisy Floyd said, is the school's nationally respected Legal Writing Program. For the second year in a row, the Mercer Legal Writing Program is one of the top programs in the nation, ranked only behind Seattle University. The Legal Writing ranking is among a listing of the top 10 programs in several specialty areas, based on survey responses from faculty who teach in the field.

"I am delighted that the Law School's programs are receiving the national recognition they deserve," Dean Floyd said. "One of the gratifying aspects of this year's ranking is that Mercer's reputation among lawyers and judges has improved significantly. Lawyers and judges understand that Mercer graduates lawyers who are ready to practice law. We offer our students one of the best legal writing programs in the country and a unique approach to professionalism training, emphasizing that being a good lawyer has a lot to do with who you are and not just what you know. Mercer is a special place, and I am pleased for our faculty, staff, students, and alumni that it is receiving the recognition it deserves."

Professor Linda Edwards will host the 2006 Legal Writing Institute Conference on June 7 - 10.  The conference will be attended by approximately 450 professors of legal writing, representing almost all accredited law schools in the nation.  Professor Edwards will host a two day retreat for the Board of Directors immediately before the conference and will host the two-day Writer's Workshop at Callaway Gardens immediately after the conference. 

The Vale Corporate Law Moot Court Competition, held each year in the corporate law capital of Delaware, is where the law school guns meet each year for bragging rights in corporate law.  For the third straight year, Mercer has vied for the title.  Two years ago, Mercer lost narrowly in finals against Brooklyn Law School.  Last year, Mercer won Best Brief before bowing out in the final four.  This year, Mercer once again went to the finals.  No other team in the past three years enjoys a better overall record. 

On Sunday, March 19, Mercer second-year students Tiffany Williams, Jacob Massee and Barton Black (coached by third-year student and former Vale competitor, Bethany Rezek) went up against the very same NYU team they had soundly defeated the day before. The same teams went to the finals because they had amassed the highest points totals for briefs and oral arguments in the four-day competition.  The finals bench included two Delaware Supreme Court justices, two Chancery (special corporation) Court judges and Prof. William Carney from Emory. (The court bench Mercer did so well with on Saturday had included the practitioner who had chaired the committee that wrote the statute at issue.)

The large ampitheatre moot court room was nearly full of Widener students and faculty, defeated teams from the competition, Mercer's other team (Jenny Richter, Jason Blanchard, Robert Glass and student coach Yoon Hwang (from the Vale 2005 team that won best brief), who had also done very well but did not make the finals).  Tiffany and Jacob's argument went very well, but Mercer didn't get as many questions as hoped.  That might have hurt because Mercer's team had good answers for everything, and Tiffany and Jacob can really deliver the goods.  Mercer caught NYU by surprise a little, but NYU's team did a good job listening to arguments and responding to them.  Although Mercer probably performed even better than it had on Saturday, the Court gave the nod to NYU. 

The bench was very complimentary, noting how difficult and complicated the problem was, and all five justices invited the advocates to practice corporate law in Delaware and thereby to raise the already high standard of practice there.  Emory's Professor Carney publicly acknowledged in the critiques that he occasionally benches Emory moot court teams, but he hadn't realized how good student advocates can get.   

All Mercerians are proud of both teams.  The standard of competition was extremely high, a point repeatedly made by the organizers and judges. 

The Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission hosted an unveiling on March 17 recognizing Nancy Grace for adopting Georgia Avenue, from Orange Street to Bond Street, in front of the Mercer Law School.

Nancy, who hosts her own nightly television show on the Headline News cable network, graduated from Mercer with Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law in 1984. She currently serves on the Mercer Board of Trustees.

Nancy was recognized at the ceremony “for her dedication and willingness to maintain cleanliness, beautification and litter control on Georgia Avenue.”

Pictured are Nancy Grace, sixth from left, along with other Mercer Law School alumni.

Mercer's two Gabrielli Moot Court teams faired extremely well at the competition this spring. The team of Will Fleenor, Aynsley Harrow, and Ken Smith advanced to the competition finals. In a hard fought battle, the team lost a split (3-2) decision to Brooklyn Law School. Aynsley Harrow won best oralist of the competition. The team of Leslie Cadle, Thomas Gore, and James Robson won best brief and advanced to the semi-final round. They lost to the eventual champions Brooklyn Law School . In all, Mercer took 3 of the 4 awards given at this competition.

Professor Jim Fleissner, who returned in July to the law school from a leave of absence spent in government service, continues to serve the U.S. Department of Justice under a special appointment.  He is serving as deputy to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald and was part of the team of federal prosecutors who secured the indictment of the Chief of Staff to the Vice President, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements during the investigation into the leaking of the identity of CIA official Valerie Plame.  He was in Washington, D.C. for the return of the indictment and the public announcement.  Professor Fleissner had earlier served as lead counsel for the Office of Special Counsel in the litigation concerning subpoenas issues to reporters Judith Miller of the New York Times, Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine, and Tim Russert of NBC.  He successfully argued the appeals of Miller and Cooper before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and filed the government’s brief in opposition to certiorari in the Supreme Court.  He has served as Deputy Special Counsel since January 2004.