Georgia State University College of Law

I love learning, and really, I started taking classes because I wanted to be better at my job, Margaret Vath said. I knew the writing part, I knew the legal part, but I had no formal training in how to teach. I want to excel at what I do and learning from experts helps me achieve that goal. http://ow.ly/CUlx50EmAXm

One of the most fulfilling ways for students to practice classroom concepts is through pro bono work. Here, first-year law students share how their volunteer experiences have made an impact thus far. #GSULaw #ProBonoLaw

Hayes knew early on that she wanted to be an attorney. Partially because she was known in her family to be skilled at arguing, but also because was able to see the ins and outs of the business from family members who were attorneys. #GSULaw http://ow.ly/E8oG50EkZH1

We would like to announce and extend congratulations to the students who have been named Student Bar Association and Honor Court members. Please join us in celebrating the students who are listed in the blog post. #GSULaw http://ow.ly/NwZS50EkQHy

Congratulations to the Moot Court Cardozo Entertainment team! The team (Evan Alberhasky, Abby Coker, and coaches Insoo Lee and Evan Hansinger) won second place overall, and Abby took home the award for Best Oralist!

The Georgia State College of Law community is wide-reaching and we celebrate our alumni accomplishments. This month, our graduates are on the move with promotions, partnerships, adoptions, and more. Take a look: http://ow.ly/yfFV50DcMJf

Interim Dean Leslie Wolf has endowed an Equity Scholarship Fund at Georgia State University College of Law. The college’s Board of Visitors chair Beth Tanis generously matched her gift. Both of their gifts will be matched by the Georgia State University Foundation as part of the StateWayMatch program. #GSULaw Learn more: http://ow.ly/GNBa50D7Dai

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the school is CLOSED today.

"Some of my clients are active duty members and they have to try to overcome a traumatic assault while continuing to serve. The impact that I can make is that I can advise them on their legal rights and advocate on their behalf so those rights are protected." #GSULaw Read on: http://ow.ly/1Bw150D9E78

Prof. Clark Cunningham explains in this POLITICO piece why members of Congress should look into alternate grounds for impeachment. "If House Democrats want to minimize politicization and maximize the chances of conviction in the Senate, they would have a much better chance if they adopted articles of impeachment stripped of partisan rhetoric and containing multiple, independent charges, each grounded on federal criminal law and indisputable evidence." http://ow.ly/J5mH50D5CEo

Welcome back to the College of Law! Today, classes begin as scheduled.

Join Brooke Silverthorn, JD, who is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Health Law Partnership Legal Services Clinic and Co-Director of the Health Law Partnership for a Public Health and Social Justice event. Silverthorn teaches and supervises law students, medical students and graduate students in the fields of social work, public health and bioethics to represent clients and address their health-harming legal needs. This conversation will be facilitated by Meaghan Kennedy, MPH, founder of Orange Sparkle Ball, and is part of the Public Health + series, which examines innovative places where public health intersects with other disciplines. Registration link: http://ow.ly/YYpi50D9BAn

Professor Andrea Curcio, who has spent 20 years researching bar licenses processes, co-wrote this piece in Bloomberg Law about the impact of the disorganized response to the pandemic on aspiring lawyers. "The high pass rates on the 2020 exam underscore that the current bar exam is a test of resourcesnot of competence to practice law." http://ow.ly/c7yO50D3ubi

Renee Seiersen's journey to Georgia State Law began while he was a law student at Aarhus University in his native Denmark. He signed up for an Intro to U.S. Law course taught by Georgia State Law Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Ryan Rowberry. When he learned of a program at the College of Law that would allow him to study U.S. law and practice in Georgia, he seized the opportunity. Learn more: http://ow.ly/J2p650D2BxI

To prepare for the work, students read Deadly Injustice: A Statistical Portrait of the Death Penalty by Frank Baumgartner, which provides a statistical overview of historical death penalty data. Students then examined the aggravators charged in Florida cases to see if similar geographic or racial disparities exist in the application of the death penalty in Florida. #GSULaw #LegalAnalytics Learn more: http://ow.ly/DSgt50CF6TU

Dooley raises his pup cup to everyone taking #GSULaw finals!

From interning in the legal departments at Grady Memorial Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control, and MagMutual to being a summer associate at firm that specializes in medical malpractice defense, Baylee Culverhouse has been able to experience many sides of the health law field. Read on: http://ow.ly/ejOH50D0OPF

Greg Walton (J.D. '18) says nutrition and health were always a hobby growing up, but once he landed in Professor Todres’ Public Health Law course, he was introduced to the work that agencies like the FDA and CDC do in food law and was able to connect his hobbies to his career. Read on: http://ow.ly/TSQb50CC46s

Georgia State Law graduates are among the most influential and accomplished legal professionals in the state and across the country. Take a look at our roundup of alumni accomplishments for this month. #GSULaw Read more: http://ow.ly/ZdeR50CgZU1

In her classes, Megan Boyd makes a point emphasize finding the line in advocacy between arguments that are reasonable to make and those that are not. Students need to change their mindset from ‘can I do this?’ to ‘how can I do this?’ by thinking outside the box while maintaining ethics, because good lawyers are problem solvers. Read more: http://ow.ly/80Be50CC3yN

Happy Veterans Day from Georgia State Law!

The fact that there are so many states with different laws, then there is this well scripted and ever-evolving document called the Constitution and the immense powers of Congress, and of course the bravado of the Supreme Court justices, which make the legal experience here a mouthwatering one." #GSULaw #LLM Read on: http://ow.ly/Dm8250CBTBu

Director of the Center for Law, Health & Society and associate professor Erin Fuse Brown spoke to NPR's Audie Cornish on All Things Considered to discuss what is at stake in the latest Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Listen here: http://ow.ly/OKKU50Ch6aG

Professor Megan Boyd sharing some study tips for final exams! #GSULaw

"My advice would be to just trust in your own abilities to be the person that will be successful at what you’re trying to accomplish. Life is too short to have self-deprecating doubts. I took that advice and every time I was in court I just thought, ‘I have to be confident in this situation because I can be, and people are relying on me.’" #GSULaw Read on: http://ow.ly/UubX50CdGq9

Technology is going to be more and more available to new lawyers, Windsor Adams said. We are working to teach College of Law students how to look at machine-generated work product and be discerning about it. Research may be auto-generated in the future, but our students are the ones who must figure out which cases are actually helpful for the client and which ones to use in the brief. #GSULaw Read on: http://ow.ly/QBd250CcCVG

Congratulations to Cruz Espitia (J.D. ’21) and Haley Solomon (J.D. ’22) for winning the Immigration Clinic its first merits hearing for their client at the Atlanta Immigration Court! #GSULaw Read more: http://ow.ly/eK4O50CfGY8

Congratulations to #GSULaw student Baylee Culverhouse on winning the third place prize in the Roy Snell Health Care Regulatory and Compliance Writing Competition! #GSULaw Learn more: http://ow.ly/UMUh50CbLIv

The Federal Defender Program Inc. and the Center for Access to Justice are partnering to offer a paid internship in memory of Jake Waldrop (J.D. ’85) to rising Georgia State Law second-year or third-year students. The selected student(s) will receive $4,000 (before taxes) for a 10-week summer internship with the Federal Defender Program in Atlanta. Join the Federal Defender Program Inc. and the Center for Access to Justice for a virtual information session Wednesday, November... 18 at noon to learn more about the internship from federal defenders and GSU students who have had the internship in prior summers. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Friday, December 18, 2020. Download the application instructions and email completed applications to [email protected]. For more information visit: http://ow.ly/ZfDP50CbDYT

GOOD NEWS ALERT: Georgia State Law is among schools that over perform on the bar exam. According to a recent study comparing bar passage rates from 2015-2019, College of Law graduates passed the bar exam at a higher rate than expected based on data that compared LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs to first-time test taker bar passage rates. http://ow.ly/MK6j50CdESq

"For two and a half years, I've received a world-class education under the roof of a world-class facility. The faculty and staff at GSU Law consistently go beyond the call of duty to set students up for success in practicing law." - Vince Lally, J.D. 2021 #GSULaw2021

Georgia State College of Law student Rebekah Cohen Morris is the co-founder of Los Vecinos and a council woman for the city of Doraville. She spoke to the New York Times about how the immigrant communities along the Buford Highway corridor have been impacted by COVID-19. "I think of Buford Highway as this complicated tapestry, where you’ve got people coming from all over the world to live out their dreams." #GSULaw http://ow.ly/AzvJ50CbJmb

"It’s not over if you don’t do Moot Court or Law Review. Your 1L year feels like it determines your trajectory, which it can, but it doesn’t have to... Use GSU’s other ways of getting experience, such as externships. You can build your resume the non-traditional way." #GSULaw

The American Constitution Society is a progressive network of lawyers, students, scholars & judges. ACS hosts panels with jurists, legislators & professors to familiarize students with social justice issues in the courts. Along with virtual events, ACS also hosts Park Place, which is available on Apple Podcasts.