Professor Pam Pierson was recently tapped as a new member of The XXXI, an honor society that selects 31 outstanding women for membership each year.
“I am honored to be invited into The XXXI and humbled to meet the talented, strong, confident women who are XXXI members,” Pierson said. “It is exciting to see the impact they have in every aspect of life at The University of Alabama. I look forward to joining the women of The XXXI in their leadership traditions at our University.”
Pierson was the only faculty member at The University of Alabama selected for this honor. The membership consists of 18 University juniors, eight University seniors, three University alumnae, one University faculty member, and one leader in the state who does not have to be a student or graduate of the University of Alabama. New members are selected by the year’s previous inductees, making this an especially great honor for a Law School faculty member to be selected by an organization whose membership consists of a majority of undergraduate students.
The XXXI was founded in 1989 to honor women with a commitment to The University of Alabama, the city of Tuscaloosa and/or the state of Alabama through service, leadership and exemplary character. UA Law School alums have a strong tradition of service and leadership in The XXXI. UA Law graduate Allison Alford Ingram (’92) was a founding member of The XXXI. In addition to Professor Pierson, currently at the law school are XXXI members Martha Griffith (’12), Assistant Director for Admissions; Caroline Strawbridge (’97), Major Gifts Officer; and law students Christy Boardman (’17), Maria O’Keefe (’18), Jordan Patterson (’17), and CadeAnn Smith (’18).
Neena Speer (’17) urged aspiring law school students to tell their own stories, own those stories and use them to help develop leaders during a talk at The National Diversity Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair in Washington, D.C.
“I think everyone’s common goal is to be accepted and respected, so when I think about diversity I think about bringing that to the classroom,” she said.
Speer was a featured speaker at the pre-law conference, a national outreach, networking and empowerment event designed for diverse aspiring lawyers. The conference connects students with law school admissions counselors and provides information to help them succeed in law school.
Speer was invited to talk at the conference by Executive Director Evangeline M. Mitchell. During her 15-minute speech, Speer shared her own story about diversity. It begins with her parents, her role models. Her mother is from India, and her father is African-American, which she said is not a “typical combination.” Both of her parents, especially her mother, taught her lessons about acceptance and respect.
“When I go see my mother’s family, we touch every adult’s – and I mean anyone who is older than me – feet as a sign of respect,” she said.
It’s that same kind of respect students need to bring with them to succeed in law school. When students don’t respect their elders, they miss the opportunity to learn, she said.
Law school can be a humbling experience. Speer reminded students that they may not excel in every class, but there are many places where students can use their talent. For example, a student may excel in trial advocacy and participate in a law clinic.
As for diversity, it’s an asset. Those who can’t accept and respect other people may find it difficult to succeed in life and at work.
“When you are diverse, you learn how to develop leaders because you always look at different cultures, different personalities, different situations,” she said. “Diversity is not just about being black or white; it’s about learning how to deal with multiple personalities.”
The Alabama Law team of Caitlyn Prichard (’16), Logan Matthews (’16), and Grant Luiken (’16) competed in the national finals of the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition. Two hundred teams compete in regional tournaments around the country, and only the top twenty-four advance to the national finals.
The Alabama team’s brief won fourth place in the nation and the team advanced to the round of the final eight. There, the team lost on a tie-breaker and did not advance further. The top four brief and top eight finish were both the best an Alabama team has ever achieved in this premier national competition.
Professor Carol Andrews coached the team.
Professor Bryan Fair told WVUA 23 a proposed Fetal Heartbeat Bill that has passed the House in the state legislature wouldn’t survive a legal challenge. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa), would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected, but the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned similar bans in other states.
“Bills like these, I think, are largely political grandstands for legislators,” said Professor Bryan Fair. “They have no hope of surviving a legal challenge. They are a waste of tax-payer dollars.”
The team of Tom Causby (’16), Ellie Friedman (’16), Warner Hornsby (’16), and Corey Gross (’16) advanced to the semi-final round of the American Association for Justice National Trial Competition.
This year the AAJ competition had more than 200 law schools competing in 14 regional sites, and the 14 winners competed in New Orleans last week. Alabama faced the University of California Berkeley, Berry, Drexel, and California Western in advancing to the final four. In the semifinal the team lost a close vote to Georgetown. The team was coached by Robert Prince (’74).
Forrest Boone (’16) filed an amicus brief and argued in support of the appellant before the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces during oral argument, heard at the Law School.
United States v. Calyx E. Harrell was heard by a panel of five circuit court judges appointed for 15-year terms by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The case involves the appeal of a U.S. Air Force officer who contends evidence obtained from a “dog-sniff” and police search of her vehicle was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment and should have been suppressed. Harrell was found guilty of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
The hearing was part of the court’s judicial outreach program. The court holds arguments at law schools, military bases and other public facilities as part of Project Outreach, a program developed to demonstrate the operation of a federal court of appeals and the military criminal justice system.
Before the hearing, Boone submitted a 15-page amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief he developed in Cameron Fogle’s Litigation Drafting: Military Court of Appeals course. As amicus, Boone was not a party to the case, but he offered information that could assist the court as it makes its final decision. Chief Judge Charles E. Erdmann described the brief as “very impressive” shortly after the hearing ended.
“This is a case where the government physically occupied private property for the purpose of gaining information,” Boone argued. “Overruling the lower court here does not require an extension of the law, rather the precedent of the Supreme Court mandates it.”
During the 10-minute presentation, Boone argued the trial court made two fundamental errors. The court ignored testimony and a video regarding the dog’s trespass, and it applied the wrong test to determine whether police conducted a search.
Boone argued the lower court was incorrect and should have suppressed the evidence as a violation of the Fourth Amendment because the case falls within the overlap of two U.S. Supreme Court cases: United States v. Jones and Florida v. Jardines.
“In Jones, the Supreme Court held that a mere trespass onto the exterior of a vehicle constituted a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and in Jardines, the court applied that same trespass rationale to a dog sniff even when it could be said that that dog was pursuing an odor, attempting to find its source.”
When Judge Scott W. Stucky said he was having trouble following the argument about the whether the dog was acting in accordance with its training, Boone clarified his stance.
“Your honor, the point is that the officer didn’t make any action in response to the change in breathing,” he said. “The dog can’t have probable cause in his mind. Probable cause needs to be formed in the mind of the officer, which wasn’t present based on the breathing. The indication of this dog required the squaring off and the sitting, which didn’t occur until after the physical intrusion either onto or into the vehicle.”
Fogle and law students Jeremy Dalrymple (’17), Maurice FitzGerald (’16), Julie Munns (’16) and Gary Rowe (’16) contributed to the brief and served as practice judges for the oral argument. Each student wrote a full brief as part of the class.
“Once I selected Forrest’s brief, the entire class edited it,” Fogle said. “We worked as a team to make it the best product we could make it in order to get it ready for filing.”
Working with the students in the class also helped Boone shape the argument. “There are some of the arguments I made that people didn’t agree with, but their counter arguments helped me make my argument stronger,” he said.
Hosting the court allows the Law School to show it is producing some of the best students, legal minds and oral advocates in the country.
“Within a week of filing the amicus curiae brief, the government saw fit to file a response, which often doesn’t happen,” Fogle said. “He was writing at a level that was as good, if not better, than what would be expected from a practicing attorney.”
Boone recently accepted a position as an associate at Williams Gautier, PA in Tallahassee, Florida, where he will practice civil litigation. He said he hopes the experience will give his new colleagues confidence in him and that they may tap him for future appellate arguments.
“It’s extremely valuable to say that you’ve argued before a federal appeals court in an actual case,” Boone said. “Getting that experience prior to entering practice is a big leg up and puts me ahead of a lot of people in this stage of my career.”
Professor Jenny Carroll recently told Al.com Alabama is a one-party recording state, meaning one of the people in the conversation may record, or allow to be recorded, without informing the other party, she said.
But if you are a third party — someone who is not part of the conversation and you don’t have consent – “you are probably out of luck under Alabama law,” Carroll said.
For more, click on the links.
“Were the Gov. Robert Bentley sex scandal tapes legally obtained?”
“What legal trouble could Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, Rebekah Caldwell Mason face?”
WKRG (Mobile)
The Dorbin Association presented a $10,000 donation to Turning Point Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services.
The donation is the largest in the association’s history, and leaders said they were honored to raise the money for an organization that supports women. In February, the association held a silent and live auction at Glory Bound in Tuscaloosa. The event featured everything from jewelry to ballroom dancing lessons. Businesses, community leaders, and law professors donated the items, and law students bid on their favorites.
“The entire Law School pitched in on this: professors, the administration, and the students,” said Dorbin President Hannah Hooks Stokes (’16).
Turning Point can house up to 16 women and children at a time. In 2015, the shelter served 840 clients and answered 852 calls on its 24-hour crisis hotline. The association’s donation will allow Turning Point to advocate for clients in the court system, conduct more educational outreach, and secure housing and other necessities for clients, said Belinda Jones, Director of Domestic Violence Services at Turning Point.
“On behalf of Executive Director Emily Kelly and the Turning Point Board of Directors, we can’t thank you all enough,” Jones said.
Legal scholars and members of the law enforcement community visited The University of Alabama School of Law to discuss policing after Ferguson.
The symposium on “Redefining Clearly Established Rights after Ferguson: § 1983 Claims and Community Policing from Hope v. Pelzer to Kingsley v. Hendrickson” was held in the Bedsole Moot Court Room.
The highly publicized and controversial deaths of Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, and Tamir Rice have sparked a national conversation about community policing and the use of deadly force. This symposium will draw together experts from across the nation to examine the complicated set of issues that arises in the context of policing and use of force. The colloquy will consider both the constitutional and civil rights dimensions of the use of force, with particular focus on avenues for rendering existing legal remedies more responsive to current concerns.
The symposium was co-sponsored by the Alabama Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Law Review, a journal committed to fostering scholarly dialogue in the vital and interconnected areas of civil rights and civil liberties.
For more, click on the links.
WVTM-NBC 13 (Birmingham)
WBRC-Fox 6 (Birmingham)
WCFT-ABC 33/40 (Birmingham)
WVUA-23 (Tuscaloosa)
“Law enforcement reform will be subject of University of Alabama symposium”
Professor Julie A. Hill and 12 Law School students recently visited the Cayman Islands as part of the offshore financial transactions course.
The Cayman Islands is a world leader in offshore finance. It is the second largest domicile for captive insurance companies, a jurisdiction of choice for investment funds, and a top provider for trust and company management services. Cayman also has sunny weather and beautiful beaches.
This combination of finance and fun drew students from the University of Alabama to the Law School’s offshore financial transactions class. Students spent time early in the semester in Tuscaloosa mastering the basics of captive insurance, investment funds, and securitization. They then traveled to Grand Cayman during spring break for a week of intensive courses taught by Caymanian financial experts.
The class is offered in conjunction with Texas A&M School of Law, and twelve Texas A&M students attended the course.
“It is a great opportunity for students to learn first-hand from attorneys and other finance professionals,” said Hill, who has taught the course for the past three years. “Students leave Cayman with a better understanding of sophisticated financial products and with professional connections that will help them in their careers.”
When not in class, students made the most of the beautiful island. They swam with stingrays, snorkeled in clear water, and relaxed on the beach. University of Alabama law student Said Jabbour (’17) described the trip as “both very fun and educational.”
