On February 11, the School of Law hosted the annual Alabama Law Alumni Society Banquet at the Haven in Birmingham. Six distinguished alumni were honored this year for their significant contributions to the legal community and the School of Law. Due to the pandemic, this was the first time this event convened in-person since 2020—offering the opportunity for alumni and friends to reunite in numbers that haven’t been possible for quite some time.
Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award
Stephen Douglas Kane (Class of ‘69) was named the recipient of the Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus award—the highest honor bestowed by The Law School Foundation to outstanding alumni of The University of Alabama School of Law.
“Steve’s career has been one of truly remarkable success as an investor, as a business founder, as a senior executive, and as general counsel of a succession of profitable business enterprises,” said S. Dagnal Rowe, Kane’s classmate and an attorney and shareholder at Wilmer & Lee.
Rowe explained that while his business success is impressive, the true measure of Kane’s stature is found in the way he has “used and prioritized his time, talents, and prosperity” to care for his family and give back to the community and the School of Law.
Notably, Kane has established a scholarship for non-resident Alabama Law students, is a major donor to the new Alabama Law Program for Law and Business, and he serves as a member of The University of Alabama President’s Cabinet, an Emeritus member of the Alabama Law School Foundation’s Board of Governors, and a member of the Law School’s Capital Campaign Committee.
Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor
Four additional Alabama Law alumni were inducted into the Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor which was established in 2020 by the Board of Governors of the Law School Foundation to recognize the outstanding achievement of Alabama Law alumni and faculty. This year’s inductees include The Honorable Sonja F. Bivins (Class of ’88), William (Bill) N. Clark (Class of ’71), Michael D. Ermert (Class of ’90), and H. Harold Stephens (Class of ’80).
Among many moving moments throughout the night, fellow alumni offered a standing ovation in recognition of Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor Inductee, Michael D. Ermert, who recently passed away. His award was presented to his wife, Lori Ermert, by Mike Ermert’s long-time business partner, Leon Ashford.
Alabama Rising Young Attorney
Danielle Blevins (Class of ‘12) was named the recipient of the Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award which recognizes a recent graduate who has shown significant leadership and purposeful service to the legal profession, their community, and the School of Law.
The 2022 Alabama Law Alumni Banquet offered a beautiful evening for alumni and their families to gather and celebrate the achievements of classmates and friends. If you were unable to attend, we hope you will join us next year. Meanwhile, you can see additional photos from the event and read the bios of each awardee in the banquet program.
Professor Tara Leigh Grove was recently interviewed on the latest episode of “Common Law,” a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law. During the episode titled Inside the President’s Supreme Court Commission, she spoke on term limits, court-packing, and other reforms. The episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Youtube, Spotify, and the University of Virginia School of Law website.
Through generous support from The University of Alabama System’s McMahon-Pleiad Prize, the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, and Derrick (’03) and Tamesha Mills, The University of Alabama School of Law will be launching the Alabama Law Summer Scholars Program beginning this year.
Summer Scholars is a cost-free, four-week program for undergraduate students who want to learn more about the study and practice of law. The Program is focused on serving students who come from backgrounds that are historically or currently underrepresented within the legal profession.
“We are grateful for the generous grants that allow us to initiate the Summer Scholars Program,” said Dean Mark E. Brandon. “The program will permit us to support prospective students as they prepare to apply to law school, and it will provide participants an extraordinary experience that shows them not only what law school is like, but also what a life in this noble profession can be.”
Participating undergraduate students will engage in activities in and out of the classroom that will teach them about the process of applying to law school, expose them to the experience and purpose of a legal education, and let them practice skills that will contribute to their professional advancement.
“We are thankful for the community support of this important initiative,” said Anil Mujumdar, Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence. “Summer Scholars is designed to provide participants with the necessary foundation for success as they enter law school and the legal profession.”
Alabama Law Summer Scholars Program is scheduled to take place May 31 through June 30, 2022 at The University of Alabama School of Law. The program is currently accepting applications from undergrad students through Sunday, March 27, 2022. Additional information can be found at www.law.ua.edu/ALSS.
Professor Joyce Vance recently published an opinion piece in The New York Times titled Parents Need to Be Held Accountable in School Shootings The article can be viewed on The New York Times website.
Professor Shalini Bhargava Ray published an essay on Lawfare titled Shadow Sanctions for Immigration Law Violations. The full article can be viewed online.
Professor Joyce Vance was featured in articles in The Washington Post and The New York Times highlighting the Arbery case plea deal. The Washington Post article is titled Federal prosecutors saw a plea deal for Arbery’s killers as racial justice. His family thought otherwise and the New York Times article is titled How a Plea Deal in the Arbery Hate Crime Case Unraveled.
Professor Richard Delgado was recently featured in an article in the ABA Journal titled Nonexistent ‘Critical Race Theory’ curriculum is caught in the crosshairs. The full piece can be viewed on the ABA Journal website.
Alabama Law has named Anil A. Mujumdar as the Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence. Previously serving as the Interim Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Professor Mujumdar has now stepped into the full-time role while also teaching Introduction to Law, Poverty Law and Human Trafficking, and serving as coach to the BLSA Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition Team.
For most of his career, Professor Mujumdar has concentrated his practice in the area of white-collar criminal defense, which he learned through working in private practice with former U.S. Attorney and former U.S. Senator Doug Jones. In addition to his white-collar work, Professor Mujumdar is counsel in prison conditions litigation brought to improve accessibility and mental health care for people with disabilities in the Alabama prison system.
He has represented victims of child sex abuse and continues to litigate civil claims on behalf of survivors of human trafficking. Additionally, he has represented cities and counties in the national opioid multi-district litigation, which the Washington Post has described as “the largest civil action in U.S. history.”
He is one of twelve members of the ACLU’s national Executive Committee, serves on the ACLU’s national Board of Directors and is past-President of the ACLU of Alabama. He currently serves as President of the board of directors for AIDS Alabama and serves on the boards of directors for Legal Services of Alabama, I See Me, Inc. (a local non-profit dedicated to increasing reading skills among of children of color), and the Sojourn Project (a national non-profit that organizes civil rights tours of the Deep South for high school students throughout the country).
He previously served on the boards of directors for Alabama Appleseed, the Magic City Bar Association, and as the president of the South Asian Bar Association Foundation. Since 2010, Professor Mujumdar has co-authored the LexisNexis treatise on Alabama Civil Procedure, and in 2021 he was selected by LexisNexis to serve as the new author of its treatise on Alabama Criminal Procedure formerly authored by the late Alabama Supreme Court Justice Hugh Maddox. Prior to teaching at Alabama Law, he taught as an adjunct at Stillman College, Miles Law School, and The University of Alabama in both the American Studies Department and the Department of Race and Gender Studies.
Professor Mujumdar received his B.A. in English from Birmingham-Southern College, where he ran varsity cross-country and served as SGA President. He received a M.A. in American Studies and a J.D. from the University of Alabama. While in law school, he worked at a local record store and as a DJ on WVUA 90.7 FM.
Professor Julie Hill’s Georgia Law Review article Regulating Bank Reputation Risk was recently cited in a piece titled Are financial regulators universal regulators? Let’s hope not. The full article can be found on The Hill website.
Professor Hill was also recently quoted in a Law360 article titled 4 Things To Know About Biden’s Latest Fed Picks.
On January 25, Professor Jenny Carroll was one of three featured guests on NPR’s On Point who discussed the Oath Keepers, sedition, and the Capitol attack. You can listen to the full segment here.
