With heavy hearts, the Alabama Law community mourns the passing of a dear alumni, colleague, and friend—W. Percy Badham III (Class of 1982). Percy was a founding partner at Badham and Buck in Birmingham, and he served as former president of the Law School Foundation Board of Governors. In 2021, Percy was inducted into the Foundation’s Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of this dear friend, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his colleagues and loved ones. We will miss him greatly.
Evan Milligan gives his keynote address, Special Perspectives of Allen v. Milligan
On February 16, the Alabama Law Review hosted its 2024 symposium, Allen v. Milligan: The Intersectionality of Race, Elections, and Democracy, at The University of Alabama School of Law. This symposium explored the history of the Voting Rights Act—an Act with deep ties to the state of Alabama—and included panels of government officials, litigants, and academics who offered a wide variety of perspectives and deep analysis on the changing landscape of election law.
The keynote speaker, Evan Milligan, executive director of Alabama Forward and named representative plaintiff in Allen v. Milligan, offered a unique perspective on the intersectionality of law and race. He discussed the global impact of having a representative democracy and shared insights on his involvement in Allen v. Milligan.
This symposium was made possible by Lauren Chambliss, Editor-in-Chief of Alabama Law Review; Rachel Dees, Special Works Editor of Alabama Law Review; Professor Jenny Carroll, the Alabama Law Review faculty advisor; Nathan Smart, assistant dean of administration; members of the Alabama Law Review managing board, and dedicated Alabama Law staff.
A History of the Voting Rights Act and Gerrymandering paneled by: Kirk Walter (moderator), Associate Director of Public Services, The University of Alabama School of Law; Daniel Tokaji, Fred W. & Vi Miller Dean and Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School; Emily Rong Zhang, Assistant Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law; and Justin Levitt, Professor of Law and Gerald T. McLaughlin Fellow, Loyola Law School
The Role and Perspective of State Legislators and Local Litigants paneled by: Chris England, Alabama House of Representatives Representing District 70 and chair of the Alabama Democratic Party; Frederick Spight (moderator), Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Instruction and Interim Director of Entrepreneurship & Nonprofit Clinic, The University of Alabama School of Law; and Cynthia Almond, Alabama House of Representatives Representing District 63 and attorney at Almond Attorneys
The Future of Elections: A Broader Conversation on the Sanctity of Representative Democracy paneled by: Michael T. Morley, Sheila M. McDevitt Professor, Florida State University College of Law; Jess Unger, Senior Staff Attorney, Southern Poverty Law Center; Michael Li, Senior Counsel, Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice; and Joyce Vance (moderator), Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law
A Conversation About the Role Race, Gender, and Class Play in Elections paneled by: Daiquiri Steele (moderator), Assistant Professor of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law; Jerome Dees, Policy Director, Southern Poverty Law Center; Jennifer Taylor, Lecturer in Law, Clinical Lecturer in Law, Associate Research Scholar in Law, and Executive Director of the Liman Center, Yale Law School; and Bryan K. Fair (moderator), Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law
The Carol Rice Andrews ABA Moot Court team won their regional competition in Las Vegas this past weekend. The team of 3Ls Sean Collins, Molly Glisson, and Tindol Pate will advance to the National rounds in Philadelphia in April.
3Ls Tamara Boles and Trent Gill, along with 2L Moot Court Fellow Alli Swann were awarded 3rd best brief in the region.
The team is coached by Dean Anita Kay Head.
This month, the Bruce Siegal Intellectual Property Moot Court team finished in 1st place at the Southeast Regional Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Law Moot Court Competition in Atlanta.
Meredith Claunch, Addison Franklin, Elise Helton, and Erin Sullivan competed, winning the award for Best Brief in addition to taking home the first place prize. The team, coached by Professor Alan Durham, will advance to Nationals, which is to be held in Washington, D.C. in March.
Professor Heather Elliott was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article titled Abortion Pill Case Highlights Supreme Court Flip on Who Can Sue. Read the full piece here.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, The University of Alabama School of Law ranks #2 among public law schools and #7 among all law schools based on the median debt-to-earnings ratio of its graduates. More information about this ranking is available in the Winter 2024 Issue of The National Jurist.
See also: Alabama Law Ranked #3 for Best Value Law School and Alabama Law Ranks #7 for Federal Clerkship Placements
Dylan Cox and Austin Mendes
The NYC Moot Court team advanced to the final four in the 74th Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York City last week. The competition began in November with 197 teams across 15 regions. Alabama was one of 24 teams to qualify for nationals after finishing second at their regional competition in Nashville.
3Ls Dylan Cox, Austin Mendes, and Max Willinger wrote a brief that earned a 4th place ranking in the national competition, with Cox and Mendes representing the team in oral arguments. Their overall record for oral arguments in the competition was 8-2.
The team is coached by Professor Kimberly Boone.
Professor Joyce Vance was quoted in a New York Times article about the potential disqualification of Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis in her case against Donald Trump. Click here for the full story.
Last month, Swapanthi Mandalika (a 3L at Alabama Law) was awarded the Women’s White Collar Defense Association’s (WWCDA) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Outstanding Law Student Award in Washington, D.C. This national award is given to a woman in the final year of her legal education who best exemplifies Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s commitment to excellence, perseverance, resilience, extraordinary work ethic, and tireless efforts to ensure justice for all. While Mandalika is at the top of her class, has won 13 best paper awards in her courses, and has publicly been recognized as “the best student I’ve ever had,” by Professor Heather Elliott—who clerked for Justice Ginsburg—Mandalika’s academic journey was not easy.
“Long before my time in law school, I was a girl failing my way out of high school,” said Mandalika. “Having taken the GED equivalent, my college experience wasn’t going much better.”
Suffering from “intense, impenitent anxiety” that robbed her of the ability to complete coursework, Mandalika fell into such deep despair that she almost gave up on the journey that led her to law school. She points out that a simple lack of compassion from her teachers and peers led, in part, to this despair. In time, the absence of positive support drove her to find ways to create better experiences for those who came after her.
“As a last-ditched effort to pull myself out of my near intractable despondency, I started a women’s support group at a low-income school in my neighborhood,” said Mandalika. “Across those meetings, I learned several invaluable lessons, chief among them that it is hard to feel useless when you are being helpful.”
In leading the support group, Mandalika experienced a “personal rebirth” which remains the focus of her professional energies. “From here, whatever I achieve, I hope to return in kind to those who similarly suffer from the extreme diffidence that plagued my youth.”
At the beginning of her second year in Law School, Mandalika carried out this commitment by joining a pilot program directed to help first-year law students navigate their rigorous, pressure-filled environments by providing a variety of academic resources. In the first three semesters she served in this program, she spent approximately 180 hours mentoring and supporting other students at Alabama Law. She will continue to serve in this capacity through graduation at the end of this spring semester.
Our group, the Academic Success Fellows, met with students 2-3 times a week to ensure they were keeping pace in their classes. As part of my duties, I endeavored to not only answer my classmate’s questions, but I also sought to ensure students were abiding by the study plans we jointly created. Three times now, I have received a phone call from a fellow student thanking me for helping them achieve their first ‘A’ in law school. Tearfully, one student informed me that in lieu of calling her mother or her husband, she wanted me to be the first to know. That call from her remains my proudest accomplishment in law school. My rank as first in my class remains dwarfed in personal significance by her quiet reassurance that I had been a small agent in justice’s slow advance. –Swapanthi Mandalika
Looking Forward
This spring, Mandalika and her husband will be welcoming their first child, a baby boy, into their family. Upon graduation, she has committed to clerkships in both the Northern District of Alabama and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She has also been offered a full-time position at the firm Latham & Watkins for future employment in their Washington, D.C. office upon completion of her clerkships. Ultimately, Mandalika plans to pursue a career in academia where she can continue to invest in student mentorship, scholarship, and advocacy.
“I would hope to foster a cohort of legal professionals unburdened by the limitations of past or present generations, and only bound by the furthest grasps of their own imaginings,” said Mandalika.
On Friday, March 1, the School of Law will host the annual Alabama Law Alumni Society Banquet at the Haven in Birmingham. Seven distinguished alumni featured below will be honored this year for their significant contributions to the legal community and Alabama Law. Purchase your tickets today to celebrate with us.
2024 Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Recipient
W. Mike House (Class of 1971)
The Sam W. Pipes Award is the highest honor bestowed by The Law School Foundation to outstanding alumni of The University of Alabama School of Law, who have distinguished themselves through service to the Bar, The University of Alabama, and the School of Law.
2024 Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor Inductees
Judy Whalen Evans (Class of 1975)
Vanessa Leonard (Class of 1995)
Robert F. Prince (Class of 1974)
M. Wayne Wheeler (Class of 1966)
The Alabama Lawyer Hall of Honor 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. Criteria for the award include making significant and extended contributions to the life of the Law School, having a distinguished career, and sustaining involvement in service activities.
2024 Alabama Rising Young Attorney Recipients
Stanley E. Blackmon (Class of 2015)
Christopher B. Driver (Class of 2015)
The Alabama Rising Young Attorney Award, established in 2020, recognizes a recent graduate who has shown significant leadership and purposeful service to the legal profession, their community, and the School of Law.
Come celebrate the 2024 Alabama Law Alumni Award Winners Friday, March 1, at Haven in downtown Birmingham! Purchase your tickets today.
