Alumni

Banks is one of eight 2020 law graduates honored for their exemplary commitment to public interest law and pro bono work. She was a Garrison Social Justice Scholar. Read More

Thompson’s paper, “Avoiding Pyrrhic Victories in Orbit: A Need for Anti-Satellite Arms Control in the 21st Century,” is forthcoming in the SMU Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Thompson is a Captain in the U.S. Army and will enter the JAG Corps after graduation. Read More

Sandford will join the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office in Knoxville, Tennessee; DeFuccio will join the Mecklenberg Defenders in Charlotte, North Carolina. Read More

Elizabeth Holden received the Chris Lantz Award, Wesley Gonzalez the Damali K. Booker Award, Amber Banks the Philip G. Davidson Award, and Joey Blake and Kristine Knowles the Jordan A. Quick Award. Read More

Amber Banks ’20 completed 611 pro bono hours as a VLS student. Eunice Lim ’21 and Jackson Hill ’22 were also recognized for leading their classes in pro bono hours with 299 and 99 hours, respectively. Read More

Miller attended VLS with support from the Thomas W. Beasley Endowment Fund, which supports military veterans. She plans to join the U.S. Army JAG Corps and serve as a law clerk for Judge Amul Thapar on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit starting in 2023. Read More

Simmons served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, was elected to the state senate in 2010, and will retire this year due to term limits. He co-founded the Central Florida law firm of Beaubien Simmons Knight Mantzaris and Neal, where he continues to practice, in 1980. Read More

Thompson is a military intelligence officer attending VLS through the U.S. Army’s Funded Legal Education Program and as a Thomas Beasley Scholar. His Lawfare blog column, “Russia’s Recent Space Activity Is a Return to Old Form,” is based on his paper “Avoiding Pyrrhic Victories in Orbit: A Need for Anti-Satellite Arms Control in the 21st Century,” forthcoming in the SMU Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Thompson’s paper is the winner of the American Society of International Law’s 2020 Richard Baxter Military Prize. Read More

Dozier is working at Just City as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. He supervised a team of students who worked on expungement cases, participating a Court Watch program, and supported other criminal justice advocacy initiatives. Read More

Ryan’s paper, “The Fault in Our Stars,” which challenges the FCC’s longstanding policy of excluding commercial satellites from NEPA review, has prompted Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) to ask for a GAO review. Read More