Natalie Graves has received the Philip G. Davidson III Memorial Award for the Class of 2022. Graves plans to work as a public defender with the Colorado State Public Defender after graduation.
The Philip G. Davidson III Memorial Award is presented annually to the student, chosen by the Vanderbilt Bar Association Board of Governors, who is dedicated to the law and its problem-solving role in society, and who provides exemplary leadership in service to Vanderbilt Law School and the greater community.
Graves is a McCoy Constitutional Scholar. She was a fellow of the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions. She has served on the Moot Court Managing Council, where she was selected for the K. Harlan Dodson Moot Court Staff Award, and as vice president of Law Students for Social Justice, and as the Public Interest Stipend Fund Director for the Vanderbilt Legal Aid Society.
She fulfilled the Pro Bono Pledge as a 2L and participated in the 2020 Pro Bono Spring Break, joining a team of students who worked pro bono for attorneys at the Jackson office of the Mississippi Center for Justice.
Graves was an intern with the Colorado State Public Defender in Douglas County in summer 2021 and worked in the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender in summer 2020. She was an extern with the Federal Public Defender’s office for the Middle District of Tennessee in fall 2020 and an extern with the Nashville Defenders in fall 2021.
Graves earned her B.A. in political science from Nebraska Wesleyan University with highest distinction before entering law school.
