Nineteen 2010 law graduates, including students earning J.D.s and LL.M.s, were honored with awards recognizing their scholastic achievements and professional and personal leadership during their tenure at Vanderbilt Law School, and recognized at Vanderbilt’s 2010 Commencement.
Ryan Holt was awarded the Founder’s Medal, signifying first honors in Vanderbilt Law School’s Class of 2010, at the university’s commencement ceremony. Holt was also winner of the Archie B. Martin Memorial Prize for Scholarship, which goes to the student with the highest general average during the first year of law school, in 2007-08, and the Robert F. Jackson Memorial Prize, awarded to the member of the second-year class who maintains the highest scholastic average during the first two years of law school, in 2008-09. Holt earned his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University and is a native of Nashville. He was editor-in-chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review in 2009-10.
Andrew Free received the Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Prize, awarded to “the student of the senior law class who is not only well-versed in the law, but who shows the highest conception of the ethics of the profession.” Free, who founded The List Project @ VU, is a native of Marietta, Georgia
Richard Aaron Chastain received the Weldon B. White Prize, awarded to the graduate who submitted the best paper in fulfillment of the law school’s advanced writing requirement; the Philip G. Davidson Award, which is presented each year to the student who has demonstrated dedication to the law and its problem-solving role in society, and who has provided exemplary leadership in service to the law school and the greater community; and the K. Harlan Dodson Moot Court Staff Award, which goes to the senior member of the Moot Court staff, other than the chief justice, who has rendered the most outstanding service throughout the previous year in all aspects of the Moot Court program. Chastain is a native of Memphis, Tennessee.
Andrew Gould received the Morgan Prize for submitting the most outstanding piece of student writing to the Vanderbilt Law Review during his second year, the Cecil D. Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program Award for extraordinary achievement in the study of litigation and dispute resolution, and the Law Review Candidates Award, which is awarded by the second-year Law Review staff to the third-year student, other than the editor-in-chief, who has made the most significant contribution to the development of Law Review staff members. Gould is a native of Louisville, Kentucky.
Jennifer Bennett Shinall, who is a candidate for a Ph.D. in Law and Economics at Vanderbilt Law School, received the Myron Penn Laughlin Note Award, which goes to the student, other than the winner of the Morgan Prize, who contributed the best student Note published in the Vanderbilt Law Review. Shinall is a native of Memphis, Tennessee.
Thomas Hodge received the LL.M. Research Prize, awarded to the LL.M. student who submitted the best research and writing project. Hodge is a native of London, United Kingdom.
John Haubenreich received the Stanley D. Rose Memorial Book Award, which goes to the law student who submits the best legal writing in the field of jurisprudence or legal history in fulfillment of the law school’s advanced writing requirement. Haubenreich is a native of Commerce, Georgia.
Joseph Kimok received the Law Review Editor’s Award, which goes to the third-year editorial board member who has made the most significant contribution to the Law Review, and the Carl J. Ruskowski Clinical Legal Education Award, which goes to the student who, in his or her representation of clients in the law school’s clinical program, demonstrated excellence in practice of law and best exemplified the highest standards of the legal profession. Kimok is a native of North Adams, Massachusetts.
Ashley Bassel received the Jordan A. Quick Memorial Award, awarded to the student judged to have made the greatest contribution to the quality of life at the law school through leadership with the Vanderbilt Bar Association. Bassel is a native of Springfield, Tennessee.
Shannon Fyfe received the Damali A. Booker Award, which is presented each year to the third-year law student who has a keen dedication to legal activism and a demonstrated commitment to confronting social issues facing both Vanderbilt Law School and the greater Nashville community, and the National Association of Women Lawyers’ Outstanding Law Student Award, which goes to the student whose law school involvement best fulfills the goals of contributing to the advancement of women in society and promoting women’s issues in the legal profession, and “who has exhibited tenacity, enthusiasm, and academic achievement while earning the respect of others.” Fyfe, who is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, will go to Tanzania this summer as a Helton Fellow to work with the Public International Law and Policy Group’s field office to develop law and policy recommendations regarding the treatment of albino citizens. Fyfe is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Renee Erickson received the Junius L. Allison Legal Aid Award, which goes to the graduates judged to have made the most significant contribution to the work of the Vanderbilt Legal Aid Society during his tenure at Vanderbilt. Erickson is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Rebecca Everhardt received the G. Scott Briggs Transnational Legal Studies Award, awarded to the third-year student who has exhibited a high degree of scholastic achievement in transnational legal studies and who has made the most significant contribution to the development of international legal inquiries while a student at Vanderbilt. Everhardt is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Lauren Winter received the Grace Wilson Sims Prize for Excellence in Student Writing in Transnational Law, awarded to the member of the graduating class who contributed the best Note for publication in the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. Winter is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Kathryn White received the Grace Wilson Sims Medal in Transnational Law, awarded to the editorial board member, other than the editor-in-chief, selected as having done the most outstanding work on the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law during the academic year. White is a native of Nashville.
Kristina Montanaro received the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law Outstanding Editor Award, which goes to the member of the third-year staff selecting as having done the most outstanding work on the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law during the academic year. Montanaro is a native of Marietta, Georgia.
Megan Bibb received the Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law Student Writing Award, which goes to the graduate who submitted the most outstanding piece of student writing for publication in the journal. Bibb is a native of Pelham, Alabama.
Brent Culpepper of Bonaire, Georgia, and John Thomas Synowicki of Omaha, Nebraska, shared the Thomas C. Banks Award for the Outstanding Jessup Moot Court Team Member, awarded by the competition team to the members who have made the greatest contribution to the overall success of the team during the previous year.
Elizabeth Compton received the Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law Outstanding Service Award, which goes to the student other than the editor-in-chief who has made the most significant contribution to the journal’s advancement. Compton is a native of Charleston, South Carolina.