Alumni


31 members of the Class of 2023 complete Pro Bono Pledge

May. 9, 2023—Kaylee Brilhart was recognized for logging the highest number of pro bono hours—1,668—as a VLS student. Six members of the Class of 2023 completed the Pro Bono Pledge in both 2022 and 2023.

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University Distinguished Professor James F. Blumstein, 2023 Distinguished Service Award Recipient

May. 2, 2023—Professor Blumstein is the University Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law and Health Law & Policy, Professor of Management at the Owen Graduate School of Management, and Director of the Vanderbilt Health Policy Center. He joined the Vanderbilt Law faculty in 1970.

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Alumni


W. Weldon Wilson, Class of 1986, 2023 Distinguished Alumnus

May. 2, 2023—Weldon launched Resolution Life, a global firm that provides life insurance companies with the flexibility to grow and innovate by acquiring and administering their existing life insurance policies, and currently serves as vice chairman. He is a past president of the VLS Board of Advisors.

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Alumni


Judge Jane B. Stranch ’78 (BA’75) of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals hosted by VLS ACS chapter

Apr. 26, 2023—Judge Stranch discussed her career as a labor lawyer and an appellate judge in a Q&A moderated by ACS President Joey Vettiankal ’24.

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Vanderbilt University launches $3.2B Dare to Grow campaign

Apr. 21, 2023—Public phase of the campaign launches one month into the university’s Sesquicentennial year

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Clinical Alumni Spotlights

Apr. 11, 2023—Vanderbilt Law School alumni reflect on their clinic experiences, discuss how the clinics influenced their careers, and offer advice to current students. Judge Sheila Calloway, JD ’94 Davidson County Juvenile Judge Criminal Practice Clinic Alumnae How did your clinic experience impact the trajectory of your career as a lawyer? When I started in the summer...

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New VLS scholarship endowed in honor of J. Michael Campbell ’68 (BE’65)

Apr. 6, 2023—Campbell is a founding partner of Campbell & Brannon, an Atlanta-based real estate firm that now has 11 offices and more than 30 attorneys.

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Remembering The Honorable C. Roger Vinson ’71

Apr. 5, 2023—Throughout his 40-year tenure on the bench, Judge Vinson consistently rendered non-ideological, scholarly decisions with meticulous attention to the rule of law

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47 law firms participate in 2023 Spring Firm Mingle to connect with rising 2Ls

Mar. 29, 2023—Students connected with attorneys hiring summer associates for positions in 74 cities in the U.S. and abroad. More than 70 percent of the 137 attorneys who attended the spring career fair are VLS alumni.

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Internationally renowned neuroscientist Anthony Wagner delivers inaugural Weaver Distinguished Lecture in Law and Neuroscience

Mar. 24, 2023—Wagner, who is deputy director of Stanford’s Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, addressed his pioneering research on the cognitive neuroscience of memory.

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Alumni Criminal Justice News and Events General News Weaver Research Program



WLSA Women’s History Month Events Feature DOJ Human Rights Lawyer Courtney Urschel ’01, Women Sports Lawyers, and a First-Gen Lawyer

Mar. 3, 2023—Coffee chats throughout March will offer tips for navigating job interviews, choosing courses, and finding the right career path.

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Ashley Wiltshire ’72 chronicles pioneering career as a legal aid attorney in new book, “Everyday Justice”

Feb. 27, 2023—Wiltshire headed the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands for 37 years before his retirement in 2007.

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18 members of the Class of 2022 selected for Order of the Coif

Feb. 23, 2023—Members of the Order of the Coif are selected by faculty approval and represent the top 10 percent of their graduating class. The Order of the Coif is a national honorary scholastic society.

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Alumni General News


Evan Donaldson ’24 and Mary-Preston Austin ‘23 to compete in National Trial Competition finals

Feb. 15, 2023—Donaldson and Austin defeated Moot Court teams from four law schools to qualify for the national tournament in San Antonio, Texas, which starts March 29.

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Alumni Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program General News Home Page News


Key takeaways from Yesha Yadav’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on the cryptocurrency meltdown

Feb. 14, 2023—Yadav was one of three financial regulation experts who testified before the full committee in the aftermath of the crypto crash on why financial safeguards are needed for digital assets.

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Alumni Equity, Diversity and Community Faculty News General News Home Page News International Legal Studies Program L&B News and Events L&G News and Events


BLSA Black History Month Events feature talks by federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw ’81 (BA’78) and L.A. Superior Court Judge Rupert Byrdsong ’94

Feb. 9, 2023—Other events include a lecture by criminal defense scholar Andrea Dennis, “Prosecuting Rap: Racial and Constitutional Implications and a Zoom Q&A with ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross.

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Alumni Equity, Diversity and Community General News


Weaver Family Program in Law, Brain Sciences, and Behavior established at VLS with $3.85 million endowment from Weaver Foundation

Feb. 9, 2023—The new interdisciplinary program will be directed by Owen Jones, who holds appointments in the Law School and the Department of Biology. The program will sponsor faculty research and distinguished lectures featuring leaders in the field and host symposia.

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Fee matrix developed by Professor Brian Fitzpatrick and Brooke Levy ’22 adopted by Federal Court

Feb. 7, 2023—A D.C. District Court judge has ordered use of the “Fitzpatrick Matrix” to calculate attorneys’ fees, signifying the new tool’s formal acceptance.

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Ellen Ward ’24 and Samantha Paradela ’24 win 2023 Bass Berry & Sims Moot Court Competition

Feb. 6, 2023—The final round was argued before Judge Andre B. Mathis of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Eli J. Richardson ’92 of the Middle District of Tennessee. Rachel Wagner and Madison Porth were finalists.

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Three VLS students pursue legal careers focusing on civil rights as Marshall-Motley Scholars

Jan. 24, 2023—Ashley Fox ’24, Adom Abatkun ’25 and Sophia Howard ’25 were selected for the first and second cohorts of a groundbreaking scholarship program created “to endow the South with the next generation of civil rights lawyers.” The program was developed by the Legal Defense Fund and named for former Supreme Court Justice and LDF founder Thurgood Marshall and pioneering civil rights litigator and former LDF attorney Constance Baker Motley.

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Veteran litigator Charles K. Grant will deliver the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture in Flynn Auditorium Jan. 19

Jan. 18, 2023—Grant's lecture, "The Arc of the Moral Universe and Beyond," will start at 12:30 p.m. He is a shareholder at Baker Donelson in Nashville who has tried nore than 50 jury trials and represented clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings across a dozen states. He was co-producer of "Civil Disobedience and the Rule of Law: The Nashville Sit-ins and Lessons in Courage" and co-author of "The Freedom Rides: Making the Law Apply to All," published in the Nashville Bar Journal, which received the Nashville Bar Association's Article of the Year Award in 2011.

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Alumni Equity, Diversity and Community VLS Events