The Moot Court Board is pleased to announce that the semi-finalists for the 2007 Pirtle-Washer Moot Court Competition are Jeff Nicoson, Joe Stennis, Caroline Pieroni, and John Purlee. The semi-final and final rounds of Pirtle-Washer will be held on Friday, October 5 in the Allen Courtroom, with the semi-final arguments at 9 and 10:30 AM and the final argument at 2 PM. A reception will follow the final argument in the Cox Lounge. All are invited to attend Friday's events.

Our Semi-finalists

Jeff Nicoson is a Louisville native who graduated with a B.S. in Enviromental Biology from Taylor University in 2000 and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from Ball State University for 2003. Prior to coming to the law school, Nicoson worked in Nashville as a Land Planner designing mixed-use subdivisions and commercial properties. He competed on last year's National Health Law Moot Court competition and is on this year's National Moot Court team. Nicoson plans to pursue a career in trial litigation and appellate advocacy.

John Purlee is a second-year law student at the University of Louisville School of Law. Originally from Bedford, Indiana, he graduated from Franklin College of Indiana in 2006, where he majored in Political Science. Purlee is a law clerk at Don Smith Law Offices.

Caroline Lynch Pieroni received her undergraduate degree in journalism at Western Kentucky University in 2002. While at Western, she was named the Associated Press Collegiate Reporter of the Year (2001), won a Gold Circle award for news writing (2001), and also won First Place for Spot News in the national Hearst Journalism Awards Competition. Pieroni spent three years writing business stories at The Courier-Journal before entering law school. She is currently a second-year law school student and a member of the Louisville Law Review.

Joe Stennis, Jr. was born and raised in Louisville and is a graduate of Louisville Male High School. Stennis obtained my undergraduate degree in Accounting and an MBA from the University of Louisville. Prior to starting law school, he worked in the banking industry as a banking center manger, small business development officer, and investment sales representative. He was selected articles editor for the Journal of Law & Education; completed a summer judicial law clerkship with the Honorable Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert of the Kentucky Supreme Court.

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The Pirtle-Washer Moot Court Competition would not be possible without the support of alumni and the legal community. This year, the following Kentucky judges have agreed to support this program and hear arguments.

Judges for the Semi-Final Round

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Moyer
Judge Moyer earned his juris doctor from the University of Virginia in 1974. He took the bench in 1996.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Stosberg
Judge Stosberg, a 1973 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law, was sworn in on June 30, 1989.

Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Tom Wine Judge ‘80
Judge Wine was born in Louisville. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a bachelor's degree in 1977 and a juris doctor in 1980. He was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in August 2006 to serve Division 1 of the 4th Appellate District, which consists of Jefferson County. He was subsequently elected to the Court of Appeals in November 2006.

Judges for the Final Round

Supreme Court Justice Mary Noble
Justice Noble earned a bachelor's degree in 1971 and a master's degree in 1975 from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn. She completed her juris doctor at the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1981. She was elected to the Supreme Court of Kentucky in November 2006 to serve the 5th Supreme Court District.

Supreme Court Justice Lisa Abramson ‘80
Justice Abramson earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville, graduating in 1977 with highest honors. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1980 and was named the Outstanding Graduate of her law school class. She is a former winner of the Pirtle-Washer Competition.

Justice Abramson was sworn in as a justice for the Supreme Court of Kentucky on Sept. 10, 2007, after being appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the late Justice William E. McAnulty, Jr. She will represent Jefferson County, which is the 4th Supreme Court District.

Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Martin McDonald ‘88
Judge McDonald is a 1988 graduate of the University of Louisville's School of Law. He was elected to Jefferson District Court in November 1993, where he remained until his election to Jefferson Circuit Court in 2003.

 

 

Banned Books Week will be celebrated in libraries around the country from September 29 through October 6, 2007.

Celebrating the Freedom to Read has been observed during the last week of September each year since 1982. This annual American Libraries Association (ALA) event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

Join the ALA UK Student Chapter in Celebrating Banned Books Week
Thursday, October 4, 4:30-6:30 PM
McConnell Center -- 504A King Library South, inside the CAIT Lab

Read from and discuss your favorite banned books and hear how libraries and librarians address challenges to books in their collections. The event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

Three members of the law library's staff were recognized at UofL's 2007 Staff Recognition Years of Service Award luncheon last Friday, September 21. Many thanks to Miriam Schusler-Williams (30 years), Nancy Baker (10 years), and Janissa Moore (10 years).

See: http://louisville.edu/hr/news_item.2007-07-30.0798971034 for a complete list of honorees.

 

The KLA/KSMA Annual Joint Conference is being held in Louisville, KY on September 19-22, 2007. Virginia Smith is co-presenting a round table session, University of Louisville's Digital Collections: Connecting Communities and Collections, with Rachel Howard and Weiling Liu of Ekstrom Library, where she will discuss the law library's plans for a Kentucky Legal History Collection.

For more information about the conference, visit: http://www.kylibasn.org

Last year our Brandeis School of Law AIDS Walk team did an amazing job of raising money and standing out in the community.   Let's do it again!!  This year the Louisville AIDS Walk is on Sunday, Sept. 30.  A special guest will be John Yarmuth.  Please register and join our team (Brandeis School of Law) by going to louisvilleaidswalk.org and "join an existing team."  Start collecting donations from anyone you think would like to give.  Also, be on the lookout for the next few weeks if you would like to donate at our table in the lobby.  If you have any questions, contact Candace Kenyon at cckeny01@louisville.edu.

Jim Chen, Will Hilyerd, and Virginia Smith each published short articles in the July 2007 edition of the Bench & Bar. That issue was dedicated to Legal Education.  "Serving all Kentuckians: Making Legal Education Available to our Rural and Minority Communities" by Dean James M. Chen, Dean Dennis R. Honabach and Dean Allan W. Vestal.  "Legal Education and the Building of a Better Commonwealth" by Dean James M. Chen.  "IT and Legal Education" by Will Hilyerd, Thomas Hughes, Michael Losavio, and Virginia M. Smith.
 
Susan Kosse was recently reappointed to the Commission on the Status of Women by President Ramsey.  She also was elected vice-chair for the next two years.

David Leibson put on a program for Dr. Jeff Callen, Head of Dermatology at the U of L Med School, some residents and med students which would introduce them to some of the basic concepts of tort law.  He prepared problems dealing with duty in general, informed consent, medical battery, duty to warn or help, etc.
 
Grace Giesel took part in a CLE presentation sponsored by the LBA Solo/Small Firm Practice Section.  She presented "Professional Responsibility Issues for Small Firm Practice."
 
Jim Jones' review of Professor Elyn R. Saks's book "The Center Cannot Hold:  My Journey Through Madness,"  appeared on page A9 of the September 15 Courier-Journal.

Preliminary rounds of the Pirtle-Washer Moot Court competition are the morning of September 29 at the Hall of Justice and the semi-final and final rounds are on October 5 in the Allen Courtroom.  First-year students can serve as bailiffs on September 29 and thus see the same type of oral arguments they will be doing next spring in Basic Legal Skills.

The Washer Lounge has a mini-library of recreational books funded by the late Judge Ben Washer. New books have been added today. All books are checked out on the honor system--just fill out the card in the back of the book and leave it in the box on the shelves.

As Tom Hanks pointed out, "There's no crying in baseball." The "Rookies" 1L team managed to pull out a slim 19-11 victory over the Veterans last Saturday at Churchill Park before a near-sellout crowd of faculty, staff, significant others, two Dachshunds, a Boxer, and a Border Collie. The Veterans succumbed to their more youthful opponents despite near-error-free fielding and the help of a "ringer" Chris Thompson, son of Registrar Barbara Thompson. Watch the Daily Docket for news of future softball and other sporting events.

NAMI ( National Association for the Mentally Ill) walk will be held this Sunday (September 9) at the Waterfront Park at 2 p.m.  If you are interested in being apart of city wide action for the mentally ill and their families- please join us.  If any of you as law students have a family member that struggles with a mental illness- then you understand the need for support and change in society regarding these issues.  NAMI provides education and advocacy on these issues! We also would like to start networking with law students or professors who are interested in these issues.  Please contact Rebekah Cotton (1L) at rjhick01@louisville.edu or Carol Hicks at carolhicks@fmgmail.com for more information.  We care! We understand! Come and walk with us!!