Staff News
Photo Gallery: Brandeis Birthday Bash
Posted November 13th, 2008 by Virginia MattinglyJustice Louis D. Brandeis's 152nd Birthday
November 13, 2008
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| Professors Metzmeier, Rothstein, and Campbell |
Bas-relief image of Aldoph Brandeis, Louis's father |
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| Professor Scott Campbell awards the winners with Animal Crackers, a favorite of Justice Brandeis. | Students engaged in a pop quiz about the life of Justice Brandeis. |
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| Professor Kurt Metzmeier displaying an illustration from a Harper's Weekly article that made up "Other People's Money". | Wreath placed at the grave markers of Louis D. Brandeis and his wife, Alice Goldmark. |
Law Library Launches Its Digital Collection
Posted November 11th, 2008 by Virginia MattinglyThe first titles of the Law Library Collection to be made available are William Littell's Statute Law of Kentucky, which compiles all the legal enactments relating to Kentucky from its beginning as a district of Virginia to 1819, and Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention for the Revision of the Constitution of the State of Kentucky (1849), a rare transcript of the debates of the convention that drafted Kentucky's third constitution.
Other upcoming collections will reproduce the original plates of H. Levin's Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky (1897), and will digitize the early class composites of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, starting with prints from the 1890s. In the future, the Law Library digital collection will dip into the institution's archival collections, reproducing scrapbooks kept by Malvina Harlan that document the life and times of Justice John Marshall Harlan.
See the press release for the full story.
National Moot Court Team Results
Posted November 10th, 2008 by Virginia Mattingly“One of our teams, composed of third-year student Steve Mattingly and second-year Brian Stempien, were recognized for writing the Best Brief in the tournament. This was the second time in the last three years that one of our teams has won this award. Writing the best brief of the 21 teams in the competition positioned Steve and Brian to then win both of their preliminary rounds on Friday (beating teams from George Mason and William & Mary), and advance into the quarterfinal round on Saturday morning.
There, they defeated the defending regional champions from Campbell University, to advance to the semi-finals where they faced a team from Duke. In an extremely close and high-quality round, they were knocked out by a slim two-point margin. Overall, it was the most successful performance by any U of L team in the history of the competition.
We were also very well-represented by a team made up entirely of second-year students, Barry Dunn and Duffy Trager. They went 1-1 on Friday, including a win over a team from Wake Forest, and just missed out on a tie-breaker from advancing to the quarterfinals.
It was a great performance, and I was extremely proud of the way all four of them represented the law school.”
SUMMER 2009 SCHEDULE
Posted October 27th, 2008 by Barbara A. ThompsonSummer 2009 schedule is attached.
Community Building through Community Engagement
Posted October 23rd, 2008 by Virginia MattinglyStudents in the Central High School Partnership program, with the assistance of Professor Tony Arnold and UofL law students, presented a report on the revitalization of the Parkland Neighborhood to Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville. The report, which includes ideas and information about the community’s conditions, is the result of a year long program that educated the students in land use, environmental justice, and public health equity. The program was supported by a grant from the Louisville Metro Center for Health Equity.

Congressional Candidates Visit Law School
Posted October 21st, 2008 by Virginia MattinglyCandidates for Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District of the US House of Representatives visited the law school this week. Congressman John Yarmuth spoke on October 20th at the request of the Jewish Law Students Association. Former Congresswoman Anne Northup spoke the following day at the request of the student Federalist Society. Both candidates entertained questions from students, staff, and faculty after their presentations.
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| Aaron Uslan and John Yarmuth | Shem Beard, Anne Northup, and Bee Dean-Northup |
Ford Wins Pirtle-Washer Oral Advocacy Competition
Posted October 17th, 2008 by Virginia Mattingly![]() |
Congratulations to Algeria Ford, winner of the 2008 Pirtle-Washer Oral Advocacy Competition!
Appellant, Jason Schwalm, and Appellee, Algeria Ford, advanced from the first semifinal rounds to compete in the final round. The judges commended them both for an excellent performance. |
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| Jason Schwalm and Samuel Lee | Jarrad Roby and Algeria Ford |
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| Final Round of Arguments | |
Pirtle-Washer 2008 Semifinalists
Posted October 14th, 2008 by Virginia MattinglyThe Moot Court Board is pleased to announce that the semi-finalists for the 2008 Pirtle-Washer Oral Advocacy Competition are Algeria Ford, Samuel Lee, Jarrad Roby, and Jason Schwalm.
The semifinal and final rounds will be held on Friday, October 17th in the Allen Courtroom. All are welcome.
Here’s the schedule:
9 AM, Semifinal Round
- Appellant: Jason Schwalm
- Appellee: Samuel Lee
10:30 AM, Semifinal Round
- Appellant: Jarrad Roby
- Appellee: Algeria Ford
Algeria Ford is a second year student who ultimately intends to practice patent law. He studied Biology and Chemistry as an undergraduate and holds a Masters degree in Biotechnology. He serves on the Journal of Law and Education, is a member of BLSA and will be representing the University as a member of the 2009 National Environmental Moot Court team. He credits his accomplishments to his wonderful wife and to his friends.
Samuel B. Lee, a third year law student, was born and raised in Owensboro, KY. He attended the University of Kentucky where he earned a degree in Finance as well as a minor in Economics. After graduation, Mr. Lee plans to practice in Lexington.
Jarrad Roby, a third year student, hails from Bloomfield, KY and attended Bellarmine University where he studied Business Administration and Economics. While at Bellarmine, Jarrad competed on its prestigious Mock Trial team earning All-American Attorney honors. Jarrad also helped to lead the Brandeis School of Law to a championship in last years Intrastate Moot Court competition. He is currently working for General Electric and clerked for the Governor's General Counsel last summer in Frankfort. He will attempt to participate on this year's Trademark Moot Court team as well and is looking forward to competing in the Spring.
Jason Schwalm is a third year student and Louisville native. His undergraduate degree is in literature from the University of Louisville.
Presiding Judges
Each semifinal round will be judged by the following three judge panel:
- Judge Michael Caperton - Kentucky Court of Appeals
- Judge Denise Clayton - Kentucky Court of Appeals
- Judge Thomas B. Wine - Kentucky Court of Appeals
The winners of each of these rounds will continue to the final round at 1 PM. This round will be judged by the following four judge panel:
- Judge Glenn Acree - Kentucky Court of Appeals
- Judge Michelle M. Keller - Kentucky Court of Appeals
- Judge Joan A. Lloyd - United States Bankruptcy Court
- Professor Samuel A. Marcosson - University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law
Chili Cook-Off Raises Big Bucks for UofL Cares
Posted October 13th, 2008 by Virginia Mattingly|
Over $450 was raised at this year's Chili Cook-off, an event designed to celebrate the start of the 2008 UofL Cares Charitable Giving Campaign. The charities include Kosair Charities, Community Health Charities, United Way, Fund for the Arts, University of Louisville, and the WHAS Crusade for Children. Kudos to Jim Becker for providing the winning dish, Melinda Becker's Deer Chili (aka "Aunt Sarah's Moose Chili"). Many thanks to everyone who either purchased a ticket, provided a tasty sweet or savory dish, and/or helped with the set up and clean up. It would not have been such a success with out you. |
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Welcome John Shelman
Posted October 13th, 2008 by James A. BeckerThe IT department welcomes John Shelman, a Computer Information Systems major in the College of Business, who joined us Friday, October 10. John will replace Josh Edlin as the primary student computing support person. Josh remains with us and will take over network maintenance from Mike Valentine, who accepted a full-time position with Smoothstone IP Communications last month.
John will share room 119 with Joe Leitsch, and John's schedule this semester is as follows:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 8:00-9:00 AM 12:30-3:30 PM |
8:00-10:30 AM 4:00-5:00 PM |
8:00-9:00 AM 12:30-3:30 PM |
8:00-10:30 AM 4:00-5:00 PM |
12:30-4:30 PM |
Welcome, John!













