AALS Announces 2024 Section Award Winners

Press Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
[email protected]
(202) 296-1593

Washington, D.C. (December 18, 2023) – The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) is proud to announce the winners of its 2024 section awards.

The awards are hosted by several of the association’s 107 sections that are organized around various academic disciplines and topics of interest. This year’s winners will be acknowledged during an awards ceremony at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting on January 4. 

“AALS sections are dynamic academic communities and important facilitators of our mission of advancing excellence in legal education,” said AALS President Mark C. Alexander, Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. “I am pleased to announce the following individuals who have been recognized by their sections for exceptional achievement in legal scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and service.” 

The 2024 AALS section award winners are: 

Section on Academic Support Impact Award
Ashley London, Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University

Section on Academic Support Legacy Award
Russell McClain, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Section on Administrative Law Emerging Scholar Award
Todd Phillips, Georgia State University Robinson College of Business

Section on Aging and the Law Lifetime Achievement Award
Lawrence Frolik, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Section on Aging and the Law Emerging Scholar Award
Genevieve Mann, Gonzaga University School of Law

Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution New Voices in Dispute Resolution Award
Henry Wang, Florida State University College of Law
Ashley Votruba, University of Nebraska Department of Psychology

Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution Best Scholarly Article
Leslie Bellwood, Anthony Ostlund Law Firm
Mitchell Zamoff, University of Minnesota Law School

Section on Animal Law Excellence in Animal Law-Scholarship-Teaching-Service
Steven Wise, Nonhuman Rights Project

Section on Antitrust and Economic Regulation Lifetime Achievement Award
Harry First, New York University School of Law
William Kovacic, The George Washington University Law School

Section on Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education Annual Award
Marjorie Silver, Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center

Section on Civil Procedure Junior Scholarship Award
Luke P. Norris, University of Richmond School of Law
Honorable Mentions: Seth Endo, Seattle University School of Law and Monica Haymond, Harvard Law School

Section on Communication, Media, and Information Law Career Achievement Award
David Anderson, University of Texas School of Law

Section on Comparative Law Mark Tushnet Prize
Rose Rameau, Georgia State University College of Law

Section on Criminal Law Junior Scholars Paper Competition
Anna VanCleave, University of Connecticut School of Law
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Harawa, New York University School of Law and Renagh O’Leary, University of Wisconsin Law School

Section on Election Law John Hart Ely Prize in the Law of Democracy
Richard H. Pildes, New York University School of Law

Section on Empirical Study of Legal Education and the Legal Profession Judith Welch Wegner Award
Deborah Jones Merritt, The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law

Section on Evidence John Henry Wigmore Lifetime Achievement Award
Paul Rothstein, Georgetown University Law Center

Section on Family and Juvenile Law Achievement Award
Dorothy Roberts, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Section on Federal Courts Daniel J. Meltzer Award
Vicki Jackson, Harvard Law School
Judith Resnik, Yale Law School

Section on Federal Courts Best Untenured Article Award
Payvand Ahdout, University of Virginia School of Law
Honorable Mention: Matthew Shapiro, Rutgers Law School

Section on International Human Rights Nelson Mandela Award
Dinah Shelton, The George Washington University Law School

Section on International Law New Scholar’s Award
Melissa Stewart, University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law

Section on Jurisprudence Hart-Dworkin Award
Benjamin Zipursky, Fordham University School of Law
John Goldberg, Harvard Law School

Section on Jurisprudence Article Award
Courtney Cox, Fordham University School of Law

Section on Jurisprudence Future Promise Award
Steven Schaus, The University of Michigan Law School

Section on Law and Religion Harold Berman Award for Excellence in Scholarship
Xiao Wang, University of Virginia School of Law

Section on Law and South Asian Studies Award
Deepa Das Acevedo, Emory University School of Law

Section on Law and Sports Award,
Dionne Koller, University of Baltimore School of Law

Section on Law Libraries and Legal Information Award
Janet Sinder, Brooklyn Law School

Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care Distinguished Community Service Award
Lindsay Wiley, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies Chai Feldblum Award
Robyn Powell, University of Oklahoma College of Law

Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research Section Award
Sue Liemer, Elon University School of Law

Section on Litigation Practitioner Award
Kathryn Fort, Michigan State University College of Law

Section on Litigation Scholar Award
Donna Shestowsky, University of California, Davis School of Law
Scott Dodson, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

Section on Minority Groups C. Clyde Ferguson, Jr. Award
Frank Cooper, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law

Section on Minority Groups Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award
Ngozi Okidegbe, Boston University School of Law

Section on Minority Groups Impact Legacy Award
Penelope Andrews, New York Law School

Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School Excellence in Pre-Law Advising Award
Lauri La Pointe, University of California, Berkeley

Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School Programmatic/Organizational Changemaker Award
Suffolk Law School Pre-Law Achievers Network

Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School Unsung Hero Award
Gayla Jacobson, City University of New York School of Law

Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School Up-and-Comer Award
Danielle Saavedra, Texas Tech University School of Law

Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice Award
Becki T. Kondkar, Tulane Law School

Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice Emerging Leader Award
Darcy Meals, Georgia State College of Law

Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice Lifetime Achievement Award
Catherine Greene Burnett, South Texas College of Law Houston

Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues LGBTQ+ Individual Inclusive Excellence Award
Libby Adler, Northeastern University School of Law

Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues LGBTQ+ Institutional Inclusive Excellence Award
Stetson University College of Law

Section on Student Services Peter N. Kutulakis Award
Nancy Benavides, Florida State University College of Law

Section on Taxation Lifetime Achievement Award
J. Clifton Fleming, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School
Patricia Cain, Santa Clara University School of Law

Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education Section Award
Daniel Linna Jr., Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education Inaugural Technology & Ethics Award
Jessica de Perio Wittman, University of Connecticut School of Law
Kathleen Brown, Charleston School of Law

Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education Technology Mentorship Award
Dennis Kennedy, Michigan State University College of Law
Kirsten Davis, Stetson University College of Law

Section on Torts and Compensation Systems William L. Prosser Award
Kenneth S. Abraham, University of Virginia School of Law

Section on Women in Legal Education Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award
Martha Minow, Harvard Law School

About the AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 176 member and 18 fee-paid law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve its many communities—local, national and international.