Walter F. George School of Law

Walter F. George School of Law
Walter F. George School of Law, on Coleman Hill overlooking downtown Macon

The Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University, founded in 1873, is one of the oldest law schools in the United States and is the second oldest of Mercer's eleven colleges and schools. The School of Law, with approximately 420 students, is located in Macon, Georgia on its own campus one mile (1.6 km) from Mercer's main campus. The law school building, one of Macon's most recognizable sites, is a three-story partial replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and is located on Coleman Hill overlooking downtown Macon.

Contents

Dean of the School

In May 2010, Mercer University president William D. Underwood announced Gary J. Simson, former dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, as the new dean of the Walter F. George School of Law effective July 1, 2010.[1] Simson is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School.[2]

Walter F. George

Walter F. George, the namesake of Mercer Law School.

The School of Law is named for Walter F. George, a distinguished Mercer Law alumnus, class of 1901, who served as United States Senator from Georgia from 1922 to 1957 and as President pro tempore from 1955 to 1957. Before election to the Senate, he served as a Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals in 1917 and as a Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court from 1917 to 1922. Mercer named its law school the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University in 1947. Fred M. Vinson, Chief Justice of the United States, participated in the naming ceremony.

The Walter F. George Foundation, created when the school was named, continues to fund scholarships for Mercer law students who have a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in public service. Walter F. George Foundation Public Service Scholarships cover full tuition for three years of law school along with community service grants for first-year and second-year summer public service internships.

Accreditation and rankings

The School of Law has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1923 and has been fully accredited by the American Bar Association since 1925.[3]

In the 2010 edition of its law school rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranks Mercer in Tier 3 with schools ranked 101 through 137 of the nation's 184 accredited law schools.[4] The same edition ranks Mercer's legal writing program first in the nation.[5] The legal writing program has been ranked first or second since US News & World Report began the speciality ranking in 2006.[6] The program was ranked first in 2006 (tied with one other school), second in 2007, and first in 2008 and 2009.[7]

The Princeton Review includes Mercer in its "Best 174 Law Schools: 2010 Edition" and has ranked the faculty among the top ten in nation on its list "Professors Rock (Legally Speaking)".[8][9][10] The ranking is based on responses to student surveys on two ratings: the quality of teaching and accessibility of faculty.

In March 2008, National Jurist, a publication for prospective law students, ranked Mercer 41st among the top 50 schools "Where Public Interest Lawyers Go to Law School".[11] In other National Jurist rankings, in January 2005, Mercer was ranked eleventh out of almost 200 law schools for its successful and innovative use of technology.[12] The technology ranking was based in part on Mercer's laptop program, which provides every incoming student with a laptop computer and that has been used as a model for other law schools around the country.

In October 2008, preLaw Magazine ranked Mercer sixth among the Best Public Interest Law Schools.[13][14] The rating is based on information reported in the E-Guide to Public Interest Law Schools, including student involvement, curriculum and financial factors.

Statistics

George W. Woodruff, the namesake of Mercer's Woodruff Curriculum. The curriculum is viewed as a model for other law schools and has been honored with the prestigious Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association.

The School of Law enrolls approximately 420 students and has a faculty of 34 full-time professors and 33 adjunct professors. The school awards the Juris Doctor and a joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration in conjunction with Mercer's Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics. The school publishes the Mercer Law Review, the oldest law review in Georgia, and the Journal of Southern Legal History.

The School of Law's model curriculum, the Woodruff Curriculum, named for philanthropist George W. Woodruff, is viewed as a model for law schools across the United States. The curriculum, based on small classes and a practice oriented approach, focuses on legal ethics, professional responsibility, and legal writing and has been honored with the prestigious Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association.[3][15]

The School of Law houses the Mercer Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, established in 2000 and dedicated to fostering and teaching ethics and professionalism in the practice of law, and the National Criminal Defense College, a not-for-profit organization established in 1985 and devoted to improved trial advocacy and trial practice.

The School of Law also houses the Legal Writing Institute, the world's largest organization devoted to improved legal writing.[16] The Institute's 1,800 members represent attorneys, judges, and legal writing professors in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The School of Law has one of the largest law school endowments, valued at more than $90 million, in the United States.[17] The endowment was the sixteenth largest in 2000 with the eleventh largest per-student value, over $220,000, and the fourth largest per-student value when adjusted for cost for living, almost $500,000.[18] The endowment, funded in 1947 with $1 million from the friends of Walter F. George when the school was named in his honor, has grown remarkably since a $15 million bequest in 1987 from George W. Woodruff. Income from the endowment allows the school to maintain its low student-faculty ratio (12:1) and funds the student financial aid program.[3]

Law Library

The Furman Smith Law Library, named to honor a distinguished alumnus, is the school's center of legal research. A premier facility, the library is used by lawyers and judges from across the state and recognized for its superior resources and service. The library occupies over 30,000 square feet (3,000 m2) in a central location on the second and third floors of the law school building. Large windows in the library provide students with views of historic Macon from the law building's location on Coleman Hill. The Furman Smith Law Library contains more than 310,000 volumes dealing with domestic and international law, including 3300 serial titles and a growing number of electronic titles.

Mercer Law Review

The Mercer Law Review is edited and published by the students of the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University. Mercer Law Review was founded in 1949 and is the oldest continually published law review in Georgia.

According to the 2001-2008 Washington and Lee University School of Law rankings of 198 general-content legal journals printed in the United States, the Mercer Law Review ranked in the top one-third in the nation for citations in judicial opinions.[19]

Alumni

Notable Mercer Law alumni are listed below. Alumni without dates of service (e.g., 1900-1901) are presently serving in the positions indicated.

Judiciary -- Federal Courts and State Appellate Courts

Griffin B. Bell served as the Attorney General of the United States from 1977-1979. He graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law in 1948.
  • A. Harris Adams - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals
  • Griffin B. Bell - Federal Appeals Court Judge, 1962-1976; 72nd Attorney General of the United States, 1977-1979
  • Reason C. Bell - Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1943-1946; Associate Justice, 1932-1943 and 1946-1949; Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1922-1932
  • William Augustus Bootle - Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1954-1981; ordered admission of the first African-American to the University of Georgia
  • G. Harrold Carswell - Federal Appeals Court Judge, 1969-1970; unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court, 1970
  • Abraham Benjamin Conger - Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1949-1953
  • Bascom Sine Deaver - Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1928-1944
  • Sara L. Doyle - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals
  • Walter Homer Drake - Bankruptcy Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia; Chairman, Mercer University Board of Trustees, 2008-2010
  • Homer C. Eberhardt - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1961-1974
  • Jule Wimberly Felton - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1937-1969; Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1954-1969; Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1969-1971
  • Hardy Gregory - Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1981-1989
The William Augustus Bootle Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Macon. Judge Bootle earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer in 1924 and his law degree in 1925. In his most famous case, he ordered the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961.
  • John B. Guerry - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1933-1940
  • Albert John Henderson - Federal Appeals Court Judge, 1979-1999; Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1968-1979
  • Robert F. Hershner - Chief Bankruptcy Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
  • Claude W. Hicks, Jr. - Federal Magistrate Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1983-2010
  • William Leroy McMurray - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1976-2000
  • M. Yvette Miller - Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; the first African-American woman to serve on the court
  • Richard Henry Mills - Judge, Federal District Court for the Central District of Illinois
  • Carlton Mobley - Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1972-1974; Associate Justice, 1954-1972
  • David M. Parker - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1944-1949
  • Willie Louis Sands - Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia; the first African-American to serve on the court
  • Hugh Thompson - Georgia Supreme Court Justice
  • Julian Webb - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1974-1979
  • Charles W. Worrill - Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1949-1953; Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1953-1954

Politics

Carl Vinson served as a United States Representative from Georgia from 1914-1965, the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the House of Representatives. He earned his law degree from Mercer in 1902 and is the namesake of the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Arts, media, and non-government public service

L. Lin Wood is a high profile attorney who has represented Richard Jewell, the parents of JonBenét Ramsey, Gary Condit, Kobe Bryant, and Herman Cain. He earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer in 1974 and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law in 1977.
  • Charles R. Adams III - adjunct law professor; author of Georgia Law of Torts
  • Glen Ashman - author of the Georgia Municipal Court Judges Benchbook
  • Steve Berry - author of six novels including several New York Times bestsellers
  • Brainerd Currie - law professor; noted conflict of laws scholar who developed the characterisation concept of governmental interest analysis
  • Deryl Dantzler - law professor; Dean of the National Criminal Defense College; recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  • Gerald M. Edenfield - President, State Bar of Georgia, 2007-2008
  • Nancy Grace - anchor for Court TV, legal commentator, and host of Nancy Grace on the Headline News television network
  • Frank C. Jones - President, State Bar of Georgia, 1969-1970
  • Rudolph N. Patterson - President, State Bar of Georgia, 1999-2000
  • James C. Rehberg - law professor; recognized as an expert in Georgia real estate law
  • Jay Sekulow - Chief Counsel, American Center for Law and Justice
  • Evett L. Simmons - President, National Bar Association, 2000-2001
  • Neil Skene - career journalist; President and Publisher, Congressional Quarterly, 1990-1997
  • Kent W. Spence - noted trial attorney; son and law firm partner of noted trial attorney Gerry Spence
  • Robert L. Steed - senior partner, King & Spalding; noted author and humorist
  • L. Lin Wood - high profile trial attorney; has represented Richard Jewell, the parents of JonBenét Ramsey, Gary Condit, Kobe Bryant, and Herman Cain

Recent events involving faculty and alumni

Nathan Deal was inaugurated as Governor of Georgia in 2011. He earned his undergraduate degree from Mercer in 1964 and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law in 1966.
  • Nathan Deal, Class of 1966, was elected Governor of Georgia in 2010. Deal and John Oxendine, Class of 1987, Georgia Insurance Commissioner, were both Republican candidates in the 2010 gubernatorial election, with Deal advancing to a runoff for the Republican nomination. Deal won the party runoff and then the general election.
  • Professor Jim Marshall, a long-time faculty member, was defeated for re-election in 2010; he was seeking a fifth term in the United States House of Representatives representing Georgia's 8th Congressional district.
  • A. Harris Adams, Class of 1971, was re-elected in 2010 to the Georgia Court of Appeals. M. Yvette Miller, Class of 1980, and Sara L. Doyle, Class of 1994, are the other Mercer Law graduates on the court.
  • M. Yvette Miller, Class of 1980, the first African-American woman to serve on the Georgia Court of Appeals, became the court's Chief Judge in January 2009.[22][23]
  • Michael J. Moore, Class of 1993, was nominated in 2009 by President Barack Obama to be United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. He replaced G. F. Peterman, Class of 1976, who was the United States Attorney (acting).
  • Marc T. Treadwell, Class of 1981, was nominated in 2010 by President Barack Obama to be a Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.[24]
  • Thomas P. Bishop, Class of 1985, was elected in 2010 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce as the Chair of its Law and Judiciary Policy Committee.[25] Bishop is the General Counsel of Georgia Power, the largest electric utility in Georgia.[26]
  • Erick Erickson, Class of 2000, became a CNN political contributor in 2010 for John King, USA.
  • Brad Bryant, Class of 1979, was appointed Superintendent of the Georgia public schools in 2010 by Governor Sonny Perdue.[27] The position is one of Georgia's eight statewide executive offices.

References

  1. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2010/100526Law.htm
  2. ^ http://www.law.mercer.edu/faculty/bio.cfm?staffid=626
  3. ^ a b c http://www.martindale.com/xp/legal/Professional_Resources/Law_Schools/schl4690.xml
  4. ^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/rankings/c_final_tier+3
  5. ^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/legal-writing
  6. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2008/080401legal.htm
  7. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2008/080401legal.htm
  8. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2009/091009Rankings.htm
  9. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2007/071011lawranking.htm
  10. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2007/071011lawranking.htm
  11. ^ http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/nationaljurist0308/index.php
  12. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2005/050224law.htm
  13. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2008/081028law.htm,
  14. ^ http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/prelaw-fall-08/#/28
  15. ^ http://www.abanet.org/cpr/awards/prevwinners.html
  16. ^ http://www2.mercer.edu/News/Articles/2009/090213Law.htm
  17. ^ http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2006/09/top_20_law_scho.html
  18. ^ http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2006/09/top_20_law_scho.html
  19. ^ [1] http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx, sort for United States, Printed, General-Content, and Courts.
  20. ^ http://www.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,78006749_90418792_91677349,00.html
  21. ^ http://law.mercer.edu/news/article/governor-deal-names-mercer-law-alumnus-deron-hicks-state-inspector-general
  22. ^ http://www.gaappeals.us/biography/bio_judges.php?jname=M.%20Yvette%20Miller
  23. ^ http://www.macon.com/198/story/520251.html
  24. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-nominates-four-serve-united-states-district-court-bench
  25. ^ http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/01/11/daily15.html
  26. ^ http://www.georgiapower.com/about/pdf/Bio_bishop.pdf
  27. ^ http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/sup.aspx

External links

Coordinates: 32°50′30.27″N 83°38′06.26″W / 32.8417417°N 83.6350722°W / 32.8417417; -83.6350722


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