Greta Van Susteren will be Georgetown Law's 2013 Commencement Speaker

Photo courtesy of Wikimeda CommonsThis year’s Georgetown Law Commencement Speaker is alumna and former Law Center professor Greta Van Susteren (L’79, LL.M. ‘82), according to an announcement published April 30, 2:19 p.m., on Van Susteren’s website. Van Susteren is known for her current role as a Fox News personality.

An excerpt from Van Susteren’s announcment is included below:

“Georgetown Law Center has invited me to be their 2013 Commencement speaker as well as the  recipient of an Honorary Degree (I have two law degrees from Georgetown — JD and LLM…but the Honorary degree is particularly fun!)  

So how long did it take for me to make up my mind  and accept?  oh…maybe 1 second (or even a 1/2 second?)  It is my alma mater and that’s always particularly fun. 

I loved Georgetown.  I had so much fun going to law school at G’town and it has shaped my career in so many ways.   I also spent years as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown — until the students got just too smart for me and I could not keep up with them.  

Yes, going to Georgetown was one of those ‘game changers’ in life.”  

Neither Georgetown University nor Georgetown Law administration has publicly confirmed Van Susteren’s status as Commencement Speaker or status as honorary degree recipient. As of May 1, 2013, the Office of Dean of Students and Dean’s Office have both declined to comment. The Georgetown Law Office of Student Life (OSL) also declined to comment, except to note that OSL “does not have a hand in choosing the [Commencement] speaker.”

In a blog post on May 1, Van Susteren noted: “[N]ow I just have to write a good speech! That feels like being back in school!”

Van Susteren currently hosts “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” airing weeknights at 10pm ET on Fox News Channel. Last year, Forbes Magazine ranked Van Susteren #94 on their annual “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” list.

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Georgetown victorious in space law competition

by Zachary Garthe, 3L

Georgetown Law students won the competition for the first time in five years. Photo courtesy of Zachary Garthe.Saturday, March 23, Georgetown University Law Center students Adam Wesolowski (L’13) and Amanda Krause (L’14), made Georgetown Law history. Agent Wesolowski and Agent Krause (as they were referred to during the competition) emerged victorious at Georgetown Law’s signature moot court competition, the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. 

In addition to winning the competition, Agent Krause won the award for Best Oralist, and Agents Wesolowski and Krause together won the award for Best Briefs. 

The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition is organized globally by the International Institute of Space Law, named for former Chief Judge of the International Court of Justice, Manfred Lachs. Georgetown Law has hosted the competition since its inception in 1992. The competition was the largest it has ever been this year, including a total of 17 schools in the North American Regional tournament.  

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Law Center students sweep softball tournament

by Michael CourtAll three of Georgetown Law’s softball teams made it to to the playoffs. Photo courtesy of Kukui Claydon., 3L

On a gorgeous weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Georgetown Law Softball Club participated in the 30th UVA Law Softball Invitational. The tournament attracted over 40 law schools and over 100 teams, with some law schools traveling as far away as Michigan to compete for the title and bragging rights. In keeping with tradition, the majority of the proceeds from the event were donated to the Children, Youth and Family Services, Inc. of Charlottesville (CYFS). It is expected that the tournament will donate in excess of $20,000 to charity.

 As with most events involving law students, “networking” was the main activity for the weekend and softball a distant second. The schedule included a barbeque on Saturday afternoon as well as two nights sponsored by UVA at local bars. 

However, socializing was not reserved for the bars. Most teams brought the party to the playing field with cheering sections and music. Amid all the revelry it is hard to believe that competitive games of softball were actually played.

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Westlaw to discontinue free printing services

by Andrew Russell, LL.M.Free printing from the Westlaw printers in the Wolff and Williams libraries will no longer be available next academic year. Photo courtesy of Andrew Russell.

Thompson Reuters Westlaw has terminated its printing services effective June 30th, 2013. Westlaw confirmed a March 12th Campus Broadcast email informing students of the cancellation. Rumors of the cancellation of the printing services in law schools have been bubbling under the surface on the internet since May 2012.

While law schools will continue to have access to the Westlaw database, the printing of documents will need to be funded by the students themselves. Westlaw provided three reasons for its termination of the longstanding printer support to law schools across the U.S. Primarily, Westlaw believes that legal practitioners’ “workflow habits” no longer rely on the printing printing legal research. Unfortunately no statistics to support this position were cited by Westlaw.

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Mock Trial team takes home national title

by Rob Silverblatt, 3L3Ls Lars Hulsebus and Amanda Tuminelli led the Law Center to it’s first ever title at the prestigious Chicago-based mock trial tournament. Photo courtesy of Rob Silverblatt.

Two Law Center students beat out 27 other top-rated mock trial teams from around the country en route to winning a national championship. 

Lars Hulsebus and Amanda Tuminelli, both 3Ls, won six consecutive trials over three days at the National Trial Competition (NTC) to bring home the trophy — as well as the accompanying $10,000 prize — and give the Law Center its first-ever title at the tournament. 

Separately, Hulsebus won the award for the best individual advocate at the tournament. 

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EJF Auction continues to support Law Center’s public interest mission

 Dean Bailin and Professor Zeiler were among the faculty emcees for the event. Photo courtesy of Chris Mattox.

On Thursday, April 4, 2013, Georgetown Law’s Equal Justice Foundation hosted their annual Live Auction to raise money to support 1Ls and 2Ls that will be working in non-profit positions this summer. When EJF was first established in 1982, it provided fellowships for three students to do public interest work over the summer. 

Since then, the program has experienced tremendous growth and sponsored 435 students last summer. The foundation hopes to top that by supporting more than 500 students this summer, according to Caitlin Cocilova, 1L, this year’s Auction Chair and current EJF board member, during the event’s opening remarks. 

The proceeds from the auction go toward supporting students to work in public interests jobs over the summer, including government positions, judicial internships, and non-profit work both domestically and abroad. 

The event had two components: a silent and a live auction. Throughout the week, students have been able to bid on items through the Silent Auction. Silent auction items included goods donated from local stores, gift certificates to restaurants, and services or treats offered by other students. 

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