Culminating years of hard work, graduating American University Washington College of Law students gathered with their families to receive awards commemorating extraordinary academic achievement.

Dean Roger A. Fairfax Jr. and Senior Associate Dean Heather Hughes presented more than 25 awards to students, each one a reflection of the student’s outstanding achievement and contributions during their time at AUWCL.

From showcasing a high level of skill and ethical standards in clinical practice to outstanding performance in trial advocacy, these students exemplified the highest standards that WCL has to offer.

The Mooers Trophy is presented to an outstanding student in Trial Advocacy: Kevin Botros

The Anthony Morella Professionalism Award is presented to a student who displays the highest standard of professionalism and ethics in the Trial Advocacy Program: Carol Marand

The International Legal Studies Program Outstanding Graduate Award for the LLM for high academic merit and appreciable involvement with a student group is presented to: Maria Juliana Pedraza

The International Legal Studies Program Outstanding Research and Writing Award (LLM) for a graduate who has demonstrated outstanding ability and research and writing is presented to: Silvia D’Acci

The Dean’s Award for Professional Responsibility Award is given to students who display a high proficiency in skills as well as high ethical standards in clinical practice: Cameron Azimi, Katie Casado, Mariana Llanos, Pascale Steverlynck, Kayla Wyatt

The Clinical Legal Education Association Student of the Year Award: Ashley Blankenship, Mehraz Rahman

The Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Externship Student Award: Andrew Gamble

The Journal of Gender, Social Policy & and the Law Award for their article “The Supreme Court’s Important Turn: Revisiting San Antonio v. Rodriguez in a New Era of Stare Decisis Jurisprudence:” Catherine Blalock

The Human Rights Brief Award: Andre Taylor

The Professor Andrew E. Taslitz Award for outstanding student performance in criminal justice: Crystal Nieves Murphy

The Corinne Parver Health Law Award: Kimi Khatibi, Priya Khetarpal

The Clair A. Cripe Award for outstanding student performance in correctional law: Imogen Francis, Madison Gestiehr

The Pro Bono Excellence Award for the student who contributed the most hours to pro bono services: Madison Gestiehr

The Administrative Law Review Award for their article “French-Tipped Formaldehyde: Why FDA’s Statutory Framework Enables Toxic Chemical Exposures in Manicure Products: How Rulemaking or Congressional Action Can Curb its Determinant Effect on Occupational Health”: Anh-Thi Le

The Business Law Review Award for their article “Clothes Captioning: The Demand for A Sustainable Fashion Industry and the European Union’s Push for Digital Product Passports”: Grace Baer

The International Law Review Award for their article “Stars, Stripes, and Surveillance: The United States’ Failure to Regulate Data Privacy”: Samantha Begland

The Laura E. Turley Prize, for their article in the AU Law Review, “Restraining the Heartless: Erosion of Corporate Liability under the Alien Tort Statute and the Path Forward for Victims Seeking Redress”: Alexa Duffy

The T. Morton McDonald Scholarship Award for scholarship other than that published by AUWCL, for their article “The Blacklist: Post-Employment Retaliation Under the False Claims Act”: Katelyn Deibler

The Outstanding Graduate Award (JD) is presented to a student with high academic merit and appreciable involvement with a student group: Catherine Blalock

The WCL Alumni Award is awarded to a student for substantial contributions to student activities as well as progress to the law school: David Quintero

Click here to see more photos.

Story by Brice Helms