On April 23, 2013, the University of Texas School of Law hosted the first annual Beck Awards at a luncheon recognizing the work of the new David J. Beck Center for Legal Research, Writing, and Appellate Advocacy. The Beck Center was launched in the spring of 2012 with support from David J. Beck, ’65, life trustee of the Law School Foundation and founder of renowned litigation boutique Beck Redden LLP. Among the Beck Center’s mandates is honing law students’ oral and written advocacy skills, which are foundational to all lawyers’ success.
The individuals honored this year include several sets of exceptional students: those who served as teaching assistants or teaching quizmasters (aka “TQs”) for the Law School’s legal writing program; those who represented the Law School in interscholastic moot court competitions; and those who, as 1Ls, have demonstrated distinct promise in mastering both objective, predictive legal writing and persuasive written advocacy.
Dean Ward Farnsworth began the program by introducing David Beck, the inaugural keynote speaker. After this year’s honorees were recognized, Wayne Schiess, director of the Beck Center, presented the Beck Awards for Excellence in Legal Writing to this year’s 1L winners:
Priyanka Dev
Christen Mason
Kathleen Pritchard
Alex Robertson
Alistair Graham Robertson
Claire Sarson
This year’s honorees also include:
Interscholastic Moot Court Participants
The ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition
Michelle Arishita
Phil Harris
Michael Kelso
Ross MacDonald
Lauren Ross
Colin Watterson
Gretchen Sween (coach)
Karson Thompson (coach)
Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
Chris Furlong
Jaaron Sanderson
Marie Delahoussaye
Adam Arikat
Sarah Coleman
Debbie Langehennig (coach)
Jay Ong (coach)
Stephen Lemmon (coach)
Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court (National Champions)
Yingying Zeng
Colleen Bloss
Shalla Sluyter (coach)
Meredith Fitzpatrick (coach)
Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition
Meredith Elkins
Laura Ingram
Rocco Magni
Yaniv Maman
Adam Prom
Claire Smyser
Chris Sapstead (coach)
NYU Immigration Law Competition
Nikiya Natale
Brittany Perkins
Audrey Lynn
Michael Ritter (coach)
Teaching Quizmasters
Alese Bagdol (2 yrs)
Jonathan Hunter (2 yrs)
Megan Myers (2 yrs)
Jonathan Levy (2 yrs)
Michael Abrams
Emily Ardolino
Kate Bailey
Samantha Blons
Amanda Branch
Caitlin Bubar
David Doak
Britt Glass
Hannah Jenkins
Courtney Johnson
Kimberly Kauffman
Kelsie Krueger
Grace Matthews
Cassie McCrae
Kelley McIlhattan
Dina McKenney
Kayleigh McNelis
Ryan Meltzer
Spencer Patton
Brent Rubin
Andrea Shannon
Marina Stefanova
Joel Thomason
Brian Young
The Beck Center includes Professors Natalia Blinkova, Kamela Bridges, Elana Einhorn, Robin Meyer, Sean Petrie, Wayne Schiess (director), Stacy Rogers Sharp, Gretchen Sween (director of interscholastic moot court), and Elizabeth Youngdale—all of whom teach the introductory 1L legal research and writing courses as well as a range of upper-level course offerings, including transactional drafting, writing for litigation, and appellate advocacy skills.
Contact: Gretchen Sween, gsween@law.utexas.edu