On Saturday, May 22, more than thirty academic achievement and leadership awards were announced to graduates during the University of Maine School of Law’s Commencement. The Commencement Ceremony was held virtually, and featured remarks by Mary Bonauto, civil rights project director of GLBTQ Legal Advisors & Defenders (GLAD) as the keynote speaker, Aria Eee, executive director of Maine Board of Bar Overseers as the L. Kinvin Wroth alumna award winner; and graduate Sanchita Mukherjee as the student class speaker.
The following awards were presented by Legal Writing Professor Sara Wolff, who serves as chair of the Law School’s Awards Committee.
AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT
Maine Law Outstanding Scholastic Achievement Awards
These awards recognize outstanding academic performance in selected areas of the Maine Law curriculum. The award winners are selected from among those graduating students nominated by Maine Law faculty for academic excellence and achievement in the select area of law.
Commercial Law Award
- Nicholas J. Stiles
Corporate/Business Law Award
- William Nealley
Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure Award
- Susan Miriam Weidner
Environmental Law Award
- Nicholas P. Janzen
Family, Juvenile & Elder Law Award with a focus on Family and Juvenile Law
- Jonathan J. Ruterbories
Immigration Law Award
- Kelsey Lee
Intellectual Property Law Award
- Nathaniel D. Moore
International Law Award
- James Brenner
- Daya J. Taylor
Maritime and Oceans & Coastal Law Award
- Lexis Anderson
Tax Law Award
- Taylor Andrew Krowitz
SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS IN SUBSTANTIVE AREAS OF LAW, SPONSORED BY A NON-MAINE LAW ENTITY
The Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Clinical Student Award
This award is presented to a student nominated by the clinical faculty for excellence in clinical fieldwork based on ethical and high-quality representation provided to clients and the community, and for exemplary thoughtfulness in exploring lawyering issues and skills in an accompanying seminar.
- Shianne Micole Bowlin
The Westin Scholar Award
This award is presented to a student who is considering a career in privacy and data protection. The IAPP recently announced the launch of the Annual Westin Scholar Awards as part of the organization’s 20th anniversary.
- Nathaniel D. Moore
AWARDS IN LEGAL WRITING AND ORAL ADVOCACY
Wernick Prize for Legal Writing
This award is presented for the best legal scholarship submitted by a graduating student anytime during his or her 1L, 2L, or 3L years, selected from among nominated legal scholarship.
- Maye Carolyn Emlein – “Rising to the Challenge: Managed Retreat and the Taking Clause in Maine’s Climate Change Era”
- Daya J. Taylor – “Improving Wet Market Regulation to Control the Spread of Disease” (to be published in Asian and Pacific Law and Policy Journal out of University of Hawai’i William S. Richardson School of Law)
Upper Level Writing Project Award
This award is presented for the best Upper Level Writing Project by a graduating student for work submitted in either the 2L or 3L years, selected from among nominated upper level writing projects.
- Suzannah Cyr Dowling – “(Un)Due Process: Adversarial Cross-Examination in Title IX Adjudications”
Faculty Award for Trial Advocacy
This award is presented to a graduating student for outstanding performance in trial advocacy courses.
- Sheilan F. Hamasoor
Gignoux Award for Appellate Advocacy
This award is presented to a graduating student(s) for demonstrated excellence in appellate advocacy skills through moot court, clinical practice, or other curricular or extracurricular programs.
- Nicholas P. Janzen
AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE LAW SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY
The following awards are presented to members of the graduating class for outstanding contributions in service of the Law School and the community.
Faculty Award for Community Service
This award is presented to the graduating student who, in the estimation of the faculty, has done significant work in bringing together the law school community and the community at large.
- Jonathan J. Ruterbories
- Paige Elizabeth Eggleston
- Timothy James Lueders-Dumont
Maine State Bar Association Pro Bono Student Award
This award is presented to the graduating student whose law-related service to the community, without compensation or education credit, exemplifies the legal profession’s tradition of pro bono service.
- Shianne Micole Bowlin
Edward S. Godfrey Leadership Award
This award is presented to the graduating student(s) who, in the estimation of the faculty, has made the most significant contribution to a student-edited law journal during his or her years at the law school.
- Maye Carolyn Emlein
- Nicholas P. Janzen
The Diana DeJesus Student Bar Association Distinguished Service Award
Awarded by the SBA to a member(s) of the graduating class for contributions to the Law School. The award is named for Diana DeJesus, a member of the class of 2013, because of her work on behalf of the student body and her superior service to the Law School community.
- Shianne Micole Bowlin
- Cheryl A. Saniuk-Heinig
AWARDS OF OVERALL ACHIEVEMENT
In this final category of awards, the awards are for outstanding overall achievement during the students’ years at Maine Law.
National Association of Women Lawyers Outstanding Law Student Award
This award is presented to the graduating student, male or female, who has:
- Contributed to the advancement of women in society
- Promoted issues and concerns of women in the legal profession
- Exhibited motivation, tenacity, and enthusiasm
- Demonstrated high academic achievement
- Earned the respect of the Maine Law community
- Sanchita Mukherjee
ALI CLE Scholarship and Leadership Award
This award is presented to a student in the graduating class who “best represents a combination of scholarship and leadership.”
- Maye Carolyn Emlein
Faculty Significant Achievement Awards
This award is presented to those members of the graduating class whose academic performance and overall contribution to the school have been most significant.
- Nina Joyce Ciffolillo
- Stephanie J. Rogers
- Cheryl A. Saniuk-Heinig
- Joseph H. Shagoury
- Susan Miriam Weidner
Faculty Scholastic Achievement Award
This award is presented to the member of the graduating class who has achieved, over the course of three years of legal studies, the highest academic average.
- Suzannah Cyr Dowling
Maine Law Foundation Alumni Award
This award is presented to the member of the graduating class who, in the estimation of the faculty, is an outstanding member of the graduating class.
- Suzannah Cyr Dowling
