UVA Showcases Members of Class of 2006

The University of Virginia School of Law profiles four of its top 2006 graduates in a feature article posted to its website. Here are some excerpts from what two of the students had to say:


Tim Lovelace, awarded the Thomas Marshall Miller Prize:

Favorite law school experience: "I truly enjoyed the spirited debates that occurred almost daily during the past school year in the Black Law Student Association (BLSA) office. Students routinely engaged a variety of contemporary and historical issues and discussed the topics from an exceptionally wide range of political viewpoints."

Favorite class and best learning experience: "Professor Risa Goluboff’s Civil Rights History from Plessy to Brown seminar really challenged me to think critically and reevaluate the dominant civil rights narrative....The students in Professor Goluboff’s seminar were amazing. The students interrogated the readings and the assumptions underlying the legal doctrine, and their efforts made the learning experience truly memorable."

I knew I wanted to go to Virginia when: "I realized how much I loved the University. The Law School’s blend of collegiality and academic rigor is remarkable."

Advice for entering students: "Find your passion and live purposefully. UVA Law offers students a wealth of opportunities, so seize the day."


Lindsay Buchanan, awarded the James C. Slaughter Honor Award:

Favorite class and best learning experience: "Criminal Investigation with Professor Coughlin, Trusts and Estates with Professor Cushman, and Evidence with Professor Dudley were probably my favorites. Professor Coughlin had so much energy and such a palpable desire to get students to see how lopsided the criminal justice system can be that it really got me fired up to get out into the world and try to do something about it. It was exactly the sort of class I imagined I would have in law school. Professor Cushman is a master craftsman of law teaching. Someone once described sitting through a lecture of his as witnessing the sculpting of a perfect wedding cake—there are many layers, but in the end you see a perfect whole. He takes what could be a rather mundane area of the law and makes it intricate, challenging, and entertaining. And Professor Dudley, well, he’s Professor Dudley.

"Best learning experience? Participating in the Criminal Defense Clinic this year. For the first time, I got to work directly with clients in the criminal justice system and see how my law school classes—from Criminal Law to Criminal Investigation and Adjudication to Evidence—either did or did not apply to real people in the real world. The clinic supervisors, all local criminal defense attorneys, freely shared their experience and expertise in this challenging field of law with humor and humility. It was an inspiring and eye-opening experience. "

Best summer experience: "I worked at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. during the summer of my second year. I worked with incredibly smart people who were creative thinkers and cared about the law—not just about their jobs. In one month, I got to work on a case representing plaintiffs alleging discrimination against a large restaurant chain, have lunch with Paul Tagliabue, the Commissioner of the National Football League, and chat up the cast of a major Broadway show at the Kennedy Center. For a kid from Kentucky, this was exhilarating!"

I knew I wanted to go to Virginia when: "I came to visit, the sun was out, and everyone seemed happy. The building was full of natural light. The library had a view out to the Blue Ridge Mountains. People were on the softball field in the middle of the day. I thought, this would be a nice place to study and play. "

For more about what these and other Virginia students have to say about their school, see "4 in the Class of 2006," posted to the University of Virginia School of Law website (http://www.law.virginia.edu/home2002/html/news
/2006_spr/gradaward.htm).