We’re taking a look at what happened in 2020 and what an extraordinary year it has been. We’re proud of our faculty, students and staff for their resilience. From our first virtual commencement, to the selection of the first African-American woman state Supreme Court Justice, together we found hope in these victories and redefined what it means to come together as a community. And as a community we mourned the death of our former Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg, reflected on her legacy and found inspiration in her work. We hope you enjoy this look back over our Top 10 most popular stories and social media posts from 2020.
Among the late night studying, brief writing and competition for clerkships and internships, it’s hard to imagine that love can thrive at law school. But for some lucky couples, law school provided the spark that brought them together. In honor of Valentine's Day, four couples who met and got together at Rutgers Law School shared their love stories.
When Ayisha Scales graduated from Rutgers Law in Camden in May, she was chosen to take part in a two-year Racial Justice and Juvenile Defense Fellowship at Georgetown Law School. She said her goal, when came to Rutgers Law School in 2017, was to work in the field of juvenile justice, especially helping young people of color who became entangled in the criminal justice system.
Kimberly Mutcherson, co-dean of Rutgers Law School in Camden, has received the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Inaugural Impact Award with four other law school deans for the creation of the Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project (LDACP). Launched in June, the project is a webpage for law deans, faculty, and the public that contains resources and information related to addressing racism in law and legal education.
When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling that banned discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, law professors and advocates saw the influence of Rutgers Law Professor Katie Eyer’s work in the opinion.
A native of Colombia who immigrated to North Jersey as a child, Juliana Diaz RLAW’07, is the first woman appointed to a municipal court judgeship in New Jersey’s fourth-largest city.
Throughout the spring semester, Rutgers Law students and faculty have been making a difference for others during the Covid-19 epidemic by volunteering, delivering meals and snacks, working with patients, and encouraging everyone to do their part to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Eight Rutgers Law students have been chosen for prestigious clerkships with justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court and will be clerking post-graduation. They include: Sabah Abbasi RLAW '21, Pierre Avalos RLAW '21, Pati Candelario RLAW '21, Kaitlyn Flynn RLAW '21, Eric Garcia RLAW '21, Justine Jacobs RLAW '21, Colin Sheehan RLAW '20 and Yaffa Stone RLAW '21.
“The past several days have brought us a number of statements from law firms and law schools responding to the national outcry proximately sparked by the killing of George Floyd, though so many names have come before Floyd. Some ring hollow and others were just plain botched. For a guide to preparing a powerful and supportive statement, check out the one released by the Rutgers Law faculty last night,” Above the Law
The New Jersey Senate confirmed Fabiana Pierre-Louis, a 2006 graduate of Rutgers Law School in Camden, as the next justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court, by a unanimous vote. She is the first Black woman, and the third Black Supreme Court justice in New Jersey’s history.
United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87. She taught on the Rutgers Law faculty from 1963-1972 and was the inaugural advisor to the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the United States focused on issues of gender equality and justice.
