Activities, Awards, and Services

Activities

The American University Law Review is a legal journal edited and published by law school students selected on the basis of scholarship. The students write comments and notes on legal developments and significant cases as well as critically evaluate and edit the lead articles and book reviews written for the Law Review.

The American University Business Law Review is a legal journal edited and published by law school students selected on the basis of scholarship. These students write comments and notes on legal developments and significant cases as well as critically evaluate and edit the lead articles and book reviews written for the Business Law Review.

The American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law is a legal journal edited and published by law students selected on the basis of scholarship. These students write comments and notes on legal developments and significant cases in gender and the law and policy as well as critically evaluate and edit lead articles and book reviews written for the journal.

The American University International Law Review is a legal journal edited and published by law students selected on the basis of scholarship. These students write comments and notes on legal developments and significant cases in international law and policy as well as critically evaluate and edit lead articles and essays written for the journal.

The Administrative Law Review is a legal journal edited and published by law students selected on the basis of scholarship. Students write comments and notes on legal developments and significant cases in administrative law as well as critically evaluate and edit lead articles, essays, and book reviews written for the journal.

The Criminal Law Practitioner, formerly called the Criminal Law Brief, is dedicated to addressing key criminal law issues in ways that are helpful to practicing attorneys, judges, legislators, and law students.

Health Law and Policy Brief was founded in 2007, the Health Law & Policy Brief is a student run publication that publishes articles on a wide array of cutting-edge topics in the area of health law. Such topics include health care compliance, fraud and abuse enforcement, health insurance payment and reimbursement issues, intellectual property issues, international human rights issues, FDA initiatives and policies, and a host of other matters. 

Intellectual Property Brief  provides an opportunity for law students, professors, practitioners, and anyone interested in intellectual property law to discuss and learn about substantive IP issues.  The IP Brief features daily blog posts from a team of student writers; frequent student-written columns about recent IP-related issues, case updates, and events; and IP law articles from student writers and outside submissions on a semester publication cycle.

Labor and Employment Law Forum the Forum was founded in 2010 to provide a specific and neutral forum for students, scholars, practitioners, and organizations to explore the complex developments of the law governing the workplace.  It serves as a medium that highlights emerging developments in labor and employment law and explores the legal issues that arise under this area of law.

Legislation and Policy Brief is the legislative-based legal publication of the Washington College of Law. LPB publishes a book twice a year, conducts dynamic panel discussions, and hosts an on line blog providing non-partisan legal analysis of current legislation and policy issues before federal and state legislatures. LPB articles cover a wide range of legislative areas and tend to be heavy on legislative history and analysis.

The Modern American  is American University Washington College of Law’s scholarly publication dedicated to diversity and the law. TMA is a student-run publication founded in 2004. The Modern American is a name that conveys the nation’s evolution as an increasingly diverse and complex place that is experiencing tremendous change, both exciting and frightening, in the era of twenty-first century politics.

The National Security Law Brief founded in April 2009, the American University National Security Law Brief (NSLB) is the nation’s first student-run law school publication to focus on the rapidly evolving field of national security law. The publication is a biannual print publication, with a complementary on line component, devoted to examining the legal dimensions of United States national security law and policy. In addition to analyzing traditional security issues such as counter terrorism, intelligence collection, and nuclear proliferation, the Brief also examines legal matters related to soft power and cybersecurity.

Sustainable Development Law and Policy is a student-run initiative at American University, Washington College of Law that focuses on reconciling the tensions between environmental sustainability, economic development, and human welfare. The SDLP journal embraces an interdisciplinary approach to provide a fuller view of current legal, political, and social developments. The mission is to serve as a valuable resource for practitioners, policy makers, and concerned citizens promoting sustainable development throughout the world.

The Arbitration Brief The Arbitration Brief is a student publication produced with the assistance of the Center for International Commercial Arbitration. The Arbitration Brief strives to cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from domestic employment arbitration to international investment disputes.

The Human Rights Brief is an official publication of the law school’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law that reports on substantive contemporary human rights and humanitarian law issues. Law students produce the three issues published each year.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Honor Society (ADRHS) is a student-run organization geared towards fostering an interest in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) at the Washington College of Law and is comprised of several competition teams.

The Mock Trial Honor Society is a student-administered organization that coordinates and organizes intraschool, interschool, national and regional trial advocacy competitions.

The Moot Court Honor Society is the student-administered board that coordinates and organizes the intraschool and interschool student competitions in appellate advocacy, trial advocacy, and client counseling. Two intraschool moot court competitions are sponsored each year by the Moot Court Board. All first-year students are eligible to compete in the Alvina Reckman Myers First-Year Moot Court Competition, consisting of three rounds of oral argument. All students beyond their first year are invited to enter the Upper-Class Moot Court Competition, which involves both oral argument and the writing of an appellate brief. Interschool moot court competitions are administered by the board in a wide range of fields, including client counseling, labor law, tax law, energy law, administrative law, constitutional law, entertainment law, and many others. These competitions against teams from law schools around the country combine brief writing and oral argument skills.

The Student Bar Association is the law student government and is responsible for budgeting student fees (subject to the dean’s approval of the fee allocations) and coordination of all student-sponsored activities and organizations at the law school. In addition to sponsoring speakers and conducting social events, it represents students on the various faculty and student committees and serves as a clearinghouse for information on important social and economic concerns affecting students.

Many other student organizations are recognized as part of the Student Bar Association. The groups funded for the current academic year include:

Awards and Prizes

The Administrative Law Review Award is presented for the best student work published in the Administrative Law Review.  

The Ed Bou Award is awarded to the foreign-born student who has attained the highest scholastic average in the JD Program the foreign-born student who has attained the highest scholastic average in the LLM Program.

The Casto-Southard Award in Constitutional Law, in memory of Don Monroe Casto and Thelma Casto Southard, is an annual award for the student or students who achieve the highest scholastic average in constitutional law courses.

The Clinical Legal Education Association Award is presented to the graduating student who has excelled in a clinical course.

The Clair A. Cripe Award is presented to the graduating student who has been outstanding in correctional law.

The Dean’s Award for Professional Responsibility is awarded to the graduating student who has participated under the third-year practice rule in the clinical programs in Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia and has exemplified proficiency in skills and the high ethical standards of the profession.

The Energy and Natural Resource Law Fund Prize, encouraging excellence in the study of natural resource law, is awarded each semester to the top student or students in a course taught in that area of the law.

The Gillett Prize is awarded to the student in the graduating class with the highest scholastic course average.

The Human Rights Brief Award is presented for the best graduating student work published in the Human Rights Brief.

The International Law Review Award is presented for the best student work published in the International Law Review.

The Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law Award is awarded for the best student work published in the Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law.

The Lura E. Turley Prize is awarded for the best student work published in the Law Review.

The Mooers Trophy is awarded to outstanding students in Trial Practice.

The Morris and Claire Krauthamer Prize in Disabilities Law is awarded to the student who has written the best paper in the disabilities law course at AUWCL.

The Mussey Prize is presented to the student who has attained the highest scholastic average during the last year of study in both the full-time and part-time divisions.

The Newman Prize for Trial Advocacy each year is awarded to the best student in criminal trial advocacy.

The Outstanding Graduate Award is presented to JD and LLM graduates selected by the faculty.

The Outstanding Research and Writing Award is presented to an LLM graduate who has demonstrated outstanding ability in research and writing.

The Samuel J. Halpern Prize in Insurance Law is awarded to the student attaining the highest grade in an insurance course.

The Solf Award is presented to the LLM graduate in international legal studies who has attained the highest scholastic average during his or her study at the Washington College of Law.

The Thomas O. Sargentich Award is presented to the LLM graduate in Law and Government who has attained the highest scholastic average during his or her study at the Washington College of Law.

The T. Morton McDonald Scholarship Award is presented to the graduating student who has excelled in the field of legal research.

The Washington College of Law Alumni Award is presented to the graduating student who substantially contributed to student activities, as well as to the progress of the law school.

Services

Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) provides comprehensive career search assistance to students and alumni for summer, academic year, and post-graduate employment. OCPD specializes in career counseling, individualized review and critique of résumés and cover letters, mock interviews and comprehensive job-search strategy development. They also support student and alumni career success through extensive employer outreach and networks and systems to communicate opportunities on a timely and focused basis.

OCPD counselors help students identify their career interests, educate them on the many resources and contacts available to help pursue those interests, and provide coaching and guidance on how to secure career-enhancing opportunities. The office offers programs, workshops, and lectures designed to provide information about various practice areas, interviewing techniques, professionalism, networking skills, and the realities of practice. These events and programs are also designed to give students insight into many traditional and nontraditional careers, and to facilitate networking opportunities between students and hiring authorities.

OCPD coordinates two large-scale recruitment programs, one in the fall and the other in the spring. The Fall Recruitment Program typically attracts larger law firms and government agencies while the Spring Recruitment Program is designed more for smaller law firms, government agencies, and public interest organizations.  The office also participates in a number of regional and specialty practice-area recruitment programs throughout the year.

Career education and professional development is also presented through targeted programming designed to address the specific needs of students by class year. For example, OCPD offers a program for first-year students to  provide them with an overview of OCPD’s services, an introduction to various practice sectors, and the opportunity to develop professional relationships with alumni and other practitioners. They also sponsor a number of multi-part series, including one for graduating third and fourth year students.

Through OCPD, AUWCL is a member of the National Association for Law Placement, the Washington Area Legal Recruitment Administrators Association, and Equal Justice Works.

Office of Academic Excellence provides resources and guidance on the necessary skills for law school and bar exam success. Through workshops and individual counseling focusing on building academic skills and preparation for the bar exam, the Office of Academic Excellence aims to help every student achieve their maximum level of academic and bar exam success.

Housing on the university’s campus is generally restricted to undergraduate students and their resident advisors. The university maintains information on non-university accommodations near campus. Listings can be accessed through the AU home page or at www.american.edu/ocl/housing/.

Health Services are available at the Student Health Center in the first floor of the McCabe Building on the AU campus. Students can obtain immunizations, be treated for acute illness or minor emergencies, receive gynecological care, or obtain a routine annual exam. For true medical emergencies, complex diagnostic procedures, or conditions that require treatment by a specialist, the center refers students to Sibley Memorial Hospital, 5255 Loughboro Road, NW, and to Suburban Hospital at 8600 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. Free round trip transportation can be arranged through Public Safety. A health insurance plan, underwritten by United Health Care, is available to students to reduce the cost of medical treatment or hospitalization. For more information, call 202-885-3380 or check the Web site at www.american.edu/healthcenter.

Recreation. Opportunities for recreational activity at the university encompass a broad range of spectator and participatory sports, theater, music, lectures, discussion groups, and the normal complement of student union facilities. Courses in dance, exercise, sports, etc., are available and may be taken for credit or audited by law students with the permission of the offering department. Full-time students are not charged additional tuition as long as the total of law and non-law course credits does not exceed 17 credit hours in a semester. Charges for part-time students, and for all students during the summer session, are levied on a per-credit-hour basis.

Religious Groups. The Kay Spiritual Life Center, located on the north end of main campus, offers services to a rich array of faith communities and fosters a climate of interfaith understanding and cooperation. Chaplains from diverse faith traditions assist in organizing events and are available to students, faculty, and staff for programming, counseling, and advising on issues of faith and ethics. For more information, call 202-885-3321 or check the Web site at www.american.edu/ocl/kay/.

Counseling Center located in Mary Graydon Center 214, offers psychological counseling and support services for students at American University. Students are invited to make an appointment with a counselor, join a group, attend a workshop, get a referral to local mental health resources, use the self-help library, or seek additional information on the Web at www.american.edu/ocl/counseling/. All services are confidential and free of charge. For more information, please call 202-885-3500.

Academic Support and Access Center located in Mary Graydon Center 243, provides a range of learning services and disability accommodations for students at American University. Students can make an ocl/asac appointment with a counselor, attend a workshop, or seek information on the Web at www.american.edu/ocl/asac/. All services are confidential and available to full-time or part-time students at WCL. For more information, please call 202-885-3360.