Class of 2018 Honors: Three Receive Tulane 1834 Award

Tulane Law School honored dozens of third-year students who had excelled in scholarship, leadership, academics and service during the annual Graduation Awards ceremonies held at the John Giffen Weinmann Hall on the eve of 2018 commencement. <

Among the top award recipients were Margaret McLaughlin, Allison Skopec and Claris Smith, who were recognized for their exemplary leadership, service and academic excellence in receiving one of Tulane’s most prized student honors, the Tulane 1834 Award. <

The award, named for the year in which the university was founded, 1834, is presented annually to 34 graduates university-wide, who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate life. <

 “We are so proud of the exceptional achievements of these three students,” said Law School Dean David Meyer, in presenting the awards. “We look forward to celebrating their future successes.” <

McLaughlin graduated in the top 5 percent of her law class, achieving academic success while taking on numerous leadership roles. A former teacher, she served as a leader in the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), working to raise more than $60,000 for grants to support other students in their summer public interest jobs.  She also mentored public interest-minded or first-generation law students. McLaughlin was Articles Editor for the Tulane Law Review and was a student attorney in the Civil Rights and Federal Practice Clinic. Skopec, as president of PILF, showed exemplary leadership drafting and ratifying a new constitution, focused on equal parts activism and fundraising for public service summer legal jobs. She helped raise more than $62,000 for law students’ summer public interest work.  Skopec gave more than 500 hours of pro bono work for clients such as those living on a superfund landfill site, animal welfare advocates, Lower Ninth Ward residents affected by the industrial canal construction, and environmentalists affected by the Bayou Bridge Pipeline project. Skopec also served as the Senior Online Editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal. Smith was an active member of PILF and the Black Law Student Association (BLSA). Additionally, she served as one of a handful of students on the Dean’s Advisory Committee, where she was a fierce advocate for initiatives to increase diversity and awareness of mental health resources across campus. In the spring of her first year, she worked with several classmates to re-establish the Disability and Health Law Society (D&H Law) on campus, where she served as president until spring 2017.  She has served as the Student Bar Association’s first Diversity Chair, and as a student attorney in the Civil Rights and Federal Practice Clinic, and as a Dean Rufus Harris Fellow, through which she mentored to first-year law students. Smith also volunteered in the community feeding the homeless. Other campus-wide awards included the Crest Award which was presented to Marisa Andrews, Manuel Guzman-Garrow and Annie Hundley for their work inside and outside the classroom. The Crest Award is given annually to students who demonstrate excellence in leadership, scholarship and community service as well as initiative and promise in campus leadership. See photos of the 2018 Graduation Awards. Other award winners: <

  •   Student Bar Association President Award:     Marisa Andrews •   Order of the Coif Inductees:     Alice Barbara Billmire     Clerc Higgins Cooper     Grace Orena Demyan     Madeline Roe Flores     Amy Grace Fudenberg     Christopher Ashton Hebert     Annie Catherine Hundley     Hillrie Richelle James     Leslie Michelle LaCoste     Margaret Whiteley McLaughlin     Zachary Taylor Montgomery     Colleen Patricia Krajci Murphy     Catherine Nunez     Samantha Alexis Oppenheim     Alexandra Nicole Phillips     Melissa Holliday Redmon     Peter Lee Rogers Jr.     Sarah Marie Smith-Clevenger     Coleman Lord Torrans •   Order of the Barristers:     Stephanie Morgan Brown     Deandra Nicole De Naopli     Miriam Anna Gentile     Marcella Dianne Lupski     Emma Kirchberg Moppert     Catherine Nunez     Charles Ezekiel Joshua Phipps     Marcus K. Pierre     Anna Kathryn Potter     Lauren Elizabeth Starnes •   Moot Court Chief Justice:      Marcella Dianne Lupski •   The Joseph A. Ettinger Award:     Margaret Whiteley McLaughlin – Civil  Track     Andrew T. Noell – Criminal Track •   The BarBri Award:     Caroline Leigh Gabriel     Kirby Nicole Kenny     Drew Berry Lafontant •   The Association for Women Attorneys Award:     Jessica Anne Greenberg •   The Clinical Legal Education Outstanding Clinical Student Award:     Adam Duker Rosenberg •   The Louisiana State Bar Association Law Student Pro Bono Award:     Kirby Nicole Kenny •   The Brian McSherry Community Service Award:     Drew Berry Lafontant •    The General Maurice Hirsch Award:     Kerianne Amanda Strachan •   The James A. Wysocki Trial Advocacy Awards:     Fall 2017 – Emma Kirchberg Moppert     Spring 2018 – Tanner C. Beal •   Federal Bar Association Award:     Peter Lee Rogers Jr. •   The Louisiana State Bar Association Corporate and Business Law Section Award:     Peter Lee Rogers Jr. •    he Tulane Tax Institute Award in Taxation:     Radina Todorova Angelova •    The Haber Joseph McCarthy Environmental Law Award:     Thomas Paul Gosselin •   The Charles Kohlmeyer Jr. Award in Maritime Law:     Chelsea Coleman Crews •   The Edward A. Dodd, Jr. Award in Admiralty:     Felipe Eduardo Gavilanes Méndez •   LLM Academic Excellence Award:     Antonia Kristina Oblinger •   The George Dewey Nelson Memorial Award:     Hillarie Richelle James     Zachary Taylor Montgomery •    The Civil Law Studies Award:     Clerc Higgins Cooper     Annie Catherine Hundley •    The John Minor Wisdom Award:     Coleman Lord Torrans •   The Dean's Medal:     Collin Steven Buisson     Clerc Higgins Cooper     Leslie Michelle LaCoste     Margaret Whiteley McLaughlin     Colleen Patricia Krajci Murphy     Samantha Alexis Oppenheim     Alexandra Nicole Phillips     Peter Lee Rogers Jr.     Coleman Lord Torrans •   The Faculty Medal:     Leslie Michelle LaCoste