Markopoulos '08 and Rosenberg '08 Receive Lawrence W. I'Anson Award

by Jaime Welch-Donahue
Photo by Colonial Photography

Amy M. Markopoulos '08 and Isaac B. Rosenberg '08 received the Lawrence W. I'Anson Award during the Law School's graduation ceremony on May 11. The award recognizes a member of the graduating class who in the estimation of the faculty shows strong evidence of professional promise through his or her scholarship and character. It is the faculty's highest award to a graduating student. In her remarks, interim Dean Lynda Butler noted that during the selection process for the award, for the "first time in my long tenure on the faculty, we were torn." "This year," said Butler, "the faculty agreed that two graduating students were equally deserving of the award."

Markopoulos has the distinction of graduating first in the class. She served as chief justice of the Moot Court Board and was a senior notes editor on the William and Mary Law Review. In this latter role, Butler said, her contributions included the introduction of "an innovative concept of 'notes panels' to improve the student note writing process." The dean quoted a faculty member who said that Markopoulos was one of the strongest students he had encountered during his 18 years of teaching at the Law School and added that she is "admired for her energy and capabilities and regarded with affection." Markopoulos will clerk for Judge Thomas M. Hardiman of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Butler quoted one faculty member's estimation of Rosenberg as "one of the brightest in a truly exceptional class." Rosenberg served as a notes editor on the William and Mary Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Board. The dean noted that he was among only nine in the class to receive honors all four semesters in the Legal Skills Program and also served as an academic support teaching assistant for Constitutional Law. "A talented writer," said Butler, he had three articles accepted for publication in 2008. "For those of you unfamiliar with the rigors of law school, this is a singular accomplishment." Rosenberg will clerk for Judge John R. Padova of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and then for Judge Barry Silverman of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.