Mercer Law will host a Law Day Celebration on Friday, April 10. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the first-floor courtroom with a keynote address from Judge Louis Sands ('74), United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia. The address will be followed by the final round of the first-year Hugh Lawson Moot Court Competition at 3:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. A reception will follow the Lawson Competition.
The Lawson Competition is a long-standing intraschool competition exclusively for first-year students. Judges for the competition include Judge Sands, presiding, Dwight Davis ('82), Doc Schneider ('81), Professor Monica Armstrong Rudil, and Caitlin Colley, third-year student and the 2013 winner of the competition. The competition helps expose students to moot court practice and procedure before they try out for Mercer's nationally recognized moot court teams in the fall of their 2L year. The student who argues most effectively receives $500 and has their name engraved on the King & Spalding cup.
About Judge Sands
Judge Louis Sands has been a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia since 1994, and assumed senior status in 2014. Sands has formerly been a judge on the Superior Court of the Macon Judicial District, involved in private practice, and a member of the United States Army Reserve. He is a board member of the Mercer University Board of Trustees and Law School Alumni Association, and a member of the President's Club. His professional associations include the State Bar of Georgia, American Bar Association, American Judicature Society, Counsel of Superior Court Judges, Superior Court Rules and Gender Bias Committee.
