Mercer Law alumni serve Georgia Supreme Court as term law clerks

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Side by side headshots of Elliza Guta, who is wearing a red blouse and blazer, and Stephen Greenway, who is wearing a suit with a pink tie.
Elliza Guta and Stephen Greenway.

Mercer Law School graduates Elliza Guta, ’22, and Stephen Greenway, ’24, are serving as 2024-2025 term law clerks for the Georgia Supreme Court.

Term law clerks serve for one year, assisting their assigned justices with legal research, drafting and reviewing opinions, preparing for oral arguments, and other important responsibilities.

Greenway, who graduated first in his class, is clerking for Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren. Prior to law school, Greenway served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. During law school, he served as an executive editor of the Mercer Law Review and was a summer associate at a large Atlanta law firm. He also coached Mercer Law’s National Moot Court team, which won the 73rd Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York in 2023. Greenway, who is from Marietta, earned his Bachelor of Arts in international affairs from the University of Georgia. Following his Georgia Supreme Court clerkship, he plans to clerk for Judge William M. Ray II on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and Judge Elizabeth L. Branch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Guta, who graduated first in her class, is clerking for Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson. Guta, from Tampa, Florida, earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science and psychology from Mercer University. During law school, she clerked for the Georgia Court of Appeals, Habeas Project and U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Guta was a National Moot Court regional champion and was the alumni coach of Mercer Law’s winning team in 2023. After graduation, she clerked two years for Chief Judge Marc T. Treadwell on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. 

Now in its seventh year, the Georgia Supreme Court’s term clerk program allows Georgia’s highest court to invest in the future leaders of the Georgia bar, as well as in the state’s appellate practice, through an intensive year of legal research and writing. Some of this year’s term clerks graduated recently from law school, while others have come to the court after one or more years of work in the legal profession.

“This cohort of term clerks is impressive, and each one has started ready to gain hands-on experience in appellate practice,” said Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs, a 1990 graduate of Mercer Law. “My fellow justices and I look forward to working with these new lawyers throughout this year, and we are confident they will go on to have rewarding careers in law.”

The Supreme Court of Georgia’s term clerk program began in 2018 with the support of the Georgia General Assembly. Each justice hires his or her own one-year term clerk.