Three Mercer University School of Law graduates were honored with prestigious awards during the law school’s annual alumni dinner on March 2 in Atlanta.
Meritorious Service Award
The Hon. William “Bill” P. Adams, of Macon, was honored with the Meritorious Service Award. The award is presented to alumni who have demonstrated their support of the alumni association and Mercer Law School through their contribution of time and gifts.
Adams graduated cum laude from Mercer Law School in 1977 and joined the State Bar of Georgia the same year. He was a federal prosecutor for eight years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. For 12 years, he was in general practice and handled a wide variety of civil cases for plaintiffs and defendants. In 1998, he was elected judge of the State Court of Bibb County and served in this capacity until his retirement in 2017.
In 2004, Adams received the Justice Robert Benham Award for community service from the State Bar of Georgia. He was honored by the Macon Bar Association with the Lawyer of the Year award in 2018 for his personal efforts to provide legal services to needy and low-income residents of Macon-Bibb County. In 2017, he launched Middle Georgia Access to Justice Council with the mission of closing the justice gap in Middle Georgia. He currently serves as president. Adams also serves on the State Bar Access to Justice Committee and the Judicial Council Access to Justice Committee.
Throughout his career, Adams was involved with Vine Ingle Little League, Kiwanis Club of Macon and Vineville United Methodist Church. Adams served on the Mercer Law School Alumni Board of Directors until 2021.
Outstanding Alumnus Award
The Hon. John E. Morse Jr., of Savannah, was honored with the Outstanding Alumnus Award. This award is given to alumni who have served the profession of law in an outstanding manner, and in so doing, brought honor to themselves and Mercer Law School.
Morse graduated in 1982 from Mercer Law School. He was appointed to the Superior Court of the Eastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia in 1995 by Gov. Zell Miller and was most recently reelected in 2020. When Morse previously served on the State Court bench for Chatham County, he was the youngest chief judge in the county’s history and the first African American State Court judge in Chatham County.
Before his appointment to the bench, Morse served as a law clerk to Superior Court Judge C. Cloud Morgan, law clerk to Superior Court Judge Eugene H. Gadsden, prosecutor with Chatham County District Attorney’s Office, and as senior state attorney with the Drug Prosecution Division’s Savannah regional office of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council.
The Savannah Jaycees honored Morse with the Distinguished Service Award in 1995. In 2023, he became president of the Council of Superior Court Judges. He is also an ordained minister, pastoring for 33 years, and is the senior pastor at Pleasant Grove A.M.E. Church in Hinesville. Morse was a member of the Mercer Law School Board of Visitors from 2016 to 2023.
Young Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award
Amanda M. Morejon, ’17, of Tampa, Florida, was honored with the Young Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award. This award recognizes young alumni who have provided valuable service and selfless commitment to enhance the experience of Mercer law students.
As a student and alumna, Morejon has continuously provided her time, talents and dedication to Mercer Law School, assisting to enhance and strengthen the experiences of the school’s students and their transition into the Mercer law alumni community. During her third year, she spearheaded the creation of a scholarship as the class of 2017’s gift to the law school. In fostering the participation and involvement of her classmates, Morejon raised nearly $3,700, which was awarded to a member of the class of 2018 to assist with tuition in the final year of law school.
After graduating, Morejon joined the newly created Young Alumni Council, providing the council with its bylaws and manuals and developing a new and revitalized relationship between current law students and law alumni. Serving as the Young Alumni Council’s president and as her class representative, Morejon worked closely with the Office of Career Services and the Admissions Office to provide support and guidance to multiple organizations and numerous students through mock interviews, speaking engagements and individual mentoring. She has hired and created internships for Mercer Law School students and alumni at every firm she has worked for every single year since her graduation.
