MACON – Michael Berthiaume, a third-year law student at Mercer Law School and member of the Mercer Law Review, was recently cited in a decision by the U.S. District Court for Idaho.
In an opinion delivered by Judge Candy M. Dale in February, Dale cited Berthiaume’s comment twice concerning the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in Ely v. Bd. of Trs. of the Pace Indus. Union-Mgmt. Pension Fund.
Berthiaume’s original comment, First Rock to the West, Straight on ‘Til Morning: Westrock Draws Potential Roadmap to Substantive Challenges of ERISA Rehabilitation Plans Under Section 1132, was published last summer in the Mercer Law Review.
“There aren’t many law students who influence a federal judicial opinion before they have graduated,” Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law Scott Titshaw said of Berthiaume’s unique accomplishment.
Berthiaume said he is humbled by the recognition of his comment and credits both Mercer Law School’s professors who encouraged his successes through the legal writing program and his experiences on Law Review.
“Dean Titshaw and I worked incredibly hard putting this article together, and it is a great honor to have it recognized both by the judiciary and attorneys practicing in the field,” said Berthiaume. “Pension fund litigation is an incredibly interesting area of law. I look forward to seeing the impact WestRock and its progeny on the field, and I am thrilled that my research may have served some small role in this development.”
In addition to his membership in the Mercer Law Review, Berthiaume is also active in legal honor societies Phi Delta Phi and Phi Alpha Delta.
Currently, Berthiaume is a judicial clerk for the Hon. Jeff Hanson and the Hon. Jeffery Monroe in the state court of Bibb County. Previously, Berthiaume interned with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Dallas, Texas, and with the Hall Law Group and the Lemke Law Group, both in Georgia.
The Mercer Law Review is edited and published by students of Mercer University School of Law. Founded in 1949, the Mercer Law Review has the distinction of being the oldest continually published law review in Georgia.
