2011 Law Alumni Weekend: Abbott '01 Honored with 10th Reunion Distinguished Alumna Award
Distinguished Law Alumna Robin A. Abbott '01, at right, and Dean Davison M. Douglas. Abbott, who represents the 93rd district in the Virginia House of Delegates, was recently awarded the Law School Association's inaugural 10th Reunion Distinguished Alumna Award. Photo by Colonial Photography
Virginia House of Delegates Member Robin A. Abbott, a 2001 graduate of William & Mary Law School, was honored by the Law School Association with its inaugural 10th Reunion Distinguished Law Alumna Award on April 16.
The award is one of two new honors created by the Association to recognize outstanding alumni of classes celebrating their tenth and twenty-fifth graduations from law school. Members of reunion classes were asked for nominations and the Law School Association Board made the final selection of honorees.
In remarks given during the Class of 2001's reunion dinner at Colonial Williamsburg's Woodlands Hotel, Dean Davison M. Douglas noted that Thomas Jefferson had a "very specific mission" in mind when he founded William & Mary Law School in 1779: the education of lawyers for service as political leaders in the new nation.
With that mission in mind, he said, the Law School Association chose to honor Abbott with the inaugural award for her service as a representative of the 93rd District in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Abbott has served on the board of Thomas Nelson Community College and The Hampton Newport News Community Services Board. In recognition of her work on behalf of higher education, she was recently awarded Thomas Nelson Community College's Dana B. Hamel Award. A consumer law advocate, she has been recognized for her efforts on behalf of clients affected by predatory lending practices and foreclosure abuses. She practices law at Civil Litigation Associates in Newport News, VA.