Kevin S. Elliker J.D. '14 Receives I'Anson Award
I'Anson Award Dean Davison M. Douglas, at left, presents the I'Anson Award, which recognizes great professional promise, to Kevin S. Elliker J.D. '14 at the May 11 Diploma Ceremony. Photo by Gretchen Bedell
The award is given by the Law School faculty in recognition of a graduate's great professional promise as demonstrated through scholarship, character, and leadership.
Kevin S. Elliker J.D. '14 received the I'Anson Award, the highest award given to a graduating student by the Law School faculty, during the Law School's Diploma Ceremony on May 11. The award recognizes great professional promise as demonstrated through scholarship, character, and leadership, and is named in honor of Lawrence W. I'Anson (1907-1990), a graduate of the College of William & Mary and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Law School Dean Davison M. Douglas presented the award to Elliker and noted that the selection process was challenging in light of the extraordinarily accomplished group of students in the Class of 2014.
Elliker, Douglas noted, was one of the four students tied for first in the graduating class. The Dean read comments from Professor Tara Grove, Elliker's Federal Courts professor, who wrote that Elliker "has not only a strong analytical mind, but also a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of the law and legal institutions." In addition, she noted, he is "already far more skilled [in oral advocacy] than most appellate litigators" she had encountered earlier in her career as a Justice Department attorney.
After graduation, Elliker will clerk for a federal district court judge in Richmond, and then will join the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Elliker was Lead Articles Editor for the William & Mary Law Review and also served as Secretary of the Student Bar Association and as a Teaching Assistant for Civil Procedure. He was also an active member of the Election Law Society and Moot Court and Alternative Dispute Resolution Teams. At the Class of 2014 Awards Ceremony, held on the eve of graduation, Elliker received numerous recognitions, including induction into Order of the Coif (membership in which is the highest academic honor a law student can achieve) and Order of Barristers, an ALI-ABA Scholarship and Leadership Award, and a Dean's Certificate (given to select graduates in recognition of outstanding efforts on behalf of the Law School community).
Elliker received his undergraduate degree and M.A.T. from James Madison University, and was a high school history and government teacher before beginning his legal studies.
"Kevin, we salute you for your remarkable law school success," Douglas said, "and look forward to all that you will accomplish in your life."
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Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.