Prof. Joslin, Amy Williams '05, Eliza Hook '13 Honored at Bill Smith Lecture

Professor Courtney Joslin, Amy Williams '05, and Eliza Hook '13 received awards and Paul M. Smith of Jenner Block LLP's Washington, D.C. office delivered the 10th Annual Bill Smith Memorial Lecture on April 15 in the Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom. 

The lecture, presented annually by the UC Davis School of Law Lambda Law Students Association, honors the late Bill F. Smith '98.  This year's event included a reception and an awards presentation.  Professor Joslin was honored with the Lambda Law Students Association inaugural Professor of the Year award for her LGBT advocacy, dedication, and support.  Williams, the Managing Attorney at the Legal Services of Northern California Health Rights Hotline and a regular panelist at Lambda events, received the inaugural Alumna of the Year award.  Hook was named as the first Bill F. Smith Memorial Public Interest Fellow and will serve as a law clerk at Disability Rights California's San Diego office working on disability rights issues and creating culturally competent LGBT resources.  Delivering Smith Lecture was Paul M. Smith, who has had an active Supreme Court practice for two decades, including oral arguments in 14 Supreme Court cases, including the landmark Lawrence v. Texas ruling from 2003 striking down a Texas law making it a crime to engage in same-sex sexual conduct.

Attendees included Bill Smith's mother Lynette Smith-James and other members of his family.  In addition to Professor Joslin, King Hall faculty in attendance included Dean Kevin R. Johnson, Associate Dean Vikram Amar and Senior Assistant Dean Hollis Kulwin, and Professors Carlton Larson, Lisa Ikemoto, Evelyn Lewis, Martha West, Margaret Johns, and Holly Cooper.  Alumni in attendance included Kimberly Lucia '09, Sarah Asplin '08, Jeff Edwards '09, and Amy Williams '05.