Thursday, April 3, 2014
Page 3
Southwestern Alumni to Honor Three for Achievements
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Southwestern Law School Alumni Association will honor two Southwestern graduates and a former faculty member at an annual recognition event, the school said yesterday.
Southwestern said in a release that the association will honor Los Angeles attorney Steven P. Byrne, First District Court of Appeal Justice Sandra L. Margulies, and Indiana University School of Law Dean Austen L. Parrish as Alumnus of the Year, Judicial Officer of the Year, and Outstanding Friend, respectively. The occasion will be the 26th Annual Awards Recognition Reception and Auction, slated for April 24.
The school will also honor former trustee and benefactor Jana Waring Greer with an honorary doctor of laws degree that will be presented at the event.
“Our honorees are truly exceptional,” Dean Susan Prager was quoted as saying in the release. “They are leaders, innovators, and role models who reflect the very best of Southwestern. We are proud and privileged to honor them.”
The event is designed to recognize individuals for their extraordinary service to the law school, the community and the legal profession, as well as raise money from the annual silent auction to benefit the Alumni Association’s Scholarship Fund, which is applied toward scholarships for deserving Southwestern students.
Byrne, who heads his own law firm emphasizing property law and finance, is a 1977 graduate and former president of the association, who has also been an adjunct faculty member and trustee. After working for a law firm and a bank, he established Byrne & Associates in 1994.
He currently serves as special counsel to the school’s Board of Trustees and chair of the Real Estate Development Committee, responsible for development of the school’s first student housing complex, and other campus enhancement projects. As an adjunct associate professor of law for Southwestern’s Graduate Legal Academic Program, he lectures on various topics and donates his compensation back to the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, the association noted.
Margulies, who is also a 1977 graduate, was a prosecutor in Alameda County for more than seven years before then-Gov. George Deukmejian appointed her to the San Leandro-Hayward Municipal Court in 1985 and elevated her to the Alameda Superior Court in 1988.
Then-Gov. Gray Davis elevated her to the First District’s Div. One in 2002. She also chairs the State Bar Court Applicant Evaluations and Nomination Committee, which recommends candidates for appointment as State Bar Court judges.
Parrish, whom the school described as “a beloved member of the Southwestern community,” was a faculty member from 2002 to 2012, serving as vice dean from 2008 to 2012 and as interim dean and chief executive officer before he took up his present position.
He was voted by the student body as grand marshal for the 2014 commencement and will perform those duties next month.
The reception is scheduled to take place at the school from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on April 24. The school asked that those interested in purchasing tickets, at a cost of $60, make reservations online at 9:30 p.m. on April 24. The school asked that those interested in purchasing tickets, at a cost of $60, make reservations online at swlawalumniawards.org or contact the school at 213-738-6814.
Copyright 2014, Metropolitan News Company