SLU LAW

Congratulations to our very own Icon, dean of career services, Mary Pat McInnis. We are so lucky to have you! Dean McInnis was recognized at the 2026 Missouri Lawyers Media Icon Awards.

SLU students Faith Whatley-Blaine (3L) and Gaby Carrillo (3L) did exceptionally well at the Williams Institute National Moot Court Competition at UCLA, the premiere moot court competition on topics relating to sexuality and the law.

After four rounds of oral arguments, SLU Law advanced to the finals as one of the top two teams of the competition. The team then had the privilege to showcase their skills at the Williams Institute Annual Update Conference in April where they ultimately secured a second place win. Faith Whatley-Blaine was also awarded “Best Oral Advocacy” for being ranked as the top oral advocate across the first four rounds of competitions.

More information at the 📎 in bio.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, SLU’s Women Law Students’ Association (‘WLSA’) partnered with WashU’s Women’s Law Caucus for WashU’s annual International Women’s Day event. This partnership was extra meaningful as it celebrated both law schools being led by women deans. SLU’s Dean Johnson spoke at the event, as well as WashU’s Dean Lindquist. Congratulations to all the honorees, including our very own Professor McGraugh!

Thank you to both organizations for putting on such an amazing event that highlighted so many influential women in law, built connections, and allowed for collaboration within the St. Louis legal community.

Last weekend, 5 of our students did exceptionally well at the Jessup International Moot Court Competition in Atlanta. The team, coached by Ira Trako, consisted of Francesca Butler, Rui Song, Charles Zimmerman, Justin Fuller, and Rachel McBeath. Our team received the 16th place memorial out of 92 teams. Justin Fuller, a 2L, placed 44th out of over 350 oralists.

We are so proud of our Jessup team for their hard work, professionalism, and dedication to the moot court program. Congratulations on bringing home some hardware!

SLU Law was thrilled to host the Marine Judge Advocate General’s (‘JAG’) opening statement competition on January 29th and 30th. We are so proud of all students who competed and wanted to highlight 3L Faith Whatley-Blaine as the winner of the competition!

We are so grateful to the Marine JAG division for putting on this event, and for helping educate our SLU Law community.

The Order of the Fleur de Lis Alumni Hall of Fame was held on February 7th and is the highest honor that one can receive from SLU Law. We want to congratulate each of our honorees on such a huge accomplishment!

In addition to highlighting the honorees, we wanted to take a moment to highlight a few students who assisted in introducing each of the honorees. These students are: Shannon Besch, Bernt Walker, and Kaylin Searcy. Thank you all for your hard work!

📸 credits to: Aaron Banks photography

Congratulations to Mama O on her retirement! Orilla Darden was the long-time leader of the Scott Hall housekeeping staff. She is beloved by so many members of the School of Law community. We enjoyed being able to shower her with love and well-wishes for her next, most well deserved chapter.

SLU Law’s Friday Sandwich Review Society recently took a trip to the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City. Here, the group got to hear oral arguments, converse with the justices and their clerks, and hear from Missouri’s new Attorney General, Catherine Hanaway.

Our students and faculty had a great time and got to meet so many influential legal minds. Thank you so much to the Missouri Supreme Court and Attorney General’s Office for being so welcoming, everyone loved getting to learn from you all!

*More information with the link in bio*

Last night, our affinity council and ODEI hosted a Friendsgiving, where students and faculty were invited to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday while enjoying dinner with each other. We want to thank each org for their participation, and for putting in such an amazing event!

We hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving filled with lots of food and fun!