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Law School to Honor Alum
With 100-Seat Courtroom A new courtroom at the School of Law will honor a lawyer and alumnus who has made numerous contributions to the University. The William R. Davis Courtroom will be built in Starr Hall. Construction of the 100-seat moot courtroom will begin in January 2002. A 1955 School of Law graduate, Davis has donated his time and money to the school. He has served as an adjunct professor in trial practice for the past 17 years. He also endowed a clinical fellowship at the law school, that enables the law school to retain a fellow to supervise students in the civil clinic, giving students the opportunity to represent clients in civil cases.Davis' law firm, RisCassi & Davis, also gave a substantial gift in his honor. The law firm and Davis' gifts were made and matched during the first phase of UConn 2000. They've now grown to $1.1 million. Davis has been honored numerous times for his commitment to the law school and the greater legal community. A lifelong resident of West Hartford and Bloomfield, Davis was the first person to receive the Hartford County Bar Association's President's Award for Excellence and the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. "Bill Davis is one of our most prominent and treasured alumni," says Nell Jessup Newton, dean of the School of Law. "He received both the Law School Alumni Association Medal of Excellence, which has only been awarded six times, and its Distinguished Service Award." The William R. Davis Courtroom will be one of the first two courtrooms built on the law school campus. Another courtroom is being built simultaneously, but the Davis Courtroom will be the larger of the two. The courtroom's construction is part of the first phase of renovations of Starr Hall. The courtroom should be completed by January 2003. Allison Thompson  |