2024 Award Winners
Each year Northwestern Pritzker Law awards a variety of student awards and prizes including writing prizes, academic grade-based prizes, and community awards. Congratulations to this year's recipients.
Student Graduation Awards
It is a beloved graduation tradition for the graduating class to nominate and vote on the winners of the annual Student Awards, which recognize students for a range of accomplishments.
Courage Award
Awarded to the student who has shown the greatest courage in surmounting obstacles to completing his or her education
Yasmeen Elagha
Global Legal Profession Award
Awarded to the LLM student who has most exemplified standards of professionalism and has made the greatest contribution to the global legal profession
Ricardo Martinez Gonzalez
Leadership Award
Awarded to the student who has made the greatest contribution to leadership in the student community
Ariel Dickerman Whitmore
Legal Profession Award
Awarded to the student who has made the greatest contribution to professional responsibility and to the practice of law
Anne Serine Gottschalk
MSL Residential Student Award
Awarded to the graduating residential student who, through their impact on the program and the world, best exemplifies the innovative spirit of the MSL Program.
Jincheng Song
MSL Online Student Award
Awarded to the to the graduating online student who, through their impact on the program and the world, best exemplifies the innovative spirit of the MSL Program.
Christine Marie Mayer
Service Award
Awarded to the student who has shown the greatest dedication and commitment to public service and the practice of law
Zeinab Bakhiet
Victor Rosenblum Award
Awarded to the LLM student who has done the most to uphold the traditions of the Law School
Catalina Saravia
Wigmore Key
Awarded to the student who has done the most to uphold the traditions of the Law School
Katelyn Elizabeth Richerson
(on behalf of all the members of the Class of 2024 Graduation Committee)
Academic Prizes
Northwestern Pritzker Entrepreneurship Prize
Awarded to a second- or third-year law student who most exemplifies Northwestern Pritzker Law’s spirit of innovation, entrepreneurial drive, and integrity
Nima Ostowari
Fall 2023David Shekman
Spring 2024John Paul Stevens Prize for Academic Excellence
Awarded annually to the law student who graduates with the highest GPA in their class
Kathleen Naccarato
The David S. Ruder Prize
Awarded to a student who intends to work in the public interest post-graduation, or after a judicial clerkship, and has logged the highest number of public service hours at the finish of their 2L year
Phil Pillari
Raoul Berger Prize
Awarded annually to the law student who submits the best paper in the Senior Research Program
Leo Soh
for their paper "Unsound Discretion."Barnet & Scott Hodes Prize
Awarded to a law student who writes the best paper on an aspect of the law of local government
Abigail Kuchnir
for their paper "Third Coast Housing Solutions: The Case for Bringing YIMBY Legal Activist Strategies to Chicago"Leigh B. Bienen Prize
Awarded to the student who has written the best note or comment that has been selected for publication in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
Annaliese Brellis
for their paper "Rethinking the 'No-Duty' Rule: How DeShaney Can Be Reformed to Enable Objective, Coherent Analysis and Protection for More Victims of Crime"Charles Cheney Hyde Prize
Awarded biennially to the law student who writes the best paper related to public international law
Jenna Seiler
for their paper "Rule 44.1 in Federal Discovery: When Discovery Raises Questions of Foreign Law, How do U.S. Courts Decide?"Kirkland & Ellis Scholars
The Kirkland & Ellis Scholars program was established in 2012 through the generosity of alumni and friends at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. The annual awards recognize the excellence of the top student in each section of the first-year substantive required classes. The program also extends to the highest achieving 2Ls in certain upper-level courses, including M&A, Securities, Private Equity, and Non-ITA Evidence.
Fall 2023
James Suarez (JD ’26)
Civil ProcedureIsabel Weber (JD ’26)
Civil ProcedureVictoria Cabral (JD ’26)
Civil ProcedureSam Kaplan (JD ’26)
Civil ProcedureEvan Anixter (JD-MBA ’26)
ContractsEmily Chrisman (JD ’26)
ContractsKobe Mandell (JD ’26)
ContractsEisho Takatsuji (JD-PhD ’26)
ContractsArielle Haase (JD ’26)
Criminal LawMark Elinski (JD ’26)
Criminal LawAdam Brody (JD ’26)
Criminal LawAdam Brody (JD '26)
PropertyAryana Swanson (JD ’26)
PropertySamuel Lanzer (JD ’26)
TortsElizabeth James (JD ’26)
TortsJonathan Freeberg (JD ’26)
Torts
Dana Meskan (JD-LLM IHR ’26)
EvidenceNina Holl (JD ’25)
EvidenceSamuel Pargament (JD ’25)
Mergers & AcquisitionsMichael Van Gorp (JD ’25)
Mergers & AcquisitionsSophie Morrison (JD ’25)
Private EquityMichael Judah (JD ’25)
Securities RegulationSpring 2024
Samuel Lanzer (JD ’26)
Constitutional LawMatthew MacPhail (JD ’26)
Constitutional LawAdam Brody (JD ’26)
Constitutional LawAndrew Devedjian (JD ’26)
Constitutional LawEisho Takatsuji (JD-PhD ’26)
Criminal LawJavin Schwartzman (JD ’26)
PropertyAbigail English (JD ’26)
PropertyJennifer Yoon (JD ’26)
TortsAreeb Asif (JD ’25)
EvidenceAustin Burnette (JD ’25)
EvidenceMatthew Green (JD ’25)
Mergers & AcquisitionsEvan Myers (JD ’25)
Private EquityAudrey Zhang Yang (JD ’25)
Securities RegulationLowden-Wigmore Prizes
The Lowden-Wigmore Prizes were established by the Frank O. Lowden (Class of 1887) in honor of his relationship with Dean John Henry Wigmore. The prizes are awarded annually to members of the student body for their ability to marshal authority, present arguments effectively in written form, and speak lucidly and convincingly in public. These awards go to students for the best written contributions to each of the Law School's legal journals as well as the final round Moot Court participants.
Journal Prizes
Chelsea Hannah Blake, (JD '24)
" Self-Evident: Why the Declaration of Independence is America’s True Constitution"Northwestern Law Journal des Refusés
Joshua Bernard Concannon (JD '24)
" Disclosing Machine Inputs and Outputs: The Vulnerability of Legal Technology in Civil Discovery "Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property
Elijah Nathan Gelman (JD '24)
" Hung Out to Try: A Rule 29 Revision to Stop Hung Jury Retrials "Northwestern University Law Review
Yuree Nam (JD '24)
" One-Way Ticket to Mars: The Privatization of the Space Industry "Journal of Law and Social Policy
Lisabelle Anahid Panossian, (JD '24)
" Protecting Humanity’s Cradle of Civilization: Advancing the Right to Self-Determination for Indigenous Peoples in the Middle East & South Caucasus "Journal of Human Rights
Christopher Reagen Rodenbaugh (JD '24)
" The Effect of the PRO Act on Secondary Activity and International Trade "Journal of International Law and Business
Carl Salvatore Stier (JD '24)
"A New Theory of Gun Control: A Federal Regulatory Blueprint to Hold the Firearms Industry Accountable for American Mass Shootings" (forthcoming)(second place contribution to JCLC)
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology