Susan Ye '11 Wins Inaugural CEB Award

CEB Award WinnerSusan T. Ye '11 was named as the recipient of the 2009 CEB Award for Excellence in Legal Writing and Research at an awards ceremony at the King Hall Moot Courtroom on October 19. The award, which includes a $2,500 cash prize, was the inaugural presentation in what will be an annual competition at King Hall sponsored by Continuing Education of the Bar, California (CEB), a nonprofit organization of the California State Bar Association and the University of California.

Also receiving recognition as finalists in the competition were Matthew Jones '11, Miyun Choe '11, Ariel Brown '11, Jill Weinstein '11, and Alex Pacheco '11, who were chosen by King Hall faculty for having submitted the best brief in their section of the Law School's first-year Legal Research and Writing Course. 

The award ceremony featured statements from Dean Kevin R. Johnson, Professor Clay Tanaka, director of the UC Davis School of Law Legal Writing Program, as well as Michael Mills '97, a member of Stoel Rives in Sacramento who helped to judge the competition, and Pam Jester, CEB's executive director.

Speaking for himself and his fellow judges - Kathleen Butz '81, Associate Justice of the California Courts of Appeal, Third Appellate District, and Kathryn Doi '85, a partner at Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld in Sacramento - Mills said all of the judges shared a belief that quality legal writing is of utmost importance, regardless of what type of law an attorney practices. 

"One of the most important things you can take from your legal education is the ability to write well," said Mills.  "The entries we read were all excellent and we had difficulty choosing among them." 

"I've always felt that good writing reflects good thinking, so my congratulations go to all of you for displaying such good writing and good thinking," Jester said, thanking all the finalists before announcing Ye as the winner.

"It's an honor to have that a lot of hard work in the Legal Research and Writing Course has paid off in this way, and I hope to continue in my commitment to written legal advocacy," said Ye.

Continuing Education of the Bar--California

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