Commencement Day Awards

Each year at Commencement, the School of Law recognizes graduating JD and LLM students who have excelled in their overall scholarship or in community service.

These awards recognize student achievement in a wide range of areas including:

  • academic excellence in particulars areas of study;
  • outstanding advocacy skills;
  • leadership both within and outside the law school;
  • and exceptional commitment to the mission of a particular community or student group.

While most awards are nominated by faculty and deans based on academics or community service, a few are self- nominated.

2024 Award Recipients 2024 Award Descriptions

Congratulations to our 2024 award recipients:

Top Honors

To be announced at our Commencement Ceremony.

Max Koren Award

  • Steve Burke 
  • Jack Weisbeck 

John N. Bennett Achievement Award

  • Mathew Biondolillo

Dale S. Margulis Award

  • Deja Renee Graham

Bachelor of Arts in Law Achievement Award

  • Emily Henninger

Awards and Prizes

Carlos C. Alden Award

  • Mathew Biondolillo

Award for Excellence in the Study of Health Law

  • Racquel Joan Bozzelli

Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law

  • Claire Elizabeth Hofmeister
  • Noah Christopher Neale

Award for Excellence in the Study of Labor and Employment Law

  • Christopher M. Borgatti
  • Haley Wynne Case

Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) Outstanding Clinic Student Award

  • Kelly Marie Tripi

Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) Outstanding Externship Student Award

  • Amy Timm Crosier

Robert J. Connelly Trial Technique Awards (2023-24)

  • James Crowley ’25
  • James D. Garvey ’25
  • William G. Hecht ’25
  • Andrew Stephen Henry ’26
  • Lindsey G. Hornung ’26
  • Elizabeth Charlotte Hughes ’26
  • Sierra E. Leitten ’25
  • Sara M. Paltrowitz ’25
  • Erin Kathryn Pierchala ’26
  • Quinn A. Webster ’25
  • Jenna Wojdan-Price ’26

Robert J. Connelly Trial Technique Awards (2022-23)

  • Erin Sydney Welsh (Received as 2L)

Professor Louis DelCotto Award

  • Claire Elizabeth Hofmeister

Justice M. Dolores Denman Award

  • Kelly Marie Tripi

Monique E. Emdin Memorial Award

  • Glenaida Rose Mercado

Maurice Frey Award

  • Andrew Sung Stewart

William R. Greiner “Committed Humility” Award

  • Elizabeth Charlotte Hughes
  • Glenaida Rose Mercado

Justice Philip Halpern Award

  • Davis Badger Anderson

Professor Thomas E. Headrick “Trees and Forest” Award

  • Nicholas Chibuikem Ogam
  • Judge Matthew J. Jasen

Appellate Practice Award

  • Haley Wynne Case

Milton Kaplan Award in Law and Social Development

  • Anna Elizabeth Lawrence
  • James M. Kieffer

Trial Excellence Award

  • Jane Anne Kent

David Kochery Award

  • Alexis Nicole DiCarlo

Dan D. Kohane ‘79 Insurance Award

  • Madison Anna Burns

The Lavender Gavel Award

  • Daniel Kahl
  • Ron LaPort

Professor Virginia Leary Award

  • Bryan Joel Gilbert-Overland
  • Tyler I. Wood

Minority Bar Foundation’s Legal Commencement Award

  • Deja Renee Graham

Moot Evidence Award

  • Victoria Susan Heist

Albert R. Mugel Award

  • Antoinette Marie Marcoccia

Ryan J. Mullins Award

  • Anna Elizabeth Lawrence

The Order of Barristers

  • Davis Badger Anderson
  • Mathew Biondolillo
  • Steve Burke
  • Haley Wynne Case
  • Andrew Stephen Henry
  • Alec Riley Herbert
  • Elizabeth Charlotte Hughes
  • Kelly Lynn Kulakowski
  • Matthew W. Mitchell
  • Jenna Wojdan-Price

The Order of the Coif

  • Davis Badger Anderson
  • Mathew Biondolillo
  • Steve Burke
  • Madison Anna Burns
  • Ciara Mairead Donohue
  • Jordan Cassidy Eaton
  • Katherine Lyn Fierle
  • Haley E. Germain
  • Alec Riley Herbert
  • Claire Elizabeth Hofmeister
  • Lexi Renee Horton
  • Anna Elizabeth Lawrence
  • Noah Christopher Neale
  • Shelley Louise Payne
  • Elyse Joy Ponterio
  • Daniel Robert Pszonak
  • Jack William Weisbeck

Harry A. Rachlin Prize in Real Property Law and Real Estate Transactions

  • Madison Anna Burns

Judge William J. Regan Award

  • Ciara Mairead Donohue

UB Law Alumni Association’s GOLD Group Award

  • Rachel Morgan Golden

Cornelius W. Wickersham, Jr. Award

  • Jack William Weisbeck

Faculty & Staff Awards

Faculty Award

  • Prof. Christine P. Bartholomew

Staff Award

  • Eisa Lackey