For Immediate Release
June 20, 2006

Contact:
Kara Tershel , (202) 662-9500

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Georgetown University Law Center third-year student Stephen Lessard has won a 2006 Burton Award for Legal Achievement.  He was selected for his paper, Playing the Economic Substance Trump Card: Black & Decker v. United States.  Lessard and 13 other winners from law schools around the country received their awards at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress on June 12. 

Georgetown Law, along with the University of Michigan Law School and William & Mary School of Law, was also recognized with a 2006 Law School Record of Distinctions Award, given annually to law schools with winners in the program for three or more years.  Past recipients from Georgetown Law include Carrolle Kim, Georgetown Law Class of 2005, for her paper, Failing the Spirit of ERISA: Knolling v. American Power Conversion Corp. and Mary Calkins, Georgetown Law Class of 2001, for her work, They Shoot Trojan Horses, Don't They? An Economic Analysis of Anti-Hacking Regulatory Models.

The awards were created by the Burton Foundation in 1999 to reward effective legal writing and honor attorneys and law students who use "plain, clear and concise language and avoid archaic, stilted legalese."

The foundation was established by William C. Burton, a partner in the international law firm of D’Amato& Lynch, author of Burton's Legal Thesaurus and an advocate of plain language and modernized legal writing. The award program is run in association with the Library of Congress Law Library.

Lessard is a retired surface warfare officer in the United States Navy.  His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal.  At Georgetown Law, he is a Dean’s List student and executive editor of The Tax Lawyer.  He will receive his J.D. in May 2007. 

About Georgetown University Law Center

 Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.

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