As a child, Yasmin Assar (J.D. ’18) would sit down with her parents every week to watch one of their favorite TV shows, the legal drama “The Practice.” From then on, when she was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, her answer never wavered—a lawyer.
More than 300 guests joined Georgia State University College of Law faculty and staff to celebrate and recognize the exceptional service of Sylvia Caley (M.B.A. ’86, J.D. ’89), Cheryl Jester-George, Paul Milich and Roy Sobelson, who are retiring this year.
Over her 30 years at the College of Law, Cheryl Jester-George was success and leadership served as a model to others, said Steven J. Kaminshine, professor of law.
Some titles are formal; others are not. Professor Roy Sobelson has gained several since joining Georgia State Law in 1985. Official positions he has served in include professor of law, associate dean for academic affairs, and director of the LL.M. program. In addition, students have given him nicknames like Sobe-Wan Kenobi and The Law School’s Dad to describe the roles he has played in their law-school experiences and lives.
When Brandon Reed (J.D. ’18) came to Georgia State Law, he’d been working as a sales representative for a medical device manufacturer for five years. The Georgia Institute of Technology graduate loved what he did. However, he wanted to continue his education; he just wasn’t sure in what way — at first.
As part of Teach For America, Andrew “Andy” Navratil (J.D. ’18) taught fourth- and fifth-grade math and science for two years in Miami before becoming a coach to train new teachers and then an academic dean of a charter middle school. After eight years in education, Navratil decided to pursue the career that he had thought about since middle school.
Jessica Williams-Vickery (J.D.’18), editor-in-chief of the Georgia State University Law Review, is more of a carrot than a stick kind of person when leading others toward a goal.
While at Georgia State Law, Karina Deochand (B.S. ’15, J.D. ’18) took advantage of several opportunities that piqued her interest in pursuing a legal career in an area with an international scope.
As the student commencement speaker this year, Thomas Michael “Mike” Hodell, 52, wants to impart what it has meant to him personally to attend Georgia State Law and embark on what he calls “my third career.”
He won the lottery. Now he’s graduating from law school—again. Serge Luhaga (LL.M. ’18), recipient of this year’s Pro Bono Award, graduated from law school and worked as an in-house counsel in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo when the manager of his father’s cybercafé, similar to a “FedEx Office,” urged him to apply online for the United States’ diversity visa.