Student Organizations


Student Organizations

College of Law student organizations offer many opportunities for students to engage with the community, build connections with practicing lawyers and potential employers, and form lifelong bonds with their peers.

Our student organizations host lively debates, meaningful community service activities and stimulating social events. College of Law students benefit from immersive learning experiences and valuable networking opportunities.

Below are the currently active student organizations at the College of Law. Student members are responsible for the management, philosophy, and views of each student organization. Students are also actively involved in the publication of the College of Law’s various journals.

College of Law Student Organizations

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is dedicated to providing a forum for education, advocacy, and scholarship aimed at protecting the lives and advancing the interests of nonhuman animals through the legal system, as well as raising general awareness of animal law. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a national organization. UT Law’s organization is a student sub-chapter of the national organization.

Contact Person: Camille Alley, President
Faculty AdvisorJoan Heminway

The Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA) is committed to advocating for Asian Pacific American interests both at the College of Law and within the greater legal community. APALSA strives to promote academic and professional excellence for its members by serving as a liaison between UT Law, national APALSA, and NAPABA (National Asian Pacific American Bar Association). Committed to promoting inclusivity and unity, APALSA strives to facilitate allyship among its members and other affinity groups and welcomes all law students.

Contact Person: Vivian Lee, President
Faculty Advisors: Eric Amarante & Michelle Kwon

As a local chapter of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), BLSA offers a dynamic range of programs and events throughout the academic year. Our organization hosts panels on mentorship with practicing attorneys, networking sessions, and workshops focused on practicing law and navigating the legal field. BLSA features competitive Mock Trial and Moot Court teams for 2L and 3L students, with a special 1L Fellow observation program to help first-year students learn about the competition process.

Throughout the year, BLSA hosts numerous community-building and professional development events, including our annual Friendsgiving celebration, speaking engagements during Black History Month, and participation in the prestigious Blackshear Gala during the Spring semester. We also conduct our popular Hot Chocolate Fundraiser during the winter months. Members participate in tailgates, membership socials, community service opportunities, and more.

Contact Person: Trinity Sandifer, President
Faculty Advisors: Dwight Aarons & Kristina Kersey

As the University of Tennessee chapter for the Christian Legal Society, our missions and goals include the following:

  • Cultivate spiritual growth among its members through communal prayer, fellowship, and worship; learning to share one’s faith; and devotional study of the Bible and classic Christian works
  • Show the love of Christ to the campus community and community at large by proclaiming the gospel in word and in deed, such as through a life of integrity and charitable good works; as Martin Luther put it, “to be as Christ to our neighbor.”
  • Address the question, “What does it mean to a Christian in law?” that is, learning to submit every aspect of one’s calling in the legal profession to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Contact Person: Hanna Grace Garner, President

We are a group of law students that has a passion for playing volleyball. All skill levels are invited!

Contact Person: Brandon Kriplean
Advisor: Brad Morgan, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

Contact Person: Nicholas Gomez
Faculty Advisor: Brad Finney

The Environmental Law Organization seeks to connect its members to the broader environmental law community, inform them of the environmental law and policy issues they are likely to encounter during their careers, and empower them to confront those issues thoughtfully and practically.

Contact Person: Samantha Brooks
Faculty Advisor: Becky Jacobs

The Federalist Society is a non-partisan group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the law and legal system. The society’s principles are that “the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.” The society seeks to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.

Contact Person: Austin Gergen
Faculty Advisor: Glenn Reynolds

The mission of the Health Law Society is to provide a venue for students interested in health law to discuss current health law issues and to generate greater awareness of those issues among the College of Law community. In addition, the Health Law Society seeks to link the college of law community to career opportunities within health law. HLS especially strives to serve this mission through our annual Health Law Week events and various guest speakers who possess a wealth of knowledge about health law.

Contact Person: Virginia Pirkle, President
Faculty Advisors: Valarie Blake and Zack Buck

If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice supports law students and legal professionals aiming to increase dialogue, awareness, and activism to protect and expand reproductive justice. If/When/How is committed to fostering the next wave of legal experts for the reproductive justice movement through mobilizing and mentoring law students that will build capacity, vision, and leadership for a more successful reproductive justice movement.

If/When/How believes that reproductive justice will exist when all people can exercise the rights and access the resources they need to thrive and to decide if, when, and how to create and sustain their families with dignity, free from discrimination, coercion, or violence.

Contact Person: Natalia Lewis
Faculty Advisor: Valorie Vojdik

Contact Person: Peyton Moses
Faculty Advisor: Robert Blitt

The Latino Law Student Association at UT Law is dedicated to preparing its members for their professional roles while promoting awareness of Latino interests and issues within the legal community and the College of Law. We provide a robust academic and social support system to advance the interests and welfare of our members and the broader law school community.

Contact Person: Karen Espinoza, President
Faculty Advisors: Eric Amarante & Sherley Cruz

Law Students for Life strives to give the pro-life movement a platform on the College of Law campus. The organization has two main goals: to support pregnant women by conducting service projects with local pregnancy centers and to bring speakers to campus to inspire respectful dialogue within the law school community. We are affiliated with Students for Life.

Contact Person: Becca Parsons
Faculty Advisor: Brad Areheart

legal profession and academic community. Law Women strives to raise awareness of issues related to women’s participation in the judicial system, promote career opportunities for women within the legal profession, act as a forum for networking with attorneys and other legal professionals, and coordinate activities within the university community that address issues of concern to women. Law Women accepts law school students and undergraduate honorary members – both female and male – who are committed to advancing these goals.

Contact Person: Savannah Hall, President
Faculty Advisors: Teri Baxter, Joan Heminway & Michelle Kwon

The Moot Court Board is comprised of second- and third-year students who have demonstrated excellence in trial and appellate advocacy. The board sponsors two annual intramural competitions: the Ray H. Jenkins Trial Competition and the Advocates’ Prize Moot Court Competition. Any UT Law 2L or 3L may participate in these intramural competitions. The board also coordinates several competitive traveling teams.

Contact Person: Nate Kelly, Chair

OUTlaw is a student organization dedicated to promoting diversity education and awareness, fellowship, and discussion in the UT Law community and the Knoxville area.

The purposes of the OUTlaw Legal Society of the University of Tennessee College of Law are:

  • To promote an understanding of LGBTQ+ legal concerns within the academic and legal communities and in the public.
  • To organize academic programs concerning LGBTQ+ legal issues and to facilitate discussion about those issues within the academic and legal communities and in the public.
  • To foster an inclusive university environment where members of the LGBTQ+ community can live, learn, and work free from discrimination, bias, hostility, oppression, and fear of violence.
  • To work toward the extension of basic human and civil rights to LGBTQ+ persons through pro bono research for attorneys handling cases regarding LGBTQ+ legal issues and through research and writing for publication in legal journals and periodicals.

Contact Person: Han Lemberg, President

The Phi Alpha Delta Law fraternity strives to form a strong bond uniting students and teachers of the law with members of the bench and bar in a fraternal fellowship designed to advance the ideals of liberty and equal justice under law, to stimulate excellence in scholarship, to inspire the virtues of compassion and courage, to foster integrity and professional competence, to promote the welfare of its members, and to encourage their moral, intellectual, and cultural advancement so that each member may enjoy a lifetime of honorable professional or public service.

Contact Person: Grant Peterson, President
Faculty Advisor: Judy Cornett

The Privacy, Intellectual Property, and Technology Law student organization at the University of Tennessee College of Law is dedicated to informing, educating, and engaging students who are interested in the rapidly evolving fields of privacy, intellectual property, and technology law.

Contact Person: Jordyn Dickey, President
Faculty Advisor: Gary Pulsinelli

UT Pro Bono is a community service organization with significant student leadership and staff direction at the University of Tennessee College of Law. The program strives to connect law students with area attorneys providing pro bono service to clients. Working in cooperation with attorneys, local legal aid societies, and other nonprofit organizations, UT Pro Bono serves as a resource by providing law students for research, educational, and investigatory assistance.

Contact Person: Olivia Betterton, President
Advisor: Brad Morgan, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

The Public Interest Collective seeks to promote public interest law and deepen the understanding of public interest law within the academic, legal, and public communities. We work to organize programming that highlights public interest lawyering and create intentional spaces at the College of Law for students interested in public interest law. The Public Interest Collective works with students to create networks between UTK Law Students and public interest professionals.

Contact Person: Han Lemberg, President
Faculty Advisor: Wendy Bach

Race, Gender and Social Justice focuses on a variety of social issues discussing race, gender, and social justice that impact Tennessee and the national legal community.

Contact Person: Cheyenne Peters, Editor in Chief
Faculty Advisor: Val Vojdik

The purpose of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society is to promote an interest in and understanding of the issues and new developments associated with the sports and entertainment law fields and to aid in networking between students and alumni who have an interest in the sports and entertainment law fields.

Contact Person: Will Sikes, President
Faculty Advisor: Brian Krumm

As the voice of the law student body, the Student Bar Association is a direct channel to the law school administration. The Student Bar Association holds its meetings throughout the academic year to discuss concerns raised by fellow law students. The meetings not only serve as a way to remedy issues, but also as a way to develop new and better services for UT Law students.

Contact Person: Corey Lee, President

Contact Person: Caleb Atkins, Editor in Chief 

Contact Person: Sabrina Huston, Managing Editor
Faculty Advisors: Eric Amarante and Michelle Kwon

Contact Person: Paul Henken, Editor in Chief
Faculty Advisor: Brian Krumm

Vols for Veterans is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in April 2017 by students committed to offering assistance to veterans in the Knoxville community. The organization introduces law students to career opportunities in military service through JAG careers, assists veterans through pro bono work, and annually awards the Gen. Clifton Cates Leadership Scholarship to two law student veterans or dependents of veterans. In 2018, the organization received the Charles R. Burchett Extraordinary Contributions to Campus Life Award.

Contact Person: Joel Wetta, President

Student Organizations

College of Law student organizations offer many opportunities for students to engage with the community, build connections with practicing lawyers and potential employers, and form lifelong bonds with their peers.

Our student organizations host lively debates, meaningful community service activities and stimulating social events. College of Law students benefit from immersive learning experiences and valuable networking opportunities.

Below are the currently active student organizations at the College of Law. Student members are responsible for the management, philosophy, and views of each student organization. Students are also actively involved in the publication of the College of Law’s various journals.

College of Law Student Organizations

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is dedicated to providing a forum for education, advocacy, and scholarship aimed at protecting the lives and advancing the interests of nonhuman animals through the legal system, as well as raising general awareness of animal law. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a national organization. UT Law’s organization is a student sub-chapter of the national organization.

Contact Person: Camille Alley, President
Faculty AdvisorJoan Heminway

The Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA) is committed to advocating for Asian Pacific American interests both at the College of Law and within the greater legal community. APALSA strives to promote academic and professional excellence for its members by serving as a liaison between UT Law, national APALSA, and NAPABA (National Asian Pacific American Bar Association). Committed to promoting inclusivity and unity, APALSA strives to facilitate allyship among its members and other affinity groups and welcomes all law students.

Contact Person: Vivian Lee, President
Faculty Advisors: Eric Amarante & Michelle Kwon

As a local chapter of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), BLSA offers a dynamic range of programs and events throughout the academic year. Our organization hosts panels on mentorship with practicing attorneys, networking sessions, and workshops focused on practicing law and navigating the legal field. BLSA features competitive Mock Trial and Moot Court teams for 2L and 3L students, with a special 1L Fellow observation program to help first-year students learn about the competition process.

Throughout the year, BLSA hosts numerous community-building and professional development events, including our annual Friendsgiving celebration, speaking engagements during Black History Month, and participation in the prestigious Blackshear Gala during the Spring semester. We also conduct our popular Hot Chocolate Fundraiser during the winter months. Members participate in tailgates, membership socials, community service opportunities, and more.

Contact Person: Trinity Sandifer, President
Faculty Advisors: Dwight Aarons & Kristina Kersey

As the University of Tennessee chapter for the Christian Legal Society, our missions and goals include the following:

  • Cultivate spiritual growth among its members through communal prayer, fellowship, and worship; learning to share one’s faith; and devotional study of the Bible and classic Christian works
  • Show the love of Christ to the campus community and community at large by proclaiming the gospel in word and in deed, such as through a life of integrity and charitable good works; as Martin Luther put it, “to be as Christ to our neighbor.”
  • Address the question, “What does it mean to a Christian in law?” that is, learning to submit every aspect of one’s calling in the legal profession to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Contact Person: Hanna Grace Garner, President

We are a group of law students that has a passion for playing volleyball. All skill levels are invited!

Contact Person: Brandon Kriplean
Advisor: Brad Morgan, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

Contact Person: Nicholas Gomez
Faculty Advisor: Brad Finney

The Environmental Law Organization seeks to connect its members to the broader environmental law community, inform them of the environmental law and policy issues they are likely to encounter during their careers, and empower them to confront those issues thoughtfully and practically.

Contact Person: Samantha Brooks
Faculty Advisor: Becky Jacobs

The Federalist Society is a non-partisan group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the law and legal system. The society’s principles are that “the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.” The society seeks to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.

Contact Person: Austin Gergen
Faculty Advisor: Glenn Reynolds

The mission of the Health Law Society is to provide a venue for students interested in health law to discuss current health law issues and to generate greater awareness of those issues among the College of Law community. In addition, the Health Law Society seeks to link the college of law community to career opportunities within health law. HLS especially strives to serve this mission through our annual Health Law Week events and various guest speakers who possess a wealth of knowledge about health law.

Contact Person: Virginia Pirkle, President
Faculty Advisors: Valarie Blake and Zack Buck

If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice supports law students and legal professionals aiming to increase dialogue, awareness, and activism to protect and expand reproductive justice. If/When/How is committed to fostering the next wave of legal experts for the reproductive justice movement through mobilizing and mentoring law students that will build capacity, vision, and leadership for a more successful reproductive justice movement.

If/When/How believes that reproductive justice will exist when all people can exercise the rights and access the resources they need to thrive and to decide if, when, and how to create and sustain their families with dignity, free from discrimination, coercion, or violence.

Contact Person: Natalia Lewis
Faculty Advisor: Valorie Vojdik

Contact Person: Peyton Moses
Faculty Advisor: Robert Blitt

The Latino Law Student Association at UT Law is dedicated to preparing its members for their professional roles while promoting awareness of Latino interests and issues within the legal community and the College of Law. We provide a robust academic and social support system to advance the interests and welfare of our members and the broader law school community.

Contact Person: Karen Espinoza, President
Faculty Advisors: Eric Amarante & Sherley Cruz

Law Students for Life strives to give the pro-life movement a platform on the College of Law campus. The organization has two main goals: to support pregnant women by conducting service projects with local pregnancy centers and to bring speakers to campus to inspire respectful dialogue within the law school community. We are affiliated with Students for Life.

Contact Person: Becca Parsons
Faculty Advisor: Brad Areheart

legal profession and academic community. Law Women strives to raise awareness of issues related to women’s participation in the judicial system, promote career opportunities for women within the legal profession, act as a forum for networking with attorneys and other legal professionals, and coordinate activities within the university community that address issues of concern to women. Law Women accepts law school students and undergraduate honorary members – both female and male – who are committed to advancing these goals.

Contact Person: Savannah Hall, President
Faculty Advisors: Teri Baxter, Joan Heminway & Michelle Kwon

The Moot Court Board is comprised of second- and third-year students who have demonstrated excellence in trial and appellate advocacy. The board sponsors two annual intramural competitions: the Ray H. Jenkins Trial Competition and the Advocates’ Prize Moot Court Competition. Any UT Law 2L or 3L may participate in these intramural competitions. The board also coordinates several competitive traveling teams.

Contact Person: Nate Kelly, Chair

OUTlaw is a student organization dedicated to promoting diversity education and awareness, fellowship, and discussion in the UT Law community and the Knoxville area.

The purposes of the OUTlaw Legal Society of the University of Tennessee College of Law are:

  • To promote an understanding of LGBTQ+ legal concerns within the academic and legal communities and in the public.
  • To organize academic programs concerning LGBTQ+ legal issues and to facilitate discussion about those issues within the academic and legal communities and in the public.
  • To foster an inclusive university environment where members of the LGBTQ+ community can live, learn, and work free from discrimination, bias, hostility, oppression, and fear of violence.
  • To work toward the extension of basic human and civil rights to LGBTQ+ persons through pro bono research for attorneys handling cases regarding LGBTQ+ legal issues and through research and writing for publication in legal journals and periodicals.

Contact Person: Han Lemberg, President

The Phi Alpha Delta Law fraternity strives to form a strong bond uniting students and teachers of the law with members of the bench and bar in a fraternal fellowship designed to advance the ideals of liberty and equal justice under law, to stimulate excellence in scholarship, to inspire the virtues of compassion and courage, to foster integrity and professional competence, to promote the welfare of its members, and to encourage their moral, intellectual, and cultural advancement so that each member may enjoy a lifetime of honorable professional or public service.

Contact Person: Grant Peterson, President
Faculty Advisor: Judy Cornett

The Privacy, Intellectual Property, and Technology Law student organization at the University of Tennessee College of Law is dedicated to informing, educating, and engaging students who are interested in the rapidly evolving fields of privacy, intellectual property, and technology law.

Contact Person: Jordyn Dickey, President
Faculty Advisor: Gary Pulsinelli

UT Pro Bono is a community service organization with significant student leadership and staff direction at the University of Tennessee College of Law. The program strives to connect law students with area attorneys providing pro bono service to clients. Working in cooperation with attorneys, local legal aid societies, and other nonprofit organizations, UT Pro Bono serves as a resource by providing law students for research, educational, and investigatory assistance.

Contact Person: Olivia Betterton, President
Advisor: Brad Morgan, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

The Public Interest Collective seeks to promote public interest law and deepen the understanding of public interest law within the academic, legal, and public communities. We work to organize programming that highlights public interest lawyering and create intentional spaces at the College of Law for students interested in public interest law. The Public Interest Collective works with students to create networks between UTK Law Students and public interest professionals.

Contact Person: Han Lemberg, President
Faculty Advisor: Wendy Bach

Race, Gender and Social Justice focuses on a variety of social issues discussing race, gender, and social justice that impact Tennessee and the national legal community.

Contact Person: Cheyenne Peters, Editor in Chief
Faculty Advisor: Val Vojdik

The purpose of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society is to promote an interest in and understanding of the issues and new developments associated with the sports and entertainment law fields and to aid in networking between students and alumni who have an interest in the sports and entertainment law fields.

Contact Person: Will Sikes, President
Faculty Advisor: Brian Krumm

As the voice of the law student body, the Student Bar Association is a direct channel to the law school administration. The Student Bar Association holds its meetings throughout the academic year to discuss concerns raised by fellow law students. The meetings not only serve as a way to remedy issues, but also as a way to develop new and better services for UT Law students.

Contact Person: Corey Lee, President

Contact Person: Caleb Atkins, Editor in Chief 

Contact Person: Sabrina Huston, Managing Editor
Faculty Advisors: Eric Amarante and Michelle Kwon

Contact Person: Paul Henken, Editor in Chief
Faculty Advisor: Brian Krumm

Vols for Veterans is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in April 2017 by students committed to offering assistance to veterans in the Knoxville community. The organization introduces law students to career opportunities in military service through JAG careers, assists veterans through pro bono work, and annually awards the Gen. Clifton Cates Leadership Scholarship to two law student veterans or dependents of veterans. In 2018, the organization received the Charles R. Burchett Extraordinary Contributions to Campus Life Award.

Contact Person: Joel Wetta, President

American Constitution Society for Law and Policy

UT Law students operate a chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS), which believes law should be a force to improve the lives of all people. ACS works for positive change by shaping debate on vitally important legal and constitutional issues through the development and promotion of high-impact ideas to opinion leaders and the media; by building networks of lawyers, law students, judges, and policymakers dedicated to those ideas; and by countering conservative legal opinion.

Dwight Aarons – Advisor
daarons@utk.edu