Amanda Parks ’06 is the 2006 recipient of the Brian M. Sax Prize for Excellence in Clinical Advocacy. The prize is awarded each spring to a graduating law student who has best displayed excellence in advocacy and professional judgment on behalf of clients while participating in a Boalt-sponsored legal clinic.
A student intern in Boalt’s Death Penalty Clinic, Parks was recognized for significant investigative and legal work on behalf of a client on Alabama’s death row. Parks took lead responsibility among clinic students for developing and maintaining the attorney-client relationship and helped conduct witness interviews and collect records. Along with making four trips to Alabama, she conducted extensive legal research and analysis in preparation for a hearing and drafted a brief to the Alabama Circuit Court.
The Brian M. Sax Prize was established in memory of Brian Sax ’69, a respected litigator in the San Francisco Bay Area and longtime Boalt lecturer. This year’s recipients of honorable mention awards are Shelley Cavalieri ’06 for her work with the International Human Rights Law Clinic and Emily Schaeffer ’06 for her work in the East Bay Community Law Center.
All three students, along with other participants in Boalt clinical programs, were honored at the Brian M. Sax Award Luncheon at Boalt on April 18.