Professor Rachel Bayefsky of the University of Virginia School of Law has won the Junior Scholarship Award from the Association of American Law Schools’ Civil Procedure Section for her paper on the role institutionalism plays in federal courts.
The section named “Judicial Institutionalism” the best article by an untenured faculty member. Published in the Cornell Law Review, the article provides an in-depth conceptual analysis and defense of institutionalism, which Bayefsky views as an approach to judging that meaningfully takes into account two interests of the judiciary: legitimacy — understood as public confidence in the courts — and the efficient administration of the court system. Bayefsky offers several practical options for implementing institutionalism, with a focus on current issues in civil procedure and remedies.
Professor Payvand Ahdout received an honorable mention in the same category for her Virginia Law Review article “Political Mootness,” which explores the effect of elections on litigation between Congress and the executive branch over the last two decades. Ahdout documents that Congress sues the executive branch only when the two are controlled by different political parties. She then shows, for the first time, that the cases resolve only when the two branches are later controlled by the same party and reach settlements conditional on courts vacating their opinions to that point, meaning courts wipe the slate clean and undo legal development. Ahdout then examines the effects of this form of vacatur on federal courts’ identity and theory, and proposes some concrete steps forward in these cases.
This year’s AALS award recipients will be recognized at a ceremony Jan. 7 during the organization’s annual meeting in New Orleans.
Bayefsky, who joined the faculty in 2021, writes about constitutional law, federal courts, civil procedure and legal theory. Her work addresses both the practical workings of legal institutions and underlying philosophical ideas. She also has an interest in international law and transnational civil litigation in U.S. courts.
In 2021, Bayefsky won the award for Best Untenured Article on Federal Jurisdiction from the AALS for her paper “Remedies and Respect: Rethinking the Role of Federal Judicial Relief,” published in the Georgetown Law Journal.
Ahdout also joined the faculty in 2021, and her research centers on modern uses of judicial power through the lens of federal courts. Her 2023 article, “Separation-of-Powers Avoidance,” received the annual prize from the AALS Federal Courts Section for the best paper on federal courts by an untenured professor. In 2022, the Yale Law Journal honored Ahdout as its inaugural Emerging Scholar of the Year for her “significant contributions to legal thought and scholarship” and her work’s “potential to drive improvements in the law.”
Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
