HORSESHOE CRAB PAPER WINS LAW SCHOOL’S BOB BARKER PRIZE

The more papers we see by lawyers about what humankind is doing to all the other species on our shared planet can only be a good thing.

 

ACCOLADES: HORSESHOE CRAB PAPER WINS LAW SCHOOL’S BOB BARKER PRIZE

They’re slim pickings in terms of food, but these critters save lives. Therein lies the meat of an alumnus’ award-winning paper.

Sami Ghubril, a May graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, has won the Law School’s annual prize for in-depth analysis of an issue relevant to animal law: the dwindling horseshoe crab population.

Sami Ghubril (Gittings Photography)

The Animal Law Program awarded its Bob Barker Prize in Animal Law, Ethics and Rights, which includes $2,500, to Ghubril in September. “Saving the Horseshoe Crab: The Case for the Oft-Forgotten, Critically Important Living Fossil,” was reviewed by a panel of judges with expertise in animal-related legal issues.

Ghubril’s paper looks at the important medical application derived from the prehistoric creature’s blood, the complications that this life-saving breakthrough has created for the species, and options for solving the problem.

Also recognized in the writing competition, third-year student Mary Maerz won an award for her papers “Corporate Cruelty” and “In Defense of Pro-Carceral Animal Law.” The awarding of a runner-up prize is a rare honor, according to law professor Mimi Riley, the program’s director.

 

Ghubril, whose paper was published in October in the Virginia Environmental Law Journal, is an associate in the Houston office of Kirkland & Ellis.

Source: https://news.virginia.edu/content/accolades-horseshoe-crab-paper-wins-law-schools-bob-barker-prize