The Supreme Court of Georgia welcomes its 2023-24 class of term law clerks.
Term law clerks serve for one year, assisting their assigned Justices with legal research, drafting, and reviewing opinions, preparing for oral arguments, and other important responsibilities.
The 2023-2024 class of term clerks consists of high-caliber law school graduates, including several former judicial interns and former and future federal court clerks. They also include past moot court competitors and winners, legal publication editors, a former business consultant, a university student body president and vice president, and a published novelist.
Now in its sixth year, the Court’s term clerk program allows Georgia’s highest court to invest in the future leaders of the Georgia bar, as well as in the state’s appellate practice, through an intensive year of legal research and writing. Some of this year’s term clerks graduated recently from law school, while others have come to the Court after one or more years of work in the legal profession.
“Our Court is fortunate to have a talented cohort of term clerks starting this fall, and we look forward to providing them with meaningful, hands-on experience in appellate practice,” Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs said. “We are confident these new lawyers will find their clerkships valuable as they embark on what we know will be rewarding careers in law.”
Meet the 2023-24 class:
- Frankie Brown, a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Charlie Bethel. During law school, she was the online editor of the Georgia Law Review and participated in the law school’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. She also worked as a teaching assistant to Prof. Christian Turner in Foundations of American Law. Prior to law school, she published a novel and worked as a litigation paralegal. Brown, who grew up in Albany, Ga., earned her Bachelor of Science in sociology with a concentration in criminology from Kennesaw State University. She has worked as an extern for judges on two federal district courts.
- Rachel Byers, who graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Verda M. Colvin. Byers, whose hometown is Monroe, Ga., also earned her undergraduate degree in political science from UGA, where she served as student body president. During law school, she interned for judges on two federal district courts. Byers was also an editorial board member of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, president of Dean’s Ambassadors, a member of the moot court board, and a winner of the Hulsey-Gambrell Moot Court Competition and the National Online Moot Court Competition.
- Mitch Fucetola, a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren. Fucetola, who is from Saint Simons Island, Ga., also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and a Master of Accountancy from UGA. During law school, he was articles editor of the Georgia Law Review and was a research assistant to Prof. Usha Rodrigues, M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate and Securities Law. He also was a recipient of the Perry Sentell and Law School Association scholarships. Prior to his clerkship with the Supreme Court of Georgia, Fucetola interned for a federal district court judge and was an associate attorney at a large Atlanta law firm.
- Jordan Lipp, who graduated summa cum laude and first in his class from Mercer University School of Law, is clerking for Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs. Lipp, who grew up in Pine Mountain Valley, Ga., also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in human resource management from Mercer’s Stetson-Hatcher School of Business. During law school, he was a member of the Mercer Law Review where he was published twice, served as co-president of the Christian Legal Society, was a Woodruff Scholar, and was a member of several honors societies. Prior to his clerkship with the Supreme Court of Georgia, he interned on the Georgia Court of Appeals and on the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Superior Court.
- Samantha Thompson Lipp, a magna cum laude graduate of Mercer University School of Law, is clerking for Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson. Lipp, who hails from Vidalia, Ga., also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing and entrepreneurship from Mercer. During law school, she interned on the Georgia Court of Appeals, served as president of Phi Delta Phi Honor Society, participated as a student member of the William Augustus Bootle Inn of Court, and was named the inaugural recipient of the Hugh B. McNatt Scholarship. Prior to law school, she worked in business consulting.
- Evan Long, a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua. Long, originally from Lilburn, Ga., comes to the Court after clerking for Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia in Augusta. In law school, he also completed internships with the Fulton County Attorney’s Office, the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, and the Georgia House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Long holds an undergraduate degree in international affairs from Georgia Tech, where he graduated with highest honors.
- Roya Naghepour, a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Andrew A. Pinson. Naghepour, from Roswell, Ga., is a first-generation college and law school graduate who also earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from UGA where she served as UGA Student Body Vice President and as a voting member of the UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors. In law school, she served as a notes editor of the Georgia Law Review and won the 2021 Hulsey Gambrell Moot Court Competition. She also became the first law student to present oral argument before the Court of Appeals of Georgia, the state’s intermediate appellate court, as a student attorney with UGA’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. Prior to her clerkship with the Supreme Court of Georgia, Naghepour clerked for Judge Lisa Godbey Wood in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
- Eric Wang, who graduated first in his class from Emory University School of Law, is clerking for Justice Carla Wong McMillian. Wang, who is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University and graduated summa cum laude. At Emory, where Wang also earned a Master of Theological Studies, he was the executive symposium editor of the Emory Law Journal and a Robert W. Woodruff Fellow. He also has worked as a legal extern for the Solicitor General’s Unit at the Office of the Attorney General of Georgia and as a judicial intern on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following this clerkship, Wang will clerk for Judge Andrew Brasher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The Supreme Court of Georgia’s term clerk program began in 2018 with the support of the Georgia General Assembly. Each Justice hires his or her own one-year term clerk.
