Nashville School of Law 4L students who are finalists for the annual Robert Ballow Excellence in Writing Awards attended a ceremony on Wednesday, March 25, where top honors were announced.
Eight students were recognized for their work in the Rigorous Writing Exercise (RWE) program.
The following students and their mentors received the top awards:
- 1st – Diane Boncquet / Mentor – Doni Porteous ’20 – Local Governments: Not Your Average Tortfeasor: The Collateral Source Rule’s Impact on Local Governments and the Need for Change
- 2nd – Caroline Cathey / Mentor – Jackie Dixon – Presumed Guilty: The Erosion of the Right to Bail in Tennessee
- 3rd (Tie) – Jake Downard / Mentor – Colin Calhoun ’08 – Name, Image and Likeness in Collegiate Athletics: The Judicial Decisions that Led to Where Things Stand Today, and What Must be Done Moving Forward
- 3rd (Tie) – Joshua Mayorquin / Mentor – Jon Cooper ’04 – Two Sides of the Same First Amendment Coin: Overturning Buckley v. Valeo and Its Impact Upon Tennessee’s Lobbyist Contribution Ban
(Click on the name of each paper to read the award-winning work.)
RWE Finalists include:
- Feliks Abrahamyan / Mentor – Donnavon Vasek ’15
- Isle M. Bloss / Mentor – Morgan Bernard
- Sammuel O. McCusker / Mentor – Judge Douglas Chapman ’10
- Bridgett Sentmore / Mentor – Kate Nyquist ’20
The Rigorous Writing Exercise (RWE), led by Program Director Lisa Helton, is a project all Nashville School of Law students embark on as a requirement of graduation. Working with a volunteer mentor from the legal community, students research and write a 15–20-page paper on the topic of their choice.
Each year, the students’ submissions are evaluated by a panel of legal writing experts, who determine finalists and award winners.
Our 2025 Mentor of the Year award was presented to Ms. Kate Nyquist ’20.
The honor is conferred in recognition of a mentor’s exceptional service to the Rigorous Writing Exercise Program.
Nyquist is a Nashville native and a 2020 graduate of Nashville School of Law. During law school and in the early years of her legal career, she served as a title attorney with Rudy Title & Escrow. In 2022, she joined MHPS in Nashville, where her practice focuses on probate administration and conservatorship matters. Nyquist and her husband, Darius, welcomed their first child in 2024.
The RWE award is named for Robert L. Ballow, Esq, who endowed the award with a generous contribution that allows for a cash award to the top three finalists.
Mr. Ballow graduated from the School in 1963. He was the founding partner of King & Ballow, a national law firm whose clients include Fortune 500 companies, more than 300 daily newspapers, and 100 radio and televisions stations. He was a member of the Media Law Reporter Advisory Board, the Labor Law Section of the American Bar Association, and the ABA Committee on Antitrust and Labor Relations.
