9/30/2016

Five distinguished law students are working for Delaware Supreme Court justices as part of their academic experience through a program that is unique to Delaware Law School.

Each fall a new group of Josiah Oliver Wolcott Fellows gets the exceptional opportunity to work for the court as law students. They serve alongside the state’s most distinguished jurists, building connections with the bench and bar, earning law school credit and receiving financial compensation through a cash grant or tuition remission scholarship.

“This is a fantastic, long-standing partnership between the law school and one of the nation’s most prestigious courts,” Dean Rodney Smolla said. “Our Wolcott fellows are a tremendous source of pride.”

The Wolcott fellows serving for the 2016-17 academic year include:

• Alexandra Joyce
• John O’Toole
• Veronica Vizzard
• Nicole Haas
• Michael Laukaitis

Wolcott Fellows are chosen through a competitive application and interview process. Those selected must present strong academic credentials, demonstrate outstanding research and writing skills, and have completed at least their second year of law school. As fellows, they work in chambers, reading case briefs and discussing cases with their justices. They also attend oral arguments.

“My experience as a Wolcott Fellow has been great,” Vizzard said. “I’ve learned so much over the last month and I look forward to learning even more. I am so grateful for this experience and the opportunities it has provided me to learn about different types of law.”

The program is named for Wolcott, the Dover, Del.-born lawyer, politician and judge who died in 1938. He was elected Delaware attorney general in 1912, and then to the U.S. Senate four years later. He resigned from the Senate in 1921 to become Chancellor of Delaware’s renowned Delaware Court of Chancery, where he served until his death at age 61.