Student Scholarship Celebrated at 2026 Law Review Notes Colloquium Carlyn Kirk and Pierson Hotchkiss were honored for their scholarly contributions to the Law Review.

By Law Communications
September 14, 2026

On Friday, September 11, the Washington and Lee Law Review held its annual celebration of student scholarship, the Student Notes Colloquium.

Each year, the Law Review staff writers, as second-year law students, write an article on an issue of current interest in the law. The editorial board of the Law Review evaluates the submissions, choosing the two most outstanding notes to receive awards the following year. This year’s winners are Carlyn Kirk ‘27L and Pierson Hotchkiss ‘27L.

Kirk was awarded the Roy L. Steinheimer Law Review Award for her note “Serving Liability: Tort Law and the School Food Crisis.” Her note explores the harms caused by ultra-processed foods and the lack of a regulatory scheme to address those risks. Kirk argues that tort law coupled with a robust causation framework could offer a pathway to accountability. Commenting on Kirk’s note were W&L Law professor Tammi Etheridge and visiting professor Katherine Macfarlane.

Kirk is a third-year law student from the Bay Area in California. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2022 with a degree in political science and philosophy. Prior to law school, Kirk spent time cooking, traveling, and making art. She worked as a vegan chef at an ecological center in Pāhoa, Hawaiʻi, and later at a restaurant in Berkeley, California, while traveling throughout Europe and North Africa. Kirk spent her 1L summer in France and Italy working in international human rights, where she assisted with cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights. She spent her 2L summer with the Office of the Chief Staff Attorney at the Supreme Court of Virginia, where she worked on criminal matters before the Court. This year, Kirk is a Managing Editor of the Washington and Lee Law Review, Co-Chair of the Mock Trial Competition, and a Research Assistant to Professor Mark Drumbl. She also serves as a Judicial Extern to the Honorable Shannon T. Sherrill of the Augusta County Circuit Court.

Hotchkiss received the W&L Law Council Law Review Award for his note “Virginia’s Legal Deserts: The Decline of Rural Advocacy in Virginia and How to Counteract that Decline.” His note examines the lack of lawyers in rural areas and the access-to-justice issues this creates for rural populations. Hotchkiss explores both the causes of legal deserts and efforts states have taken to address the issue. Commentary on his work was provided by W&L Law professor Beth Belmont and Judge Nora J. Miller, presiding judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court for Mecklenburg County, Virginia.

Hotchkiss is a third-year law student from Lexington, Virginia. He graduated from Wofford College in 2022 with a degree in business and economics. Prior to law school, Hotchkiss worked as a legal assistant in South Carolina. He split his 1L summer as a law clerk for a litigation defense firm in South Carolina and as a judicial intern for the Honorable Christopher B. Russell at the Rockbridge County Circuit Court in Lexington, Virginia. Hotchkiss worked for a litigation defense firm in Greenville, South Carolina during his 2L summer. This fall, Hotchkiss is participating in the Working in Law Full-Time program as a clerk at Thomas, Fisher & Edwards in Greenville, South Carolina, a firm focusing on estate planning, tax, trusts, and closely held business matters. Hotchkiss also serves as an Executive Committee Hearing Advisor, a Law Ambassador, and as a research assistant for Professor Fernando Loayza-Jordán. Following graduation, Hotchkiss intends to pursue an LL.M. in taxation.

These articles, along with other student notes, will be published in an upcoming volume of the W&L Law Review and will also be available online at https://lawreview.wlulaw.wlu.edu/.

If you know a W&L student who has done great, accolade-worthy things, tell us about them! Nominate them for an accolade.