W&L Law Presents Alumni Awards during 2022 Reunion Celebration Bobby Hatten '72L was honored with the Outstanding Alumnus Award. Jim Seevers '97L and Bo Mahr '17L were recognized for volunteer work.

By Peter Jetton
April 15, 2022

More than two hundred Washington and Lee law school alumni and guests returned for this year’s reunion celebration, held April 8-10 in Lexington.

During the awards ceremony on Saturday, Interim Dean Michelle Drumbl announced the recipients of the Outstanding Alumnus/a Award, Volunteer of the Year Award and Young Volunteer of the Year Award.

The 2022 Outstanding Alumus/a Award was awarded to Bobby Hatten ‘72L. Hatten is a pioneer and national leader in the field of asbestos litigation. He is a partner with Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein in Newport News, where he served as managing partner for 28 years. His accomplishments include the first successful consolidation of more than 1,000 lawsuits, the first national settlement program with the asbestos industry, the first Virginia punitive damage jury verdict against the asbestos industry (1991) and the largest punitive damage verdict in an asbestos case (2011). For 6 consecutive years, Hatten’s verdicts against the asbestos industry were listed in the Top 10 Verdicts for the state of Virginia.

In his community, Hatten has served as the Rector of the Board of Visitors of Christopher Newport University and member of the Board since 2015, Chairman of the Board of Soundscapes for 12 years, Chairman of the Board and Campaign Chair of the United Way for the Virginia Peninsula, on the Board of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, on the Board of Trustees of St. Andrews Episcopal School, on the Board of Trustees for Hampden-Sydney College, on the Board of Trustees for the Lexington Theological Seminary, and Founder of Operation Santa.

At W&L Law, Hatten has been invested in the success of the students pursuing careers in the public interest. He received his bachelor’s degree from Hampden-Sydney College.

The 2022 Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Jim Seevers ‘97L. Seevers is a partner with Hunton Andrews Kurth in Richmond. His practice focuses on fund formation and other alternative asset investment and management transactions.  Over the years Jim volunteered on several reunion committees and as a Law Firm Liaison. He has hosted alumni events at his firm and hired numerous law students. He initiated and taught the Mergers and Acquisitions Practicum for several years with fellow Law alumni from Hunton. He led the Law Council as president in 2016-17 and currently serves as an Emeritus member of the Law Council. Seevers received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia.

The 2022 Young Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Bo Mahr ‘17L. A member of our Young Alumni Council for the past four years, Mahr has wholeheartedly accepted the call to assist W&L Law in several endeavors. He has assisted in our recruitment of prospective students through Zoom, phone calls and emails. He has been active on the job/career advice front and has also been very involved with our First Generation Resource Network. In addition to all of this, Mahr serves as the Law Class Agent for 17L. He is an associate with Husch Blackwell in Kansas City. His practice focuses on energy and natural resources. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri.

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