The School of Law has received a $250,000 gift from Atlanta
attorney and Emory Law School Council member David Gambrell to provide
initial funding for the first phase of a teaching and courtroom
technology project.
The gift will fund new teaching technology in classrooms, and the
law school’s Tuttle Courtroom will become an “electronic
courtroom” containing state-of-the-art computer and court-reporting
equipment, said new Dean Tom Arthur. Law students will be trained
in the technology and trial skills needed in the modern electronic
courtroom.
In planning for the electronic courtroom, Peter Hay, former interim
law school dean, was advised by two Emory law alumni, U.S. 11th
Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stan Birch, ’70L, and U.S.
District Court Judge Owen Forrester, ’66L. Birch said the
new technology at Emory mirrors similar developments at the federal
level, where recent guidelines for new court facilities call for
infrastructure that supports computer-assisted presentations.
“More and more practitioners are finding the use of computer-assisted
presentation to be jury friendly and to provide an adversarial edge,”
Birch said. “We want Emory law graduates to be at the forefront
of any adversarial advantage they can gain.”
The first phase of the courtroom renovation will begin this fall
when computer and court reporting technology is added to the courtroom
to enable the use and display of electronic evidence, and the participation
of witnesses from a remote location.
In addition to the courtroom, the law school plans to enhance classrooms
with state-of-the-art computer, video and telecommunications equipment.
According to Arthur, the school is seeking additional funding to
install computer displays at every juror’s station and to
add teaching technology to several more classrooms.
Gambrell, who represented Georgia in the U.S. Senate from 1971–72,
is partner at Gambrell & Stolz. He is former president of both
the Atlanta Bar and the State Bar of Georgia. The gift is his second
for courtroom and technology enhancements at the law school; in
1987 he made a gift to add state-of-the-art video equipment to the
courtroom. Gambrell Hall, which houses the law school, is named
for Gambrell’s grandparents, Enoch Pepper and Macie Latimer
Gambrell.
“Senator Gambrell’s generous gift to the law school
reflects and continues the enlightened vision of his distinguished
father, Smythe Gambrell,” Birch said.
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