News

Judge Chandler earns Master of Laws degree

May 25, 2004

Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge David A. Chandler was awarded a Master of Laws in the Judicial Process (LL.M.) during graduation ceremonies at the University of Virginia School of Law on May 16.

Judge Chandler completed the program along with 28 other state and federal judges from 17 states. He was selected from among more than 100 applicants nationwide. Judge Chandler is the first Mississippi Court of Appeals judge to complete the nationally acclaimed program.

The three-year program included six weeks of classes at the Charlottesville, Va., campus during the summers of 2002 and 2003 and a third year preparing a thesis. Judge Chandler's thesis analyzed Mississippi school officials' duty to report threats of impending harm.

Course study included constitutional law, constitutional history, statutory interpretation and rules of evidence, including scientific evidence and expert witness testimony. Courses were taught by professors who are prominent in their fields. Many of them as young lawyers served as law clerks for justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Chandler said, "Interacting with the professors as well as the other judges from across the United States who participated in the program afforded me a learning opportunity of a lifetime."

"It allowed me the opportunity of promoting our court in a positive manner on a national level," Judge Chandler said.

Judge Chandler, of Ackerman, earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree in education from Mississippi State University. He spent 20 years in education, including almost 10 years as a Research and Curriculum Specialist at Mississippi State University. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law.

He has served on the Court of Appeals since January 2001.

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