Atlanta, October 16, 2024—The Supreme Court of Georgia welcomes its 2024-25 class of term law clerks.

Term law clerks serve for one year, assisting their assigned Justices with legal research, drafting and reviewing opinions, preparing for oral arguments, and other important responsibilities.

The 2024-2025 class of term clerks consists of high-caliber law school graduates, including several former federal court clerks and interns, decorated moot court competitors, legal publication editors, outdoor enthusiasts, and community service and civic engagement volunteers.

Now in its seventh year, the Court’s term clerk program allows Georgia’s highest court to invest in the future leaders of the Georgia bar, as well as in the state’s appellate practice, through an intensive year of legal research and writing. Some of this year’s term clerks graduated recently from law school, while others have come to the Court after one or more years of work in the legal profession.

“This cohort of term clerks is impressive, and each one has started ready to gain hands-on experience in appellate practice,” Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs said. “My fellow Justices and I look forward to working with these new lawyers throughout this year, and we are confident they will go on to have rewarding careers in law.”

Meet the 2024-25 class:

  • Amanda Graham, a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Carla Wong McMillian. Graham, who is from Lawrenceville, Ga., earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from UGA’s Terry College of Business. During law school, she served on the managing board of the Georgia Law Review, as vice president of UGA’s chapter of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, as a summer associate for a large Atlanta law firm, and as an extern for a Western Judicial Circuit Superior Court judge and a Northern District of Georgia Bankruptcy Court judge. Graham is an active member of a disaster relief team that rebuilds communities affected by natural disasters. She also has voluntarily fostered several dogs through Athens-Clarke County Animal Services and co-hosted the Wall Street on Broad Street radio show on WUOG 90.5 FM.
  • Stephen Greenway, who graduated first in his class (2024) from Mercer University School of Law, is clerking for Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren. Prior to law school, Stephen served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army. During law school, he served as an executive editor of the Mercer Law Review, was a summer associate at a large Atlanta law firm, and coached Mercer Law’s National Moot Court team, which won the 73rd Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York in 2023. Greenway, who is from Marietta, Ga., earned his Bachelor of Arts in international affairs from the University of Georgia. Following his Georgia Supreme Court clerkship, he plans to clerk for Judge William M. Ray II on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and Judge Elizabeth L. Branch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
  • Elliza Guta, who graduated first in her class (2022) from Mercer University School of Law, is clerking for Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson. Guta, who is from Tampa, Fla., earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science and psychology from Mercer University. During law school, she clerked on the Court of Appeals of Georgia, for The Habeas Project, and for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Guta was a National Moot Court regional champion and was the alumni coach of Mercer Law’s team, which won the 73rd Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York in 2023. After graduation, she clerked two years for Chief Judge Marc T. Treadwell on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
  • Briana Hayes, who earned her law degree and her Bachelor of Science in health promotion from the University of Georgia, is clerking for Justice Verda M. Colvin. During law school, she participated in the National Moot Court Competition and the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition, winning Best Regional Oralist in both. Hayes, of Baxley, Ga., has interned for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta and the Legal Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. She was named a 2022 Marshall-Motley Scholar and was a recipient of the State Bar of Georgia’s Law School Student Excellence in Access to Justice Award, which recognizes law students who have excelled in supporting a civil pro bono or legal aid program. Hayes also was the founder of several local volunteer and advocacy organizations, including Rural Students Igniting Success in Education, a student organization at UGA dedicated to increasing the retention rate of rural students in higher education; and Appling Vanguard, which focused on involving Appling County residents in social justice and voter awareness efforts.
  • Pierce Ostwalt, who earned his law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Auburn University, is clerking for Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua. Ostwalt, who is from Peachtree Corners, Ga., served as a two-year term clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine P. Nelson in the Southern District of Alabama after graduating from Cumberland. During law school, he interned for the Office of the Attorney General of Georgia and U.S. District Judge Corey L. Maze in the Northern District of Alabama; he also served as an extern for U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor in Alabama’s Northern District. While at Cumberland, he competed on his school’s National Moot Court team, was named a Caruthers Fellow, and served as an associate justice on the Moot Court Executive Board.
  • Jake Shatzer, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Justice Andrew A. Pinson. Shatzer also earned bachelor’s degrees in Spanish, international studies, and economics from Texas A&M University. During law school, he was editor-in-chief of the Georgia Law Review; argued a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit as a member of UGA’s Appellate Litigation Clinic; and was named the inaugural Bool-Simkins Fellow. Following his clerkship with the Supreme Court of Georgia, he will clerk for Judge J. P. Boulee of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Shatzer, whose hometown is Kapolei, Hawaii, was born into a military family and has lived in nine states and one foreign country.
  • Justin Tilghman, a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, is clerking for Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs. Tilghman, of Stone Mountain, Ga., earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science from UGA. During law school, he competed in National Moot Court, served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law, and participated in UGA’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. He also interned for a Fulton County State Court judge and led a student climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Following law school, he was an associate at a large Atlanta law firm.
  • Alexis Watson, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law with election into the Order of the Coif, is clerking for Justice Charlie Bethel. Watson, of Acworth, Ga., earned her bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from UGA. During law school, she interned for two federal district court judges: Judge William M. Ray II on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and Judge Lisa Godbey Wood on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. She also worked as a summer associate at a large Atlanta law firm, interned for UGA Law’s Children Endangerment & Sexual Exploitation Clinic and the Georgia Innocence Project, and served as the research assistant for Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge on the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law editorial board.

The Supreme Court of Georgia’s term clerk program began in 2018 with the support of the Georgia General Assembly. Each Justice hires his or her own one-year term clerk.