Hodgkinson Inducted into the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers

Photograph: Randall HodgkinsonWashburn Law Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Randall Hodgkinson was inducted as a Fellow in the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (AAAL) in Coral Gable, Fla., on October 10, 2014, Academy membership is significant as it achieved by invitation only and limited to 500 members in the United States. Hodgkinson is currently the only Fellow in the AAAL from Kansas and was only one of two inductees at the AAAL’s Induction Dinner.

"I'm honored to be inducted as a Fellow in the Academy, mainly because it is a nomination-only organization devoted to persons who have spent most of their career working in the practice of appellate law,” said Hodgkinson. “The other Fellows that I met at the fall meeting represented a diverse group of appellate lawyers, from solo practitioners to lawyers from large national firms. I look forward to working with them in the future, individually to hone my own appellate skills and, as an organization, to work for the improvement of appellate law and legal systems around the country."

Academy Fellows must have been in appellate practice for at least 15 years, and only lawyers with a reputation for the highest excellence in appellate work and unblemished integrity are invited to membership. Candidates for membership must be nominated by a present Academy member, reviewed and approved by a Membership Evaluation Committee, and elected at a regular Academy meeting.

Since 2006, Hodgkinson has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Washburn Law, primarily teaching Criminal Appellate Advocacy, a clinical offering where he supervises students working on actual felony appeals from the Kansas Appellate Defender. He has also frequently coached moot court teams at the law school.

Hodgkinson is admitted to practice in Kansas, Missouri, and Arizona, and is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He served on the Kansas Judicial Council Appellate Procedure Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2009, and has frequently testified before the Kansas Legislature on topics related to appellate procedure and criminal procedure.  He has also served on the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Tenth Circuit amicus committee since 2003.