Congratulations to Case Western Reserve University School of Law alum Richard Batson (LAW ‘02), who was recently promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and appointed to be The Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the U.S. Coast Guard. In this position, Admiral Batson supervises more than 200 attorneys in the United States and abroad responsible for the legal affairs of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Since 2002, Batson has served in a number of leadership roles in the Coast Guard, including most recently as Chief of Staff to the Fifth Coast Guard District. He is the second Case Western Reserve law grad to rise to the rank of Admiral and head the JAG Corps of a branch of the military. Admiral Janet Donovan (ret.) (LAW ‘83) served as The JAG of the Navy Reserve from 2012-2016.
Case Western Reserve School of Law is known for the strength of its national security law program, which includes the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy, the Francis Lieber National Security Law Scholarship, the Henry King War Crimes Research Office and the Yemen Accountability Project. The law school has a robust pipeline into the field of National Security Law with the following alums currently holding high level positions in the U.S. and abroad:
- John Sopko (LAW ‘77), Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction
- Kevin Nealer (LAW ‘78), Principal of The Scowcroft Group
- Ted Fowles (LAW ‘00), Coast Guard Chief Trial Judge
- Phil Hadji (LAW ’12), Assistant General Counsel, Department of Navy
- Hyder Syed (LAW ‘13), Assistant General Counsel, INTERPOL in Lyon, France