Lethia Hammond Receives J.D. from Washington and Lee School of Law

LEXINGTON, VA (05/27/2011)(readMedia)-- Lethia Carroll Fisher Hammond of Eagle Rock, Va., received her juris doctor degree from Washington and Lee University's School of Law on May 7, 2011, commencement exercises held on the university's historic front lawn.

She was among 127 graduates of the W&L law school. Nina Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio, presented the commencement address.

Hammond, a 1990 graduate of the University of Virginia, is married to Ross Alan Hammond, and they have two sons, Shaun Thomas Hammond and Ryan James Hammond. She is the daughter of Rose N. Fisher of Iron Gate, Va., and Joseph W. and Elizabeth S. Fisher of Bettendorf, Iowa.

During the commencement exercises she was recognized as one of the two winners of the Virginia Bar Family Law Section Award.

At W&L, she was a member of Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity, serving as justice in 2009-10 and vice-justice in 2007-08. She chaired the Washington and Lee Annual Charity Auction in 2010, was vice president of the W&L Chapter of the Virginia State Bar Association, was a member of the student advisory board for the Office of Career Planning and Placement and participated on the Washington and Lee East Coast Regional Mock Trial Team.

In addition, she was a research assistant to W&L law professor James Moliterno, was Westlaw Student Representative, studied abroad at the Universidad Iberoamericana School of Law in Mexico City, participated in the Access to Justice Practicum in Liberia and received the highest grade in Family Law in fall 2010. She was a member of the International Law Society and the Women Law Student's Organization. She did a third-year practice internship with the Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and was a Summer Law Clerk to Judge Malfourd Trumbo, Alleghany and Botetourt County Circuit Court.

Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia is one of the smallest of the nation's top-tier law schools, with an average class size of 22 and an 10-to-1 student-faculty ratio. The Law School's commitment to student-centered legal education, emphasis on legal writing, and dedication to professional development is reflected in the impressive achievements of its graduates, which include six American Bar Association presidents, numerous state and federal judges, and Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell.