2024 Alumni Award Recipients

Dean Karen J. Sneddon and the Mercer Law Alumni Association Board of Directors present the 2024 Alumni Award recipients.

• The Meritorious Service Award is presented to an alumnus/alumna of the School of Law who has demonstrated his/her support of the Alumni Association and the Law School through his/her contribution of time and gifts.
• The Outstanding Alumnus/Alumna Award is given to an alumnus/alumna of the School of Law who has served the profession of law in an outstanding manner, and in so doing, has brought honor to his/her person and the School of Law. This award is presented for service to humanity and dedication which have fostered the ideals of the School of Law.
• The Young Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes a young alumnus/alumna of the School of Law who has provided valuable service and selfless commitment to enhance the experience of our law students.

The Honorable William P. Adams, ’77
Meritorious Service Award

Judge Bill Adams graduated cum laude from Mercer Law School in 1977 and joined the State Bar of Georgia the same year. He was a federal prosecutor for 8 years for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. For 12 years, he was in general practice and handled a wide variety of civil cases for plaintiffs and defendants. In 1998, he was elected Judge of the State Court of Bibb County and served in this capacity until his retirement in 2017. In 2004, Judge Adams received the Justice Robert Benham Award for community service from the State Bar of Georgia. He was honored by the Macon Bar Association with the Lawyer of the Year award in 2018 for his personal efforts to provide legal services to needy and low-income residents of Macon-Bibb County. In 2017, he launched Middle Georgia Access to Justice Council with the mission of closing the justice gap in middle Georgia. He serves as President. He currently serves on the State Bar Access to Justice Committee and the Judicial Council Access to Justice Committee. Throughout his career, Judge Adams was involved with Vine-Ingle Little League, Kiwanis Club of Macon, and Vineville United Methodist Church. Judge Adams served on the Mercer Law School Alumni Board of Directors until 2021.

The Honorable John E. Morse, Jr., ’82
Outstanding Alumnus Award

Judge John Morse, Jr. graduated in 1982 from Mercer Law School. He was appointed to the Superior Court in 1995 by Governor Zell Miller and was most recently reelected in 2020. When Judge Morse previously served on the State Court bench for Chatham County, he was the youngest chief judge in the county’s history and the first African American State Court judge in Chatham County. Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Morse served as a law clerk to Superior Court Judge C. Cloud Morgan, a law clerk to Superior Court Judge Eugene H. Gadsden, a prosecutor with Chatham County District Attorney’s Office, and as a senior state attorney with the Drug Prosecution Division’s Savannah Regional Office of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council. The Savannah Jaycees honored him with the Distinguished Service Award in 1995. In 2023, Judge Morse became president of the Council of Superior Court Judges. He is also an ordained minister pastoring for 33 years and is currently the senior pastor at Pleasant Grove A.M.E. Church in Hinesville. Judge Morse was a member of the Mercer Law School Board of Visitors from 2016 to 2023.

Amanda M. Morejon, ’17
Young Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award

Amanda has continuously provided her time, talents, and dedication to Mercer Law, assisting to enhance and strengthen the experiences of the school’s students and their transition into the Mercer Law alumni community. During her 3L year, she spearheaded the creation of a scholarship as the Class of 2017’s class gift to the Law School. In fostering the participation and involvement of her classmates, Amanda raised nearly $3,700, which was awarded to a member of the Class of 2018 to assist with tuition in their final year. After graduating, Amanda then joined the newly created Young Alumni Council, providing the Council with its bylaws and manuals, developing a new and revitalized relationship between current law students and Mercer Law alumni. Serving as the Young Alumni Council’s president and as her class representative, Amanda worked closely with the Office of Career Services and the Admissions Office to provide support and guidance to multiple organizations and numerous students through mock interviews, speaking engagements, and individual mentoring. She has hired and created internships for Mercer Law students and Mercer Law alumni at every firm she has worked for every single year since her graduation. Amanda continues to selflessly provide her service and commitment to Mercer Law students and the greater Mercer Law alumni community in any way she can.