Nakimuli “Kim” Davis
Third-year law student Nakimuli “Kim” Davis’s award-winning essay on entertainment law didn’t just result in a scholarship, it got her a ticket to the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
Davis scored the ticket and a $1,500 scholarship in the 11th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Writing Competition. She wrote her essay, “Reselling Digital Music: Is There a Digital First Sale Doctrine?” in a single day.
The competition was sponsored by ELI and the Grammy Foundation and co-sponsored by the American Bar Association. It called for law students to write a paper on a “compelling legal topic facing the music industry today.”
Davis attributed her skill in technical writing in part to her undergraduate education at Mississippi State University, where she earned degrees in computer science and engineering and a minor in software engineering, and to her legal training at the UM School of Law.
“My experiences at the UM law school, not just within the classroom, but my extracurricular activities, helped me feel confident to enter this competition,” Davis said. “Serving as executive articles editor for the Mississippi Law Journal was the reason I was able to quickly write and edit my paper.”
Winners of the competition traveled to Los Angeles in February to present their papers at the ELI Luncheon and Scholarship Presentation. After the presentations, winners had the opportunity to meet potential future colleagues.
‘My experiences at the UM law school, not just within the classroom, but my extracurricular activities, helped me feel confident to enter this competition.’
“Attorneys came up to talk to me more about my paper,” said Davis. “It was a great networking opportunity, and I got a lot of great advice about entering the law profession.”
Law Dean Samuel M. Davis said the law school is extremely proud of Davis’s accomplishment.
“She is highly talented, and her individual accomplishments reflect credit on the UM School of Law,” he said. “I was privileged to have Kim in class this fall, so I know firsthand that she is a person of great intellectual ability and at the same time a very personable young woman. She will go far.”
In addition to attending the awards show, Davis also was given the opportunity to attend the 19th annual MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, which this year honored Neil Diamond, as well the Grammy Celebration after party.
Her essay will be published by the Grammy Foundation and the American Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries in conjunction with a major legal journal.
Upon her May 2009 graduation, Davis began clerking for Judge Leslie Southwick of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She has already accepted a position with the Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, law firm in Jackson. —Lindsay Presley