Academy of Law Fellows admits 5

Ranked 23 in U.S. News and World Report’s latest ranking of the best law schools in the country, IU’s Maurer School of Law has a history of providing students with respected degrees. But the benefits of attending the school last long after
graduation.

The Academy of Law Alumni Fellows was established in 1985 to honor distinguished alumni who have proven their merit in their professional and personal endeavors. The members of the academy range from songwriters to judges.

On April 1, five new members were inducted into the distinguished society.

K. Edwin Applegate, L.L.B. ’48
A World War II veteran, K. Edwin Applegate has been an active member in his community for more than 65 years. He served as one of the founding partners of Applegate, McDonald and Associates from 1949 through 2011. From 1967 to 1970, Applegate served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

He served on the board of directors for several organizations throughout Monroe County as well as the president of the IU Varsity Club.

Stephen L. Ferguson, J.D. ’66
Stephen L. Ferguson graduated Order of the Coif from the law school in 1966 and has since been employed in a wide variety of professional paths. During his career, he  served in the Indiana House of Representatives, established a law practice in Bloomington and played a vital role in the local medical community, particularly in the development of Cook Medical.

He has been involved in the restoration of the French Lick Resort and downtown Bloomington. Ferguson also served on the IU Board of Trustees for 12 years, four of which he served as president.

R. Neil Irwin, J.D. ’71
R. Neil Irwin, a 1971 Order of the Coif graduate of the law school, credits his induction into the academy to the “nature of my international law firm and community
involvement.”
A veteran of the U.S. Army, he was born in Indiana before relocating to Phoenix, where he resides, serving as the senior partner of Bryan Cave LLP.
He also serves on the Board of Visitors for the law school.
“I’ve been on the board for a while, but I never thought I’d be one,” Irwin said. “It’s something you hope for but don’t expect.”

Rapheal M. Prevot Jr., J.D. ’84 (posthumous)
A 1984 Maurer School of Law graduate, Rapheal M. Prevot Jr. dedicated his life to volunteer work and advocacy. For more than 15 years, he worked as the labor relations counsel for the National Football League, prior to which he worked as a private practice attorney.

He began serving on the Maurer School’s Alumni Board in 1993 and moved on to become president of the Board of Visitors in 1997 — the youngest president in board history. He passed away in 2008.

Martha S. West, J.D. ’74
Martha S. West graduated from the law school in 1974. During her time there, she organized the Women’s Caucus and designed the curriculum for a course on women and law. Following graduation, she practiced law in Indianapolis for three years and then represented Indiana Chrysler workers from 1979 to 1982.

She joined the faculty of the law school at the University of California-Davis, and in 1998, she founded the Family Protection Clinic, which supports battered women and children.

At the award ceremony, West noted how much the law school has changed.
“I enjoyed recounting the excitement of being one of few women law students in the early 1970s and how the women law students organized the law students’ women’s caucus at a time when we had no women professors, and women were only about 10 percent of the class,”
West said.