Three College of Law alumni will be honored with awards during an alumni reception that is scheduled as part of Homecoming festivities on Friday, October 27th.
Judge James K. Borbely '72 will receive the Distinguished Bench and Bar Award, which recognizes an alumnus for their tireless service to the College and significant contributions to the profession. Judge Borbely spent the first 9 years of his practice with the Danville office of Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc., then another 10 years in private practice. In 1991 he was appointed Associate Circuit Judge in Vermilion County (5th Judicial Circuit) where he handled several high volume calls which required him to specialize in versatility. Judge Borbely has served as a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Education of the Illinois Judicial Conference and as a faculty member on a variety of topics at the New Judge Seminar. He also volunteers regularly at the College Law where he presides at mock trials for the Trial Advocacy Program, as well as many moot court competitions throughout the academic year.
Two alumni will receive the Distinguished International Alumni Award, in recognition of their outstanding service to the legal profession.
Kozo Yabe '94 is a partner of Yuasa & Hara in Tokyo, Japan. The firm combines the interdisciplinary practices of international business transactions, intellectual property (litigation and prosecution), and accounting. Since 2001, Mr. Yabe has been an adjunct professor at the College of Law and has taught Doing Business in Japan, a two-week intensive introductory course about Japanese business laws. He is a senior director of AIPPI (Association of International Intellectual Property Protection) - Japan and a member of international intellectual property organizations. Yabe has also served as Regional Co-Vice Chair and is now the Board Member Emeritus of TerraLex, which is the worldwide business law firms' network covering more than 100 countries with 16,000 lawyers. He is Co-Vice President of the Japan Illini Club, handling PR and communications.
Carolina Ramazzina Van Moorsel '13 is a Senior Program Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at Heartland Alliance International, a human rights organization based in Chicago. She previously served as the Pro Bono Supervisor for the organization, and prior to that was the Asylum & Pro Bono Projects Coordinator at the National Immigrant Justice Center. Following her graduation from the College of Law, she worked as a Hotline Advocate at the Champaign County Health Care Consures. She also holds a bachelor's degree and a bachelor of laws from Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil.
Three more of our alumni are also being honored with the Distinguished International Alumni Award, although they will not be able to attend the reception in person. The College also congratulates Juan S. Mijares Ortega '87, Wolfgang Weitnauer '79, and Shanshan "Sally" Zhang '10.