Following a national search that yielded three finalists, Mercer University Provost Dr. D. Scott Davis has announced the appointment of Karen J. Sneddon as dean of the School of Law, effective immediately.

Sneddon has served as interim dean since Oct. 1, 2021, after former Dean Cathy Cox was appointed president of Georgia College and State University.

“Karen has provided effective interim leadership of Mercer Law School over the last 19 months, and I am pleased that she is formally moving into the role as dean,” Dr. Davis said. “She has been a valued member of the Law School faculty for 17 years and has developed an excellent working relationship with all of the School’s stakeholders.

“I appreciate the diligent work of the Law School Dean Search Committee, chaired by the Honorable Marc Treadwell, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia and a Mercer Law alumnus and adjunct law faculty member, in bringing forward three strong finalists. They invested many hours of work and screened dozens of qualified candidates.”

Other members of the search committee included Macon attorney, Law School alumnus and Mercer Trustee Virgil Adams; Bonnie Carlson, assistant professor of law; Jim Fleissner, professor of law; Daisy Floyd, University Professor of Law and Ethical Formation and former dean of the Law School; Katie Powers, director of advocacy and Law School alumnus; Monica Armstrong Roudil, associate professor of law; Atlanta attorney, Law School alumnus and Mercer Trustee Richard A. (Doc) Schneider; and Dr. Jean Sumner, dean of the Mercer School of Medicine.

Prior to being named interim dean, Sneddon served as professor of law and associate dean for faculty research and development. She teaches, writes, and speaks in the areas of legal writing, wills, and real estate transactions. Prior to joining the Mercer law faculty in 2006, Sneddon was a Forrester Fellow at Tulane Law School and an associate at a New York City law firm. She graduated summa cum laude from Louisiana State University and summa cum laude from Tulane Law School.

“As a member of the Mercer Law School community since 2006, I have firsthand experience of the transformative power of a Mercer Law education. We honor our longtime value of graduating practice-ready lawyers who will flourish in the legal profession as we continue to strive for the highest standards in teaching, learning, service, practice, and scholarship,” Sneddon said. “In this rapidly changing legal and technological environment, we prepare students to advocate for clients in the courtroom, the conference room, and beyond. Mercer Law has a legacy of success, but we are only getting started.

“I look forward to continuing to work with wonderful colleagues at the Law School and across the University to support a legacy of student, alumni, staff, and faculty success,” she said.

“I am grateful for Karen Sneddon’s leadership of Mercer Law School as interim dean and look forward to working with her in the future as she guides one of the country’s first and finest law schools – a school uniquely committed to preparing students to be outstanding lawyers,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood, who also is a tenured faculty member in the Law School. “It is a school that has had an outsized influence throughout its history, having produced numerous governors, state and national legislators, judges and a U.S. attorney general, as well as thousands of excellent attorneys who have served clients around the world. I am confident that Karen will be an effective steward of the School as it charts an even brighter future.” 

Mercer Law School is currently in the midst of a yearlong celebration of its 150^th anniversary.