Photo courtesy of Mike Gault Michael Q. Gault, right, recently graduated from the Charleston School of Law. Also graduating was Jennifer Nichols Williams. In addition to graduating from law school together, Michael and Jennifer attended preschool together at Grace United Methodist Child Enrichment Program and graduated Union County High School together. Michael is the son of Mike and Pam Gault. Jennifer is married to Dee Williams.

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CHARLESTON — Michael Q Gault of Union, S.C. received a law degree May 11 during the seventh commencement convocation of the Charleston School of Law.

After three years of study, Gault was one of 181 students to receive the juris doctor degree, Dean Andy Abrams said. Gault is the son of Mike and Pam Gault.

“Not only are the graduates of our seventh class, the Class of 2013, well-qualified to join the legal profession, they are committed to using their legal education to make our nation and communities better,” Abrams said. “The proof is in the pudding. Most in the class performed more than the 30 hours of pro bono service required for graduation. Over one-fourth of this class performed 100 hours or more of service to our communities.”

Judge William B. Traxler Jr., chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, delivered a commencement speech. During the ceremony, Traxler was awarded an honorary law degree, as was T. Patton Adams IV, a former Columbia mayor who is executive director of the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense, and Ralph C. McCullough II, a longtime law professor and founding director of the school who retired this month.

Members of the Class of 2013 distinguished themselves while students by giving 18,209 hours of pro bono, or free, public service to local and state organizations. Since the school was started in 2004, students have contributed more than 235,782 hours of public service through pro bono and externship projects. The Charleston School of Law is one of the few in the country that requires students to donate at least 30 hours to public service projects as a requirement of graduation.

Class of 2013 profile

• Number: 181 students graduated with the Class of 2013. (An additional 47 students received degrees since July 2012 were invited to participate in the May 2013 ceremony.)

• Residency: 56 percent are S.C. residents; 44 percent are non-residents.

• Gender: 52 percent are male; 48 percent are female.

• Service: The Class of 2013 donated 18,209 recorded hours of pro bono service since 2009.

• Motto: Pro bono populi (“For the benefit of the people”)

For more information on the Charleston School of Law, visit its Web site at www.charlestonlaw.edu.