Note to Editor/News Director: Media who plan to cover this event are asked to contact Jennifer McCracken at 205/348-5195 or jmccrack@law.ua.edu in advance.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- U.S. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) will sign his book and deliver the keynote speech at the Farrah Law Society’s annual alumni banquet on Friday, Feb. 28, at the Scrushy Center in Birmingham. The Farrah Law Society is The University of Alabama School of Law’s alumni association.

The book signing begins at 6 p.m. Hatch’s book, “Square Peg: Confessions of a Citizen Senator,” will be available at the event.

Hatch is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is a leader in the fight for tougher anti-crime laws, civil justice reform to unclog the courts, and legislation to protect individual property rights. He also takes an active role in the confirmation of all judicial nominations, including justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Now in his fifth term, Hatch has championed a variety of legislative causes, including the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Omnibus Property Rights Act, and the Ryan White AIDS Care legislation. Hatch also is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Finance, the Special Committee on Aging, and the Committee on Indian Affairs. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Prominent Mobile attorney Ben H. Harris, Jr., will receive the prestigious Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award during the dinner following the book signing. Harris earned his law degree from the UA School of Law in 1962. He is a past president of the Alabama State Bar Association and was a Bar Commissioner from the Mobile district for many years. He was president of the Law School Foundation and currently serves on its executive committee. Harris also serves as a vice chair of the Law School’s Building Excellence Campaign. He is a partner in the firm of Johnstone, Adams, Bailey, Gordon & Harris.