Stetson University President Wendy Libby spoke on Jan. 19 to students at the College of Law on trends in private higher education.
President Libby discussed how a crowded marketplace is requiring colleges to focus on their strong suits, where quality, relevance and distinction overlap.
Stetson University President Wendy Libby spoke Jan. 19 on the College of Law’s Gulfport campus. Photo by Marissa Marchena.
The presentation, “A Talk with President Libby,” was co-sponsored by the Jewish Law Student Association and Education Law Association.
Founded in 1883, today Stetson University is home to 4,333 students from 44 states, 3 territories, and 52 countries, with campuses in DeLand, Celebration, Gulfport and Tampa.
1982 Stetson Law graduate and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Peek McEwen will be honored at the Florida Supreme Court on Jan. 28 as the first recipient of the Chief Justice’s Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award. Chief Justice Jorge Labarga will present Judge McEwen with the award recognizing an active or retired federal judge for outstanding and sustained service to the public, especially through pro bono legal services.
“I am incredibly proud that Judge McEwen is being honored with this inaugural award for outstanding public service,” said Stetson Law Dean and Professor of Law Christopher Pietruszkiewicz. “Judge McEwen is a role model for our students and we are delighted that so many members of the Stetson community share her commitment to serving the community.”
Judge Catherine Peek McEwen received Stetson’s J. Ben Watkins Award in 2009.
The first female judge to serve in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Tampa, Judge McEwen’s longtime commitment to public service includes working with the Bay Area Volunteer Lawyers Program and serving on the 13th Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee for nine years, where she is the immediate past chair. Last year, Judge McEwen helped organize a judicial pro bono summit to educate state and federal judges on how to encourage and contribute to public service.
As president of the Ferguson-White Inn of Court in 2013-2014, Judge McEwen helped found the Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Litigation American Inn of Court which adopted the Homeless Experience Legal Protection pro bono project.
Judge McEwen created a video for the Bankruptcy Pro Bono Pro Se Assistance Project with a grant from the Florida Bar Foundation and assistance from the bankruptcy court, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association and Bay Area Legal Services to assist people in bankruptcy matters.
In 2009, Judge McEwen received the J. Ben Watkins award from Stetson University College of Law.
Before serving with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Judge McEwen was an attorney and shareholder at Moffitt, Hart & Herron, today Akerman LLP, and served in private practice. Judge McEwen worked as a sportswriter in Tampa in the 1970s before attending law school at Stetson.
This year’s awards ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 28, at 3:30 p.m. at the Florida Supreme Court. The ceremony will be streamed live at http://wfsu.org/gavel2gavel.
Ask former police officer Dan Kavanaugh what inspired him to make the leap from law enforcement to law school, and he explains that it was always part of the long-term plan.
Dan Kavanaugh is a third-year student at Stetson.
“Law school was just the next step along my path,” says Dan.
Dan says he wanted to go to law school as a kid, but decided to put college on hold for a while to join the military. He spent three years on active duty and another 13 in the reserve component. Dan deployed overseas twice while assigned to the Florida Army National Guard.
“Most of that time was in the desert,” he says.
Dan describes how serving as a platoon sergeant in Iraq strengthened his skills as a moderator: “Working with American soldiers, coalition force members, and foreign nationals allows you to work with people from different walks of life, backgrounds and cultures,” Dan explains. “You learn to tailor communication and leadership style to the individual.”
In his first year at Stetson University College of Law, Dan started off as a class representative to the Student Bar Association. During that time, he was also working 20 hours per month on reserve status with a local sheriff’s office. In his second year, Dan served as Stetson Law’s American Bar Association Representative.
Today, the third-year student at Stetson Law is president of the Student Bar Association and a member of the Trial Team. He recently completed a Civil Legal Services Clinic at Gulf Coast Legal Services. “I had the opportunity to make my first argument in front of a sitting judge,” says Dan.
In his role with the SBA, Dan says he often finds himself in the role of moderator and referee, helping students find common ground and solutions.
Dan also balances the role of husband to his wife, Courtney. The couple maintains a home in the Orlando area, as well as one in Tampa Bay.
“Courtney knows the work I do in law school will benefit both of us,” Dan says.
“I like the saying: ‘it’s never too late to be what you might have been’,” says Dan. “If you’ve made the decision to go to law school, instead of taking tentative steps, I’d advise you to just jump right in with both feet.”
Ask Tammy Schweinsberg how she feels about graduating from Stetson University with her J.D. and she will tell you that law school has blinked by in an instant.
Tammy Schweinsberg.
The busy single mom of six children ranging in ages from six to 19 was born and raised in St. Petersburg. A student in Stetson’s part-time J.D. program, she is the first person in her family to attend law school. Neither of her parents finished college. Her father studied mechanics, and her mother nursing. Tammy started out as a teacher, but had always reserved a special respect for the work lawyers do. Decades prior, her father’s lawyer had helped the family face difficult times during a divorce. Tammy suddenly found herself facing legal issues. She decided she wanted to pursue law.
Navigating the school system as a mother of a child with Down Syndrome, Tammy learned firsthand the challenges of helping someone with a disability obtain the right resources. Tammy also struggled to assist her mother in a nursing home. She was motivated to find a way to help people with special needs.
“Life experiences help me be a better counselor,” said Tammy. “No matter what you want to do, use whatever reason you have to go and do it,” said Tammy.
Tammy found that the elder law concentration at Stetson, and its close relationship to disability law, was a perfect inroad to helping people with special needs.
“Being in the elder law program opened my eyes to the issues,” said Tammy, who works at the Law Office of Christopher Young, P.A., part time. She spent her summer interning for two months at the Pinellas Justice Center working on a complicated financial exploitation case. “If I can help someone with special needs not be a victim, I can help people,” said Tammy.
She credits Professor Rebecca Morgan, the co-director of Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law, with always inspiring her to maintain a positive outlook. “I feel that when I am around her, whatever it is I am having a problem with, I can do it,” said Tammy.
Originally scheduled to wrap up law school in May, Tammy pushed back her graduation one semester to help her young child recently diagnosed with ADD transition into Kindergarten.
“You have to pare down and decide what your priorities are,” Tammy said. She explained that when she started law school, she leaned on her children to help prioritize their time commitments. Private piano lessons and dance classes were dropped off the list and Tammy encouraged her children to take advantage of extracurricular programs at school. “I used to cut into the margins,” Tammy explained. “Now if it’s not important, we’re not doing it.”
“It’s never easy to go to school with school-age children, much less law school, “ Tammy said. “So when things get tough, as they usually do, I remember the reasons why I made my decision to attend Stetson Law. I lean on my support systems, and regroup. I persevere.”
On Thursday, Tammy joined her classmates celebrating graduation in December from Stetson Law. She received the Dean’s Award, a special award for extraordinary service to the law school.
Professor Royal Gardner, director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson University, was invited to speak on behalf of the Ramsar Convention at a meeting of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation in New York.
Professor Gardner appeared on UN Web TV.
The meeting on Nov. 20 marked the conclusion of 11 years of work by the board, which offered recommendations to accelerate the progress of the 2030 Water Agenda. The board’s final report is available here.
Professor Gardner spoke on the role that wetlands play in the water cycle at a meeting of world leaders that included the Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and others.
“The range of wetlands is only surpassed by the ecosystem services that these resources provide the people,” Professor Gardner said at the U.N. meeting. “By definition, the wetlands are part of the water cycle. Wetlands replenish aquifers and are the source of drinking water. Wetlands improve water quality by filtering out pollutants, and wetlands can promote protection from water-related disasters such as floods or storm surges.”
Professor Gardner is chair of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel for the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental wetland treaty with 169 countries.
Alexander Howell always knew he wanted to go to law school. As a rising track star who is originally from Jamaica, the second-year Stetson Law student said he chose the college that would best finance his education and put him on the path to law school. That path took him to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then Lake Wales, Florida, where he finished his undergraduate work in finance, and also met his wife. Soon after graduating from Warner University in Lake Wales, Alexander and his wife Teiharhah got married and moved to Miami. The plan was law school for Alexander and medical school for Teiharhah. When the couple found out they were pregnant, there were suddenly three people on the path.
Alexander says he balances three roles, as husband, dad and student, by having someone to talk to and relax with, a support system. With an 18-month-old at home, Alexander and Teiharhah share shifts caring for the baby. Alexander also takes breaks, spending time at home with his wife and son.
“My son Nathan is a constant reminder of why I’m doing this,” said Alexander. A finance whiz who is inspired by economic injustice, Alexander said that he aspires to be a voice for people who don’t have a voice.
“I want to be a corporate attorney dealing with commercial litigation. We need people in the boardroom to give balanced representation and a voice to all people: black, brown, all people,” said Alexander.
Before starting law school, Alexander worked in the law firm James M. Weaver, P.A. in Lake Wales, to make sure this was the kind of work he wanted. He researched law schools, and read about the challenges, competitiveness, and expense. He was determined to find his niche in the legal world.
After a visit to Stetson Law school in Gulfport, Florida, and a personal phone call from a professor, Alexander knew he’d found the law school that was the best fit. His wife also found a niche at the University of South Florida, where she is finishing her undergraduate degree with plans to start medical school in 2017.
Alexander is busy studying and clerking for Florida Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge James Pierce when he isn’t spending time with his family. In the summer, he will intern with Henderson Franklin. He said he plans to be board certified to distinguish himself in the practice. He also has an interest in shaping change in politics. “The right wing and left wing division in politics makes no sense,” said Alexander. “They are both wings of the same bird.”
“In order to change the world, you have to start with you,” said Alexander. “If you’re thinking about law school, make sure this is what you want to do and have a plan.”
Asked if he can offer any advice to parents with young children who are thinking about law school, Alexander laughs. “My mentor advised me to start reading my law books out loud–they put kids right to sleep.”
Mac R. McCoy, who graduated from Stetson University with a dual B.A. in 1998 and J.D. in 2001, was appointed a U.S. magistrate judge for the Fort Myers Division of the Middle District of Florida this summer. The longtime shareholder with Carlton Fields Jorden Burt celebrated his investiture on Nov. 13.
(L-R): Judge Mac R. McCoy at the investiture with Stetson Law Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.
Judge McCoy was born in Fort Myers. He has donated hundreds of hours of pro bono service as an attorney. McCoy received numerous accolades for service including the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Award and the Wm. Reece Smith Pro Bono Award. He was recognized by the Supreme Court of Florida, the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s Pro Bono Committee, and the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association in collaboration with Bay Area Legal Services’ Volunteer Lawyer Referral Program for exceptional pro bono service.
McCoy has also served in a number of leadership roles in the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section and is a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems. He is also a member of the Technology Committee of the Florida Bar’s Vision 2016 Commission and an ad hoc member of the Technology Subcommittee of the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice.
As an attorney, McCoy focused his practice on class action defense, business litigation, consumer financial services litigation, and real property litigation in federal and state courts.
Stetson University College of Law is again partnering with the Community Law Program and the St. Petersburg Bar Foundation during the month of February to prepare free simple wills and advance directives for low income veterans and their spouses aged 60 or older though the Wills for Warriors Program.
Walk-in appointments are not available. Veterans or their spouses must schedule individual appointments in advance by calling 727-562-7393. The deadline to schedule an appointment is Jan. 22, 2016.
The Wills for Warriors program is designed to assist veterans and their spouses aged 60 or older who have low incomes and limited assets. Individuals owning real estate outside the state of Florida are not eligible to participate.
Stetson students and volunteer attorneys from the Community Law Program will assist Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law and Veterans Law Institute with this program.
