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(L-R): Stetson finalists Cornelius C. Demps, Onyema M. Anene, Pietrina M. Sams, and Adam J. Nate. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson Law students won second-place at the 19th Annual Cathy Bennett National Criminal Trial Competition in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 7. A team from the University of Colorado won first-place.
The Stetson team of Onyema M. Anene, Cornelius C. Demps, Adam J. Nate and Pietrina M. Sams argued before criminal defense attorneys from across the country, and local prosecutors and distinguished jurists from the Portland, Ore., area. As finalists, the team assured Stetson Law a spot in next year’s competition.
“Top criminal defense attorneys from across the United States who judged the Stetson students continually remarked about the incredible performance of the Stetson team, and how they had never seen such a high quality of trial advocacy at this competition,” said Professor Ellen Podgor, who coached Stetson’s student team along with Professor Roberta Flowers.
Professor Susan Rozelle, Adjunct Professors Mark Rankin and Susan Demers B.A. ‘71, and Stetson Law graduate Petra Justice J.D. ‘08 also assisted in preparing the team for competition.
The prestigious annual competition is co-sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
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Manager of Media Relations
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Stetson Law Dean Emeritus Bruce Jacob delivers the keynote luncheon address at the Advanced Journalism Seminar at Poynter. Click for high-resolution image.
On Oct. 30 and 31, a group of more than 40 panelists, including distinguished jurists, legal practitioners, academics, journalists and criminal justice policymakers from across the state of Florida, met to discuss sentencing, corrections and crime reduction at an Advanced Journalism Seminar at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg.
Stetson Law Dean Emeritus Bruce Jacob provided the keynote address on Oct. 30 to more than 50 seminar attendees, including some of the state of Florida’s top crime and court beat reporters. Jacob discussed his experiences as a young lawyer arguing the Gideon v. Wainwright case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also discussed programs he helped start for people re-entering society after serving time in prison and the current need for more public defenders and pro bono lawyers to represent people who cannot afford a lawyer. When asked about the recent California law seeking to extend right-to-counsel to civil cases, Jacob replied, “I think that’s fine but I think we need to comply with Gideon first, because right now there are not enough lawyers for indigent defendants in criminal cases.”
Stetson Law professors Robert Batey and Judith Scully joined top legal expert panels on diversions and alternatives to incarceration and views on crime from the prosecution and the defense perspectives.
Professor Batey discussed sentencing laws that fuel Florida’s high incarceration rate, mandatory minimums for drug trafficking, gun use and recidivism. The panel on diversion and alternatives to incarceration also discussed intervention programs, prison overcrowding, and the importance of educating the public on these issues through the media.
“Dig a little deeper,” Professor Scully advised the audience of a panel on prosecution and defense perspectives. She urged seminar attendees to consider environmental factors in sentencing juveniles accused of crimes, referring to a case heading to the U.S. Supreme Court from Florida which could have an impact on whether juveniles face life in prison for crimes without the possibility of parole. Scully also discussed the disproportionate result of fighting the war on drugs only in low-income neighborhoods.
Stetson University College of Law helped sponsor the seminar organized by the John Jay College Center on Media, Crime & Justice and the Pew Center on the States, which was held at Poynter.
Contact Brandi Palmer
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From left): Robert Downs, Michael Maher, Lizabeth Moody, Thomas Penick, Bernard McCabe Jr., and David A. Demers. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson University College of Law inducted six new members into its Hall of Fame on Oct. 24 in Gulfport.
“These individuals have had an enormous impact on the legal community and on Stetson,” said Stetson Law Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson. “We are extremely privileged to welcome them into our Hall of Fame.”
This year’s inductees include distinguished jurists, legal practitioners and academics, among them:
The Honorable David A. Demers. Click for high-resolution image.
Judge Demers has served as a judge for more than 28 years. During his three terms as Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, he helped pioneer the use of computer research and technology in the courtroom. Demers is frequently referred to as a “scholarly judge” for his work as an adjunct professor at Stetson and his scholarly writings. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Florida DUI Handbook, which many judges keep with them on the bench and refer to as the “traffic law bible.” Judge Demers and his wife Susan have worked for years with Stetson’s nationally ranked trial team and helped coach Stetson’s 2009 first-place team in the American Association for Justice’s National Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
Downs is the founding partner, with his wife Barbara, in the Chicago law firm of Downs Law Offices, P.C., which focuses on family law. Downs has long been active in politics and the legal community. Early in his career, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and spent considerable time involved with civil rights issues and consumer cases. He worked with the American Civil Liberties Union creating legal clinics that later became the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation. Downs has served as president of the Illinois State Bar. In 1995, he received the American Bar Association’s Family Law Pro Bono Services Award. He also received awards from the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Michael C. Maher. Click for high-resolution image.
Maher is one of the nation’s outstanding client advocates, with an impressive list of precedent setting settlements and verdicts. One of his most notable accomplishments is chairing the group of 11 legal firms appointment by the State of Florida in the long-term recovery of more than $25 billion from the industry. Maher has received numerous awards over the years and has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 1987. Founding partner of the Maher Law Firm, he is a past president of the American Association for Justice, fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, an American College of Trial Lawyers inductee and past Florida Trial Lawyer of the Year.
Bernard J. McCabe Jr. Click for high-resolution image.
After graduating from Stetson University and Stetson University College of Law, “Bernie” McCabe began working as assistant state attorney, eventually moving up the ranks to St. Petersburg Division Director. In 1993, he was elected State Attorney of Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit, a role he has served in ever since. McCabe has earned a reputation as a diligent prosecutor with a concern for his community, creating divisions and programs to address misdemeanor domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, truancy and juvenile dependency. McCabe has served as an adjunct professor and overseer at Stetson Law. He is active in state, local and national organizations.
Lizabeth A. Moody. Click for high-resolution image.
Dean Emeritus and Distinguished University Professor Lizabeth A. Moody
Moody was one of only seven women in her class of 160 Yale Law graduates. Despite the historic glass ceiling, Moody became a partner at a prominent Cleveland law firm and was one of the first women rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell. She rose to leadership positions in state, local and national bar associations before joining the Cleveland State University faculty, later serving as interim dean. As president and CEO of Law School Admissions Services, Moody founded the Access Loan Program which provides billions of dollars in student loans. From 1994 to 1999, Moody served as vice president and dean of Stetson Law. Under her direction, Stetson opened the new library and laid the foundation for part-time and international programs. Moody has remained heavily involved in the American Bar Association, America Law Institute and American Association of Law Schools throughout her career. Her professional recognitions include the Ohio State Bar Medal, Josephine Irwin Award, ABA Glass Cutter and the Author’s Award by the ABA Business Law Section.
Judge Thomas E. Penick Jr. Click for high-resolution image.
Judge Penick is a nine-year active veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving in Vietnam and receiving the Bronze Star, among other commendations, for his military service. He remained in the military reserves until 1994, retiring as a brigadier general. Penick was appointed to the Pinellas County bench in 1978 and was later elevated to the circuit court, where he served in a variety of leadership posts at the circuit and state levels. He is best known for his work in the probate and guardianship divisions. He has been honored with many awards, including Stetson’s Ben C. Willard Award for distinguished humanitarian achievements and the St. Petersburg Bar Association’s first General of the Law Award in recognition of lifetime achievements in 2004. He is also a two-time recipient of the St. Petersburg Bar Association’s Judicial Appreciation Award, the recipient of the William Castagna Award for Judicial Excellence, and the recipient of the Clearwater Bar Association’s John U. Bird Distinguished Jurist Award.
On Nov. 1, Gregory Carroll will join Stetson University as the new vice president for marketing, leading an initiative to unify the university’s marketing and public relations across Stetson’s campuses.
Carroll has served Furman University for 11 years as vice president for marketing and public relations. During that time, Furman’s marketing program grew in stature and visibility and went from a staff of five to 16 professionals. Furman’s efforts in marketing have been a model for institutions nationwide.
“I’ve known Greg for over a decade and have always been amazed at his creativity and perceptiveness,” said Stetson President Wendy B. Libby. “I just sensed that he could bring tremendous marketing expertise to Stetson and was delighted when our interests started to travel the same path.”
Carroll visited Stetson this summer to assess the university’s marketing potential, then returned in early September to meet faculty and staff. Stetson seemed like the right fit, he said.
“I really felt good about the people I met, the potential of the institution and the commitment of the administration to marketing,” Carroll said. “I felt that I could make a difference here.”
Carroll will be responsible for integrating the marketing of Stetson across the two campuses (DeLand and Gulfport/St. Pete) and two satellite centers (Tampa and Celebration) and communicating with the general public and all the university’s constituents. He and his staff will be responsible for developing key messages, themes and stories that tell the university’s unique story – not only in Florida and the Southeast, but also to a national audience.
Carroll is an active member of the American Marketing Association (conference committee and session adjudicator), the Forum for Higher Education Marketing, and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Higher Education (Commission on Communication and Marketing, Board Directors Districts VI and III, Conference Co-Chair District III). Carroll was an organizer and presenter for CASE National Integrated Marketing Conference, Association of Governing Boards, Stamats Communications, Strategic Integrated Marketing and Technology conferences, the AMA Higher Education Symposium and Academic Impressions conferences on New Media. He was a panelist on the CASE and the New York Times Knowledge Network webinar The Effective Use of Social Media for Student Recruitment on Oct. 27.
In addition, Carroll is president of the Community Advisory Board for public radio station WNCW-Spindale, N.C., and president of the congregation of Tryon Congregational Church, Tryon, N.C.
Carroll completed his undergraduate education at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, and earned a master’s in Educational Supervision, with an emphasis in Higher Education, at The University of Akron, Ohio. He has completed coursework for a doctorate in Higher Education Administration, with emphasis on Comparative Public Relations Programs, at The University of Akron.
He is married to Jill, a victim advocate for The Healing Place in Hendersonville, N.C., and they have two daughters, Melissa Carroll-Jackson (Patrick) of Richmond, Va., and Megan Carroll of Charleston, S.C.
Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381 [email protected]
First-year student John Henley (right) helps with a résumé writing workshop at the Salvation Army in St. Petersburg. Click for high-resolution image.
On Oct. 22, the entire student body at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., devoted a day to serving their community during the law school’s first Legal Community in Action Day: Serving the Public, Serving the Law and Serving the Profession. In total, students gave approximately 1,500 public service hours to charities, hospitals, schools, legal offices, and other Tampa Bay organizations.
The campus-wide Legal Community in Action Day is designed to remind students, at each level of their law school career,
about their service responsibilities as members of the legal profession. Instead of attending their regular classes, students participated in one of three programs based on their class year:
First-year students volunteered at more than 15 community service organizations in the Tampa Bay area.
Second-year students attended law reform workshops on legal scholarship and how it impacts the practice of law.
Third-year law students participated in a professionalism retreat that focused on transitioning from law school into the profession. Leaders in the legal community presented seminars on professionalism, work/life balance and activism.
“The Legal Community in Action Day was developed to teach our students before they graduate and head out into the world, about the important roles that lawyers play in the community at large,” said Roberta K. Flowers, who holds the Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law for her academic commitment to professionalism and ethics. “We wanted to give our students a solid foundation in stewardship, scholarship and professionalism before they leave law school to enter the legal profession.”
Stetson has a long history of community service. Stetson Law students donate more than 14,000 hours of pro bono services annually at more than 100 organizations in the Tampa Bay area and across Florida. Stetson was the first law school in Florida and one of the first in the nation to establish a pro bono service requirement for students and faculty.
First-year students Alex West (left) and Stephanie Pizarro clean the family residence area at Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa. "The reason I chose Stetson was because of their emphasis on community service," said Pizarro. "I don't necessarily want to go into public service, but I think you can serve wherever you are."Greg Showers speaks to third-year students about public service and how pro bono work can make them more effective as lawyers. Click for high-resolution image.
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Yale Law School Professor Jules Coleman discusses several views of tort law at the Nichols Lecture at Stetson Law. Click for high-resolution image.
Professor Jules L. Coleman of Yale Law School presented the distinguished Nichols Lecture to a capacity crowd of students and faculty on Oct. 21 in the Great Hall on Stetson University College of Law’s Gulfport campus. Professor Coleman has been described as one of the world’s most influential philosophers of law.
Coleman encouraged Stetson Law students to think about the purpose and nature of liability in the law of torts and how liability is understood from the two leading theoretical perspectives on torts: law and economics and corrective justice.
He observed that economists view the tort system as a tool for achieving the most efficient cost-avoidance, and tort liability as simply a means to that end. He then encouraged students to consider liability and torts in a different light. He explained that giving people the authority to demand accountability from others is more about accountability than liability. “My aim is to get you to see that tort law is not just a mechanism by which we solve a variety of social problems,” Professor Coleman explained, referring to how the law helps make cars safer, baby cribs safer, and drugs safer. Instead, tort law can be used to make us more accountable to one another by emphasizing decency, responsibility and fairness.
Coleman is the Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence and Professor of Philosophy at Yale Law School, author of The Practice of Principle: In Defence of a Pragmatist Approach to Legal Theory, and the immediate past editor of the Legal Theory journal, which he helped found and edited for 15 years. He directs the Yale Center for Law and Philosophy and is a prolific author who has written dozens of articles and several books about legal theory, philosophy and ethics. His work has been translated into at least four languages.
The Nichols Foundation Prominent Speakers Series was established at Stetson in 1995. The series’ namesake is Perry Nichols, among the nation’s most successful trial lawyers and past president of both the American Trial Lawyers Association and the International Trial Lawyers Association.
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Megan O'Neill and Chase Hattaway, winners of the inaugural Veterans Law Appellate Advocacy Competition. Click for high-resolution image.
On Oct. 15, Stetson University College of Law students won the inaugural Veterans Law Appellate Advocacy Competition in Washington, D.C., competing against teams from several prestigious law schools around the country. Student advocates argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
The Stetson Law team of Chase Hattaway and Megan O’Neill won the Best Respondent’s Brief Award in addition to the competition. O’Neill was also named Best Overall Oralist, the highest individual award given in the competition, which was held in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the court.
“Chase and Megan represented Stetson with poise and professionalism and they are coming home champions,” said Moot Court Advisor Professor Stephanie Vaughan.
Chase Hattaway and Megan O'Neill. Click for high-resolution image.
Professor Michael Allen, a veterans law expert who recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, coached the team to victory. The competition was sponsored by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the CAVC Bar Association.
“Moot court competitions in general are wonderful opportunities for students to learn the skills needed to be appellate advocates,” said Professor Allen. “This competition in particular is important for students to see how they can use their talents to assist the men and women who fought for this country.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims was created on Nov. 18, 1988, after nearly three decades of debate. For the sixth time in our nation’s history, Congress established a court of national jurisdiction without geographical limits. Few federal courts have been created since the ratification of the Constitution.
Stetson Law’s Center for Excellence in Advocacy began a veterans advocacy clinic in August at its Tampa Law Center to help Florida veterans understand their legal rights. To set up an appointment with the clinic, interested veterans should call Stetson at 727-562-7317.
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Manager of Media Relations
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Bulgarian delegates visit with Professor Luz Nagle. Click for high-resolution image.
Delegations from Bulgaria, the Middle East, and Mexico visited Stetson’s Gulfport campus over the past month.
International criminal law professor Luz Nagle met with three visitors from Bulgaria’s Ministry of the Interior on Sept. 29 to discuss combating transborder crime as a threat to national security and the global pandemic of human trafficking. She discussed national security policy and organized crime issues with delegates from the Iraqi military high command and Lebanese defense ministers on Oct. 1. The distinguished visitors met with Nagle as part of a program coordinated by the International Council of the Tampa Bay Region and the United States Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program.
Dean John Cooper and Assistant Director of International Programs Maria Herrera Mellado meet with a delegation from Nueva Leon University Law School in Mexico. Click for high-resolution image.
A group from Nueva Leon University Law School in Mexico visited Stetson Law’s Gulfport campus on Oct. 12. They met with Dean Darby Dickerson and Associate Dean John Cooper and spoke with Stetson Law professors, including Royal Gardner, Nagle, Jeffrey Minneti and Charles Rose. The delegation discussed proposed collaborative ventures with Stetson’s Advocacy Center and International Programs, incorporating trial advocacy into the Nueva Leon curriculum, and establishing a Legal English Diplomate using the Overview of U.S. Law Project materials developed by Stetson professors Ellen S. Podgor and Cooper. The Mexican delegation also toured Stetson’s Tampa Law Center, discussed legal research with Ricardo Camacho in the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law, and met with Stetson students.
Stetson students learn about the Innocence Project Oct. 2. Click for high-resolution image.
Several Stetson University College of Law students are now volunteering with attorneys in collaboration with the Innocence Project of Florida.
“Stetson’s Innocence Project is our attempt to address one of the greatest harms caused by injustice —the harm that is experienced when an individual is not only wrongfully accused, but wrongfully convicted and incarcerated. When innocent individuals are convicted, not only does that one individual suffer, his or her family suffers. The community suffers. In fact, the entire criminal justice system suffers,” said Professor Judith A.M. Scully, who along with Professor Roberta Flowers is helping coordinate the program at Stetson with the Innocence Project of Florida in Tallahassee.
The Innocence Project of Florida has received more than 3,000 requests for assistance since opening its doors in 2003 and has succeeded in seven of the 10 DNA exonerations in the state.
Seth Miller, Innocence Project of Florida, talks with Stetson students about a collaborative effort. Click for high-resolution image.
“We’re working with Stetson to expand the reach of our services,” said Seth Miller, director of Florida’s Innocence Project and former attorney with the American Bar Association Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. “DNA cases are only about 10% of the cases. Through collaboration, we hope to expand our reach to the other 90% of people out there with viable claims of innocence.”
“Through the Innocence Project, our students will be provided with the opportunity to learn that they are capable of not only making a positive impact on the lives of other human beings, but also taking leadership in assuring that justice is the primary goal ofour criminal legal system,” Professor Scully said. “By helping to identify and free the wrongfully convicted, we become a part of the shining light that says our criminal justice system is not perfect but we can — and will — do better.”
There are more than 70 Innocence Projects around the world. The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. More than 240 people have been exonerated by DNA testing in the United States, including 17 who served time on death row. These people served an average of 12 years in prison before exoneration and release.
Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
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Professor Rebecca C. Morgan. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson University College of Law elder law scholar Professor Rebecca C. Morgan has been awarded this year’s prestigious Treat Award for Excellence by the National College of Probate Judges. The award was presented Oct. 2 at the annual National College of Probate Judges meeting in Maine. Previous recipients include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Professor James Casner of Harvard Law School, and other prominent legal scholars.
Professor Morgan directs Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law and is the Boston Asset Management Faculty Chair in Elder Law, the first faculty chair in elder law in the country. The Center is nationally recognized as a leader in elder law and presents numerous programs for attorneys, trustees, estate planners, financial advisers, CPAs and other elder care professionals.
A committee reviewed nominations from across the country. Professor Morgan is only the second Floridian to receive this award.
“Professor Morgan continuously and unselfishly shares her vast knowledge in the field of elder law with her characteristic enthusiasm,” said Judge John N. Kirkendall, who nominated Professor Morgan for the award. “She brings honor to all of us in the legal and judicial community.”
Morgan is a past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, past president of the board of directors of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, past chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Aging and the Law and of the Florida Bar Elder Law Section, and was on the faculty of the National Judicial College.
The Treat Award was established in 1978 to recognize an individual for significant contributions to the improvement of the law or judicial administration in probate or related fields. The award is named in honor of Judge William W. Treat, founder and President Emeritus of the National College of Probate Judges.
Regent University School of Law students won the second annual National Pretrial Competition on the Stetson Law campus. Click for high-resolution image.
Regent University School of Law students won the second annual National Pretrial Competition held Oct. 1-3 on Stetson University College of Law’s Gulfport campus. Regent University School of Law student Jerry Harris was named Best Advocate in the final round of competition.
A full field of eight teams of law students competed this year for a chance to win the championship. Teams from Baylor Law School, Chapman University School of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, John Marshall School of Law, Mississippi College School of Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, Regent University School of Law and Stetson Law participated.
Best Advocate Regent Law student Jerry Harris with Professor Charles H. Rose III, Stetson's advocacy center director. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson Law Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson created the pretrial competition to prepare students to be ethical and professional advocates and to advance skills tested in both trial and moot court competitions. The competition focuses on the components found in pretrial hearings. Competitors must write briefs, present evidence and make oral arguments before a judge.
The Young Lawyer’s Division of the Florida Bar Association and Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Advocacy co-sponsored this event for law students competing from across the country.
U.S. News & World Report rankings consistently place Stetson among the top trial advocacy programs in the nation. Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Advocacy, directed by Professor Charles H. Rose III, promotes the continuing development of unparalleled advocacy skills through teaching, scholarship and research. Stetson Law’s Advocacy Resource Center offers instruction to a worldwide audience through online video presentations by experts in the field of advocacy.
Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381 [email protected]
Photo of Stetson's winning team of Aisha Sanchez, J'Aimee Crockett and Ryan Schmidt courtesy John Marshall Law School Center for Information Technology & Privacy Law. Click for high-resolution image.
Stetson University College of Law students won the 28th Annual John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology and Privacy Law in Chicago Oct. 1-3. Thirty-two teams competed, including five from overseas.
The Stetson Law team of J’Aimee Crockett, Aisha Sanchez, and Ryan Schmidt beat a team from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in the final round.
“Our students accomplished an incredible feat in oral advocacy,” said Moot Court Advisor and Professor Stephanie Vaughan. “They prepared extremely hard and were honored to compete against such talented students from around the globe.”Professor Brooke Bowman, who dedicates many hours to helping prepare Stetson Law students for competitions, coached the winning team to victory.
Established in 1981, the Moot Court Competition in Information Technology & Privacy Law has grown into one of the largest and most prestigious international moot courts, bringing together law school students from across the country and around the world to brief and argue unresolved issues of technology law. The competition is hosted by the Center for Information Technology & Privacy Law at John Marshall Law School.
Stetson’s Moot Court Boardis composed of a select group of students who compete in interscholastic moot court competitions throughout the United States and around the world.
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