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Eight Honored for Distinguished Service

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
(727) 562-7381

Stetson University College of Law recently honored eight outstanding alumni and friends with awards for distinguished service to the law school or legal profession.

Stetson Law Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson presented this year’s awards on June 18 at the Stetson Lawyers Association Annual Meeting and Reception in Boca Raton, Fla., to the following:

(Please click on the bold links below to view a photograph of each award recipient)
Robert Dillinger ’76, the Pinellas-Pasco County public defender, received the Ben C. Willard Award for his distinguished humanitarian achievements that benefit Florida citizens. Dillinger has also served as an adjunct professor at Stetson Law and supervised its Public Defender Clinic.

Congressman Gus Bilirakis ’89, elected to four terms as a member of the Florida House of Representatives and a member of the House Committees on Homeland Security, Veterans’ Affairs and Foreign Affairs, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for service to humanity and proven dedication to the ideals of the College. His office recently sponsored a Stetson Law student as part of the new Law and Policy Internship in Washington, D.C.

Robert E. Doyle, Jr. ’75 and Matthew A. Towery ’87 each received the Paul M. May Meritorious Service Award for their continued support of the College through contributions of time and gifts. Doyle is a mediator and arbitrator and serves on the Executive Committee of Stetson University College of Law’s Board of Overseers. Towery is a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives and a well-respected author and political campaign strategist. He has served on Stetson Law’s Board of Overseers and supports projects of the Center for Excellence in Elder Law.

Barbara Cowherd ’00 and Arturo Rios, Jr. ’06 received Stetson Law’s Outstanding Alumni Representative Award for dedication and service to the Stetson Lawyers Association and encouraging alumni involvement in local activities. Cowherd, whose practice is devoted to liability matters, is a past participant in the Homeless Advocacy project and Guardian ad Litem program who has devoted significant time to Stetson Law’s ABA Self-Study Committee. She is an officer of the Stetson Lawyers Association Advisory Council. Rios specializes in immigration law litigation and has devoted significant time to advocacy and alumni activities at the College. He was recently elected to Stetson Law’s Board of Overseers.

Susan Demers and Hassan M. Milani each received the Distinguished Service Award, which was created for non-alumni who make significant contributions to Stetson Law. Demers, dean of St. Petersburg College’s paralegal studies program, is a long-time adjunct professor and trial team coach at Stetson Law. Milani, a successful businessman who originally came to the United States from Iran, created an endowed scholarship at Stetson Law and has helped the law school with certain facilities projects.
Editor’s Note: Farzad Milani ’06 accepted the award for his father and appears in the photograph on behalf of Hassan M. Milani.

“These awards show our appreciation to the outstanding alumni and friends of the College who have devoted their time, integrity, scholarship and other resources to make Stetson Law the outstanding legal institution that it is today,” said Stetson Law Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson. “Because of the work of these many individuals, the College can continue on its mission to create a community of leaders in the legal profession.”

Charles Roberts is this year’s incoming Stetson Lawyers Association president.

Stetson Law Students Win Competition

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
(727) 562-7381

Stetson University College of Law students Natalie Hagan and Joseph Murray won the E. Earle Zehmer Workers’ Compensation Moot Court Competition Aug. 18 in Orlando, Fla.

Hagan and Murray also received best advocate awards for the overall competition, sponsored by the Workers’ Compensation Section of The Florida Bar. Hagan was also named best advocate in preliminary rounds.

“We are extremely proud that our Natalie and Joe were named best advocates in the overall competition,” said Professor Stephanie Vaughan, Stetson’s Moot Court Advisor. “Natalie’s individual best advocate award is the highest individual award given in a moot court competition.”

Professor Michael Allen and Stetson Law alumnus Jason Stearns coached the winning team.

Stetson’s Moot Court Board is composed of students who seek to improve both their writing and oral advocacy skills in a wide variety of legal specialties through competition. Members compete as teams in interscholastic moot court competitions that take place throughout the year around the globe.

Tampa Part-Time Classes Doubled

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Communications Specialist
(727) 562-7381

Stetson University College of Law will more than double the number of credit hours offered at its Tampa Law Center. This month, the American Bar Association approved Stetson’s request to allow part-time students to take up to half of their course requirements in Tampa.

“Had it not been for Stetson’s part-time program, I wouldn’t have even entertained the thought of transitioning to a law career at this phase in my life,” said Darin Richter, who completed both a law degree and an MBA degree in May 2008.

Stetson’s part-time program began on its Gulfport campus in 2002. Stetson’s Tampa Law Center opened in 2004, allowing students to take approximately one-fifth of their classes in Tampa. The Tampa Law Center houses two courtrooms, the Tampa division of Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal, state-of-the-art classrooms, and a law library with many group study rooms.

For more information about Stetson’s part-time law program, please contact Stetson Law at 727-562-7802 or e-mail [email protected]. Applicants must take the Law School Admissions Test and have a bachelor’s degree to be considered for admission.

Stetson Law team wins Florida mock trial competition

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – A team from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., won the Florida Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition in West Palm Beach on Nov. 11. Nine teams competed at the Palm Beach County Courthouse.

The Stetson team of Courtney Belcher, Chris Hart, Jonathan Johnston, Callie Weed and Damien Yare won the competition.

“It is so important to attend and to continue to do well at mock trial events within the state of Florida. More and more of this state’s schools are doing well in national competitions,” said professor Lee Coppock, the winning team’s coach. “Law schools all over the country recognize Florida’s excellent programs and Stetson’s role over the years in setting the standard for excellence and professionalism in the state.”

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis presided over the final round of competition.

Stetson Law hosts conference named for award-winning chief bankruptcy judge

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law hosts the 32nd Annual Alexander L. Paskay Seminar on Bankruptcy Law and Practice Dec. 7-8 at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Clearwater, Fla.

The seminar, designed for experts in the field as well as general practitioners who handle bankruptcy issues, has attracted a national faculty, including top bankruptcy lawyers, judges and officials.

The conference is named for its chair, Alexander L. Paskay, chief bankruptcy judge emeritus of the Middle District of Florida and an adjunct professor of law at Stetson.

Judge Paskay has been presiding over cases since 1963, making him the longest sitting full-time bankruptcy judge in the nation with 44 years of continuous service to the federal judiciary.

He was honored for a career of lifetime achievement this year, receiving three highly prestigious awards in the month of October alone. On Oct. 11, he received the Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in the Field of Bankruptcy. On Oct. 12, he received the Judge William L. Norton, Jr., Judicial Excellence Award. On Oct. 13, he was inducted into Stetson University College of Law’s Hall of Fame.

Paskay is also a prolific author who has most recently penned Creditors’ Rights, published by Vandeplas Publishing in August 2006.

To register for the Paskay Seminar on Bankruptcy Law and Practice, please call the Office of Conferences and Events at 813-228-0226, e-mail [email protected] or visit http://www.law.stetson.edu/conferences for more information.

Stetson Law Moot Court Team wins prestigious international human rights competition

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – A team of three Stetson Law students defeated teams from across the U.K., India, and the U.S. to win the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition in White Plains, N.Y., on Oct. 28. Add to their victory —this is the first time that a Stetson team has entered the competition.

Students Stephanie Ciechanowski, Chris Winkelman and Ahmad Yakzan progressed to the final round in the competition and argued against teams from Louisiana State University and New York Law School for the victory. Winkelman was named Best Oralist, the highest individual award in a moot court competition. Stetson professor Ann Piccard coached the winning team.

“Our team’s performance at this competition places our moot court team among the best in the world’s key competitors in international human rights issues,” said professor Stephanie Vaughan, Stetson’s moot court advisor.

Each team wrote and submitted three written memorials and argued a case based on international criminal law before a simulated International Criminal Court.

Stetson’s moot court board members compete as teams in interscholastic moot court competitions that take place throughout the year and throughout the world.

Stetson invites prospective law students to attend Law School Information Day Nov. 17

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law invites prospective law students to its annual Law School Information Day from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 1401 61st St. S. in Gulfport.

The program features a simulated law class, faculty-led seminars, campus tours, and information about law school admissions and financial aid for law school. Prospective students can also learn more about Stetson’s part-time law programs, international study abroad programs its award-winning trial and moot court teams.

“Law Day is an opportunity for prospective law school students to get an overview of both law school and the Stetson experience,” said Laura Zuppo, director of admissions. “Prospective students can learn more about the legal field and law school. They can experience a mock first-year class, learn what it is like to be a law student, meet faculty members and take tours of campus with current students.”

Last year’s event drew more than 300 people from across the state and nation to Stetson’s Gulfport campus.

To learn more and to register for this free event, please visit Stetson online at http://justice.law.stetson.edu/admissions/lawschoolinformationday.asp.

The deadline to register has been extended to Nov. 15.

Stetson Law Moot Court Team takes home best brief in Chicago

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law’s Information, Technology, and Privacy Moot Court Team received an award for the Best Respondent Brief at the Twenty-Sixth Annual John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology and Privacy Law Oct. 18-20 in Chicago.

Team members Stacy Appleton, Adam Butkus and Nick Mutton wrote the best brief in the competition. Professor Darryl Wilson coached the winning team, which advanced to the semifinals in this international competition.

“The best brief award is one of the top three awards given in any moot court competition and is the highest award given to the team’s written work. We are thrilled,” said Professor Stephanie Vaughan, Stetson’s Moot Court Advisor.

Stetson’s Moot Court Board is composed of students who seek to improve both their writing and oral advocacy skills. Board members compete as teams in interscholastic moot court competitions that take place throughout the year and throughout the world.

Awards are given to the winning team, as well as to the team writing the best brief and the best advocate from the oral argument rounds.

Competitions cover a wide variety of legal fields including worker’s compensation, criminal procedure, international law, information technology, bankruptcy, environmental law, civil rights, labor law, copyright and unfair trade practices, tax, and constitutional law. In addition, there is a competition devoted to “hot topics” in criminal or civil law each semester.

Stetson Hispanic Bar Association honored for work with national mentoring program

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law’s Hispanic Bar Association was recently honored for its work with the Hispanic National Bar Association’s minority youth outreach and mentoring programs.

The HNBA received the American Bar Association’s 2007 Partnership Award for its National Mentoring Program and its Youth Convention Law Day Program on Aug. 10 at the joint annual meeting of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, National Association of Bar Executives and the National Conference of Bar Foundations in San Francisco, Calif.

Stetson’s HBA partners with the Tampa Bay Hispanic Bar Association, pairing law students with practicing attorney-mentors to encourage professional development. The Tampa Bay mentor program was launched in Tampa, Fla., this February.

“Stetson’s HBA is honored to be part of the HNBA’s mentoring program and will continue its efforts in uniting more law students with practitioners,” said Stetson HBA president Clara Rodriguez Rokusek. “Attorney-mentors have provided students with vital information regarding particular fields of law, career advancement and networking.”

The local mentor program is sponsored by national, state and local Hispanic bar associations, foundations and firms.

The Hispanic National Bar Association launched its national mentoring program in 2006. It has programs in Miami, New York, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area and Tampa. The HNBA mentorship program was created to fulfill the need for mentors from aspiring Hispanic students and new lawyers. The Hispanic National Bar Association represents the interests of 38,000 U.S. Hispanic lawyers, law school professors, law students and paralegals.

Stetson Law also was honored with the American Bar Association Law Student Division Award of Excellence Aug. 10 in San Francisco. Stetson student Chris Sprowls was elected to national office as division delegate for the American Bar Association House of Delegates, and recent Stetson graduate Brian Redar completed his term as student representative for the ABA Board of Governors.