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Stetson University College of Law releases Florida’s First Law School: A History of Stetson University College of Law

Contact Frank Klim
Executive Director of Communications
727-562-7889

Tampa Bay, Fla. – Carolina Academic Press has just published Florida’s First Law School: A History of Stetson University College of Law. The book is authored by Stetson Professor of Law Emeritus Michael Swygert and Gary Vause, former dean of the law school who died in 2003 before completion of the book.

A supremely researched book, Florida’s First Law School describes and analyzes the rise in prominence of Stetson University College of Law from its strong beginnings in 1900 through its mid-life crises during the Great Depression and World War II, and its upward march after its 1954 relocation to the Tampa Bay area. It is a history about the people whose personalities and visions meshed to propel a small, poor law school into the dynamic, secure law center it is today. It is a story unlike any other in the chronicles of American legal education.

The nation’s pre-eminent legal scholars have praised Florida’s First Law School:

“This history is truly a monumental work —a monument to the progress of Florida’s oldest law school, a monument to those who labored to insure that progress, and a monument to its authors, two of Stetson’s most distinguished faculty members.”
—Wm. Reece Smith Jr., former president of the International, American and Florida Bar associations, Rhodes Scholar, and Distinguished Professorial Lecturer at Stetson University College of Law

“This readable book is an important contribution to the growing literature on the history of legal education, and is must-reading for anyone interested in the evolution of American law schools.”
—James W. Ely, Jr., Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law and Professor of History at Vanderbilt University

“This is a vivid, detailed chronicle of the hundred-year-long history of Stetson University College of Law —step-by-step, year-by-year. Stetson law graduates will relish every word of it. Others, too, will learn from it what it takes to make an outstanding educational institution.”
—Harold J. Berman, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law at Emory University and James Barr Ames Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard University

“Filled with people and personalities, this book nicely situates the College’s history within the broader contexts of the history of the state of Florida and the development of American legal education.”
—Walter F. Pratt, Jr., Dean and Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor of Law at The University of South Carolina School of Law.

“This book may be the most comprehensive history of a law school ever written. It tells a rich story of the ups and downs of Florida’s oldest law school, and in the process nicely chronicles not only one hundred years of law teaching in Florida, but also the transformation in the character of law students.”
—Stephen B. Presser, Director of American Society of Legal History and Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History and Professor of Business Law at Northwestern University

The book is available at the Stetson University College of Law bookstore by calling 727-562-7806, on the Stetson Law web site at
https://justice.law.stetson.edu/bookstore/history/.
or through Carolina Academic Press at
http://www.cap-press.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like to schedule an interview with Professor Swygert, please call the Communications Office at Stetson University College of Law at 727-562-7889.

Student Moot Court Teams win best brief at Orlando competition

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Students from Stetson University College of Law moot court teams won best brief awards at the Workers’ Compensation Moot Court Competition in Orlando on Aug. 13 and 14.

The Stetson student team of Sam Cooley and Todd Parrish authored the winning brief. Cooley was also a member of the team that took home an award for best memorial at the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in March. This was Parrish’s first competition. Moot court alumnus Dan Green coached the team.

The second student team of Andrew Hill, Emily Morgan and Jason Stearns wrote the brief that placed as runner up in the competition. Stetson Law moot court alumni Jennifer Card and Nancy Slack Meyer, of Abbey, Adams, Byelick, Kiernan, Mueller & Lancaster, L.L.P., coached the team which advanced to the final round of competition.

“Being honored with awards for the top two briefs in this competition speaks volumes about the strength of Stetson’s legal writing program,” said Professor Stephanie Vaughan, moot court advisor and co-director of the legal research and writing program.

Florida State University won the competition overall.

Carlton Fields selects Stetson Law students for diversity fellowship

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Carlton Fields, P.A. has chosen Stetson University College of Law students Emy Mondesir and Patice Holland to receive this year’s Carlton Fields Diversity Fellowship.

Mondesir and Holland will serve as fellows in the fall and spring semesters, respectively, and both will work approximately 200 hours each at Carlton Fields, providing pro bono counseling and assistance on various legal projects within the renowned law firm.

“We are delighted that Emy and Patice will be joining Carlton Fields as the next fellows,” said Carlton Fields partner Robert Biasotti. “By providing an opportunity to experience large firm practice, this fellowship is good for the student, the school, our firm, and equally as important, our community.”

The fellowship is designed to provide students who have faced socioeconomic or cultural barriers to legal education with access to a successful, large-firm practice. Carlton Fields shareholder and 1996 Stetson Law alum Robert Biasotti helped to create the fellowship for students.

“The Carlton Fields Diversity Fellowship Program is providing opportunities for law students who have faced social and economic obstacles in pursuit of their legal education,” said Stetson Law Dean Darby Dickerson.

The program is designed for any students interested in serving as fellows within the firm who have faced socio-economic challenges, regardless of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or veteran status. As part of a competitive selection process, students were asked to demonstrate their unique struggle in an essay.

Established in Tampa, Fla., in 1901, Carlton Fields offers a full range of legal services in more than 30 areas of law, maintaining offices in Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach. For more information, please visit the law firm on the web at
http://www.www.carltonfields.com/.

Stetson’s Faculty Chair in Elder Law to receive national award for elder abuse prevention

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Law Professor Rebecca Morgan has been chosen to receive the prestigious 2006 Rosalie Wolf Memorial Elder Abuse Prevention Award by the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. Professor Morgan will accept the award at the 11th International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego, CA on Sept. 19.

“Professor Morgan is a leader in the development of innovative programs addressing the area of elder financial exploitation. Her programs meet a critical need in today’s society,” said President of NCPEA Randy Thomas.

A 1980 graduate of Stetson College of Law, Professor Morgan launched the successful Elder Consumer Protection Program in 2004, which offered programs throughout Florida to educate consumers and law enforcement about scams targeting seniors.

Morgan was also instrumental in building the nation’s first model elder-friendly courtroom on the Stetson College of Law Gulfport campus. The Eleazer Courtroom, dedicated in September 2005, was designed to provide unrestricted physical access to the court to all participants, regardless of ability, through the use of technology including non-glare and non-buzz lighting, and high-tech amplification devices that make hearing and seeing legal proceedings easier.

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has recently pledged $100,000 over the next three years to support the activities of the Center for Excellence in Elder Law, which will utilize the courtroom for a series of research and educational activities.

The award was established in 2002 in honor of Dr. Rosalie Wolf, a pioneering figure in the field of elder abuse prevention, to recognize an individual or organization who has demonstrated a commitment to elder abuse awareness through research, education, policy or practice.

To learn more about the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, please visit their web site at: http://www.preventelderabuse.org/.

Memorial service for Associate V.P. of College Relations Dotti Bressi will be held at Gulfport campus

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – A memorial service for Stetson University College of Law Associate Vice President of College Relations Dorothy “Dotti” Bressi will be held at 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 8 in Stetson’s Great Hall at 1401 61st St. S., Gulfport. A reception will follow.

Dr. Bressi died on July 2, following a battle with leukemia.

“This memorial service is for the Stetson community of faculty, staff, alumni and friends who want to share their appreciation and express their loss for a dynamic person who touched so many. Dotti was an incredibly positive person whose energy, drive, and vision literally changed the College of Law,” said Vice President and Dean of the College of Law Darby Dickerson.

After joining Stetson in August 2000, Dr. Bressi was instrumental in increasing scholarships and awards for students, creating new professorships and faculty chairs for professors, and raising more than $30 million for the college during the successful five-year Cornerstone Campaign.

Bressi was honored with the prestigious Dean’s Award for her commitment to the College of Law in 2005.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be sent to the Dorothy Bressi Memorial Fund at Stetson University College of Law, care of the College Relations Office, 1401 61st St. S., Gulfport, FL 33707.

Stetson Law honors alumni and friends at the Florida Bar Annual Meeting

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law honored several alumni and friends at its annual Stetson Lawyers Association meeting on June 21 in Boca Raton, Fla.

Katherine Ezell ’69 and Judge Thomas E. Penick Jr. ’72 received the Ben C. Willard Award for distinguished humanitarian achievements that have benefited Florida citizens and people throughout the world.

  • Ezell, a 2006 winner of the Tobias Simon Award for outstanding pro bono service, is highly regarded for her outstanding community service and work with public interest law and children in the foster care system.
  • Penick, a nine-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force who retired after 26 years on the bench in Pinellas County, has been honored with several awards for outstanding justice.

Howard Ross ’64 received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Ross, who practices business law and litigation at Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & Wein, has taught at Stetson Law, worked with the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurial Academy, and served as president of St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Inc.

Joshua Magidson ’80 and Luis Prats ’81 received the Paul M. May Meritorious Service Award for continued support of the College of Law.

  • Magidson, a former Stetson Lawyers Association board member and Stetson College of Law overseer, is a civil litigation expert who chairs the board of Ruth Eckerd Hall and supports the Florida Orchestra and the City of Clearwater Task Force for downtown development.
  • Prats, a Stetson University trustee and graduate of both Stetson University and Stetson College of Law, is rated as one of the best construction lawyers in the U.S. and serves on the board of directors for the Tampa Habitat for Humanity and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Melvyn Trute ’66 and Anne L. Weintraub ’03 received the Outstanding Alumni Representative Award.

  • Trute, who practices in the areas of real estate and probate law at Trute & Robbins, was instrumental in amending probate laws in Florida.
  • Weintraub serves on the Stetson Lawyers Association Advisory Council, the corporate board for the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota County and the All Faiths Bank campaign against hunger.

Tom Elligett, Bonnie Foreman, Judge James Whatley and Congressman Bill Young received Distinguished Service Awards for significant, meritorious and continuing contributions that have benefited Stetson Law.

  • Elligett is past chair of the Florida Bar Appellate Practice and Advocacy Section, past president of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and past president and current master of the J. Clifford Cheatwood American Inn of Court.
  • Foreman established a memorial award for Stetson Law students honoring her husband Edward D. Foreman ’71, who dedicated his life to the legal profession and to the community.
  • Judge Whatley was appointed to the 12th Judicial Circuit in January 1989 and to Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal in 1995.
  • Congressman Young, who is an advocate for the needs of Pinellas County and Stetson Law, is serving his 18th term and is the senior Republican in the House of Representatives, is a past member of the appropriations committee, House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Shirin M. Vesely ’94 received the President’s Award, a gift of recognition for serving as president of the Stetson Lawyer’s Association Advisory Council and as a member of the Stetson University College of Law Board of Overseers.

The awards were presented June 21 at the 2006 annual meeting of the Florida Bar.

Jessie Ball duPont Fund awards grant to Center for Excellence in Elder Law at Stetson Law

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has pledged $100,000 over the next three years to support the activities of the Center for Excellence in Elder Law at Stetson University College of Law in Tampa Bay, Fla.

“The generosity of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund will help Stetson significantly expand its community education programs for seniors,” said Vice-President and Dean Darby Dickerson. “This will let us take the next step in a series of successful outreach programs.”

Combined with other gifts and resources, the $100,000 pledge will help fund various activities and programs educating seniors about consumer scams in the high-tech, elder-friendly Eleazer Courtroom on Stetson Law’s Gulfport campus.

“Through education, we hope to help our elders to learn more about the court system, dispute resolution and how to avoid becoming victimized by scams and frauds,” said Rebecca Morgan, who directs Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law.

To learn more about the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, please visit the web at
http://www.dupontfund.org/.

Stetson Law Associate Vice President of College Relations Dotti Bressi dies

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law Associate Vice President of College Relations, Dorothy “Dotti” Bressi, 40, died on Sunday, July 2, following a battle with leukemia.

Dr. Bressi, who held a doctorate in education from the University of Tennessee, joined Stetson in August 2000 and led the successful Cornerstone Campaign, which ended May 31, 2005, and raised more than $30 million of value for the school in five years.

“Dotti was the most positive person I have ever met. Her energy, drive, and vision literally changed the College of Law,” said Vice President and Dean of the College of Law Darby Dickerson. “In addition to being a talented development officer, she was a close friend with whom I’ve been on the road constantly since 2003. I will miss her tremendously.”

Due largely to Bressi’s leadership, student scholarships and awards were increased significantly and new faculty chairs, professorships and research programs were established to retain and attract top faculty. One of the crowning accomplishments was the completion of the nation’s first elder-friendly courtroom on Stetson’s Gulfport campus.

Bressi was honored with the prestigious Dean’s Award for her commitment to the College of Law in 2005. Memorial services will be held Thursday, July 6, from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the Carey Hand Colonial Funeral Home, 2811 Curry Ford Rd., Orlando. The eulogy will be presented at 7 p.m. The funeral will be held at the funeral home at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 7. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be sent to the Dorothy Bressi Memorial Fund at Stetson University College of Law, care of the College Relations Office, 1401 61st St. S., Gulfport, FL 33707.

Stetson Law announces student exchange program with Franklin Pierce Law Center

Contact Frank Klim
Executive Director of Communications
727-562-7889

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., and Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., have established a partnership that will allow students enrolled at each institution to study at the other school for a semester or one academic year.

The intellectual property law curriculum at Franklin Pierce is one of the broadest in the country while Stetson’s trial advocacy program is ranked number one nationally by the 2007 U.S. News and World Report.

This new partnership, effective spring 2007, will allow students to take courses not offered at their home institution. Students in their second and third year of law school are eligible for the program.

Stetson Law presents part-time law school information sessions

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law presents two information sessions for prospective part-time law students in June and August. Both sessions will present the same information.

The information sessions, which explain the law school admission and financial aid process, part-time law curriculum, legal careers, and provide insights from part-time law students, will be held:

  • Wednesday, June 28, 6:30 p.m., Tampa Law Center, 1700 N. Tampa St.
  • Wednesday, August 9, 6:30 p.m., Gulfport Campus, 1401 61st St. S.

Registration begins at 6:15 p.m. for both sessions.

“The part-time program at Stetson is the first and only program of its kind in Tampa Bay,” said Director of Admissions Laura Zuppo-Headley. “It allows non-traditional students to attend evening classes in the fall, spring and summer to finish the law degree in four years.”

Stetson’s first part-time law students enrolled in fall 2002. The first group of part-time students graduated in December of last year.

To R.S.V.P. for either session and for more information and directions to the Gulfport or Tampa campus, please visit Stetson Law on the web at

http://justice.law.stetson.edu/parttime/informationsessions2006.asp.

Stetson Law professional program wins American Bar Association award

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law has won the American Bar Association’s E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award for its Leadership Development Program.

The Leadership Development Program offers regular workshops taught by judges, professors, attorneys and leadership training specialists that help students hone the skills that they will need to become successful community leaders.

“Stetson strives to train not only outstanding lawyers, but leaders in the Bar and greater community,” said Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson. “Our leadership program allows students to gain valuable information and skills that enhance their classroom experience and that give them a head start in the profession.”

Program topics and titles have ranged from “Professionalism in the Workplace” and “Civility In and Out of the Courtroom” to “Persuasive Oral Communication Skills” and “Suiting Up for Success.” This year’s programs have featured chair of the ABA American Jury Project Patricia Lee Refo, Florida 2nd District Court of Appeals Judge E.J. Salcines and U.S. District Judge James Whittemore, former Florida State Senator John Grant and Stetson Law Professors Lee Coppock, Roberta Flowers and Charles Rose. An average of 150 students participated in each program, and 33 individuals to date have graduated with the Stetson Leadership Development Certificate.

The award, honoring excellence and commitment to professionalism, will be presented Aug. 4 in Hawaii during the ABA’s annual meeting. Stetson is one of three national recipients of this year’s award. Stetson Law Director of Student Life Michael Farley will accept the honor, which includes a certificate and $3500 in cash. The stipend will be used to fund future programs, including bringing keynote speakers to campus for annual leadership retreats, Farley said.