News Archives - Page 43 of 138

Senate confirms Stetson Veterans Law Institute director for federal judgeship

The U.S. Senate confirmed Stetson University College of Law Veterans Law Institute director and Professor of Law Michael P. Allen as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims based in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 3.

Professor Allen is a renowned expert on the law of veterans’ benefits, and has testified before Congress and written widely on veterans’ benefits issues.

“I have to acknowledge the thousands of students I’ve taught at Stetson University College of Law,” Allen told the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs during the hearing on his nomination on July 19 in Washington, D.C. “I can assure you that they’ve given me far more than I ever taught them.”

Allen has served in a variety of roles at Stetson since 2001, receiving numerous awards for excellence in scholarship and teaching as a professor for 16 years and as an associate dean for four years, overseeing both academic affairs and faculty and strategic initiatives.

Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute, founded in 2012, serves to increase legal services available to the growing population of military members, veterans and their families in the Tampa Bay, Florida, region by bringing together volunteers, faculty, students and other community organizations. Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic, as part of the Institute, provides representation to Tampa Bay area veterans appealing decisions denying Veterans Administration disability benefits.

Stetson Law alumnus James M. Byrne J.D. ’95 was confirmed as Department of Veterans Affairs general counsel on Aug. 3.

Carmen Johnson is new Pinellas Florida Association for Women Lawyers president

Carmen Johnson Assistant Director for Admissions and Diversity Initiatives. — Carmen Johnson is Assistant Director for Admissions and Diversity Initiatives.

Stetson Law Assistant Director for Admissions and Diversity Initiatives Carmen Johnson was installed as the new president of the Pinellas chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers on July 20 in Clearwater. She served previously as president-elect and secretary and for a two-year term as director of Continuing Legal Education with PFAWL.

She is a member of the Florida Bar’s Education Law Committee as well as the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, and previously served as secretary of the Fred G. Minnis, Sr. Bar Association. She is passionate about higher education administration and education law and policy.

At Stetson, Johnson works with admission compliance policies, recruiting, and diversity initiatives.

She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami and her law degree from Stetson University College of Law. After graduating from Stetson, Johnson worked in complex civil litigation in Tallahassee, Florida, and later served as a staff attorney with the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida where she practiced criminal and post-conviction law.

Visiting Professor Carla Reyes joins Harvard center focused on using digital technologies for social good

Stetson University Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Carla Reyes has recently been named a faculty associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

The Center addresses issues at the intersection of technology and society with a focus on the design and use of digital technologies for the social good.

In December, Professor Reyes spoke in Mexico and in Africa on using cutting-edge technologies like Bitcoin to promote economic, social and cultural rights and to reshape the law. She presented at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum in Mexico on Dec. 8 and at the Kenya Blockchain Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 15-16.

At Stetson, Professor Reyes is teaching Business Entities in the fall, and Secured Transactions and Non-Litigation Drafting: Technology Transactions Skills in the spring.

“The skills course will use a bitcoin company hypothetical and introduce students to the issues presented and skills required of attorneys working with technology start-ups,” Professor Reyes explained.

She presented her article, “Conceptualizing Cryptolaw,” forthcoming in the Nebraska Law Review, at Arizona State University’s Governance of Emerging Technology Conference in May, and presented on blockchain technology and business organization law at the University of Utah’s National Business Law Scholars Conference in June. Professor Reyes travels to Bermuda at the end of this month for a joint COALA-MIT blockchain conference.

Professor Luz Nagle speaks around the world in Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica

Professor Luz Nagle presented in Canada. — Professor Luz Nagle (left) presented in Canada.

Professor of Law Luz Nagle spoke at universities around the world on topics ranging from transborder crime and corruption to creating inclusive institutions and societies.

In Canada, Nagle spoke on “Transborder Crime, Corruption, and the Collusion of Latin America’s Elites,” at a conference on Transnational Criminal Law in the Americas hosted by the University of Windsor Law School in Ontario, Canada. She joined scholars who traveled from countries including Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK, the U.S. and the West Indies to join the conference May 4-5 sponsored by the Transnational Law and Justice Network.

“The conference was situated in the border city of Windsor, Ontario, the most highly trafficked land border in North America,” said Professor Nagle. “The University of Windsor was an ideal space for such a conversation.”

On May 23, Nagle gave two presentations in Brazil at the University of Sao Judas Faculty of Law to lawyers and students. She presented in the morning at the Butantan campus on “Embracing Diversity to Create Institutions that Improve Inclusiveness in Societies,” in a session with Catholic University of Pernambuco Professor Carolina Valença. Dean Fernando Aguilar summarized the presentation and directed questions. Professor Nagle’s presentation was translated into both Spanish and Portuguese.

In the evening, she gave the same presentation to an auditorium of more than 300 people on the University’s Mooca campus.

Professor Nagle also spoke in Costa Rica on illegal organ trafficking and exploitation, discussing the ongoing case of a Costa Rican doctor and medical clinic engaged in international organ trafficking with an Israeli organ broker. Her presentation was the subject of a feature in La Nación.

She was also invited to join a distinguished group of experts and academics at Washington University Law School in St. Louis to discuss integrating international criminal court jurisprudence more firmly in U.S. law school curriculums.

This summer, Professor Nagle will publish her book on the nexus of public and private corruption in human trafficking, and issues involving the conduct of human trafficking NGOs.

The new book, “Understanding Human Trafficking, Corruption and the Optics of Misconduct in the Public, Private and NGO Sectors: Processes for Solutions,” published by Carolina Academic Press, comes out at the end of the summer.

Career development leader appointed to ABA Young Lawyers Division senior leadership team

Stetson University College of Law Associate Director of Career Development Joann Grages Burnett was recently appointed to the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division senior leadership team.

Burnett is the professional development coordinator of the ABA Young Lawyers Division for the 2017-18 term.

At Stetson, Burnett specializes in employer engagement and readiness for students and alumni and oversees postgraduate judicial clerkship initiatives. Prior to joining career development at Stetson, Burnett practiced law as an assistant public defender for the 6th Judicial Circuit where she handled misdemeanor, juvenile, and felony cases.

She is a member of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, the Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, and a member of the Stetson University College of Law Alumni Association.

Student affairs leader presents on “Exploration of past protest to inform current advocacy”

Assistant Dean for Student Affairs/Deputy Title IX Coordinator and adjunct professor Tammy Briant presented on “Exploration of past protest to inform current advocacy” at the American Association of University Professors national conference meeting in Washington, D.C.

Briant, who teaches Stetson’s course on Law and the Civil Rights Movement, said that she looked at the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement that might be applied to current campus advocacy for her presentation.

She co-presented with University of Iowa Professor David McCartney who discussed a website created to highlight Iowa and the University of Iowa’s participation in the Civil Rights Movement.

The conference included presentations about the First Amendment on campus, the right to protest, academic freedom, and supporting students from diverse backgrounds.

Stetson presents awards to alumni and friends at Florida Bar Convention

Stetson University College of Law presented awards to alumni and friends during the annual Florida Bar Convention June 21-24 in Boca Raton, Florida.

(L-R): Dr. Jay Wolfson with Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

Dr. Jay Wolfson J.D. ’93 received this year’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in recognition of his professional achievements which have brought honor to himself and to the College of Law. Dr. Wolfson is the associate vice president for Health Law, Policy and Safety and the senior associate dean of the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. He is also a national health policy consultant to several news organizations. A founding board member of HealthNewsFlorida.com, Dr. Wolfson maintains a private health law practice where he won the largest Medicare fraud and abuse settlement involving a single physician in history.

(L-R): Jonathan Gilbert with Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

Jonathan Gilbert J.D. ’08 received this year’s Outstanding Alumni Representative Award in recognition of his dedication and service to the Stetson Lawyers Alumni Association though local chapter involvement. Gilbert is actively involved with Stetson Law’s Central Florida Alumni Chapter leadership committee, where he has helped grow the chapter, inviting other Stetson alumni to participate and hosting an alumni event at his law firm Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter in Orlando.

(L-R): Frank Klim with Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

Frank Klim received the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his many contributions supporting the mission of Stetson University College of Law. Klim created Stetson Law’s communications office, serving as executive director for more than 15 years before retiring from Stetson this year to launch an integrated marketing firm serving higher education and business. At Stetson, Klim oversaw all external communications and was instrumental in building Stetson’s reputation in the legal community and securing recognition for Stetson students, professors and alumni. He spent the first decade of his career as an award-winning journalist. Klim later created his own full-service marketing communications firm before being recruited to direct marketing for a large Florida-based firm.

(L-R): Cynthia Henderson with Dean Christopher Pietruszkiwicz.

Cynthia Henderson B.B.A. ’82, J.D. ’85 received the Paul M. May Meritorious Service Award in recognition of her continued support of Stetson University College of Law through her contributions of time and gifts. Henderson practiced land use and environmental law before serving as secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and then as secretary of the Department of Management Services in Florida. She currently works as a lawyer and lobbyist in Tallahassee and supports the College of Law though her generous contributions of time and gifts.

(L-R): Chris Searcy with Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

Chris Searcy J.D. ’73 received the Ben Willard Award in recognition of his humanitarian achievements that have brought distinction to himself and Stetson University College of Law. Searcy is the president and CEO of one of the nation’s most respected personal injury law practices, Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley. He has devoted his more than 40-year career to representing and litigating on behalf of the victims and families of catastrophic injury and wrongful death. At the age of 29, Searcy became the youngest U.S. lawyer to achieve a verdict of one million dollars for a single personal injury case. He has been awarded the Florida Justice Association’s Perry Nichols Award for outstanding service to the cause of justice and the Southern Trial Lawyers Association “War Horse Award” for outstanding skill as a trial advocate. Searcy serves as an emeritus member of the Board of Overseers.

More than 100 Stetson Law alumni listed among Florida Trend Legal Elite

May 2017 commencement at Stetson University College of Law.

More than 100 Stetson University College of Law alumni have been selected for the Florida Trend Legal Elite and Up & Comers this year. Stetson Law is again among the top five Legal Elite law schools this year, according to Florida Trend.

Among the 118 Stetson Law alumni named to the Florida Trend Legal Elite and Up & Comers, three graduates of Stetson Law, Stephen D. Busey, Mark A. Hanley and Rhea F. Law, have been selected as distinguished members of the Legal Elite Hall of Fame. Five Stetson Law graduates, Pamela K. Akin, Stephanie Grosman, Nancy S. Meyer, Cynthia S. Oster, and Alexis C. Upton were named among outstanding attorneys working in the government sector.

Now in its 14th year, Florida Trend Legal Elite annually announces attorneys recognized by their peers for exemplifying a standard of excellence.

All in-state members of the Florida Bar were invited to participate in voting for attorneys whom they hold in the highest regard or would recommend to others.

This year’s Florida Trend Legal Elite and Up & Comers represent fewer than 1.5 percent of the active Florida Bar members who practice in Florida.

Stetson wins 2017 Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition

(L-R): Students Ali Preston, Christina Huckfeldt and Kris Galloway with Florida Supreme Court justices. Photo courtesy Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division.

Stetson University College of Law’s moot court team won the 2017 Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition on June 22 in Boca Raton, Florida.

Stetson Law students Kris Galloway, Christina Huckfeldt and Ali Preston argued before the justices of the Florida Supreme Court during the final round of the competition, held in conjunction with the annual Florida Bar Conference.

Galloway also won the Best Oralist Award in the final round.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to polish their advocacy skills before attorneys and members of the judiciary,” said Stetson Professor of Legal Skills and Moot Court Director Brooke Bowman.

Moot Court alumna and Biodiversity Fellow Erin Okuno J.D. ’13 co-coached the winning team with Professor Bowman.

Stetson teams have advanced to the final round of the Orseck competition 14 times in the past 18 years.

A+ for Best Law School Experience: Stetson’s LL.M. in International Law

The latest issue of the International Jurist magazine gives Stetson University College of Law’s LL.M. in International Law program a grade A+ for Best Law School Experience in the Best LL.M. Programs issue.

Only a dozen schools received an A+ around the country. LL.M. programs that made the grade focused on more than just academics.

The International Jurist magazine looked at eight factors in grading schools for the law school experience. Four factors focused on student participation in activities like clinics and experiential training opportunities, law journals, extracurricular offerings and excursions. Another factor considered whether an office or dedicated staff was assigned to assist LL.M. students. Three factors focused on transitioning and whether schools help students adjust to the U.S., provide mentors and opportunities to meet U.S. students.

As writer Katie Thisdell explains, “for many students, assimilating to a new culture will be the biggest and most immediate challenge.”

Stetson’s LL.M. in International Law program was launched in 1998. In 2016, Stetson’s LL.M. in International Law program was also recognized by International Jurist magazine as one of the best LL.M. programs for career opportunities.

For more information, visit https://www.stetson.edu/law/international/llm/index.php.

Stetson Law graduates are top Florida Super Lawyers

Stetson law school's Gulfport campus. — Stetson law school’s Gulfport campus.

Stetson University College of Law graduates are among the best lawyers in the state according to the 2017 Florida Super Lawyers.

Stetson Law is ranked no. 3 among the law schools with the most alumni selected to 2017 Florida Super Lawyers.

There is a total of more than 500 Stetson Law alumni Florida Super Lawyers and Rising Stars this year and more than 900 Stetson Law alumni selected by Super Lawyers across the country.

Stetson Law alumnus Christian D. Searcy is listed among the Top 10 2017 Florida Super Lawyers.

Stetson Law alumnae Barbara A. Hart, Emma Hemness, Cynthia A. Mikos, Lynn Welter Sherman, Caroline Black Sikorske and Katherine Earle Yanes are among the Top 50 Women 2017 Florida Super Lawyers.

Stetson Law alumni Robert Freedman, Mark Hanley, Barbara Hart, Emma Hemness, Luis Martinez-Monfort, Luis Prats, Caroline Black Sikorske and Katherine Earle Yanes are named to the Top 50 Tampa Bay 2017 Florida Super Lawyers.

Stetson Law alumni Jeptha Barbour, Stephen Busey, Mark Hanley, Barbara Hart, Emma Hemness, Christian Searcy, Caroline Black Sikorske, J. Ellsworth Summers Jr., and Katherine Earle Yanes are listed among the Top 100 2017 Florida Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.

Super Lawyers magazine rates outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement through independent research, peer nominations and evaluations.

International Programs assistant dean selected as AIEA presidential fellow

Stetson Law’s Assistant Dean of International Programs JR Swanegan has been selected by a committee of peers as an Association of International Education Administrators Presidential Fellow for the 2017-18 academic year.

The AIEA is a membership organization formed in November 1982, composed of institutional leaders engaged in advancing the international dimensions of higher education.

As an AIEA presidential fellow, Swanegan will be matched with a mentor to provide advice and consultation. He will spend several days during the upcoming fall and spring semesters visiting his mentor’s campus to learn about the policies, politics and procedures of the campus, meeting administrators and faculty, and immersing himself in the day-to-day activities of the institution.

Fellows learn how an experienced senior international officer and their institution address international education challenges and solve problems; participate in a campus site visit at a knowledgeable mentor’s institution; learn how national and international issues impact individual campuses; and become a member of a national network of fellows who serve as career resources.

“I am humbled and excited to spend the next year learning from one of the preeminent leaders in international education,” said Swanegan. “I intend to incorporate practices at Stetson to improve and expand our already outstanding programs.”