For the third year in a row, Stetson’s chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers has been honored as Student Chapter of the Year by FAWL.
(L-R): Kaitlyn Konecny (Stetson FAWL 2017-2018 president, 2016-2017 vice president); Chloe Wells ’17 (Stetson FAWL 2016-2017 president); Casey Burns (Stetson FAWL secretary); Julia Alley (Stetson FAWL treasurer); Natalie Yello ’17 Ms. JD Fellow. FAWLS partnered with Ms. JD and Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Law Student Division- Stetson Chapter for Women’s Week.
This year, FAWL spearheaded Stetson’s first Women’s Week which featured several programs focused on promoting and celebrating women on and off campus.
Stetson’s FAWL student president Chloe Wells also received the National Association of Women Lawyers award at Stetson law school’s Honors and Awards program on May12. She was named Student Organization Leader of the Year this year during the Student Organization Awards.
“This group continues to impress me with their collaboration, creative programming, and commitment to FAWL’s mission of promoting gender equality,” said Office of Career Development Associate Director Joann Grages Burnett, FAWL adviser at Stetson. “I am thrilled that they are once again recognized for their contributions to Stetson and the legal profession.”
Stetson’s chapter will receive its award during the summer FAWL Annual Gala at the Florida Bar’s annual convention on June 22 in Boca Raton.
Established in 2014, the award is presented annually to the FAWL student chapter that has most effectively created new programs, events, or services and/or expanded on traditional programs, events or services that further FAWL’s mission; provided programs, events or services that encourage and assist members to become leaders in the law school and in the community; sought and gained exposure and recognition in both the law school community and the community as a whole; promoted diversity in law school and/or in the community; successfully recruited new members; and consistently participated in the state FAWL organization by paying dues in a timely manner, having an active chapter representative, attending meetings and functions, encouraging volunteers for committees and offices, working well with other local chapters, and assisting with FAWL projects.
Student Kiera Forlenza is a social justice advocate focused on helping children.
Student Kiera Forlenza is a social justice advocate focused on helping children.
Second-year law student Kiera Forlenza admits that she wasn’t sure law school was for her during her first year of studying the fundamentals, buried in books. Forlenza came to law school with the purpose of becoming an advocate for children. It was not until she delved into coursework in Stetson’s Social Justice Advocacy (SJA) Concentration Program under the mentorship of Professor Judith Scully that Forlenza began to define herself as an advocate in law school.
Today, Forlenza is student president of the Dream Defenders organization. The busy mother and law student is a Guardian ad Litem and volunteers as a classroom assistant in Sarasota, where she plans to work with the Public Defender’s Office this summer. Forlenza says that Stetson’s SJA concentration program transformed her opinion of law school.
“The program is trying to instill a different type of lawyering,” says Forlenza. “Students learn how to think outside the box to effect change.”
Stetson’s first full graduating class in the Social Justice Advocacy Concentration Program was in 2014. Professor Scully explains that the program appeals to any student interested in civil rights, human rights, criminal law, or any aspect of the law that needs to be reformed, embellished, or abolished in order to achieve equity and/or justice.
Forlenza is currently wrapping up the first semester of her second year at Stetson. She has already completed more than 200 pro bono hours. She says she is enrolled in SJA electives that are helping her hone her voice as an advocate.
Forlenza explains that the program is directing her passion for juvenile justice through careful course selection, independent study, colleagueship with other SJA students and mentoring.
“Juveniles are the most defenseless of our population,” says Forlenza. “They can easily get lost in the system.”
Many juveniles are transferred into the adult court system by prosecutors using their direct file powers. This prosecutorial power is currently being challenged by proposed legislation in Florida because in the past 6 years nearly 10,000 juveniles are transferred in to the adult criminal legal system, the highest number of juvenile transfers reported by any state. Florida is one of the only states that uses direct file as its primary tool of prosecuting juveniles as adults. If convicted as adults, juveniles are branded as felons for life which greatly impacts their ability to obtain employment, housing and even financial aid for higher education, says Forlenza.
Professor Scully describes how the Social Justice Advocacy and the Law course, offered for the first time at Stetson in the spring 2017 semester, helps students understand the wide variety of ways that they can use their legal skills to empower their clients and serve their communities. Through this course, students are introduced to different forms of lawyering other than the traditional “one client, one lawyer” model. In the SJA and the Law course, students learn how lawyers can work in tandem with policymakers; as rebellious lawyers who collaborate with their clients; and as holistic lawyers who work as a team with social workers, immigration lawyers, civil rights lawyers, housing and social security lawyers to ensure the success of their clients not just in their cases but in their lives. Some SJA lawyers also facilitate leadership of community members so that they can solve their own problems in the future. The semester ends with a focus on self-care so that students are prepared to manage the second-hand trauma that lawyers often face when dealing with people in extreme crisis.
“Students learn how to effectuate change not just in the courtroom but also in the community,” says Professor Scully, who introduces students to models of holistic lawyering being developed around the country by non-traditional lawyers with the National Conference of Black Lawyers and the National Lawyers Guild, lawyers working in nonprofit organizations and law school clinics, and with the public defender’s office in the Bronx, New York. A series of ten practicing attorneys joined the SJA and the Law course this semester through video Skyping, allowing students to hear a wide variety of SJA voices and perspectives.
“It is my hope that students will leave this course knowing that one lawyer empowering others can make fundamental change in the legal system and that a small group of determined lawyers working in the community can change the course of history “ says Scully.
She is proud of Stetson’s Social Justice Advocacy Concentration Program alumni who are working in immigration law, veterans law, juvenile law, with public defender offices and with policymakers in the legislature. “Our students are making an impact in Florida, New York, Texas and Georgia. A decade from now SJA alumni from Stetson will be leaders all across this nation.”
As an undergraduate, Forlenza says she focused on paralegal studies and wanted to work in the education field. Her goal evolved into a desire to create change in the education system. As a law student in the SJA program at Stetson, Forlenza says she still wants to make a difference in the lives of children as a social justice lawyer, and now she sees some different paths to that goal. She says that the program has helped her develop professionally, discovering where she personally wants to be and how to get there.
“Social justice advocates are not just litigators strictly working in courtrooms,” says Forlenza. “They are in the community doing all types of work that will legally empower and assist their clients in economically, politically, and socially developing their communities .”
She says her goal is to work in juvenile criminal defense, and to be an advocate with a holistic focus on her clients.
“Our job as future attorneys is to help our clients get what they need,” Forlenza says.
Stetson University College of Law hosts the inaugural Legal Technology continuing legal education program on June 9 on the Gulfport campus, 1401 61st St S.
The daylong CLE program for lawyers and legal practitioners covers topics ranging from cyber security in the law firm to courtroom technology to using social media in advertising.
Presentations include “Cyber Security and Your Law Firm: Protect Yourself,” “Courtroom Technology,” “E-discovery,” “Integrating Technology into Practice,” “Social Media, Advertising Rules, Tech & Ethics,” and “Cybersecurity and Your Clients: The Need for Due Diligence.”
The CLE begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. and wraps up at 4 p.m.
General, Technology and Ethics CLE credits are pending.
To learn more about the CLE, or to register, visitStetson Law. For more information, contact Stetson’s Office of Professional Education at [email protected] or call 727-562-7898.
Matthew Ceriale, third from left, is a first-year student at Stetson law school.
First-year law student Matthew Ceriale has been awarded the inaugural Shumaker Diversity Scholarship from the Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP law firm. Ceriale will join Shumaker’s Tampa office as a summer associate.
The Shumaker Diversity Scholarship is available to students who are members of minority groups. Applicants must have outstanding undergraduate and law school academic credentials, exhibit leadership abilities and community involvement and demonstrate a commitment to practice law after graduation in the geographic area of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick’s offices. The law firm has offices located in Sarasota and Tampa, Florida, Toledo and Columbus, Ohio, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ceriale said he was motivated to come to law school because it opened up pathways to solving peoples’ problems.
“I knew to be able to honestly help other people I had to start with myself. I knew that I couldn’t help anyone if I didn’t have the skills, knowledge, or experiences,” said Ceriale. “For that reason, law school was my frying pan, my plunge.”
“Law school seems to put everything else on hold while we go through our coursework, but every now and again I’ll run into someone or get a phone call and be reminded that there are still people counting on me, still people who are in need of help – it’s part of what keeps me driven,” said Ceriale. “Every day is a test or new challenge and I love it.”
“This scholarship is one example of how Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick seeks candidates who demonstrate personal and professional excellence and who bring diverse life experiences to our team,” said real estate attorney C. Graham Carothers, Jr., a partner and the Shumaker Diversity and Inclusion Committee co-chair. “We are very excited about this new program and are confident that it will result in an even stronger, better and more effective team of professionals at Shumaker.”
“Diversity is extremely important to Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick and to our clients,” said Shumaker Diversity and Inclusion Committee co-chair Sharon M. Fulop, a partner and real estate attorney at the full-service firm. “Keeping with our commitment to this initiative, we wanted to take the next logical step in recruiting underrepresented law students. With this scholarship, we provide funds to help offset the cost of law school as well as a position in our firm’s summer associate class. It’s a win-win opportunity for everyone.”
Shumaker’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee is made up of partners, associates and administrative personnel that are dedicated to establishing and implementing a variety of diversity and inclusion measures.
LL.M. in International Law student Riya Khan has been accepted into the United Nations Graduate Study Programme starting this summer. The program provides an opportunity for outstanding graduate and postgraduate students from around the world to deepen their understanding of the principles, purposes and activities of the U.N. and its related agencies through first-hand observation and study at the U.N. Office in Geneva, Switzerland.
“It’s a two-week program where you take classes at the U.N. in Geneva working with post-graduate students from around the world,” said Khan.
Selected students will work on this year’s theme of “Climate Change, Migration, Violent Extremism: The United Nations’ Role in Preventing Conflicts Spurred by the Challenges of Our Time.” Students will also hear lectures by senior members of the U.N. and the Geneva-based specialized agencies. Classes and lectures are held at the U.N. Geneva where actual sessions take place.
Between 50-70 students are selected from around the world. Last year, 70 were selected. The program, July 3-14 at the U.N. Office in Geneva, is free but selected students must pay the cost of travel and living expenses for two weeks.
(L-R): Chief Judge Anthony Rodolino, Taylor Greenberg and Judge Susan St. Peters.
Student Taylor Greenberg received the 2017 Pro Bono Service Award for Outstanding Service by a Law Student from the Sixth Judicial Circuit at the Pinellas County Justice Center in Clearwater on April 21. Stetson Law students Haley Coet and Reshma Pharsi won honorable mention awards for pro bono service.
Greenberg was honored for her dedication to the cause of pro bono service and commitment to helping the community. Greenberg has served as a Guardian Ad Litem for close to 20 children and teens since 2013, and is active in the 18th and Sixth Judicial Circuit. Greenberg launched Child Advocates of Stetson Law, a student organization on Stetson’s Gulfport campus that connects and recruits Guardian ad Litem volunteers.
“Pro bono work has been the most rewarding aspect of law school for me,” said Greenberg. “Pro bono work offers law students a real opportunity to make a measurable impact to those in need of legal services. It is a privilege to advocate for teens in the court system who have no one else to be a voice for them.”
A second-year student in the Social Justice Advocacy Concentration Program at Stetson law school, Greenberg was also honored for outstanding volunteer service at a special program recognizing the top candidates in the Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Pro Bono competition at Stetson in the fall.
Coet received placed first in Stetson law school’s inaugural Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Pro Bono competition this semester, and was honored for her outstanding volunteer service along with Greenberg and student Melody Jacquay.
Stetson was the first law school in the state to require pro bono service of its students and faculty and one of the first law schools in the country to establish a pro bono service requirement for graduation. Stetson Law students donate an average of 30,000 public service hours every year.
Centonzio addressed a crowd gathered for the dedication of Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute in 2012.
By Brandi Palmer
Stetson University College of Law alumnus Javier Centonzio J.D. ’12, LL.M. ’14 is coordinating the third annual Sgt. Jessie Davila Memorial Classic Golf Tournament on May 6 to benefit a scholarship for veterans and the St. Petersburg Vet Center.
The golf tournament begins at 11 a.m. the Belleview Biltmore Golf Club, 1501 Indian Rocks Rd. in Belleair, Florida.
Centonzio established the Sgt. Jessie Davila Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor his friend Jessie Davila, a U.S. Marine who was killed while deployed with the National Guard in Iraq. The scholarship is for veterans who want to pursue a law degree but have exhausted all of their educational benefits in pursuing an undergraduate degree. All proceeds from the golf tournament support the scholarship.
Kai Su and Riya Khan worked together to present during the model U.N. session.
Two Stetson University College of Law students participated in a model intergenerational U.N. session on April 8 about global issues related to aging. Stetson students Riya Khan, a student in the LL.M. program, and Kai Su, a first-year J.D. student, joined the session at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston via Skype.
A group of more than 30 people including senior citizens and high school students partnered to represent three NGOs for human rights, transportation and housing and 16 different countries around the world on the issue of aging.
“It’s important to get younger people involved early on,” said Khan, who wants to work for the U.N. or a similar organization after graduating from Stetson in May.
Khan and Su shared ideas on how countries should address their aging populations, using the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing as a guide. Adopted by the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002, the Madrid Plan is a comprehensive action plan for building an intergenerational society.
“I did a model U.N. program in high school,” Su shared. “This was a different approach, matching high school students with older people.”
Session participants worked together to write resolutions requesting healthcare, housing and education for seniors and an end to gender discrimination and exploitation in third world countries. Khan and Su addressed questions about how to address human rights issues impacting older women in the Middle East, whether governments or NGOs should create or implement human rights policies, and whether all countries should sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The intergenerational U.N. initiative is the brainchild of Kathi Bailey, director of the Yarmouth Senior Center. The seniors involved in the program stay active and have an opportunity to interact with young people to develop solutions to worldwide issues. The town of Yarmouth is an age-friendly community and a member of the World Health Organization.
“We were fortunate to meet Professor Morgan and JR Swanegan at the American Society on Aging Conference in Chicago in March of 2017 and begin our collaborative journey,” said Bailey. Professor Rebecca Morgan co-directs the Center for Excellence in Elder Law with Professor Roberta Flowers. Swanegan is assistant dean for international programs at Stetson.
“The Stetson University student participation allowed us to introduce a Human Rights NGO through Skype technology as a demonstration of intergenerational and international participation in community building for a lifespan as we explored the topic of aging,” said Bailey. “We now have a new mechanism to reach out in communities where the traditional model U.N. did not exist and we have put aging on the traditional model U.N. committee map.”
(L-R): Sebastian Martinez, Charles Brady, Chloe Wells, Tobias Wetzel, Franziska Kues, Lukas Wienke, Roxane Olivier, Anna Liedl, Bansari Amin, Professor Luz Nagle.
Professor Luz Nagle recently visited the Port of Tampa with students in her International Business Transactions class to observe delivery of goods firsthand.
“This was a unique opportunity for our foreign students to see how what we are learning in class is applied to industry and commerce,” said Professor Nagle.
Students visited the port with the professor, saw the forklifts used to move the goods that impact risks and responsibilities, and toured the facilities by boat.
The class discussed matters concerning the shipment of goods, including the duties and obligations of sellers and buyers to a contract of sale relating to the delivery of tangible goods sold overseas, as well as the roles and responsibilities of maritime carriers.
(L-R): Front row: Kara Rogers, Reshma Pharsi, Vanessa Denk. Back row: E. Alan Brock, Associate Dean Stephanie Vaughan, Bart Kubiak, Dale Tan. Photo courtesy E. Alan Brock.
Stetson’s team of E. Alan Brock, Vanessa Denk, Bart Kubiak, Taofikat Ninalowo, Reshma Pharsi, Kara Rogers and Ayodale (Dale) Tan was one of the only U.S. law school teams, including Harvard, that received awards in every category.
(L-R): Reshma Pharsi, Dale Tan, Associate Dean Stephanie Vaughan, Kara Rogers, Professor Kristen Adams, Bart Kubiak, Vanessa Denk in Hong Kong.
“The VIS competition is a gathering of the world’s most talented teams, contributing their writing and oral argument skills to a complex problem,” said Tan, who won the honorable mention best oralist award and was recently elected as Stetson’s next Student Bar Association president. “Along the way, lifelong friendships are made, skills are enhanced, and advocacy skills are brought to a higher level. It is truly the experience of a lifetime.”
More than 400 oralists from 125 teams from around the world competed.
Stetson Professor of Law Kristen Adams, Associate Dean Stephanie Vaughan J.D. ’91, and Alexander Zesch J.D.’13 helped prepare the team.
“The competition is almost indescribable as it brings diverse cultures from around the globe together not only to compete, but to shine a light on how the rule of law transcends strife and differences,” said Associate Dean Vaughan. “It is quite remarkable, and makes me hopeful for the future.”
Also at the awards ceremony, Stetson’s annual International Environmental Moot Court competition, now in its 21st year, was recognized among the three great international competitions for law students.
Stetson University College of Law invites legal and business professionals from across the U.S. to join a destination Continuing Legal Education program in Havana, Cuba, June 28-July 2.
Program attendees network with legal industry professionals while exploring Cuban culture and learning about the legal system and business communities in Cuba.
The destination CLE, “Explore Cuban Legal Systems in Havana,” includes an all-inclusive package with airfare, airport transportation, an interpreter, accommodations, meals, Cuban visa, U.S. taxes, Cuban health insurance and CLE credits.
Guided door-to-door excursions to historic sights including the Hemingway house, Finca Vigía, are included with the package.
Stetson University launched its first short faculty-led program to Cuba in January of 2014. Stetson law school started its study abroad program in Cuba the following year, and launched a CLE program in Cuba in 2016.
“Florida in general and Tampa in particular have natural cultural, historic and business ties in Cuba. If the political winds shift towards a more open society, those historical relationships will be renewed and invigorated and new ones built,” said Richard A. Harrison B.A. ’83, J.D. ’86, attorney with Richard A. Harrison, P.A., who traveled with Stetson’s CLE program last year.
“As a child of the Cold War era, I wanted to see the country and meet the people for myself,” said Harrison. “As a lawyer, I wanted to hear about the Cuban legal system from Cuban attorneys and law professors. It was a remarkable trip all around and I’ll be going back.”
(L-R): Judge Edward C. LaRose, Mary Gantert and Dean Kent of Trenam Law. Photo courtesy Jesuit High School.
Second-year Stetson Law student Mary Gantert recently joined Judge Edward C. LaRose to address Jesuit High School students in Tampa on the topic of the Fourteenth Amendment during the annual Tampa Bay Lawyers Guild’s Law Day on March 30.
In addition to explaining the Fourteenth Amendment, Gantert and Judge LaRose answered general law questions, questions about law school, and discussed balancing law school and real life, balancing practice and real life, and how to plan for law school.
“It’s a wonderful program, and I’m so glad I got to participate,” said Gantert, who works twice weekly for Judge LaRose at the Second District Court of Appeal.
Through the externship, Gantert is assigned specific cases, and reads and summarizes the records and the parties’ briefs from the lower courts to help prepare the judges for oral arguments.
When parties waive their oral arguments, Gantert has an opportunity to research and write memorandum on the law suggesting answers to the issue the parties are arguing. Then, when the panel of three judges gather at the “oral arguments waived” panel, Gantert presents to the judges on the issue and what she believes the answer to the issue should be.
“It is incredible to present before the judges. At first it was a little nerve-wracking, but the judges are very encouraging. It’s an amazing feeling to know that I am helping to shape the law every day.”
Gantert applied to the clinics and externships program through Stetson Law this semester. She worked with Professor Lance Long, who helped her decide on the best match.
“I was placed with Judge LaRose and he has been an incredible mentor,” said Gantert.
