Stetson University College of Law students Brandon Breslow, Colby Connell, Kaitlyn Dugas and Tamara Williams won the Florida Justice Association Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition in Orlando, Florida, this past weekend.
Breslow, Connell, Alexa Kline and Courtney Olivier were recognized as outstanding advocates in their preliminary round trials, and Connell was named overall outstanding advocate of the competition.
“Our success at this competition is a testament to the long green line of Stetson students, faculty, staff and alumni who make such victories possible. The team was coached by former trial team members Colby and Trina Hearn, who shared their passion for the profession and their commitment to excellence. They are a shining example of our Stetson family’s promise to the future, paying it forward – exactly as others did for them,” said Charles H. Rose III, director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson.
The Stetson team beat St. Thomas University School of Law in the final round. Stetson trial team alumnus Julian Catala coached the St. Thomas team.
(L-R): Stetson students Colby Connell, Tamara Williams, coaches Colby Hearn and Trina Hearn, students Brandon Breslow and Kaitlyn Dugas won the FJA Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition.
For more information about Stetson’s award-winning advocacy program, visit www.stetson.edu/advocacy.
Stetson’s Black Law Students Association hosted its popular annual Survival of the Fittest program on Nov. 7 to help law students prepare for their legal careers.
Stetson’s BLSA presented Survival of the Fittest on Nov. 7.
The program featured a panel on Balancing Life and the Law and Maintaining Your Personal Style, as well as breakout sessions on Building Your E-Brand, Making the Most of Your Internship, and Financial Management Post-Graduation. Students also learned from demonstrations on interviewing, networking tips, and presentations by attorneys and judges from local bar associations.
“When I attended the Survival of the Fittest program over 10 years ago, several attorneys reviewed my resume and destroyed it with a red pen. I made the suggested revisions and submitted my resume to a number of law firms. I am now a shareholder at one of those law firms, ” said Stetson Law alumna Meredith Freeman J.D. ’04, shareholder at Bush Ross. “Through the Survival of the Fittest program, I also made valuable connections to mentors to whom I turn today when I need guidance or support.”
Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, has again been designated a Military Friendly School by Victory Media.
Stetson launched its Veterans Law Institute in 2012.
“At Stetson, we are dedicated to making sure that those who served receive the benefits and respect they deserve,” said Professor Stacey-Rae Simcox, director of the Veterans Advocacy Clinic at Stetson. “We also take pride in the large number of military veterans who make up our student body. The insight and experience these students bring to the law school experience make them valuable and dynamic members of the Stetson family.”
Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute, launched in 2012, was designed to increase legal services available to the growing population of military members, veterans and their families in the Tampa Bay, Florida, area.
“Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute is making strides in its effort to serve veterans both in the community and in law school,” said Michael Allen, associate dean and director of the Institute.
Last year, Stetson University and the University of South Florida joined forces in a first-of-its-kind partnership combining supportive clinical services, collaborative student training and joint research to help Florida veterans secure disability benefits.
Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic, an arm of the Institute, is designed to provide veterans with legal help. Stetson’s clinic recently helped a veteran obtain $200,000 in benefits owed as well as a monthly benefit.
Stetson is also home to the Yellow Ribbon scholarship program to help all eligible veterans pay for law school, as well as an active Student Veterans Organization.
The Thomas E. Penick, Jr. Elder Law American Inn of Court at Stetson Law was honored at the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 24 during the American Inns of Court Celebration of Excellence.
(L-R): Professor Roberta Flowers and Rebecca Morgan at the Supreme Court in October.
Professors Roberta Flowers and Rebecca Morgan, co directors of Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law, accepted the platinum designation for the Penick Inn at the Supreme Court. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hosted the celebration.
The Penick Inn was founded in 2014 to honor retired Judge Thomas E. Penick, Jr. J.D. ’72, a distinguished jurist, military veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star, whose contributions to probate and guardianship are legendary. Judge Penick was inducted into the Stetson Law Hall of Fame in 2009.
The American Inns of Court Celebration of Excellence is held annually at the Supreme Court to honor individuals who have contributed their talent, time, energy, and resources to furthering the ideals of the American Inns of Court.
The American Inns of Court Foundation was organized in 1985 to promote the goals of legal excellence, civility, professionalism and ethics on a national level.
Pictured (L-R): Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division President Gordon Glover, Dean Pietruszkiewicz, Florida Bar President Ramon Abadin, and Florida Bar President-Elect William Schifino Jr.
Florida Bar President Ramón A. Abadin visited with students, faculty and staff at Stetson University College of Law on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Abadin is a partner in the Miami office of Sedgwick LLP, where he focuses on complex commercial, insurance and corporate litigation. As president of the state bar association, his focus is on technology and challenging Florida lawyers to recognize the transformation revolutionizing the legal services marketplace.
Abadin joined the Bar’s Board of Governors in 2006. He has chaired the Legal Education Committee of the Vision 2016 Commission, an in-depth study of the future practice of law.
His family immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1961, when he was two years old. His father, who was a lawyer in Cuba, worked odd jobs in this country to support his family.
As a young man, the Florida Bar president worked his way through college with jobs that included laboring on a dredge boat in the Mississippi River. As an adult, he has had a taste for adventure, trying anything from rafting to cave diving.
He is married to Kimberly Cook, who is managing partner in the same Miami office of Sedgwick LLP, and they have three children.
Ann Ravel, chair of the Federal Election Commission (pictured center) with student organization leaders (l-r): Allison Dhand, Elizabeth Britzke, Jessica Maugeri, and Kristina Hartman.
The 2016 presidential campaign is expected by many political insiders to generate a record $10 billion in spending. Congress created the Federal Election Commission after “Watergate” to regulate campaign financing.
On Nov, 3, Ann Ravel, chair of the FEC, spoke to law students at Stetson University College of Law about campaign financing and the rise of super PACs.
Ravel said that Americans are losing faith in their ability to create change by using the election process. “A major concern for our representative democracy is that the youth is not voting, contributing or involved in politics,” said Ravel.
The chair of the bipartisan FEC commission blames the struggle in part on the balance in power between the wealthy and the middle class, citing a major decline in what she calls “smaller pocket donors.”
Ravel said that her major concern in the election process is that few people are being heard and only a select portion of society is making new policy. “Ultimately we will end up with a permanent class of outsiders who are not involved in government and that is problematic for the country.”
Ravel was nominated to the FEC by President Obama on June 21, 2013. She has served as an elected governor on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, member of the Judicial Council of the State of California, and chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. In 2007, the State Bar of California named her “Public Attorney of the Year” for her contributions to public service. Ravel received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Stetson University College of Law is hosting the international historical exhibit “Lawyers Without Rights: Jewish Lawyers in Germany under the Third Reich” on the third floor of Stetson’s Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library on the Gulfport campus, 1401 61st St. S. The traveling exhibit has been shown in close to 100 cities in Germany, the U.S. and around the world.
Professor Ann Piccard addressed a crowd of more than 30. Photo by SeanCarlo Lopez.
Stetson Law Professor Ann M. Piccard, secretary of the Leadership Board for the Florida Holocaust Museum, discussed the exhibit on Nov. 5 on the third floor of Stetson’s law library in Gulfport. More than 30 people attended.
Professor Piccard teaches international poverty law; a seminar on law, literature, and film; and research and writing. Professor Piccard joined Stetson’s faculty in August 1999. She completed an LL.M. degree, with distinction, from the University of London, concentrating in the area of international human rights law.
The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular hours through Nov. 19.
Stetson’s Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Visitor parking is available adjacent to the library and in Stetson Law’s main parking lot located at 61st St. S. and 22nd Ave. S. in Gulfport.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to bring this incredible exhibit to Stetson,” said Stetson Jewish Law Student Association President Patrick Iyampillai. “We hope that members of the public will have a chance to visit the exhibit as it stops in Tampa Bay during its travel around the world.”
(L-R): Stetson Law students (background) Andi Kasimati, Patrick Iyampillai and (foreground) Samantha Grizzle tour the exhibit, “Lawyers Without Rights: Jewish Lawyers in Germany under the Third Reich.”
The exhibit was researched and produced by the German Federal Bar based in Berlin, Germany.
It features a series of canvas panels printed with photographs and text chronicling how Jewish lawyers and judges lost their jobs and rights as German citizens during the Nazi dictatorship. Some of the lawyers featured in the exhibit left the country after the Nazis came to power, and others were incarcerated or killed.
The Jewish Law Student Association at Stetson Law brought the exhibit to Stetson, sponsored by the American Bar Association and German Federal Bar.
Norris Henderson spent 27 years behind bars at one of the country’s most violent prisons in the country, the notorious Louisiana State Prison at Angola, which sits on the site of a former slave plantation.
Norris Henderson, exonerated after more than 27 years in prison, spoke with Stetson Law students Oct. 28. Photo by Karun Rivero.
In 1977, Henderson was wrongly accused and convicted of second-degree murder. After his case was appealed, Henderson was released in 2003. He has since dedicated his life to helping others.
On Oct. 28, Henderson shared his incredible story with students in Stetson University College of Law’s Innocence Initiative.
Henderson was introduced by Professor Judith Scully, the Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law and co-director of Stetson’s Social Justice Advocacy program. “There are good people in this world and then there are extraordinary people. Our speaker today is extraordinary.”
In one breath, Henderson summed up his experience in Angola, “Bad experience, good results.” While incarcerated, he was the prison librarian for two decades, learning the law while helping fellow inmates with similar legal challenges. He also earned a degree in computer technology while behind bars.
Henderson shared his first-hand experience of racism and brutality in the criminal justice system. He urged the law students to never give up and never lose hope. He encouraged them to work within their communities and to fight against any type of injustice.
Today, Henderson continues his role as an advocate for criminal justice reform. He has created a number of non-profit organizations to provide a variety of services, including programs to help families of incarcerated individuals. He has been honored nationally for his community and civic service.
Stetson University College of Law inducted two extraordinary alumni into its Hall of Fame on Oct. 24. Hall of Fame inductees are selected for having a profound and positive impact on Stetson Law and the legal profession. This year’s inductees include:
Fred Dudley
Fred Dudley JD ’68 is a board certified construction lawyer with almost five decades of experience in construction and real estate law. This acclaimed lawyer served 16 years in the Florida Legislature, retiring from the Florida Senate in 1998, where he served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, and vice-chair of the Appropriations Committee. Dudley has received numerous awards for his countless contributions to his community, to his profession and to Stetson University College of Law. He served on the Stetson Board of Overseers for six years and is the recipient of Stetson’s Ben C. Willard Award for humanitarian achievements of distinction.
Fred Schaub ’84 is the felony division director at the State Attorney’s Office in Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit. He has prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases from misdemeanors to murder cases, complex racketeering cases and corrupt public officials. The governor of Florida appointed him as a special assistant state attorney to handle a grand jury case addressing claims of mistreatment of Florida prisoners.
Schaub played a key role in establishing Stetson Law’s national ranking in trial advocacy when he took over the law school’s prosecution clinic and trial advocacy program. Under his leadership, Stetson became the first law school to win all five national trial competitions. He continues to serve Stetson as an adjunct professor and with the Pinellas County prosecution clinic.
A new online continuing legal education course offered by Stetson University and the University of Tennessee trains lawyers, law enforcement professionals, and forensic science specialists on locating, evaluating and selecting expert witnesses.
Stetson University College of Law’s National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law has partnered with the Law Enforcement Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service to launch the new online CLE course: Locating, Evaluating and Selecting Expert Witnesses.
“This training is crucial to anyone working with expert witnesses,” said Professor Carol Henderson, course leader and founding director of the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law.
Professor Henderson is an international authority on forensic science and the law and is past president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and present co-chair of the Life & Physical Sciences Division of the American Bar Association’s Science & Technology Law Section.
The course, designed to include video and multimedia elements, will focus on factors that influence the selection of an expert, the importance of investigating an expert’s credentials, making informed decisions on expert credibility, legal standards of scientific evidence admissibility, and attorneys’ ethics in dealing with experts.
The course also includes training on the use of the Clearinghouse database at NCSTL.org, visited by more than one million visitors from 170 countries for scientific evidence research. The course has been approved for 3.5 general CLE credits and .5 CLE ethics credits, 3.5 Peace Officer Standards and Training credits (P.O.S.T.) and one American Board of Criminalistics reaccreditation credit.
For more information, contact Stetson’s Office of Professional Education at 727-562-7898.
The first Stetson Law Review book drive, the week of Oct. 19 in Gulfport, collected more than one thousand books to donate to local children and teens.
Leda Franklin considers the best books to take home for herself and friends. Photo by Marissa Marchena.
“Law Review decided to participate in a book drive this year because we wanted to encourage the love of reading in our local community,” said second-year student Nicole Zaworska. “As future lawyers, reading is central to our profession. So we thought, what better way to encourage reading than a book giveaway?”
Daughter Kyla and mother Yalonda Tensett collect books at the Gulfport Public Library. Photo by Marissa Marchena.
Zaworska added that the book drive exceeded all expectations.
“Throughout the week, we received hundreds of donations from students on campus,” said Zaworska. “A final count of all the books revealed that we collected over a thousand books.”
Stetson students presented the books during a special event at the Gulfport Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The Stetson Law Review students collected more than one thousand books for children and teens. Photo by Marissa Marchena.The Stetson Law Review members distributed books at the Gulfport Public Library on Saturday. Photo by Marissa Marchena.
(L-R): Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law Judith Scully, Jamie Klapholz, Laila Abdelaziz and Thania Clevenger. Photo by SeanCarlo Lopez.
On Oct. 14, a panel at Stetson Law presented on racial disparity and the law.
In April, a Tampa Bay Times storythat received public outrage and national attention revealed that Tampa, Florida, police were disproportionately issuing tickets to people riding bicycles in poor, black neighborhoods.
On Thursday evening on Stetson’s Gulfport campus, members of the CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) organization, Legislative and Government Affairs Director Laila Abdelaziz, Civil Rights Director Thania Clevenger and attorney Jamie Klapholz discussed how laws are applied to people of differing races in the U.S.
Wm. Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law Judith Scully moderated the discussion.
The panel at Stetson was sponsored by the Stetson Law Dream Defenders, The Pillars, the Black Law Students Association, the Social Justice Advocacy program and the Wm. Reece Smith Jr. chair.
