A team of students from Texas Tech won the National Pretrial Competition at Stetson.
Students from Texas Tech University School of Law won the Eighth Annual National Pretrial Competition at Stetson University College of Law this past weekend in Gulfport. Sixteen teams from around the U.S. competed at Stetson.
Mississippi College School of Law won second place in the competition, as well as the Best Plaintiff’s Memorandum of Law Award. Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School won the Best Defendants’ Memorandum of Law Award. Texas Tech student Kristen Vander-Plas was named Best Advocate in the final round.
The student teams were tasked with writing two memoranda of law, presenting motion arguments, and presenting evidence and making closing arguments.
“Stetson’s National Pretrial Competition provides law students with a unique opportunity to do what attorneys do every day,” said Stetson’s Associate Director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy and Moot Court adviser Professor Brooke Bowman. “This competition gives students an opportunity to hone their written and oral advocacy skills before they enter the practice.”
Chief Judge of the Middle District of Florida Bankruptcy Court Michael Williamson was the presiding judge in the final round of the competition. Stetson associate dean and professor Michael Allen and alumnus Jason Stearns J.D. ’08 also served as judges for the competition.
On a sunny Friday afternoon Oct. 9, Stetson Law students volunteered alongside faculty and staff to help plant a campus community organic garden in the Crummer Courtyard at Stetson’s Gulfport campus.
Stetson Law students, staff and faculty planted a community garden on Oct. 9. (L-R): Student Rachel Curran and Biodiversity Fellow Erin Okuno plant tomatoes.
Thirsty bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, lettuces filled in the garden planters. The students worked quickly in teams with instructions from Food Law Society adviser Professor Lance Long.
The idea for the campus community garden sprouted a few years ago in Gulfport. Last year, the garden project bloomed into a large, edible patch of green in the middle of Stetson’s palm tree-lined Crummer Courtyard.
The garden bounty this year will again be free to the Stetson Law community.
“I chose crops that would thrive is a warm and humid climate. My goal was to choose plants with the best possible yield while requiring the least amount of maintenance,” said student SeanCarlo Lopez, a member of the Food Law Society at Stetson. “Most importantly, I wanted crops students would be inclined to take home with them.”
Chris Rudisill spoke at Stetson. Photo by Karun Rivero.
Chris Rudisill, Director of LGBT Services at Metro Wellness and Community Center in St. Petersburg, and members of the Stetson Lambda Legal Society spoke Oct. 7 on the Gulfport campus about the importance and challenges of coming out following the Obergefell decision earlier this year.
Students listened to the Lambda presentation, “Is Coming Out Still a Thing?” Photo by Karun RIvero.
The presentation was held in conjunction with National Coming Out Day –an event held every year to acknowledge coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) or as an ally. This Sunday, Oct. 11, will mark the 27th anniversary of National Coming Out Day.
“Added visibility helps break down barriers,” said Rudisill. “Who we are is the most important part of our lives and we must show it.”
Rudisill discussed why coming out is still extremely important to the LGBT community and pointed to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on marriage equality and the surge of media attention and education about the LGBT community from celebrities and activists such as Laverne Cox.
“No one can tell a young (LGBT) person anymore that they are the only ones,” Rudisill said.
He added that coming out itself can be easy or it can be difficult for some people, but for everyone there is the reality of living life after coming out.
This year’s Coming Out event is being held following a very difficult week for the LGBT community and allies. This week, the 20th murder of a transwoman of color was reported and two transgender youth reportedly committed suicide.
Support groups and events sponsored by Metro are aimed at helping individuals and their families. Metro provides wellness and community centers dedicated to providing information and services to members of the LGBT community as well as their families.
Stetson’s Lambda Legal Society provides a forum for exploring the legal issues faced by people identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender and allies. One of the goals of Lambda Legal Society is to provide tools young attorneys need to work more effectively with the increasingly visible LGBT client. LGBT clients seek legal advice in all areas of legal practice, and young attorneys should become familiar with the resources available.
(L-R) Joann Burnett (at podium), Ashley Roura, Fred Schaub, Tony Julian, Douglas Covington, Michael Hays and Howardene Garrett.
Stetson Law’s career development office launched a fall series to educate students about pursuing careers with the judiciary, State Attorney and Public Defender.
On Sept. 28, a panel presented on careers in criminal law. The panelists discussed their career paths, life in the courtroom, and provided advice for preparing for careers with the State Attorney and Public Defender.
This year’s criminal law panelists included Ashley Roura ’08, Fred Schaub ’84, Tony Julian, Douglas Covington, Michael Hays and Howardene Garrett.
More than 100 students gathered in the Great Hall on Stetson Law’s Gulfport campus on Sept. 21 to hear from a panel of judges, professors, and current judicial clerks. Students learned about how judicial clerkships are viewed from the bench and the most effective way to pursue a clerkship.
This year’s judicial clerkship panel included Judge Anthony E. Porcelli B.A. ’93, J.D. ’98 of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Judge Edward LaRose of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, Stetson professors Marco Jimenez, Catherine Cameron, judicial clerks Lane Cryar J.D. ’14 and Aimee Canty J.D. ’14.
(L-R): Professor Marco Jimenez, Judge Edward LaRose, Aimee Canty, Judge Anthony Porcelli, Lane Cryar and Professor Catherine Cameron.
The judges gave students insight into the qualities and experiences they look for in judicial clerks – both during law school and post-graduate clerkships. The professors discussed their experiences as judicial clerks and the impact clerking had on their careers. Judicial clerks discussed how they obtained their current positions and the day-to-day life of a judicial clerk.
The events were presented by Stetson Law’s career development office to educate students about the variety of legal careers open to them and to provide practical advice from practitioners.
For more information about upcoming events, contact career development at 727-562-7815 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Stetson University College of Law professor and Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy director Royal C. Gardner has been reappointed chair of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for 2016-2018. Professor Gardner is an internationally recognized expert on wetland law and policy.
Professor Royal C. Gardner.
As one of 18 experts appointed from around the world, Gardner will lead the panel, which advises the 169 countries of the Ramsar Convention on issues including peatland restoration to mitigate climate change, managing internationally important wetlands, and strengthening the role of wetlands in disaster risk reduction.
The first meeting of the new panel will take place Nov. 2-6 in Gland, Switzerland.
In April, Gardner co-authored a briefing note with scientists from around the world urging policymakers to take immediate action to conserve and restore the world’s wetlands.
Stetson is the only law school in the world with a memorandum of cooperation with the secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international environmental treaty dedicated to conserving wetlands. The governments of 169 countries are members of the treaty.
Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy hosts international speakers and conferences and coordinates courses, seminars and internships on topics including wetland law and policy, environmental law, natural resources and international environmental law.
Stetson students, faculty, staff and graduates participated in the conference “Sea Level Rise: What’s Our Next Move?” on Oct. 2-3 at St. Petersburg College.
(L-R): Stetson Law student Hayley Brew, Dr. Wil Burns, student Alex Stewart, Professor Lance Long, Professor Paul Boudreaux, Foreman Biodiversity Fellow Erin Okuno, graduates Elise Pautler and Carson Zimmer, and adjunct professor and attorney Jacki Lopez.
Professors Paul Boudreaux and Lance Long, Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy founder Dr. Wil Burns, and student Alex Stewart were invited to be debaters at the conference, attended by more than 200 people from throughout the region.
“There were some great practical suggestions coming from the conference,” said Professor Long. “For example, governments should start publicizing anticipated sea-level rise levels. Maps like the hurricane evacuation zones should be made readily available. Laws should be made requiring disclosure of the effect of anticipated sea-level rise in connection with real estate transactions. Our schools should start addressing sea-level rise and the potential effect it could have on our coastal lifestyle. The overall consensus was that proactive planning would be preferable to inefficient post disaster relief.”
Foreman Biodiversity Fellow Erin Okuno moderated and students Hayley Brew, Rachael Curran, Lauren Eliopoulos and Lydia Greiner acted as scribes during the second day of the conference. Okuno and Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy director Royal Gardner were part of the conference working group.
“I think the greatest takeaway was that, although we don’t want to cause panic or unreasonable concern about sea-level rise, the various levels of government, business, non-governmental entities, and citizens generally need to immediately start educating the public about sea-level rise, and creating preliminary plans for preparing to meet the inevitable sea-level rise in our near future,” said Professor Long.
Stetson University College of Law hosted EPA senior enforcement attorney Mike Walker as part of the Edward and Bonnie Foreman Biodiversity Lecture series on Sept. 29. A crowd of students, faculty, staff and members of the community gathered to hear Walker speak in the Great Hall.
Walker discussed how diversity is the key to stability in ecology.
Trained as a biologist-botanist after the renowned Aldo Leopold, Walker has been called one of the most influential figures in the development of environmental ethics.
Walker, who works at the U.S. EPA headquarters, handles major civil and criminal environmental law enforcement matters throughout the U.S.
Leopold was a conservationist who is considered the father of wildlife management and of the U.S. wilderness system.
The event was co-sponsored by Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy and Environmental Law Society.
A crowd gathered in the Great Hall to hear Mike Walker talk on Sept. 29. Photo by SeanCarlo Lopez.(L-R): Bonnie Foreman, Mike Walker and Professor Royal Gardner. Photo by Brandi Palmer.
A new grant in the amount of $400,000 was awarded to Stetson University College of Law for the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law to develop a forensic evidence training program for lawyers who work on death penalty cases.
Professor Carol Henderson, founding director of the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law.
“This training program is crucial at a time when life or death often hinges on the presentation of forensic evidence in the courtroom,” said NCSTL Founding Director and Professor of Law Carol Henderson. Professor Henderson recently presented on the topic of legal and judicial education in forensic science at the European Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting in Prague.
The grant, awarded by the U.S. Attorney General as part of the Adjudication and Law Enforcement National Initiatives, will support the development of a “Crime Scene to Courtroom Forensics” program. The new training program will provide in-person and webinar training on forensic science evidence and the use of expert testimony.
“Training in forensic evidence is essential to improve the quality of legal representation and to ensure reliable jury verdicts,” said Henderson.
Stetson’s National Clearinghouse was developed to foster communication between the scientific, technological and legal communities, providing comprehensive scientific, technological and legal information to promote justice based on sound science and technology. The Clearinghouse has trained more than 13,500 legal and scientific professionals since its inception.
For more information on Stetson’s new program and to learn more about the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law at Stetson, visit http://www.ncstl.org/.
(L to R): David Lisko, Yo Murphy, students Samantha Grizzle, Marissa Marchena, Alexandra Murdocca, with Mike Dillon of Reynolds Sports Management, and Justin Moore CEO of SBLA.
By Tyler Rutledge, Second-year student, EASL Communications Chair
The Stetson Entertainment and Sports Law Society kicked off a full year of events with a successful panel discussion on “Agents and Athletes: The Business of Turning Pro.” The event was sponsored by Stetson EASL, the Sports Business and Leadership Association, Shutts & Bowen LLP, and University of Florida EASL and graciously hosted by the Performance Compound in Tampa on Friday, Sept. 18.
Headlined by former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Derrick Brooks, the event’s focus was to expose the crowd of more than 70 students and guests to elite professionals in their respective fields and inform them about different avenues of success. Brooks, a 2014 inductee into the Professional Football Hall of Fame and current president of the Tampa Bay Storm, spoke about his experiences on a variety of topics. His first-hand accounts of hiring his agent, choosing his friends, his transition from the football field into the front office and more had all in attendance captivated.
David Lisko, SBLA president and co-founder, was vital in securing Brooks for the event.
Lisko stated, “I am an NFL agent as well as a lawyer at Holland & Knight, and one of my clients is a friend of Derrick Brooks, who informed him about the Sports Business & Leadership Association and asked him if he would be willing to speak at one of our networking and educational events. I believe that when he found out about the charitable goals of our organization and that he would be speaking to students and young professionals, he was inspired to join the panel.”
Panelists Mike Dillon, Derrick Brooks, and Yo Murphy take a question from a Stetson Law student.
The panel also included guests Mike Dillon and Yo Murphy. Dillon is the executive vice president of Reynolds Sports Management, an agency representing some of Major League Baseball’s top stars. Dillon spoke about his professional evolution from high school teacher to his current position today negotiating contracts and providing marketing services for top athletes. Murphy, who is director of sports performance at the Performance Compound, spoke about his professional football career in both the National Football League and Canadian Football League, which included a Super Bowl appearance with the St. Louis Rams in 2001. Murphy, now working as a trainer for professional baseball and football players, also spoke about the importance of proper training throughout both the season and off-season for professional athletes.
Stetson EASL’s next event is open to Stetson students, faculty and staff will take place Monday, Oct. 12, at 12 p.m. in Stetson’s Great Hall and will feature a luncheon with David Cohen, general counsel of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Stetson University College of Law graduates who took the July bar exam for the first time had a pass rate of 75.1 percent, exceeding the statewide average of 68.9 percent.
Stetson graduates walk at commencement.
This placed Stetson Law six percent above the state average.
Longtime constitutional law professor Michael Allen, who also serves as associate dean for academic affairs and director of the Veterans Law Institute at Stetson, was gifted with a reproduction of the U.S. Constitution on Constitution Day, Sept. 17.
(L-R): John Edward Jones, Jim Vickaryous and Associate Dean Michael Allen.(L-R): John Edward Jones, Associate Dean Michael Allen and Jim Vickaryous.
Alumni John Edward Jones J.D. ’68 and Jim Vickaryous J.D. ’93, M.B.A. ’98, presented the gift to Allen as a special thank you for a speech he delivered on the topic of the U.S. Constitution and 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta during the Seminole County Bar’s Law Day Dinner.
“It matters what you’re doing here at Stetson and touches the lives of so many,” said Jones, a military veteran who served four years in Vietnam.
A crowd gathered in the Dean Lizabeth A. Moody Seminar Room on the second floor of Stetson’s Dolly and Homer Hand Law Library to celebrate Constitution Day and honor Allen.
“I’m rarely speechless, but thank you,” Allen said.
Yanez & Associates’ national essay contest and scholarship program offered a $2,000 prize to the first place winner and a $1,000 prize to the second place winner. Participants were invited to write 2,500-3,500 words on a topic.
“This was a topic very close to my heart because it combined two areas of law that I have dedicated my law school career to: juvenile dependency and family law,” said Sobel. “I worked very closely with survivors of domestic violence when I was interning with Bay Area Legal Services, as well as volunteering with Community Action Stops Abuse in St. Petersburg, Florida. I have also worked with the Florida Department of Children and Families: Children’s Legal Services, dealing directly with the issue of terminating parental rights and cases involving domestic violence.”
Those experiences prompted Sobel to write her juvenile law seminar paper on the failure to protect laws and childhood exposure to domestic violence.
“I attribute winning first place to my passion and experiences in these areas of law,” said Sobel. “It is truly validating and provides me additional incentive to continue my work in the areas of juvenile dependency and family law after my fast-approaching law school graduation.”
