News Archives - Page 63 of 138

Stetson among nation’s best law schools for pro bono

Stetson University College of Law has been ranked seventh in the nation among the 2014 Super Lawyers Top 10 Law Schools for Pro Bono Graduation Requirements.

Stetson Law students donated 31,719 pro bono service hours to more than 400 organizations in the 2013-2014 academic year. Stetson is one of the first law schools in the U.S. to require pro bono service of its students.

“Stetson Law led the way in promoting the pro bono requirement in law schools,” said Dean and Professor of Law Christopher Pietruszkiewicz. “Today, we remain dedicated to instilling a passion for public service in our students and graduates.”

All J.D. students at Stetson are required to complete a minimum of 60 hours of pro bono service and the law school offers a public service scholarship.

Stetson students serve the community in a variety of pro-bono roles, as court-appointed advocates for children in the dependency system, as Spanish-speaking translators assisting with immigration cases, as researchers investigating consumer finance abuse and workplace/school religious discrimination or harassment, and as advocates working in a variety of community law programs. Stetson also offers a Pro Bono Service Initiative to help veterans find free legal representation through its Veterans Law Institute.

To learn more about Stetson Law alumni serving in public interest roles, watch a series of video features on “Alumni serving the public interest.”

Fall degree candidates recognized

Students celebrated December graduation in the Great Hall on Stetson's Gulfport campus. — Students celebrated December graduation in the Great Hall on Stetson’s Gulfport campus.

Stetson University College of Law students celebrated their completion of law school on Dec. 18 on the Gulfport campus. A total of 77 degree candidates, including 35 full-time and 30 part-time J.D. students, attended the celebration. The full-time J.D. class included a J.D./M.B.A. and a J.D./Grado student.

Two LL.M. in Advocacy, eight LL.M. in Elder Law and two LL.M. in International Law students also were recognized.

Stetson offers certificates of concentration in advocacy, environmental law, international law, and social justice advocacy. Stetson students can also work on the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, Stetson Journal of Advocacy and the Law, and the Stetson Law Review.

Stetson’s advocacy program has been ranked the best in the nation 16 times by U.S. News & World Report. Stetson’s legal writing program consistently places among the top six in the U.S.

» View Photo Gallery – Fall Graduate Celebration

Photos from the Fall Graduate Celebration on Dec. 18 can be viewed in the photo gallery linked above. To download image(s), click “Select Photos” and then click “Download”.

Stetson’s student life director honored

Stetson University College of Law Director for Student Life Tammy Briant has been selected as an Outstanding Professional in Graduate and Professional Student Services by the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, NASPA.

Tammy Briant directs student life at Stetson Law.

Briant, JD ’06, will be honored with her award on March 24 during the annual NASPA conference in New Orleans. The honor is presented by the Administrators in Graduate and Professional Student Services Knowledge Community in NASPA, the premier organization for student affairs professionals.

Briant is a member of the Student Support and Emergency Team, strategic planning and master planning committees at Stetson University. She recently coordinated Stetson’s “It’s On Us” campaign in November to raise awareness about guarding against sexual assault on college campuses. Briant is also an adjunct professor at Stetson, teaching an experiential learning course on constitutional law and the civil rights movement. She speaks on transformative learning, leadership, and the connection of civil rights movement history with social justice issues.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award, which to me, recognizes the diligent work of my entire team to create an innovative, dynamic, and supportive living/learning community focused on developing our students to be future leaders of the legal profession,” said Briant.

Active in the Tampa Bay area community, Briant serves on the board of the Hillsborough County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and volunteers with Bay Area Legal Service’s Family Forms Clinic, Wills for Heroes, and Crossroads for Kids, where she has served as an attorney ad litem for a teenager in foster care.

Stetson’s Legal Writing Academy for lawyers is January 30

Stetson University College of Law’s Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication is offering its inaugural Legal Writing Academy on Jan. 30, 2015, at the Tampa Law Center, 1700 N. Tampa St. The 2015 Academy will offer presentations and workshops on Persuasive Legal Writing: What Every Lawyer Should Know.

The Academy is an advanced legal writing training program for lawyers that will be taught by Stetson Law faculty experts in the area of legal communication. The program includes interactive training on how to use applied storytelling techniques for writing legal facts, a session on using editing techniques to improve written advocacy, and a session addressing current advances in the science of persuasion that are applicable to legal writing. Attendees will also participate in breakout sessions with faculty for hands-on persuasive writing experience.

“The academic study of persuasive legal writing is translating into new and better writing techniques for lawyers in practice,” said Dr. Kirsten Davis, director of the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication. “The Academy has been developed for lawyers who want to become better advocates for their clients and to write persuasive documents more effectively and efficiently.”

The Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication is a home for the study of legal communication, particularly legal writing, and provides training programs for lawyers, judges, students and other professionals to improve their legal communication skills. Stetson’s legal writing program for its law students is ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

The Academy begins with breakfast at 8:15 a.m. on Jan. 30, and training begins at 9 a.m. The program concludes at 3:45 p.m.

For more information, call 727-562-7312 or email [email protected]. An application for CLE credits has been made to the Florida Bar.

To see more information about the Academy and its faculty and to register, visit https://www.stetson.edu/law/academics/lrw/legal-writing-academy.php.

To learn more about Stetson’s Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication, visit https://www.stetson.edu/law/academics/lrw/.

Title IX critical topic at National Conference on Law and Higher Education

Title IX compliance is a critical topic at Stetson University’s National Conference on Law and Higher Education Feb. 12-16, 2015, in Orlando, Florida.

Colleges and universities scramble to formalize promising practices in Title IX compliance in the wake of campus rape and sexual assault scandals. Stetson’s definitive annual conference, now in its 36th year, will bring national leading experts in higher education to Orlando to discuss critical developments in higher education law and policy.

Conference participants will participate in rigorous boot camps, workshops, intensive sessions and collaboration with peers and experts.

“Every educator in America should be concerned with making college and university campuses safer learning environments, and protecting the campus community from sexual predators. Anyone who works in higher education can benefit from this year’s conference, focused on developing the tools to respond,” said conference chair and Professor of Law Peter F. Lake. Professor Lake is the Charles A. Dana Chair and director of Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy.

For more information, call 727-562-7793 or email [email protected].

To register, visit https://www.stetson.edu/law/conferences/highered/home/index.php.

For more information about the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson, visit https://www.stetson.edu/law/academics/highered/home/.

Stetson Law assistant dean joins Leadership St. Pete

The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership St. Pete named Stetson University College of Law Assistant Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Planning Laura Zuppo among 40 local executives participating in a six-month community leadership program.

The mission of Leadership St. Pete, one of the oldest leadership programs in the U.S., is to identify, recruit and develop leaders who represent the diversity of the community and who will assume future leadership roles in the Chamber of Commerce and other community organizations.

Zuppo joined Stetson University College of Law’s Admissions Office in 2001 and today oversees both admissions and financial planning, where she manages a team of seven. For more than 13 years, Zuppo has guided thousands of law school applicants through the process of applying and enrolling at Stetson University. She has two master’s degrees: an M.B.A. from Keller Graduate School of Management and an M.S. from Drexel University, as well as a B.A. from Cedar Crest College.

Participants in Leadership St. Pete get an in-depth introduction to social, economic, business and political issues and help promote and enhance community leadership in the St. Petersburg area.
Leadership St. Pete’s class of 2015 includes executives from a range of both private companies and nonprofits.

To read more, visit the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Alumni serving the public interest

According to a September/October 2014 National Jurist article, a recent job satisfaction survey of 6,200 lawyers in four states has revealed that factors like personal satisfaction, autonomy and making a difference in people’s lives rank highly in lawyers’ happiness.

Editor Mike Stetz wrote in the article “What makes a lawyer happy?” that “Lawyers working in public service–such as those in legal aid, public defenders, prosecutors, government lawyers and in-house counsel for nonprofits–fared better than most.”

The referenced study, What Makes Lawyers Happy? Transcending the Anecdotes with Data from 6200 Lawyers, was conducted by Florida State University College of Law professor Lawrence S. Krieger and University of Missouri psychology professor Kennon Sheldon.

This semester, we sat down with several Stetson Law alumni working in public interest fields to ask each their definition of success. While the responses varied, one theme was consistent among each: making a difference in people’s lives. As varied as their day-to-day jobs may be, each of the graduates we spoke with serves the public interest in their professional careers.

We invite you to visit our Stetson Law YouTube channel to watch some of the short interviews conducted in our new series, Serving the Public Interest, launched this fall.

You will hear from recent alumni new to the profession as well as graduates who have dedicated decades of their lives to public service.

We hope you enjoy hearing from our passionate alumni as much as we enjoyed talking with each of them, and learning a bit about what inspires them to do what they do.

You are invited to continue watching as the series continues to grow with more interviews.

To submit an idea for an interview, please send a note to [email protected].

Thank you for watching.

Stetson Law Review honors Ellen Podgor

Professor Ellen S. Podgor, a nationally recognized legal expert in the area of white collar crime, was honored with the J. Ben Watkins Award at the Stetson Law Review banquet on Nov. 21 at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.

Professor Podgor is the Gary R. Trombley Family White-Collar Crime Research Professor at Stetson University, the co-author of numerous books on white collar crime and criminal law, and has authored more than 70 law review articles and essays in the areas of computer crime, international criminal law, lawyer’s ethics, criminal discovery, prosecutorial discretion, corporate criminality and other white collar crime topics. The editor of the highly-ranked White Collar Crime Prof Blog, Professor Podgor chairs the advisory committee of the NACDL White-Collar Criminal Defense College at Stetson, serves on the board of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, and is the president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS). She is chair of the AALS Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity issues, an honorary member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, and a member of the American Law Institute.

Professor Ellen S. Podgor is this year's J. Ben Watkins Award recipient. — Professor Ellen S. Podgor is this year’s J. Ben Watkins Award recipient.

The J. Ben Watkins Award is presented annually in honor of the 1949 Stetson Law graduate who helped create the Stetson Law Review, a premier academic journal published three times per year.

“It is an honor to be chosen by the students for the Ben Watkins Award because as Ben said ‘you don’t have a great law school without a law review,’” said Professor Podgor.

The next Stetson Law Review symposium is scheduled for March 6, 2015, in Gulfport. The symposium topic, “Inequality, Opportunity, and the Law of the Workplace,” will explore growing economic inequality in the U.S., opportunities for upward mobility, and the proper role of labor and employment laws in ensuring adequate opportunities for mobility.

Student dives into Blue Ocean

The Blue Ocean Film Festival brought presenters from around the world to St. Petersburg. Photo by Alexandria Nicodemi. — The Blue Ocean Film Festival brought presenters including Fabien Cousteau from around the world to St. Petersburg. Photo by Allison Dhand.

When second-year Stetson University College of Law student Alexandria Nicodemi arrived at the inaugural Blue Ocean Film Festival & Conservation Summit in St. Petersburg, she was not sure what to expect. She and other members of the Environmental Law Society had an opportunity to represent Stetson Law during the festival, which brought filmmakers, film-goers, scientists, scholars, and students from around the world to the Tampa Bay region in Florida.

Thanks to the festival coordinators, Nicodemi had an opportunity to attend the films and presentations Nov. 3-9 as a student reporter.

Stetson students were able to meet Sir Robert Charles Swan, the first man to walk to both Poles, whose outreach work and expeditions focused on global climate change include students from around the world. Swan founded 2041, an Antarctic preservation company, and authored (with Gil Reavill) Antarctica 2041: My Quest to Save the Earth’s Last Wilderness.

“For those of you who do not believe in climate change, I think our next climate summit should be held on a piece of ice with a polar bear,” Swan said.

Nicodemi also heard from marine conservation biologist, oceanographer, author, University of York, England, research scholar and professor Callum Roberts, author of The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea. Professor Roberts’ research explores how marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, are being altered through a combination of stresses from climate change, pollution, overfishing and globalization.

“It’s incredible that such an event is held in our city,” said Nicodemi. “The Blue Ocean Film Festival & Conservation Summit is a platform that drives the discussion and inspires change in the way we treat the waters that surround us. It’s great that Stetson can be a part of this change.”

The Blue Ocean Film Festival will return to St. Petersburg after a stop in Monaco, its other global headquarters.

Stetson advocates best at National Civil Trial Competition

Stetson University College of Law students were named best advocates at the 13th Annual National Civil Trial Competition in Los Angeles on Nov. 16. Loyola Law School won the competition.

(L-R): Daniel Miles, Lisa Ungerbuehler, Candice Roja, and Chad Florin. — (L-R): Daniel Miles, Lisa Ungerbuehler, Candice Rojas, and Chad Florin.

Stetson’s team of Chad Florin, Daniel Miles, Candice Rojas and Lisa Ungerbuehler placed second in the competition. Rojas was named Best Advocate in the Final Round and Miles was named Best Advocate in the Preliminary Round.

More than 50 law schools from around the country competed for a chance to win the national competition, and only 16 schools advanced to the finals.

Stetson University Trial Advocacy Coordinator and Associate Professor of Legal Skills Michele Joiner and Lee Coppock ’96 coached the Stetson team.

Stetson’s trial advocacy ranking has been best in the nation 16 times according to U.S. News & World Report.

To learn more about advocacy at Stetson, visit www.stetson.edu/law/advocacy.

Hundreds of Stetson Law alumni named in Super Lawyers Business Edition

More than 150 alumni of Stetson University College of Law were recently named in the Super Lawyers Business Edition.

Super Lawyers Business Edition, distributed annually in November to more than 55,000 executives and in-house counsel in the U.S. and London, serves as a resource for making legal hiring decisions.

The magazine features the top firms of all sizes specializing in: Business and Transactions; Construction, Real Estate and Environmental; Employment; Intellectual Property; and Litigation.

Stetson University College of Law alumni also top this year’s list of Florida Super Lawyers. Stetson Law is among the top 10 law schools in the state producing the highest number of Florida Super Lawyers.

This year, 298 Stetson Law alumni are named Florida Super Lawyers and 181 Stetson Law alumni are honored among the Florida Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

Stetson, U.S. Attorney’s Office host Caribbean Law Clinic

On Nov. 13, Stetson University College of Law welcomed law students and faculty from the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and U.S. law schools to campus for the American and Caribbean Law Initiative’s Caribbean Law Clinic.

The American and Caribbean Law Initiative's Caribbean Law Clinic brought students and faculty from the U.S. and Caribbean to Stetson. — The American and Caribbean Law Initiative’s Caribbean Law Clinic brought students and faculty from the U.S. and Caribbean to Stetson.

Clinic participants collaborated on researching and presenting solutions to legal problems during a four-day program on Stetson’s Gulfport, Fla., campus.

The ACLI Caribbean Law Clinic met at Stetson Law in Guflport, Fla. — The ACLI Caribbean Law Clinic met at Stetson Law in Gulfport, Fla.

(L-R): Professor Darryl Wilson, Professor Dorothea Beane, Todd Grandy, Josie Thomas and Yvette Rhodes. — (L-R): Professor Darryl Wilson, Professor Dorothea Beane, Todd Grandy, Josie Thomas and Yvette Rhodes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This year’s Caribbean Law Clinic was co-hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Stetson University College of Law. Members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office attended the program.

The clinic addressed legal problems in a collaborative, non-competitive approach, with students from U.S. and Caribbean law schools working together towards solutions.

“My experience at the ACLI has been really rewarding,” said Akeyra Saunders of the Eugene Dupuch Law School in The Bahamas. “You get to practice your advocacy skills in front of judges and panelists, you get to receive positive feedback on the pros and cons of what not to do when you’re making your oral presentations. The comradery has been warming and welcoming. It’s been a wonderful experience.”

Professors Dorothea Beane and Darryl Wilson, co-directors of the Institute for Caribbean Law and Policy at Stetson, introduced the program, which wrapped up with a student/faculty outing on Nov. 15.

Professor Beane has mentored countless students and alumni focusing on human rights work in the Caribbean. She and Professor Wilson joined a faculty consortium to help draft the U.S. Virgin Islands constitution in 2008. Professor Beane also helped create Stetson’s study abroad program at The Hague and she and Professor Wilson work with Stetson’s winter break Cayman Islands program.

Next year’s Caribbean Law Clinic will take place at the Truman Bodden School of Law in the Cayman Islands.