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Stetson Law dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz appointed to national, regional, state committees on legal education, professionalism and safety

Stetson University College of Law Dean Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz has recently been appointed to five committees focused on legal education, professionalism and public safety at the national, state and regional levels.

Dean Pietruszkiewicz was appointed to the Data Policy & Collection Committee of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the Florida Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, the legal education committee of the Florida Bar Vision 2016 Commission, the Sixth Judicial Circuit Professionalism Committee, and the Hillsborough County Community Violence Prevention Collaborative.

The Data Policy and Collection Committee makes recommendations to the Council of the Section of Legal Education regarding changes to all law school accreditation-related questionnaires. Dean Pietruszkiewicz joins a select group of nine deans, professors and administrators from law schools across the country serving on the committee.

The Florida Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism oversees the development of judicial professionalism programs and helps promote professionalism in law schools. Dean Pietruszkiewicz serves as a member of a steering and long-range planning commission that creates and implements professionalism programs and seminars.

The Florida Bar Vision 2016 Commission is conducting a three-year, in-depth review of the future practice of law, with committees focused on legal education, technology, bar admissions and the delivery of legal services/pro bono. Dean Pietruszkiewicz was appointed by the president of the Florida Bar to serve on this commission conducting an in-depth review of the practice of law.

Stetson Law alumni Gregory W. Coleman, Bradford D. Kaufman, Mac Richard McCoy, Katherine Hurst Miller, Gail E. Sasnett and adjunct professor Susan S. Demers are also serving with the Florida Bar Vision 2016 Commission. Coleman, who received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Stetson, is president-elect of the Florida Bar.

The Sixth Judicial Circuit Professionalism Committee is responsible for coordinating professionalism activities within the circuit and assisting the Commission on Professionalism. Dean Pietruszkiewicz was appointed to the committee which includes distinguished members of the judiciary and area bar association leaders.

The Hillsborough County Community Violence Prevention Collaborative was created in the summer of 2013 as an initiative to transform the way local policy makers address violence. Dean Pietruszkiewicz was appointed by the chief judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit to the leadership council that includes county and civic leaders.

Pietruszkiewicz, who joined Stetson University College of Law as dean last summer, continues to serve on the Law School Admission Council board and as chair of the LSAC Investment Committee.

He is past-president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools and has served in leadership positions for the American Bar Association Section of Taxation.

National Wildlife Federation VP lectures at Stetson Law about climate change, flood insurance and wildlife protection

National Wildlife Federation leader John Kostyack ’86 discussed “Conservation in an Era of Intensifying Storms and Floods” at noon on Sept. 26 at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport.

John Kostyack spoke at Stetson Law on Sept. 26. Photo by Kayla Minton (2L).

John Kostyack is vice president of Wildlife Conservation at the National Wildlife Federation and a Stetson Law alumnus. He addressed a crowd of students, alumni, faculty and members of the public.

“You guys are blessed with one of the best places to study law,” Kostyack told the students in the audience. “We were talking before the gathering today and I was recalling to my friends my long swims in the Gulf back in the day side by side with the dolphins. There is nothing to inspire you more to hit the books than living in and experiencing Florida’s nature.”

Kostyack’s lecture explored the future of wildlife conservation and NWF strategies to save endangered wildlife, people and property along the coasts and floodplains where storms and floods are intensifying due to climate change.

“This concept of climate change adaptation is so enormous, the idea that only one, small poor country is going to get themselves out of the box of climate change is a ridiculous notion in my mind,” Kostyack said. “In fact, the notion that any individual by themselves could really make a difference on this acting alone is absurd. What is a solution? It’s going to take a level of collective action and leadership from government, the private sector, universities, and NGOs that is virtually unprecedented.”

John Kostyack spoke with a crowd of Stetson Law students about the future of wildlife conservation. Photo by Kayla Minton (2L).

Kostyack explained that flood insurance reform, disaster planning and flood preparedness should include wildlife conservation.

“Wildlife conservation needs to get a seat at the disaster-planning table,” said Kostyack.

He talked with the law students in the audience about challenging areas where more legal work and reform is needed.

“If you’re passionate about conservation, go out and volunteer,” Kostyack advised the students gathered to hear his talk.

Stetson’s Edward and Bonnie Foreman Biodiversity Lecture Series is open to the public and brings leading experts to campus to speak on a range of environmental topics directly impacting the state. Professor Royal C. Gardner directs the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson.

Stetson Law, Pinellas Education Foundation open “Constitution Hall” for middle school students at Finance Park in Largo

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Stetson University College of Law and the Pinellas Education Foundation opened the doors to a “Constitution Hall” for Tampa Bay area middle school students at the Gus A. Stavros Institute’s Finance Park in Largo on Sept. 17.

Casey Reich, 8th grade, age 13, tests his knowledge of civics at the opening of the Constitution Hall exhibit. — Casey Reich, eighth grade, age 13, tests his knowledge of civics at the opening of the Constitution Hall exhibit.

Distinguished members of the judiciary, alumni and educational leaders gathered for the ribbon-cutting of Constitution Hall. A representative of Congressman C.W. Bill Young’s office presented a U.S. flag that flew over the nation’s capital.

The interactive Constitution Hall exhibit will teach eighth grade students about the importance of being civically active and responsible, the three branches of government, and their rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“We recognize that the resolve and participation of our citizens contributes to our democracy. We are delighted that Stetson is going to be part of that,” said Stetson Law Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

Constitution Hall was inspired by Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Pamela A.M. Campbell and made possible through the contributions of Stetson Hall of Fame inductee Bonnie Foreman, both Stetson University graduates.

Shown L-R cutting the ribbon at Constitution Hall: Bonnie Foreman, Judge Pamela Campbell and Stetson Law Dean Christopher Pietruszkiewicz.

The expansion of Finance Park and Enterprise Village is made possible by donations to the Pinellas Education Foundation from local businesses.

Thousands of eighth grade students participate in an annual economic education program at Finance Park that simulates a month in the financial life of an adult.

Contact: Brandi Palmer

Stetson Law Communications Office

727-562-7381

Contact: Tamra Eitel

Pinellas Education Foundation

727-483-0003

More than 100 high school students celebrate Constitution Day at Stetson

A crowd of 120 Tampa Bay area high school students gathered in the Great Hall on Stetson University College of Law’s Gulfport campus on Sept. 17 to learn about Constitution Day during a special James Otis Lecture Series presentation. High school and middle school students in Tampa also attended via webcast.

High school students gather for Constitution Day at Stetson Law.

The presentation, coordinated by the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and Stetson, featured remarks from Stetson Law alumni, ABOTA leadership, the Federalist Society, American Constitution Society, law professor Robert Bickel, and Judge Charles Wilson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

The program, now in its third year at Stetson, educates local high school students about the individual liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. This year’s Constitution Day program was held in conjunction with Values Day at Stetson University, which celebrates the university’s core values of intellectual development, personal growth and global citizenship. Sept. 17 marks the 226th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Stetson Law launches new Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication

Stetson University College of Law has recently launched a new Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication.

Stetson’s Institute will serve as a nexus of research, teaching and service to improve the quality of legal communication, particularly legal writing, among law students, lawyers, members of the judiciary and other professionals.

“The creation of the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication, combined with the Center for Excellence in Advocacy, demonstrates Stetson University College of Law’s commitment to helping the next generation of law students build the two primary skills necessary for professional success–oral and written communication with the courts, the public and clients,” said Stetson Law Dean Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz.

Stetson’s advocacy program has been recognized 15 times in the past 18 years as the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Stetson’s legal writing program is ranked fifth this year by U.S. News.

“The message from every constituency law schools serve—lawyers, bar associations, students, and the public as consumers of legal services and information– is that legal communication deserves more attention as a topic of investigation and instruction,” said Dr. Kirsten Davis, director of the Institute and the legal research and writing program at Stetson.

In addition to Davis, the founding faculty of the Institute includes scholars who are nationally recognized for their work in legal research and writing.

The Institute will support an active community of legal communication scholars and work to develop innovative and effective legal communication teaching methods, studying contemporary legal communication issues and providing legal communication instruction for judges, lawyers, other professionals, students and the public.

Stetson has several advanced research and writing courses including Pretrial Practice, Advanced Legal Writing, and Advanced Legal Research, and offers seven credit hours of Legal Research and Writing credits in the first year of law school. Stetson also offers legal communication courses including Negotiation and Arbitration and Client Counseling. Stetson’s student moot court teams are regularly recognized for their outstanding brief writing, across the country and around the world.

Stetson students win National Workers’ Compensation Moot Court Competition

Stetson University College of Law students Kayla Cash, Paul Crochet and Tyler Egbert won the 2013 E. Earle Zehmer National Workers’ Compensation Moot Court Competition on Aug. 19 in Orlando.

(L-R): Paul Crochet, Honorable T. Kent Wetherell II, Kayla Cash, Honorable Scott D. Makar, Tyler Egbert and the Honorable Timothy Osterhaus. — (L-R): Paul Crochet, Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, Kayla Cash, Judge Scott D. Makar, Tyler Egbert and Judge Timothy Osterhaus. Photo courtesy Michael Crochet.

Stetson’s moot court team, coached by Associate Dean and Professor of Law Michael Allen and alumnus Jason Stearns, argued in the final round of competition before sitting judges from Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.

The national competition takes place annually in conjunction with the Florida Workers’ Compensation conference. Teams from Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia competed this year, arguing in front of judges who are experts in workers’ compensation.

“It is incredible for our students to have an opportunity to present before the judges who hear workers’ compensation cases,” said Professor of Legal Skills and Moot Court Advisor Brooke J. Bowman. “We are very proud that our students have demonstrated their skills as top advocates in this national competition.”

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

Stetson Law hosts national special needs trusts conference in October

Stetson University College of Law’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law is hosting Special Needs Trusts – The National Conference, Oct. 16-18, at the Loews Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach, Fla. The Center developed the national conference for practitioners and other professionals who work with individuals who have special needs.

Now in its 15th year, Stetson’s conference provides professionals who work in the field with an overview of the creation, administration and monitoring of special needs trusts, designed to provide benefits to and improve the quality of life of those individuals with special needs.

This year’s conference includes two pre-conferences: a day-long conference for pooled trustees and a half-day tax intensive (registration is limited to 50). Highlights from the conference include an update about the changes to the Program Operations Manual System or POMS (the primary source of information used by Social Security employees to process benefit claims), drafting issues, veterans, a presentation by former Social Security Administration Commissioner Mike Asture, and other must-know topics.

For a complete conference schedule and to register visit https://www.stetson.edu/snt.

Alumnus joins international arbitration team in Germany

Stetson University College of Law alumnus Alexander Zesch JD ’13 will join Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration team in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in October.

Alexander Zesch.

Zesch was a member of Stetson’s Willem C. Vis International Moot Arbitration team that competed in Vienna, Austria, in 2012 and this year and won an Honorable Mention Best Oral Advocate Award. More than 1800 students from 290 universities in 67 countries competed in the Vis.

“This job is a dream come true,” said Zesch. “It’s exactly what I want to do, where I want to do it. This would not have happened without Vis. Being in the program introduced me to arbitration and to the right people. I met an associate at Shearman & Sterling during last year’s trip to Vienna and stayed in touch by email. Then she thought of me when they decided to expand their international arbitration team.”

“The Vis Moot prepares students to work in the international arena,” said Professor Stephanie Vaughan, one of the Vis team’s coaches. “The world-wide competition focuses on international contract disputes and allows the competitors to showcase their talents on a global stage.”

Zesch was born and raised in Germany but has lived in Florida for the past 14 years.

To learn more about Stetson’s world-class moot court board and advocacy teams, visit the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at http://www.law.stetson.edu/advocacy.

Abigail Upshaw joins Stetson University College of Law as new assistant director of development

Abigail Upshaw has joined Stetson University College of Law as the new assistant director of development.

At Florida State University, Upshaw was president of the Art History Association, serving as faculty and student liaison, developing and maintaining relationships with alumni, and managing fundraising events.

Upshaw earned an M.A. from Florida State University and a B.A. with high honors from the University of Georgia. While a student at Florida State, Upshaw was a member of the Council for the College of Visual Arts, Theater and Dance, and published an article in the university’s international publication, Athanor.

“I am thrilled to join the Stetson team at this exciting moment in its history. I believe strongly in Stetson University College of Law’s mission statement to cultivate creative and enthusiastic leaders in the community,” said Upshaw. “We will work tirelessly to ensure that many more students can fulfill this honorable mission.”

Upshaw and her fiancée Joe live in Gulfport, Fla.

Students learn from history-makers of the Civil Rights Movement

For the past eight years, Stetson University College of Law students participating in Professor Robert Bickel’s Constitutional Law and the Civil Rights Movement course have had an opportunity to visit the historic sites and history-makers who shaped the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Professor Robert Bickel and class met this summer at the site of the new Civil Rights brick pathway on Stetson's Gulfport campus. — Professor Robert Bickel and class met this summer at the site of the new Civil Rights brick pathway on Stetson’s Gulfport campus.

Students journey to Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee to meet with still-living veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, which challenged racial segregation throughout the south and brought about the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act.

“Every Civil Rights Movement veteran we visited emphasized that our generation is responsible for the future meaning of their efforts during the civil rights struggle,” said Stetson University undergraduate student Alicja Duda, a member of Stetson’s Social Justice Lecture Series Committee. “Just as they fought for a more just world for our generation, so we are called to make our own contribution to a more just world, now, and for future generations.”

Days before heading out on this year’s travel course, students paused to place a brick on a new Civil Rights pathway on Stetson’s Gulfport campus. The brick path commemorates the Civil Rights Movement veterans whom students have met and learned from during the travel course.

“Throughout the travel course, we speak to the people who bore witness both to the great injustice and the great awakening of American society,” said alumna Maria Bogomaz JD ’12. “Experiencing this history helped me develop a personal relationship with social justice law that dictates every aspect of my career on a daily basis.”

“This experience has renewed in me a sense of direction and a confirmation of my ultimate purpose,” said alumna Traci Blake BA ’06, JD ’12.

For more information about Stetson’s Constitutional Law and the Civil Rights Movement course, visit the complete course description.

Bruce Jacob receives Champion of Indigent Defense Award from nation’s criminal defense bar

Bruce Jacob, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law, was presented with the Champion of Indigent Defense Award by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at its 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. Jacob was formally presented with the award on Saturday at the Association’s board meeting. The Champion of Indigent Defense Award recognizes an individual for exceptional efforts in making positive changes to a local, county, state, or national indigent defense system.

Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law Bruce Jacob.

Over 50 years ago, Bruce Jacob began his career by arguing for the State of Florida in the historic case of Gideon v. Wainwright. While Prof. Jacob argued on the side of Florida then, in the years since he has become one of the nation’s strongest voices advocating for the right to effective indigent defense counsel. As noted by Paul M. Rashkind, a federal public defender in Florida, Prof. Jacob is admired for his candor and his transition from advocate for Florida to advocate for indigent defense. Prof. Ellen Podgor, a colleague of Prof. Jacob, described his dedication to the cause of indigent defense: “He has argued on behalf of an indigent defendant before the U.S. Supreme Court, served on numerous indigent defense initiatives, started legal clinics focused on indigent defense at more than one law school, written articles stressing the importance of indigent defense, and to this day, remains in his office late on many nights writing pro bono habeas petitions and briefs for indigent defendants.”

Prof. Jacob’s contributions to improving indigent defense services in America are too many to list. In the 1960s, as a professor at the Emory University School of Law, he established the Legal Assistance for Inmates Program at the Atlanta Penitentiary. Later, as a member of the faculty at Harvard Law School, Prof. Jacob contributed to the establishment of the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project, an initiative through which students at Harvard Law provided legal services to indigent defendants. Prof. Jacob has written prolifically on the subject of indigent defense, and he made major contributions to the 2009 Report of the National Right to Counsel Committee.

Prof. Jacob regularly provides pro bono representation to indigent defendants. Prof. Joan Catherine Bohl, who has worked with Prof. Jacob on these cases, admired his dedication to his clients: “I have sat with him in his office while he patiently explains an inmate’s case to the inmate by telephone, often for an hour or more. He never gives over-simplified explanations, but he always seems to leave the inmate with a heightened understanding of his situation, and of the range of possible outcomes.”

In notifying Professor Jacob of the award, NACDL president Steve Benjamin said: “You have devoted your career to making the right to counsel a reality in courts across the country and we feel that it is particularly appropriate to recognize your steadfast advocacy on behalf of indigent defendants on the 50th anniversary of the Gideon decision.”

Presently, Bruce Jacob teaches at Stetson University in courses involving administrative law, constitutional law, criminal law, and criminal procedure.

For more information:

Ivan J. Dominguez

Public Affairs

(202) 465-7662

[email protected]

Alumna crosses the bridge to practice: returns home to Jacksonville as newest assistant public defender

Alumna Ashley Goggins JD/MBA ’12, a recipient of Stetson University College of Law’s Bridge to Practice Fellowship, was hired as an assistant public defender working in the Juvenile Court Unit in the Fourth Judicial Circuit in July.

Goggins shared that she has always had a passion for public service. “That passion was cultivated during my time in law school,” said Goggins, who served with Stetson’s Public Service Fellows while still a student. With a focus on juvenile justice issues, Goggins also volunteered with legal aid and as a Guardian ad Litem.

Goggins’ Bridge to Practice Fellowship supported her work in the public defender’s office handling felony cases. Launched this year, Stetson’s fellowship gives recent graduates an opportunity to gain valuable on-the-job experience working as lawyers in public interest environments. To date, nine fellows have worked in public service organizations with attorney mentors through Stetson’s program.

“After graduation, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to be a public defender, and I wanted to do it at home in Jacksonville,” Goggins said.

On July 1, she became the newest assistant public defender in the juvenile unit.

For students interested in pursuing careers in the area, professors Robert Bickel and Judith Scully have started a concentration in social justice advocacy and Stetson Law students have established a Juvenile Justice Initiative on campus.