Elizabeth Barnes conducted a session at the seminar on Free Legal Research in a Digital World.
The Stetson Law Solo Practice Network held two free seminars in July for alumni. Stetson’s Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library director Professor Rebecca Trammell, reference librarian Elizabeth Barnes, and Professor Sally Waters discussed ways to do better legal and general research at a seminar on July 20 in Gulfport, “Free Legal Research in a Digital World.”
The seminar presented ways lawyers can work more efficiently using the right search engine, database, and free and fee research tools. The presentation also provided an overview of the right apps and software to use when integrating devices such as smart phones and laptops into research to work faster and more effectively.
Another seminar on July 21 in Tampa covered the same topic.
Stetson will sponsor Solo Practice Network Series events for alumni on a variety of topics at the Celebration Campus and Tampa Law Center in the fall.
The Solo Practice Network was developed by Stetson Law to assist graduating students and alumni in starting, building and sustaining successful law practices. Through the Solo Practice Network, Stetson Law supports alumni in the solo and small practice community. During the spring semester, Stetson launched a three-day Solo Practice Institute at the Tampa Law Center.
Caitlein Jammo, Morgan Vasigh and Erin Okuno won Best Brief at the Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition.
Stetson University College of Law students Caitlein Jammo, Erin Okuno and Morgan Vasighwon the Best Brief award on June 20 at the Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition, coordinated by the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar in Orlando.
It is the third year in a row that a Stetson team has taken home this award.
Professor of Legal Skills and Moot Court Advisor Brooke Bowman and Stetson Law alumnus Larry Miccolis coached the team.
“Winning accolades for Best Brief for three years in a row reaffirms Stetson’s dedication to preparing our students to be sharp, critical thinkers inside and outside the courtroom,” said Professor Bowman.
During the two semifinal rounds, the team argued before panels of judges from Florida’s District Courts of Appeal.
The Stetson Lawyers Association presented awards to alumni and friends on June 21. Stetson University College of Law Interim Dean Royal C. Gardner introduced the new dean of Stetson Law, Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, at an evening reception during the annual Florida Bar meeting in Orlando.Visit Flickr to view photos>>
Associate Dean John Cooper, who leads Stetson Law’s international and cooperative programs, was presented with the Distinguished Service Award for his significant, meritorious and continuing contributions to the College of Law. Associate Dean Cooper, who joined the Stetson Law faculty in 1985, established study abroad programs for students in Asia, South America and Europe.
The Honorable Frederick B. Karl ’49 received a Distinguished Alumni Award, which is presented to individuals who exemplify service to the College of Law and to the legal profession. Karl, a veteran of the U.S. Army and recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart, dedicated his entire adult life to public service, serving in roles including state senator and representative, Florida’s first public counsel, and justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Professor Rebecca Morgan ’80, the Boston Asset Management Faculty Chair in Elder Law, director of Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law, and director of Stetson’s online LL.M. in Elder Law, also received a Distinguished Alumni Award. Morgan serves as a special adviser to the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging, and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2003 Faculty Award on Professionalism from the Florida Supreme Court.
Board of Overseers member William Weller ’04 received the Paul M. May Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his continued support of the College of Law and its alumni association through time and gifts. Weller served as the College of Law’s executive director of operations, revising the campus master plan and overseeing design and construction.
Amy Rigdon BA ’05, JD ’08 received the Outstanding Alumni Representative Award for her dedication and service to the Stetson Lawyers Association. Rigdon is a member of the Holland & Knight law firm’s Orlando Diversity Committee, the Orange County Bar, the ABA Young Lawyers Division and the Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers. She is the Ninth Circuit representative to the Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors and a member of the Stetson Lawyers Association Advisory Council.
Judge Anthony Johnson ’80 received the Ben C. Willard Award, presented annually to alumni whose humanitarian achievements bring distinction to themselves and to the College of Law. Judge Johnson served as an Orange County judge for three decades and was a U.S. Navy officer. He founded the Legal Assistance for Warriors project to provide free legal services to active-duty military personnel deployed to hostile-fire zones.
Stetson Lawyers Association outgoing president Clinton Paris JD ’00 presented the awards to alumni and friends. Paris also introduced incoming Stetson Lawyers Association President Jenay Iurato JD/MBA ’00.
Stetson University College of Law’s Gulfport and Tampa Law Center campuses will be open Tuesday, June 26. Stetson Law administrators are closely monitoring severe weather and area bridge closings.
As of 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, the Howard Frankland Bridge is open in both directions. Classes beginning at 5:15 p.m. or later are not currently scheduled for cancellation. Please check back for further notifications if weather conditions should worsen.
Please consider your personal and family safety first. If your class should continue but you are unable to travel safely, please email Dean Adams at [email protected]. Students who are unable to attend class because of safety-related weather issues will not be penalized.
Staff members who are able to safely travel to campus are encouraged to be present during working hours.
Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz is the new dean of Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport/Tampa, Fla. Dean Pietruszkiewicz joins Stetson from the LSU Law Center at Louisiana State University, where he served as vice chancellor for business and financial affairs and as the J.Y. Sanders Professor of Law.
Royal C. Gardner, who served as Stetson Law’s interim dean for one year, will continue his duties on the faculty and as director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy.
Stetson University College of Law Dean Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz
At Louisiana State University, Pietruszkiewicz was responsible for strategic planning, budgeting, financial planning and personnel matters, in addition to serving on a variety of committees. Earlier in his career, he worked as a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the Department of Justice and as an attorney/adviser in the Department of Education.
Dean Pietruszkiewicz holds national leadership positions in legal education. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Law School Admission Council and chair of its Investment Committee. Dean Pietruszkiewicz is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Southeastern Association of Law Schools, where he served as president in 2005-2006.
Dean Pietruszkiewicz has also served in various leadership positions for the American Bar Association Section of Taxation.
He holds a Master of Laws in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center, a law degree from the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
Classes are cancelled and Stetson University College of Law’s Gulfport and Tampa campuses are closed until 5:30 p.m. due to severe weather on Monday, June 25.
Campuses will open at 5:30 p.m. on June 25 for regularly scheduled activities including classes.
We will record classes for students unable to attend because of weather related reasons. Those students will not be penalized. We anticipate that all activities for Tuesday will continue as originally scheduled.
Students with internships should contact the coordinators of those programs directly. We will also provide updates if plans should change as we continue to watch the weather and will post a notice on the front page of the College of Law’s web page, send an e-mail to the student, faculty, and staff lists, and also place a recorded message on the class cancellation hotline (727-562-7816 option 2).
Additional information and updates will be posted online on the Stetson University College of Law Website at www.law.stetson.edu.
Stetson University College of Law professors Mark Bauer and Rebecca Morgan were invited to the White House for a symposium on June 14 recognizing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
Professor Mark Bauer and Professor Rebecca Morgan attended the White House symposium with Hubert "Skip" Humphrey III.
The professors attended the day-long symposium that discussed the problem of elder abuse, exploitation and neglect.
Stetson is also home to the Eleazer Courtroom, the first courtroom in the nation designed specifically with the needs of elderly people in mind. Stetson’s courtroom serves as a national model for improving courtroom access.
Stetson’s elder law center provides legal education to law students, attorneys, and judges in the field of elder law and special needs law and produces scholarly research.
Stetson University College of Law dedicated its new Veterans Law Institute with a ceremony on May 31 in Gulfport, Fla.
L-R: Judge Raphael Steinhardt, Institute director Michael Allen, and Law Interim Dean Royal Gardner cut the ribbon at Stetson’s new Veterans Law Institute in Gulfport.
More than 100 people gathered for the dedication, which included remarks by the Honorable Bruce E. Kasold, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Stetson Law faculty, students and veterans, a flag presentation by Congressman Bill Young’s office, and a color guard presentation by Boca Ciega High School’s Army JROTC.
The Institute will serve as a center for veteran and military scholarship, the site of Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic, and provide continuing legal education for attorneys representing veterans as well as a focal point for student veterans and their pro bono related activities.
The facility that houses the Institute was named the Judge Raphael Steinhardt Building in honor of the contributions of the judge who also endowed a scholarship for student veterans.
Notre Dame Law School professor James H. Seckingerwas honored with aLifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Advocacyat Stetson University College of Law’s annual Educating Advocates: Teaching Advocacy Skills conference on May 23 in Gulfport.
Professor James Seckinger with Professor Charles Rose.
Professor Seckinger, who served as the director of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy from 1979 to 1994, has conducted advocacy skills programs throughout the U.S. and Canada, and around the world in Australia, El Salvador, England, France, New Zealand, Panama, Scotland and Singapore. He co-authored the leading trial advocacy teaching book, Problems and Cases in Trial Advocacy. He also has authored trial advocacy books used in Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Panama, Rwanda, Scotland, and Sierra Leone. Professor Seckinger has trained lawyers and judges in El Salvador and Panama. He has taught advocacy skills to the war crimes prosecutors for Rwanda and Sierra Leone.
“Professor Jim Seckinger has spent a lifetime following a simple idea with profound implications,” said Professor Charles H. Rose III, director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University College of Law. “He is committed, body and soul, to the advancement of ethical advocacy throughout the world. He has trained an entire generation of advocacy teachers to be competent and ethical advocates in pursuit of justice, and the profession is a better place for his efforts over the last 38 years.”
Stetson’s three-day conference, May 23-25, is designed to help new advocacy professors hone their teaching skills and network with some of the most recognized names in advocacy teaching. More than 50 advocacy instructors attended this year.
Stetson University College of Law alumnus Brian L. Tannebaum ’94 has created an award for students who excel in their first-year criminal law course. The Brian L. Tannebaum High Grade Award in Criminal Law rewards Stetson students earning the top grade in each section of their criminal law class with a financial award of $500.
To date, five Stetson Law students have received the award. Student Kacie Hohnadell described receiving the Brian L. Tannebaum High Grade Award as one of the most gratifying experiences of her law school career.
“It was very rewarding for my hard work and dedication to be recognized,” said Hohnadell. “In addition to receiving the award, I had the opportunity to have dinner and a wonderful conversation with Mr. Tannebaum. His generosity and encouragement were inspiring, and I truly enjoyed meeting him.”
On a recent visit to Stetson to speak to students, Tannebaum was asked if he would attach his name to the High Grade Award in Criminal Law.
“I went to law school to become a criminal defense lawyer,” said Tannebaum. “Through trial advocacy classes and the trial team, Stetson established my foundation.”
The award will continue to recognize rising criminal defense stars at Stetson Law through 2014.
Tannebaum is a highly respected criminal defense attorney and the immediate past-president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is managing partner of his Miami firm, Tannebaum Weiss, PL, which recently expanded to offices in Tampa.
For more information about the Brian L. Tannebaum High Grade Award in Criminal Law or giving to Stetson, contact the College Relations Office at 727-562-7818 or [email protected].
The brief urges the Court to grant certiorari in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock, a case on appeal from the Montana Supreme Court that upheld Montana’s century-old ban on corporate political expenditures. Along with Montana’s historic ban, the brief urges the Court to consider the experience of federal elections in the past two years since Citizens United, including the growing trend of candidate-specific Super PACs spending millions of dollars during elections.
“American Tradition Partnership presents the Supreme Court the first opportunity to revise its stance in the controversial Citizens United v. FEC, which granted corporations the First Amendment right to spend unlimited funds in federal elections,” said Professor Torres-Spelliscy, an expert in constitutional law and campaign finance issues.
Montana’s Supreme Court held that Montana’s ban on corporate political expenditures, enacted by a citizen initiative in 1912, was justified by the state’s history of corporate political corruption. Plaintiffs in the cases are requesting that the Court reverse the Montana state court ruling without considering any of the evidence of Montana’s history of political corruption.
“This is a perfect opportunity for the Supreme Court to review the contours of Citizens United’s holding in light of two factual records: (1) Montana’s experience with corporate political abuses in the last century, and (2) the potential for modern corporate corruption in the era of Super PACs,” said Professor Torres-Spelliscy.
Professor Torres-Spelliscy is joined by professors from Columbia Law School, University of California Irvine School of Law, State University of New York, University at Buffalo Law School, University of Miami School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, Harvard Law School, American University Washington College of Law, and Fordham University School of Law.
Editor’s Note: Professor Torres-Spelliscy has written for and been quoted in numerous national news outlets on the topics of election reform and voters’ issues. She is available for interviews by calling Brandi Palmer in the Communications Office at Stetson University College of Law at (727) 562-7381 or by e-mailing her at [email protected].
Nicole Martingano, a third-year law student at Stetson, experienced a severe and unexpected hardship at the age of 19 that motivated her to go to law school.
Stetson Law student Nicole Martingano aspires to be a prosecutor.
In 2006, Martingano was an undergraduate student at the University of Florida in Gainesville with uncertain academic plans. On Feb. 25 of that year, Martingano’s life changed dramatically when she was hit head-on by a drunk driver.
After the accident, Martingano suffered from left-side paralysis and was in a coma for 11 days. She was hospitalized for three months and had to undergo occupational, speech and physical therapy to recover. As a result of the car accident, Martingano has a steel plate in her arm and a titanium rod in her leg.
It took a year for her to fully recover from the car accident. Martingano had problems with her long- and short-term memory, and struggled putting words together.
“How it affected my family was the hardest part of dealing with the accident,” said Martingano. “They went through more pain then I did. Physical pain is nothing compared to emotional pain.”
The doctors told Martingano that only 90 percent of her brain would revert back to normal functioning. Six years after the accident, she still struggles with her hand-eye coordination and her ability to run. She recently received a scholarship awarded to victims of sudden traumatic brain injuries.
When she was lying in the hospital bed in Gainesville, Martingano said she made a decision to deter drunk driving by speaking to her peers and by one day becoming a prosecutor.
Since the accident, Martingano has turned her near-fatal injuries into a public awareness campaign. She has spoken to thousands of students at colleges and high schools about the consequences of drunk driving.
At Stetson Law, Martingano is honing her advocacy skills as a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board, and she has recently become a Student Ambassador at Stetson. Next spring, Martingano plans to participate in Stetson’s Prosecution Clinic.
“As an advocate, my goal is to be a prosecutor, and I’m determined to deter crimes like the one I was a victim of,” said Martingano. “More expensive fines don’t necessarily deter people from driving drunk. Having the experience deters people. Community service deters people.”
For more information on Martingano’s life-changing experience, visit her website at How to Save A Life: www.htsalife.com.
