The fallout of the Penn State scandal, new disability law updates, and the impact of social media predators on college campuses are among the topics of Stetson University College of Law’s 33rd National Conference on Law and Higher Education. The conference in Orlando, Feb. 17-21, invites attendees to recommend reforms in higher education.
“The Penn State scandal reminds higher education officials not to be bystanders to danger. The law can make colleges and universities safer and more responsible,” said Stetson Law professor Peter Lake, conference chair and director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law & Policy.
This year’s conference opens with its first “Boot Camp” on the fundamentals of higher education law and policy. The next day’s pre-conference workshop on Title IX features a keynote address by Russlyn Ali, author of the famous April 4, 2011, “Dear Colleague” letter. The main conference keynoter is professor Fred Bonner of Texas A&M University. Dr. Bonner will speak on his highly anticipated book, Diverse Millennial Students in College, and how faculty and student affairs professionals can communicate more effectively with millennial students. The conference wraps up with a workshop on Campus Care and Threat Assessment Teams, led by Virginia Tech’s Gene Deisinger.
This year’s honorary co-chair,Miriam McKendall, is a member of the International Advisory Board for the Center and a partner at the law firm of Holland & Knight in the firm’s education law, labor and employment law, and litigation groups.
To learn more about this year’s conference, and to register, click here.
Media Contact: Education journalists will have the opportunity to interview leading experts on issues impacting higher education. Please contact Brandi Palmer in Stetson Law’s Communications Office to schedule an interview or for additional details: 727-562-7381 or [email protected].
Stetson University and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are launching a new legal education program, the “White Collar Criminal Defense College,” on March 15-20, at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport.
WHO: Practitioners in the field of white collar criminal defense and those wishing to enter this field will gain key advocacy skills and learn substantive white collar crime law at the new program.
WHAT: The program will cover practical training in handling a white collar case, including client retention, investigating a white collar case, handling searches and grand jury subpoenas, and dealing with parallel proceedings. Interactive sessions with top white collar practitioners will allow the participants to learn trial skills such as opening statements, cross-examination, jury instructions, closing arguments, and sentencing – all in the context of a white collar matter. NACDL is an accredited CLE provider and will apply for up to 36.5 credits in all states with CLE requirements. Credits vary by jurisdiction; attendees will be notified of the final approved credits during the program.
For more information about the White Collar Criminal Defense College, contact NACDL Meetings Manager Tamara Kalacevic at (202) 872-8600 x641 or [email protected] or Stetson Law Professor Ellen S. Podgor at (727) 562-7348 or [email protected].
Six students who participated in Dr. Timothy Kaye’s Jurisprudence Seminar last fall at Stetson University College of Law in Tampa Bay, Fla., have recently been published in a new book edited by Dr. Kaye, entitled Law, Justice, and Miscommunications: Essays in Applied Legal Philosophy.
It may seem like a lofty title for a book, but as Dr. Kaye pointed out, understanding the basis of the law, and applying that understanding, is essential.
Dr. Kaye said that he was so impressed by the quality of thinking and writing among the students in his seminar class that he decided to publish a half-dozen of their essays in a book where they might enjoy a wider audience. Kaye said that he hopes that academics might use the book as a teaching vehicle, legal practitioners might use it to understand the law in greater depth, and lawmakers might use the book to take a closer look at the impact of the laws they’ve written.
Students William Allen and Elaine Babiarz, and alumni Ashley Grafton, Kate Jaczkanin, Neil Lyons and Abigail Pressler all wrote chapters in the book, along with Dr. Kaye.
“Participating in Dr. Kaye’s jurisprudence courses, and being a part of the book was precisely the kind of challenging and rewarding intellectual endeavor I had hoped to experience during my time at Stetson,” said Allen, who wrote the book chapter entitled, “Debunking the Idea of Political Morality.”
For the students, being part of the book was just one part of a greater formative experience. Babiarz said that she was thrilled to have an opportunity to present her essay with fellow seminar student and co-author Pressler at the Creative Law Conference in Vancouver, Canada. Pressler also presented her paper at the ATINER conference in Athens, Greece.
Babiarz said that Dr. Kaye’s seminar on jurisprudence was an opportunity to focus on justice.
“I put justice in the context of a genetically altered seed and whether that was legal,” Babiarz said of her research.
Her paper, “Amber Waves of (Genetically Modified) Grain: Rectifying the Injustice of GM Seed Patents,” discussed the debate surrounding genetically modified food, viewed as both the solution to world hunger and as a cancer-causing biological weapon.
“If you want to understand the legal system, that’s what jurisprudence is about,” Dr. Kaye explained. “It’s a chance to look at cases more deeply.”
“It’s the because and the why of what we do,” said Babiarz, who graduates in May 2012 and plans to be a prosecutor.
In describing his own philosophy, Dr. Kaye connected it to his role at Stetson, “Expect a lot from your students and provide them with the means to succeed.”
Dr. Kaye teaches torts, product liability, constitutional interpretation and jurisprudence at Stetson Law. Previously, he served as associate dean at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Dr. Kaye has done media interviews on topics ranging from employee privacy to Big Tobacco to the Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill.
Duncan shares some puppy love with Stetson Law students in the Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library.
Students at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., have an opportunity to alleviate stress while preparing for exams this semester with the help of some very special therapy dogs. Registered therapy dogs and their handlers are available in the atrium of the Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library to work with law students for about an hour each day for seven days during the exam period through mid-December.
Hans, a registered therapy dog, visits students during the exam period.
“All of us in the library sympathize with the stress that law students face around exam time,” said Professor Rebecca Trammell, director of the law library at Stetson. “We hope that this project will provide a relaxing change of pace for our students.”
All of the dogs are different breeds and sizes, and registered with Therapy Dogs International, a volunteer organization dedicated to regulating, testing and registration of therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers.
“Trained therapy animals and handlers provide animal-assisted-activities or animal-assisted-therapy in a wide range of settings including hospitals, hospices , disaster sites, schools, shelters, and many other places,” said Professor Peter Fitzgerald, an expert in international and commercial law and animal law who has been involved with Golden Retriever rescue for close to 15 years.
Alumna Amanda Hanson visits with Brando during the dog therapy program at Stetson.
“Both their training and work is different from that associated with a service animal, but the benefits – such as decreased blood pressure and stress levels and improved overall emotional well-being – have been demonstrated in numerous studies over many years,” said Professor Fitzgerald. “Making therapy dogs available to help manage stress during our students’ exams is just a logical extension of the role they serve elsewhere.”
Professor Fitzgerald brought his dog Duncan, Professor Ellen Podgor brought her dog Hans, and Stetson Law alumna Amanda Hanson brought her dog Brando to the library at Stetson Law in Gulfport to work with students. All are trained therapy dogs.
Brando, a four-year-old rescued German Shepherd dog, was the first therapy dog to accompany a witness into a deposition in the 6th circuit court. Hanson is coordinator for Pawsibilities Registered Therapy Dogs, a program she started while she was still in law school at Stetson that works with local law enforcement and the 6th judicial circuit to provide therapy dogs at no cost for minor victims of crime as they brave the court process.
Learn more about Brando and Amanda’s first visit to the Stetson therapy dog program here.
Daniela Estrada is an exchange student from Mexico.
Daniela Estrada is wrapping up her studies at Stetson University College of Law this week as part of an exchange program with the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Monterrey, Mexico. Estrada is the first student to participate in the exchange program between Mexico and Stetson Law.
Stetson Law student Joe Mascherin is studying in Granada, Spain, as part of a student exchange program between Stetson and the Universidad de Granada. Mascherin recently competed on Granada’s team at the Foreign Direct Investment Moot Competition at King’s College in London.
Stetson student Joe Mascherin, foreground, with the moot court team.
Maria Sanchez is pursuing a JD/Grado degree from Stetson Law and the Universidad de Granada. She traveled from the Universidad de Granada to Stetson Law in Gulfport as part of a new degree program.
The J.D./Grado en Derecho dual-degree program, offered by Stetson Law, in Gulfport, Fla., and the Universidad de Granada, in Granada, Spain, is open to first-year Stetson students in good academic standing who are bilingual in Spanish and English or who have excellent written and oral Spanish skills and are willing to immerse themselves in a different legal culture.
Maria Sanchez is completing a JD/Grado degree.
Each year, both Stetson Law and the Universidad de Granada will select up to two students to study for two years at Stetson Law and two years at the Universidad de Granada. Upon successful completion of four years of study, these students will receive the J.D. degree from Stetson and the Grado en Derecho from Granada.
Jamaica − Third-year law Stetson Law student Marcela Bonells is presenting her paper in Spanish this week at the V Pan-American Regional Meeting in Jamaica. Bonells completed an externship with Ramsar this summer in Switzerland.
Stetson Law Interim Dean Royal Gardner, past chair of the U.S. Ramsar Committee and author of the book, Lawyers, Swamps and Money: U.S. Wetland Law, Policy, and Politics, is moderating the Ramsar session in Jamaica.
Interim Dean Royal Gardner meets with students working on the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy at Stetson.
India – The India regional rounds of Stetson Law’s International Environmental Moot Court Competition were conducted this past weekend. The National Law University, Jodhpur, won the North India regional round and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, won the South India regional round of competition. This is the 16th year Stetson has held this competition. Countries participating in the IEMCC this year include Africa, Australia, China, India, Ireland, Korea, Latin America, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, United States, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Competitions around the world will determine which four teams of law students will compete at the International Finals hosted at Stetson Law in Tampa Bay, Fla., at the end of March. The students practice their skills presenting legal arguments involving a realistic nuclear plant accident with the potential to impact multiple countries.
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady was honored with the J. Ben Watkins Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession on Nov. 18 during the annual Stetson Law Review banquet. The award honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and accomplishment in the legal community.
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady was honored with the J. Ben Watkins Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession.
Justice Canady, of Lakeland, is serving as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court through June 2012. He was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in 2008. Prior to joining the Florida Supreme Court, Justice Canady was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal. He was General Counsel to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and served in Congress in the Florida House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. He was a member of the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. Before serving in Congress, Justice Canady practiced law with Holland and Knight and with Lane Trohn.
The award is presented in honor of J. Ben Watkins, who helped found the Stetson Law Review and is an honorary member of the Stetson Law Board of Overseers. Previous recipients of this prestigious award include outstanding members of the judiciary and bar leadership.
Stetson University College of Law won the regional round of the New York City Bar’s 62nd Annual National Moot Court Competition in Atlanta on Nov. 19.
Students Ryan Leuthauser, Scott Stevenson, and Julia Richmond won the regional of the New York City Bar's 62nd Annual National Moot Court Competition
Stetson also won the best brief award in the competition. The team of Ryan Leuthauser, Julia Richmond, and Scott Stevenson will advance to the national rounds in January in New York.
“We could not be more proud of these students, who will be the first team to represent Stetson in the national round of this competition,” said Professor Brooke Bowman, moot court board advisor.
Stetson Law professors Michael Allen and Louis Virelli coached the team. The competition is hosted by the New York City Bar Committee on Young Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Students from John Marshall Law School, Chicago, won first place at the regional round of the ABA Law Student Division Arbitration Competition on Nov. 19 at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla.
The first-place John Marshall Law School team of Josh Rinker, Chase Gruszka, Sara Ross, Danielle Vlcek, and coach Angelique Palmer.
The first-place team of Chase Gruszka, Josh Rinker, Sara Ross and Danielle Vlcek will advance to compete in the national finals at ABA headquarters in Chicago in January. Angelique Palmer and Anthony Sam coached the winning team from John Marshall.
The Stetson team of Eric Briley, Ashley Dusnik, Julie Ann Embler and Jhenerr Hines placed second and also will advance to the national competition. Professor James Sheehan coached the team.
The ABA Law Student Division Arbitration Competition simulates a realistic arbitration hearing in which students prepare and present a case, including opening statements, witness examinations, exhibit introductions, evidence presentations and summations. A panel of judges offered feedback on the students’ presentations to help them hone their skills as arbitrators.
The Office of Student Life at Stetson Law oversees more than 40 student organizations on campus. These organizations assist law students in becoming effective leaders, encouraging students to participate in activities on campus and in the surrounding community through pro bono work, workshops and networking opportunities.
Students meet at the Student Organizations Fair on Sept. 21. Photo by Philip Hadley.
Within the past year, a few new organizations have been created and many have been revived after being dormant for several years. The Stetson Chapter of the Florida Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Division and the Student Veterans Organization are some of the newest student organizations. The Labor and Employment Law Association was created last spring.
The Part-Time Student Society, Performing Arts Society and Stetson Law Parents have reemerged as active organizations on campus. The Business Law Society, Education Law Society and Immigration Law Students Association have offered new programming.
The new Student Veterans Organization will present a program this semester for the college community about using military training to combat stress. U.S. Army Major Jeff Peppers and Sarah Siegrist, Staff Psychotherapist from Eckerd College Counseling Services, are scheduled to speak about proactive ways to prepare for periods of stress.
The Performing Arts Society, now known as the Arts Society at Stetson Law, was founded years ago but remained largely inactive for several years until it was reestablished by current student president Kevin Goertzen. The organization was founded in order to bring a balance to students’ lives and to serve as a predicate for their futures as attorneys.
“We want to encourage those with a passion for the law and the arts to strike a balance between the two,” said Goertzen. “The Performing Arts Society gives students the opportunity to start doing that now.”
Students take a break from studies for pizza and art on Nov. 16. Photo by Steven Lacks.
Goertzen said that he also hopes to teach students how maintaining that balance helps everyone to learn artistic principles that can assist with the practice of law.
The Performing Arts Society just completed its first short film, entitled “Things Not To Do in Law School.” This is a humorous, satirical short film acted out by the student body at Stetson.
The group hosted a pizza and art-making party for students this semester. They have plans to host an arts show made up of law students and lawyers and judges in the surrounding community. They also plan to have Harvey Moore, owner of Trial Practices, Inc., come speak to the group.
The Stetson Law Parents organization was founded in January 2011 by students Bryony Swift and Colleen Williams. They founded this organization as a way to facilitate connections between students who are also parents.
“There are many student-parents who struggle to juggle kids with law school,” said Swift, who serves as the president of Stetson Law Parents. “We believe that organization provides a way for student-parents to help each other out. We also see it as a way to facilitate connections with other children.”
The Stetson Law Parents hosted a successful back-to-school family barbecue at the beginning of the semester. They hosted a fall family costume party for children on Nov. 5.
The Business Law Society, founded in June of 1997, has been reenergized under the direction of the current executive board, including vice president Mark Osborne.
“Our mission is to foster improved coordination, better understanding, and mutually beneficial relationships between the local, state, and national business community and Stetson Law students,” said Osborne. “It is my belief that we have served our goal of making the Business Law Society relevant again and making our events beneficial to the student body.”
The Business Law Society has hosted Adjunct Professor Robert LeVine, a UCC expert and nationally recognized motivational speaker, and Carlton Fields attorney Nathaniel Doliner, the former American Bar Association Business Law Section Chair. The society held a networking event on Nov. 10 at the Tampa Law Center that included attorneys from in-house counsel and corporate law firms.
The Education Law Association was founded during the 2008-2009 academic year at Stetson.
The Education Law Association participated in the Student Organizations Fair in September. Photo by Philip Hadley.
“The organization was founded to create awareness and educate the Stetson community about what education law is, why it is important, and how education law issues impact everyone,” said organization president Annaliese Bullock.
Recently, the Education Law Association invited the St. Petersburg College Office of General Counsel to come speak to the members of the organization. The group has plans to work with Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Higher Education to create more opportunities for student involvement. They are encouraging students to volunteer at Stetson’s annual National Conference on Law & Higher Education in Orlando in February.
The Immigration Law Society provides valuable educational and networking experiences to students interested in immigration law, connecting law students with immigration practitioners and government agencies.
“Our goal is to create a forum where students can gain a practical understanding of immigration law and give back to the immigration community,” said student president Haley Meher.
In the past, the Immigration Law Society has hosted Professor Stephan Legomsky, who wrote the text book currently used in Stetson’s Immigration Law class. The group also held an immigration law research workshop on Nov. 14. In the spring, they plan to have a networking dinner with prominent figures in immigration law. They also plan to visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Tampa.
For more information about student organizations at Stetson Law or information about how to start a new organization as a student, contact the Office of Student Life at [email protected].
Professor Bruno Zeller of Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, taught an International Trade Law course this fall at Stetson after receiving an invitation from Stetson Law Professor Stephanie Vaughan.
Professor Bruno Zeller (center) visited Stetson Law from Australia this semester.
“It was a great pleasure to have a class that participates very actively in discussions,” said Professor Zeller, who also said that he found Stetson students very attuned and receptive.
Advocacy is one difference that Professor Zeller noticed between his own students and Stetson students. He said that his students in Australia start from the same base as the students at Stetson, but the legal skills taught at Stetson take legal education a step further.
“I have never seen a university that teaches legal skills as well as Stetson,” Professor Zeller said. “It is not by accident that Stetson students are known internationally for their skills in advocacy.”
Stetson Law won the world championship at the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria, in 2005. Professor Vaughan coached the award-winning team. Professor Zeller also coaches students for the Vis Moot.
Upon returning to Australia, Professor Zeller said that he hopes to help build an exchange program between Stetson and Victoria University for students and staff. He said that if asked again, he will certainly return to Stetson to teach.
“Stetson was one of the best universities I have taught at,” said Professor Zeller. “They have wonderful students, good professors, as well as an effective support staff.”
Professor Bruno Zeller, of Victoria University, taught at Stetson Law in the fall.
Professor Zeller received his Ph.D. from Melbourne University. He is an expert in International Trade Law, International Arbitration, Conflict of Laws and Maritime Law at the law school at Victoria University. He is also a visiting professor at Humboldt University in Berlin.
This year, Professor Zeller has published articles including “Intellectual Property Rights and the CISG Article 42”and “Foreign Investments in Saudi Arabia.” He has also been published in CISG Casebook and Guide to Application and has authored CISG and the Unification of International Trade Law.
Documentary filmmaker and lecturer Luis Argueta screened and discussed his documentary, abUSed:The Postville Raid, on Thursday evening, Nov. 10, on Stetson’s Gulfport campus. Argueta, who is originally from Guatemala, talked with Stetson Law students about the plight of undocumented workers and the need to reform immigration laws.
Filmmaker Luis Argueta talks with Professor Luz Nagle before the screening of abUSed.
The documentary, abUSed:The Postville Raid, tells the personal stories of the individuals, families and town directly impacted by the 2008 Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at Agriprocessors, Inc., that resulted in hundreds of arrests. At the time, the raid was described as the largest, most expensive and most brutal in the history of the U.S.
In less than a week, more than 300 workers were fast-tracked through the U.S. legal system, convicted of criminal charges and sentenced to five months in prison followed by deportation.
Argueta said that he first had the desire to create this film after reading an article about the raid in the Washington Post. The 14-page article was written by a certified interpreter who was hired by the federal government to work during the arraignment and sentencing process. This interpreter created a vivid picture of what occurred after the raid.
This article inspired Argueta to visit Postville and interview the survivors of the raid. After initially only planning to visit Postville for a few days, Argueta said that he found himself going back 29 times to interview people. He even took a trip to Guatemala to visit the relatives of those in jail. The documentary shows the very damaging effects of the enforcement policy on families, children and the Postville community.
“The film was very touching and informative,” Stetson Law student Tiffany Owens said after the screening. “I had no idea that the raids even took place. It’s nice to see that someone is being proactive in spreading the word about this issue.”
Argueta, who was born and raised in Guatemala, has been a resident of New York since 1977. He said that he came to the U.S. because he couldn’t breathe in Guatemala. While there, he said he was raised with fear and was taught to never question any injustice because the result could end in death. As he got older, he said he refused to live that way any longer.
Filmmaker Luis Argueta talks with a crowd at Stetson Law during the screening of "abUSed: The Postville Raid."
Argueta said that he feels that the biggest problem with immigration policy is that it doesn’t work. He explained that it is impossible to deport 11 million people. He said that ideally, he would like to see an immigration policy based on the respect of human dignity, common sense and compassion.
“As a nation, when we try to solve the immigration issue by relying solely on enforcement and scapegoating the most vulnerable among us, we are engaging in a futile activity,” said Argueta. “Throwing billions of dollars into creating border walls and prisons is only enriching unscrupulous corporations, not solving the problem of undocumented immigration.”
Argueta said that he wants people to see immigrants in a new light and not as people to be feared. He said that he believes that “by looking into the human face of immigrants and walking in their shoes, by being compassionate, we will begin to regain our own lost humanity.”
Argueta was listed in the British newspaper, The Guardian, as one of Guatemala’s National Living Icons. His film, The Silence of Neto,is the only Guatemalan film ever to have reached the Academy Awards competition and he is the only Guatemalan director to have received a CLIO.
Filmmaker Luis Argueta talks at Stetson on Nov. 10.
Stetson Law Professor Luz Nagle, Stetson Law third-year student Silvia Manzanero and attorney Linda Friedman Ramirez organized the event.
Stetson’s student International Law Society, Immigration Law Student Association, Amnesty International and the Hispanic Bar Association helped sponsor the event, along with Stetson’s Center for Excellence in International Law, attorney Linda Friedman Ramirez, adjunct law professors Arturo R. Rios and William J. Flynn, III, and Stetson alumnus Jean Pierre Espinoza.
