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New Registrar Joins Stetson Law

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

Felisha McCaster, Stetson Law's new registrar.
Felisha McCaster, Stetson Law's new registrar. Click for high resolution image.

Felisha McCaster starts her first day as registrar at Stetson University College of Law on Sept. 7. McCaster served as registrar at Saint Louis University School of Law since 2002.

She is well-versed in the organizational structure of higher education, leadership management, and has worked extensively with students, faculty and staff.  In her free time, McCaster  volunteers as a  youth basketball coach.

Stetson Law’s former registrar, Nancy Kelsey, will be retiring to Tennessee mid-September.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stetson Law Listed Among the Top ‘Green’ School

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

Professor Royal Gardner teaching at Stetson Law.
Professor Royal Gardner teaching at Stetson Law. Click for high-resolution image.

The latest issue of preLaw magazine lists Stetson University College of Law among the top ‘green’ schools in the nation. The magazine used information about law schools’ curriculum, campus environment and building trends to develop its Honor Roll highlighting the “best and brightest.” PreLaw also considered ‘green’ academic offerings including faculty, classes, externships, legal journals and summer programs.

“This is a wonderful affirmation of the great work that Stetson students, faculty and staff are engaged in, from the local to the global level,” said professor Royal Gardner, who directs Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law & Policy.

In February of this year, Stetson became the first law school in the world to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Ramsar Secretariat, assisting the international group that works to protect wetlands. Two recent Stetson Law graduates worked with the National Audubon Society on the application for the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Fla., to be designated as a Wetland of International Importance last October.

Stetson’s Go Green Committee set up permanent campus-wide recycling stations and regularly sponsors recycling drives, free bike repair on campus for student commuters, and other events.

Students with an interest in wildlife issues at Stetson also have an opportunity to work on the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy. In March, the International Wildlife Law Conference was held in conjunction with the International Finals of the International Environmental Moot Court Competition on Stetson’s Gulfport campus. Speakers from around the world presented on international law, international environmental law and animal welfare issues.

Each semester, Stetson presents a series of Biodiversity Lectures. The first of the fall semester lecture series was presented on Aug. 30 by author/environmental journalist Craig Pittman.

Read more by visiting preLaw. To learn more about Stetson’s outstanding biodiversity/environmental law programs, visit http://www.law.stetson.edu/biodiversity.

Author Discusses Manatee Insanity

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

At a noontime Biodiversity Lecture for students in the Great Hall at Stetson Law in Gulfport on Monday, author and St. Petersburg Times journalist Craig Pittman discussed how Florida became caught up in Manatee Insanity, also the topic of Pittman’s new book. Pittman reviewed the 300-year history of the manatee in Florida, from dinner special to endangered species.

The manatee, according to Pittman, remains a symbol of Florida and of human conflict with the environment. He talked about some present-day controversies, from swimming with the manatees in Crystal River to draining springs frequented by manatees for drinking water. Pittman concluded his lecture by reminding the law students in the audience to “beware the manatee insanity, and bear in mind that they are a symbol of Florida and not just the wilderness, but also the conflict, and our desire to live in the wilderness and make it our own.”

Professor Royal Gardner, who directs Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, introduced the lecture co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Society.

Stetson University Ranked 23rd in Nation for Service, Research, Social Mobility

Contact Cindi Brownfield
University Marketing
386-822-7214
[email protected]

A national rating system that focuses on how well colleges and universities contribute to the public good in the areas of service, research and social mobility has selected Stetson University in DeLand as the top-rated four-year school in Florida. Stetson is ranked No. 23 nationally in Washington Monthly magazine’s “Top 50 Master’s Universities” for universities with bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

The ratings, released this week at www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide, rank colleges and universities in five different categories – Top 30 National Universities, Top 30 Liberal Arts Colleges, Top 50 Master’s Universities, Top 50 Community Colleges and Top 50 Baccalaureate Colleges.

“At Stetson, our students are working to prepare themselves to be active, engaged members of their communities, leaders who can take rigorous academic theory and use it to solve the practical challenges of life,” said Dr. Greg Sapp, the Hal S. Marchman Chair of Civic and Social Responsibility and associate professor of religious studies. “The Washington Monthly‘s national ranking of Stetson recognizes the wonderful work our students do in the community and Stetson’s commitment to supporting them.”

The magazine describes its guide as “a different kind of college ranking” – one that values recruitment and graduation of low-income students, cutting-edge scholarship, community service and graduates making a positive difference in the world. The rankings are based on data including how many alumni go on to serve in the U.S. military and Peace Corps, how many hours students volunteer in their community, how many graduates go on to earn doctorate degrees, how many students are low income (receiving the federal Pell Grant) and how many scholarship dollars are linked to service. More than a third of Stetson students are first-generation college students.

“Colleges and universities do as much to shape the future as any institutions you can think of,” the magazine said. “They conduct cutting-edge research that drives economic growth, provide upward mobility to people of humble birth, and mold the characters of tomorrow’s leaders.”

Stetson has a strong commitment to service learning and civic engagement through its academic courses, and many student organizations provide service to the community through extracurricular activities. Students, faculty and staff typically provide more than 100,000 hours of service each academic year.

“Too often ‘academic’ is equated with ‘irrelevant.’ At Stetson, we work to make students’ academic preparation relevant by providing opportunities for them to see the theory come to life in the engagement of their community while they are taking courses,” Sapp said. “Seeing academic theory in practice tends to help students understand the theory at a deeper level and also allows them to apply the theory in more than one context. Our goal is for our graduates to become engaged members of their communities having a positive effect on those communities.”

Through service learning within the university’s academic program, faculty members involve their students in the community to address real-world problems. Student outreach includes counseling low-income entrepreneurs through the CHOMI Microcredit program, studying invasive species in Blue Spring, running a deliberative democracy campaign, and implementing community youth programs based on residents’ needs. At the College of Law in Gulfport/St. Petersburg and Tampa, all students do pro bono service.

The university also has hosted a number of conferences, including the Bonner Summer Leadership Institute in 2009, and has been selected to host the 2011 IMPACT Conference, a national conference focusing on service, social justice and advocacy, next spring.

Through a partnership with the philanthropic Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation of Princeton, N.J., Stetson supports an active Bonner Scholars program that involves undergraduates in service learning, community engagement and leadership training. Stetson is the only Bonner school in Florida.

Stetson Signs International Agreement

Contact Frank Klim

727-562-7889
[email protected]

Representatives of both schools look on as Darby Dickerson and Don Jose Luis Prado Maillard prepare to sign an international exchange agreement.
Representatives of both schools look on as Darby Dickerson and Don Jose Luis Prado Maillard prepare to sign an international exchange agreement. Click for high-resolution image.

On Aug. 24, Darby Dickerson, vice president and dean of Stetson Law, and Don Jose Luis Prado Maillard, dean of Nuevo Leon University Law School in Monterrey, Mexico, signed a student and faculty exchange agreement.

The agreement will bring the two schools together for joint research in oral advocacy, national security law and criminology and for the creation of joint certificates of Legal Spanish and Legal English. The exchange program begins immediately and calls for the exchange of two students and two faculty members for one or two semesters. Nuevo Leon University law school was established in 1933.

Podgor Receives Top Honor

Contact Ivan J. Dominguez
Public Affairs
202-872-8600 x262
[email protected]

This news item was provided courtesy of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Washington, DC – (Aug. 18, 2010) – Stetson Law Professor Ellen S. Podgor was awarded the 30th annual Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ most prestigious honor, Aug. 14 at its 52nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ont. This award is given annually to the one criminal defense lawyer who best exemplifies the goals and values of the Association and the legal profession.

Ellen Podgor is the LeRoy Highbaugh Sr. Research Chair and Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law. Professor Podgor teaches in the areas of white collar crime, criminal law and international criminal law. She has been a member of the NACDL since 1979, and was a member of the board of directors of the NACDL for six years. For more than 30 years, Podgor has served the NACDL in more than a dozen roles. She is currently Co-Chair of The Champion Advisory Board. The Champion is the only national magazine devoted wholly to the interests, needs and concerns of the criminal defense lawyer.

Professor Ellen S. Podgor teaching at Stetson Law.
Professor Ellen S. Podgor teaching at Stetson Law. Click for high-resolution image.

Professor Podgor is an internationally known and respected white collar crime expert and the author of numerous books and more than 50 articles and essays on subjects including computer crime, international criminal law, lawyer’s ethics, criminal discovery, prosecutorial discretion, corporate criminality, and other white collar crime topics. A former deputy prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, she authors the highly-ranked White Collar Crime Prof Blog.

She presently serves on the board of directors of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, is an honorary member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Podgor is also a past chair of the Criminal Justice Section of the Association of American Law Schools.

An invaluable resource and a legal scholar of the first order, Professor Podgor is frequently interviewed by media outlets including National Public Radio, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, L.A. Times, National Law Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Business Week.

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The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL’s 10,000-plus direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling more than 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal justice system.
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
1660 L St., N.W., 12th Fl, Washington, D.C. 20036 * Tel. 202-872-8600 * Fax 202-872-8690

Stetson Law Wins Workers’ Compensation Moot Court Competition for Third Consecutive Year

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

Stetson's Moot Court Team: Ashley Dusnik, Ashley Ward-Singleton, Cory Suter and Scott Stevenson.
tetson's Moot Court Team: Ashley Dusnik, Ashley Ward-Singleton, Cory Suter and Scott Stevenson. Click for high-resolution image.

On Aug. 16, Stetson University College of Law won the E. Earle Zehmer Workers’ Compensation Moot Court Competition for the third year in a row.

Students Ashley Dusnik and Ashley Ward-Singleton argued before three judges from Florida’s First District Court of Appeal to win the competition, sponsored by the Florida Workers’ Compensation Institute.

In addition, a second team of Stetson students, Scott Stevenson and Cory Suter, advanced to the semifinals and won the Best Brief Award. Stevenson was named Best Individual Oral Advocate in the preliminary rounds. Professor Michael Allen and Stetson Moot Court alumnus Jason Stearns ’08 coached the teams.

“For the second time this summer, Stetson students have won the three major awards in a moot court competition,” said Professor Stephanie Vaughan, Stetson’s Moot Court Advisor. “We are so proud of our students and their tradition of excellence.” In June, Stetson’s Moot Court Team also won all three top awards at the Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition in Boca Raton, Fla.

Stetson Ranked Third in the South

Contact Cindi Brownfield
University Marketing
386-822-7214
[email protected]

Stetson University is ranked third among the South’s top regional universities for academic quality in the 2011 U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” publication.

Listed as one of the South’s leading universities since the U.S. News survey of colleges and universities was first published in 1985, Stetson this year tied for third place. The category was renamed “Regional Universities” this year. It includes universities that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs. The 572 universities in the category are ranked by region – North, South, Midwest and West.

“We are proud of Stetson University’s continued recognition as one of the top three universities in the South,” said Dr. Elizabeth “Beth” Paul, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Stetson. “This honor celebrates Stetson’s deep commitment to academic excellence and integrity. The university community takes great pride in the personalized and rigorous learning experience afforded to each and every student.”

The U.S. News rankings are based on several key measures of quality including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

Stetson is featured in two other sections of the 2011 “America’s Best Colleges” guide – in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” and the “A-Plus Schools for B Students” sections.

The rankings posted on www.usnews.com at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, and the publication is due to hit newsstands Tuesday, Aug. 24.

Student Elected ABA Law Student Division Delegate

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

Stetson Law student Tiffany Colbert
Stetson Law student Tiffany Colbert. Click for high-resolution image.

This weekend at the annual American Bar Association meeting in San Francisco, Stetson University College of Law student Tiffany Colbert was elected by her peers to serve as ABA Law Student Division Delegate for the coming year.

“I am thrilled and honored to continue Stetson University College of Law’s long-standing tradition of national leadership in the American Bar Association Law Student Division,” said Colbert.

As a new division delegate, Colbert is one of only three law students from around the country representing the concerns of approximately 40,000 law student members to the ABA’s governing body.

“Tiffany is the epitome of professionalism and will represent Stetson and her peers well on the national level,” said Michael Farley, Stetson Law’s assistant dean of student life.

Last March, Colbert was elected fifth circuit governor of the ABA Law Student Division, representing law schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Tennessee.

Professor to Discuss CSI Effect, Aug. 28

Professor Carol Henderson speaking on the Stetson Law campus.
Professor Carol Henderson speaking on the Stetson Law campus. Click for high-resolution image.

Stetson Law Professor Carol Henderson, a past-president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences who has consulted on the CSI Miami television series, will speak Aug. 28 on the “CSI effect” at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa. This presentation, at 6:15 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., will be the last of the lecture series entitled An F.Y.I. with CSI at MOSI and is part of CSI After Dark, which offers extended museum hours until 9 p.m. Henderson’s talk is included in the museum admission.

MOSI is showcasing CSI: The Experience, an interactive exhibit in which museum guests play the roles of crime scene investigators to solve mysteries. Professor Henderson, whose law students have the opportunity to play investigators in mock crime scenes in her classes, said she was excited about the exhibit, which runs though Sept. 6 at MOSI, 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa.

“The interest in forensic science is global, not just local,” said Henderson, who speaks around the world from Hong Kong to Helsinki about the intersection of technology and the law.

Closer to home at Stetson Law, Henderson directs the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law, which houses an online database of more than 100,000 resources. Everything from court decisions to legislation, scientific publications to news media coverage can be found in the database, designed to be a free “one-stop-shopping” resource of forensic topics for lawyers, scientists, academics and researchers. The Stetson Law library and information center also houses a special collection of forensic resources that is unique among major law libraries in the U.S.

At Stetson, Henderson’s students learn about evidence, working with crime labs, and the “CSI effect” of pop culture TV science on real-life juries. Henderson regularly brings speakers to the Stetson Law campus to talk about the latest in forensic technology and the law. Among them, producer and writer of the Bones television series Kathy Reichs, legendary forensic investigator Dr. Henry Lee, and O.J. Simpson defense lawyer and Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck.

To learn more about the NCSTL, visit http://www.ncstl.org/.

To learn more about the MOSI CSI exhibit, visit http://www.mosi.org.

Special Needs Trusts Conference, Oct. 21-22

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

The Center for Excellence in Elder Law at Stetson Law will bring experts in the area of special needs from around the nation to St. Pete Beach, Fla., on Oct. 21-22. Stetson is sponsoring its 12th annual national Special Needs Trusts conference at the historic Don CeSar Beach Resort, 3400 Gulf Blvd.

“This national conference is designed to educate those in the field of special needs on the cutting edge issues and trends in this area of the law,” said Professor Rebecca C. Morgan, the Boston Asset Management Chair in Elder Law, who also directs Stetson’s Center for Excellence in Elder Law.

More than 350 attendees are expected to attend this year’s conference, which is designed for attorneys, trustees, estate planners, financial advisors, CPAs and other special needs professionals. A diverse group of more than 20 experts from across the country will present.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available by contacting Brianna Wetherwax, Director of Conferences and Events, at 727-562-7898.

CLE credits are also available. For CLE credit information, please contact Irena Milasinovic at 727-562-7312 or [email protected].

For tuition and registration information for the conference, visit the Office of Conferences and Events at Stetson on the Web at www.law.stetson.edu/conferences/snt2010, e-mail [email protected], or phone 727-562-7312. The conference will also be available via Webcast. A Webcam to view the beautiful beach outside the Don is located at http://www2.tbo.com/static/weather/tbo-webcams-don-cesar/.

The deadline for early-bird registration is Sept. 24.

SLA Honors Alumni and Friends

Contact Brandi Palmer
Manager of Media Relations
727-562-7381
[email protected]

 
 
Slideshow: SLA 2010 Honorees

The Stetson Lawyers Association honored alumni and friends in Boca Raton on June 23 during the Florida Bar Annual Convention.

Fred R. Dudley JD ’68 received the Ben C. Willard Award for humanitarian achievements of distinction. A member of the College of Law Board of Overseers, Dudley is senior counsel with Holland & Knight and is a board certified construction lawyer. He served 16 years in the Florida Legislature, retiring from the Florida Senate in 1998, where he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Judge Simone Marstiller BBA ’88, JD ’96 received the Distinguished Alumna Award for extraordinary service to Stetson Law and to the legal profession. Judge Marstiller of Florida’s First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee has served the state of Florida in a variety of ways. Before becoming a judge, she was the state’s chief information officer and deputy attorney general as well as executive director for the Florida Elections Commission.

Scott J. Sternberg JD ’98 received the Paul M. May Meritorious Service Award for his generous contribution of time and gifts to the College of Law and alumni association. Sternberg owns a firm in Boca Raton that concentrates on workers’ compensation. He supports various projects at the College of Law and is an active member of the College of Law Board of Overseers.

Judge Gail A. Adams JD ’80 and Donald A. Pumphrey JD ’96 both received Outstanding Alumni Representative Awards for dedication and service to the Stetson Lawyers Association. Judge Adams, a circuit court judge in Orange County, annually hosts the annual alumni gathering in her home. Pumphrey, a criminal defender and member of the Stetson Lawyers Association, also regularly hosts alumni events in his home and reaches out to alumni.

Thomas W. Carey, Connie Pruitt, and Arturo M. Rios and Myrna Rios each received Distinguished Service Awards for significant, meritorious and continuing contributions benefiting the College of Law. Carey, a partner in the Carey & Leisure law firm, represents plaintiffs in personal injury and complex tort cases. His law firm established an award for the top student in each first-year Torts class at Stetson. Pruitt, executive director of the Hillsborough Bar Association, supports Stetson Law student scholarships and many collaborations between the bar and Stetson. Arturo Rios, an immigration attorney in St. Petersburg, and his wife Myrna, manager of the Rios Law Firm, regularly host several Stetson events, including the annual moot court party, as well as alumni receptions in Puerto Rico.

Lori Y. Baggett JD ’02 received the Stetson Lawyers Association President’s Award for service and dedication as immediate past-president of the SLA. Baggett, who dedicated substantial time to helping to advance the SLA as president, received the presidential gavel from incoming SLA president Barbara Cowherd JD ’00. The dedication and stewardship of the Stetson Lawyers Association, with more than 8,000 members, helps make Stetson Law a national leader in academic excellence.