Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricky Polston received the J. Ben Watkins Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession during the annual Stetson Law Review Banquet on Nov. 16 at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport.
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricky Polston received the J. Ben Watkins Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession during the Stetson Law Review Banquet
Chief Justice Polston was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in October 2008. He previously served with the First District Court of Appeal for more than seven years.
Polston worked in private practice in Tallahassee from 1987 to 2000 after earning his law degree from Florida State University in 1986 with high honors. Before beginning his legal career, Polston worked in Tampa as a certified public accountant from 1977 to 1984 with the international accounting firm, Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Born in 1955 and raised in the Panhandle town of Graceville, Polston earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in 1977, summa cum laude.
The annual award is presented in honor of J. Ben Watkins, who helped found the Stetson Law Review and is an honorary member of the Stetson University College of Law Board of Overseers.
A panel of attorneys spoke with Stetson Law students on Nov. 8 on the Gulfport campus at a banquet celebrating public service sponsored by the Public Service Fellows. Tampa Public Defender Keh’ara Hendrieth ’11, Pinellas County Public Defender Noah Kores ’10, and Assistant Attorney General Caroline Johnson Levine talked with students about the importance of being engaged in public service.
Attorneys Tampa Public Defender Keh’ara Hendrieth ’11, Assistant Attorney General Caroline Johnson Levine, and Pinellas County Public Defender Noah Kores ’10 talked with students.
Lee Feldman, student president of Stetson’s Public Service Fellows, said that the students attending the banquet learned from practicing attorneys about how to get involved in law school and stay active in public service throughout their legal careers.
Feldman, who aspires to be a prosecutor, explained that the Public Service Fellows organization offers second- and third-year students an opportunity to receive a semester-long stipend while completing public service work. Public service work must be approved, and students are responsible for completing an application process including a proposal for the kind of work they wish to do. Feldman said that past projects have included working in the public defender’s office and volunteering to help veterans.
Stetson Public Service Fellows Meredith Harlow and Danielle Weaver-Rogers coordinated the event for students, with the assistance of Feldman, Lauren Christ, Bianca Guerrier and Vanessa Volkema.
The deadline for applications to work with the Public Service Fellows at Stetson during the spring semester is Dec. 20. For more information, contact Lee Feldman at [email protected].
(L-R): Julia McGrath, Andrew Harris and Victoria San Pedro.
Stetson students Andrew Harris, Julia McGrath and Victoria San Pedro won the final round of the regional competition, earning an invitation to compete in the national finals on Jan. 28–31, 2013, in New York City.
This is the second year in a row that a Stetson team has advanced to compete in the national finals.
Nineteen teams, from law schools in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, participated in the competition, sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and hosted by Florida Coastal School of Law and the Jacksonville Bar Association.
Associate Dean Michael Allen and Professor Louis Virelli coached the Stetson students.
(L-R): Reid Scott ’06 and Nelson Baez ’09 of the Office of the State Attorney, West Palm Beach, talked with students on Nov. 9.
Representatives of the Office of the State Attorney, 15th Judicial Circuit, traveled from West Palm Beach to Stetson Law’s Gulfport campus on Nov. 9 to provide an overview of the Summer Law Student Volunteer Program.
The representatives, Stetson Law alumni Nelson Baez ’09 and Reid Scott ’06, met with students to provide an overview of what to expect when volunteering.
The program is tailored to first and second-year law students.
The Black Law Students Association at Stetson hosted Jumpstart to College, an event to help high school students prepare for college, on Nov. 3 on the Gulfport campus.
BLSA students (L-R) Willengy Ramos, Ashanti McBride, Stanton Fears, Michou Phenelus, Valeria Obi, Keyara Franklin and Michelae Hobbs gather at Jumpstart to College.
Jumpstart to College was the follow up to another successful program. Last year, BLSA initiated a pro bono Drive to Strive Mentoring program at Boca Ciega High School matching high school students with Stetson Law student mentors and tutors.
“I think college is something everyone can accomplish if provided with the right tools,” said second-year Stetson Law student Ashanti McBride. “That is why we’re stressing the importance of college and hoping to provide an avenue for students to get those tools that they need.”
Local high school students in the St. Petersburg area were invited to attend Jumpstart to College at Stetson to receive college materials, learn about financing college, preparing college applications, and researching specialty programs at universities across the state.
All high school participants received an information booklet to help make the college application process easier. They also heard from a panel of current law students who shared their own personal experiences. The program ended with a college fair where various universities including the University of South Florida, Nova Southeastern and Eckerd College provided the students with information and resources.
“The Jumpstart to College event was an awesome opportunity for Stetson to get involved in the community and stress the importance of obtaining a great education,” said third-year Stetson Law student Charis Campbell, chair of the Drive to Strive Mentoring Committee.
For more information on BLSA’s Drive to Strive Mentoring Committee, contact Charis Campbell at [email protected].
Stetson University College of Law students won awards this past weekend for best appellate briefs in Washington, D.C., and best cross examination in San Francisco, Calif.
Stetson’s Moot Court teams won top awards for their appellate briefs at the National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition on Nov. 3-4 in Washington, D.C. Stetson students Amar Agha and Erik Johanson won the Best Petitioner’s Brief Award and the Stetson team of Michael Millett and Michelle Reilly tied with a team from South Texas College of Law to win the Best Respondent’s Award. Twenty teams competed. Agha and Johanson advanced to the final round of the competition to argue before a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Stetson Trial Team member Elizabeth Constantine was awarded Best Cross Examination at the Professor Bernie L. Segal Golden Gate University Criminal Mock Trial Competition on Nov. 2-4 in San Francisco, Calif. The Stetson team of Elizabeth Constantine, Barbra Goyanes, Diego Novaes and Jared Williams advanced to the final round of competition to present before a 12-person jury. Twelve teams competed.
Stetson’s Moot Court Board competes year-round throughout the U.S. and around the world. Competitions cover a wide variety of legal fields, including bankruptcy, constitutional (state and federal), criminal procedure, information technology, international, privacy and veterans law.
The Trial Team at Stetson has won first place in more national-level trial competitions than any other law school in the nation. Students perfect their trial skills at competitions that simulate jury trials, where they are evaluated by experienced trial lawyers and judges.
Stetson’s Family Law Society student organization and career development office co-hosted an event on Nov. 5 in Gulfport for students interested in learning more about the practice of family law.
A panel of local family law attorneys talked with students in the Great Hall on Nov. 5. Photo courtesy Alexa Revord.
A panel of three local family law attorneys, Maria Bates ’07, Christine Derr and Nilo Sanchez ’93, discussed running a successful solo practice. Assistant Director of Career Development Korey Henson ’09 moderated the panel.
Valeria Obi is student president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers at Stetson.
Stetson Law students had an opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at a working court during Shadow Day at the George Edgecomb Courthouse in Tampa on Oct. 23.
“Shadow Day was a great opportunity to become immersed in the practical application of the law,” said first-year Stetson Law student Alexandria Lewis. “Sometimes in school we lose sight of what the future holds, but touring the courthouse and sitting in on hearings reminded me of why I chose to become a member of the legal community.”
Students met with judges, visited courtrooms, and observed hearings and trials for cases ranging from wills and probate to domestic violence and juveniles, burglary and rape.
Shadow Day concluded with a panel discussion on judicial ethics, the career path to becoming a judge, and the positives and negatives of serving in the important role of judge.
Students also visited the Family Forms Clinic in the courthouse and learned of a valuable opportunity to do pro bono work.
For more information on programs and networking offered through the Florida Association for Women Lawyers at Stetson, contact the Office of Student Life.
Stetson University College of Law inducted six new members into its Hall of Fame on Oct. 27 in Gulfport. Hall of Fame inductees are selected for having a profound and positive impact on Stetson Law and the legal profession.
Professor Suzanne R. Armstrong was an influential member of the Legal Research and Writing faculty who played an instrumental role in bringing computer technology to the law school. Professor Armstrong died in 1990 after a long battle with cancer. After her death, Stetson established an annual writing award in her name.
Denis M. deVlaming served as president of several legal organizations including the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Pinellas County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Pinellas County Trial Lawyers Association and the Clearwater Bar Association. He teaches Advanced Criminal Trial Advocacy as an adjunct professor at Stetson and is a past recipient of Stetson’s William Reece Smith Jr. Award for Professionalism. DeVlaming has also been an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida and a guest lecturer at St. Petersburg College.
John A. Guyton Jr. had a positive impact on Stetson University as a long-serving member of the law school’s board of overseers. His fundraising support helped create many student scholarships and increased the law school’s financial security. Guyton was a member of the Florida Bar for more than 50 years.
In 1941, former Stetson University College of Law Dean Thomas F. Lambert Jr. was the youngest law school dean in the United States at the age of 26, and among the best educated with degrees from Yale, Oxford and UCLA. At the height of World War II, Lambert enrolled in the military and went on to become a prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials. After the Nuremberg trials, Lambert taught law at Suffolk University and Boston University. Lambert served for 40 years as the editor-in-chief of the NACCA Law Journal, which later became the Journal of the American Trial Lawyers Association.
In 1938, Mada Fraser McLendon became Florida’s third female judge. After 10 years on the bench, she stepped down to resume her law practice until 1979. In 1989, she was awarded the Stetson Lawyers Association Ben C. Willard Memorial Award for her outstanding service to the legal profession. She was very active in her Lake Wales community, winning numerous civic awards.
U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore was nominated by former President Clinton in 1999, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and has served in the Tampa division of the Middle District of Florida since May 2000. While in private practice in 1985, Whittemore successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that a defendant’s silence following a Miranda warning could not be used at trial to discredit an insanity defense.
“It is the lack of opportunity to participate in social life that is the trauma of exile,” Ezat Mossallanejad, Ph.D., told Stetson Law students gathered to hear him talk in the Mann Lounge on Oct. 24.
Dr. Ezat Mossallanejad spoke with Stetson Law students on Oct. 24.
The victim of torture in Iran, Dr. Mossallanejad fled to Canada in 1985 and helped found the Iranian Cultural and Community Centre. He illustrated the struggle for social justice through the experience of being a refugee and newcomer in Canada.
“In order to have a job in Canada, you have to have job experience in Canada, and in order to have job experience, you have to have had a job. It’s a Catch-22,” said Dr. Mossallanejad, who has a doctorate in political economy.
Dr. Mossallanejad is the settlement and trauma counselor/policy analyst and researcher with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and the author of the books, Religion and the Cruel Return of Gods and Torture in the Age of Fear.
The Florida Center for Survivors of Torture, Amnesty International and the Center for Inquiry helped sponsor Dr. Mossallanejad’s talk at Stetson Law in Gulfport on “Torture as a Strategy of Oppression.”
Marine and Stetson University College of Law LL.M. student Javier Centonzio, who graduated with his J.D. in May, is again coordinating a Heroes Weekend community event to honor active duty members of the military and veterans on Nov. 10-11 in Gulfport.
LL.M. Student Javier Centonzio addresses the crowd at the Stetson Veterans Law Institute opening May 31 in Gulfport.
This year’s public events include a parade along Beach Blvd. in Gulfport, an afternoon beach volleyball benefit with music, food and drink on Gulfport Beach, and an evening musical performance at the Gulfport Casino to benefit Stetson’s new Veterans Law Institute and Paws for Patriots. The Heroes Weekend includes:
Saturday, Nov. 10, 4 p.m.: The City of Gulfport is sponsoring a parade along Beach Blvd. led by Army Lt. Col. Kathy Champion, an Afghanistan and Iraq War veteran and Gulfport native who received a service dog from the Paws for Patriots program. The parade will head south on Beach Blvd. from the Gulfport Public Library, turn right at the Gulfport Casino onto Shore Blvd. and end at the Recreation Center. For information on participating in the parade, contact Justin Shea with the City of Gulfport at 727-893-1118 or [email protected]. The deadline to register is Nov. 8.
Sunday, Nov. 11, 1 p.m.: Community members are invited to a beach volleyball benefit with music, food and drink on Gulfport Beach. At 5:30 p.m., the Steel Horse Band will be performing a benefit concert at the Gulfport Casino at 5500 Shore Blvd. S. with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and the show beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets for the concert are available at the door and all proceeds from the ticket sales will go to charity. To purchase tickets in advance for $10, visit the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce or American Legion Post 125.
For additional event information, contact Javier Centonzio at [email protected] or call 913-706-9340.
Donations to Heroes Weekend may be mailed or delivered in person to the American Legion Post 125, 6440 5th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33707.
Paws for Patriots is a program designed to pair guide dogs with veterans. Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute, dedicated in May, serves as a center for veteran and military scholarship, the site of Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic, and provides continuing legal education for attorneys representing veterans as well as a focal point for student veterans and their pro bono related activities.
On Oct. 16, alumnus and adjunct professor Josh Magidson ’80 talked with students about finding his niche in the law. Magidson, a Marine who once entertained dreams of playing professional baseball and worked as a rehabilitation counselor, became a student at Stetson Law in 1978.
Josh Magidson ’80 talked with students on Oct. 16.
“Everybody has their own way of finding themselves in what they do,” Magidson told the students who gathered at a luncheon program in Stetson’s Florin Roebig Courtroom in Gulfport to hear him speak.
He explained how his legal career evolved from clerking while he was in law school to working in business litigation and becoming an attorney with the Tampa Bay area law firm of Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen P.A.
Magidson stressed the importance of good communication skills with clients, among colleagues and presenting before judges. Make your arguments in the courtroom as concise and succinct as your elevator pitch, Magidson said.
He shared an important lesson from his career as a litigator.
“If you have a really good point, get to it quickly,” said Magidson.
Magidson told the students, “One of your jobs as a lawyer is to get your clients from where they are to where they want to be.”
Stetson Law’s Career Development office and LexisNexis co-sponsored the presentation. Workshops for students on building communication and social media skills and developing a career network are planned on campus in the coming weeks.
