Stetson University College of Law announced this year’s faculty award winners and the new Leroy Highbaugh, Sr. Chair recipient for 2021-2023 during a year-end celebration ceremony on May 11.

Leroy Highbaugh, Sr. Chair

Professor Joseph Morrissey has been appointed as the Leroy Highbaugh, Sr. Chair for the period of Fall 2021 to Spring 2023. This appointment is an endowed rotating chair that allows the recipient to devote two years of full-time research to scholarship.

“I am so grateful and honored to have been awarded the Leroy Highbaugh, Sr. Chair,” Morrissey said.

He plans to devote the time to publishing a book on surrogacy, entitled “Surrogacy: Building Families by Design.”

“I proposed writing this book because surrogacy is, quite simply, transformative,” he said. “It changed our lives.  My husband and I became parents of two beautiful boys with the help of a wonderful woman who was our surrogate.  We will be forever indebted to her.  We were also assisted by an incredibly supportive array of professionals who helped us navigate our way through the process.  As such, we know that surrogacy can help people achieve their dream of building a family. My hope is that this book will have universal appeal to professionals and anyone who is considering or who is interested in surrogacy.”

Morrisey is a member of the Business Law Concentration faculty who teaches Contracts, Constitutional Law, Business Entities, Securities Regulation, International Sales & Arbitration, and The Documents of the Deal. Beyond his personal experience with surrogacy, Morrisey explained that surrogacy is at the intersection of contract law and constitutional law. His book will be geared toward professionals and academics from either field but will also provide intended parents, surrogates and egg donors with detailed information about the legal risks involved and the contracts that need to be structured to minimize that risk.

Homer & Dolly Hand Award for Excellence in Faculty Research

This award was established by Stetson College of Law alumna Dolly Hand and her husband, Homer, to applaud faculty members who are not only dedicated teachers, but who also have notable achievements in scholarship or creative work in their areas of expertise and who have made a difference in their local or larger communities. This year’s winner is Professor Andrew Appleby.

In addition to overseeing the launch of the new Stetson Tax Innovators Exchange (S.T.I.X.), Appleby is regularly published in law journals and reviews, as well as quoted in various legal and tax-related publications, such as Law360 and TaxNotes State, for his expertise. In the fall, he presented at the Northeastern States Tax Officials Association (NESTOA) Annual Conference.

The Dickerson-Brown Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship

Professor Jason Palmer received this year’s Dickerson-Brown Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship. The honor is historically bestowed on a person who has published a book in the past two years, or other multiple, outstanding works of scholarship produced over a two-year period and has thus contributed significantly to the enhancement of the academic reputation of the College of Law.

Palmer not only spearheads Stetson Law’s Annual Sign Language Interpreter Legal Training Workshop, he is writing two books: “Reparations in Domestic and International Mass Claims Processes,” and “International Litigation and Arbitration – Practice and Planning.” He also had two articles recently accepted for publication – “Emotional Intelligence and Homophobia” in the Wake Forest Law Review and “A Separation of Powers Analysis of Forum Non Conveniens Adequate Available Forum” in St. John’s Law Review.

The Excellence in Teaching Award

This award recognizes a full-time professor, of any rank, who has made outstanding contributions in teaching students inside and outside the classroom, and by example. Professors Jamie Fox and Becky Morgan were named this year’s award recipients. Fox has been with Stetson Law since 2000 and teaches in the areas of contract law, American legal history and poverty law. Morgan, former director of the Center for Excellence in Elder Law, has been with Stetson since 1985, and her courses include Trusts and Estates, Intro to Aging & the Law, Elder Law Seminar, and LL.M. Law & Aging.

–Media contact: Ashley McKnight-Taylor
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