FlaLaw » 2003 » September » 15

Scholarship and Activities: Christopher Slobogin

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:48:22 +0000

Stephen C. O’Connell Professor/Center on Children and the Law Associate Director Christopher Slobogin published the 2003 Supplement to Criminal Procedure: An Analysis of Cases and Concepts (4th ed., with Charles Whitebread). He presented “Defining Mental Illness in Terms of Content and Process” and “Problem- Solving Courts: A Critique” at the second International Psychology & Law Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July, and was quoted in the National Law Journal about the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision limiting forcible medication of criminal defendants who are mentally ill.

Associate Dean Kathie Price: Transforming Plans & Promises Into Reality

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:45:20 +0000

Law school renovations — along with updated and enhanced technological infrastructure — promise new techniques and applications that can change the nature of legal teaching and research. The school’s long-anticipated future has arrived, and Associate Dean for Library & Technology/Clarence J. TeSelle Professor Kathleen “Kathie” Price is guiding the transformation of the Legal Information Center (LIC) under a mandate to maximize the benefits — and avoid potential pitfalls — of the many changes taking place here and to help faculty, staff and students learn new and better ways to teach, research and learn. “LIC staff are rethinking their traditional roles to focus on training faculty, students and staff. That training may involve classes, individual sessions, or online tutorials designed to further our programs,” she said. “Construction causes temporary inconveniences, but it will enable us to offer opportunities to faculty and students to vastly increase the speed and efficiency of their work through enhanced use of technology.” Part of her vision is to help faculty become as self-sufficient as possible by encouraging and helping them to design and maintain WestLaw’s TWEN and Lexis’ Blackboard course Web pages that can be linked to electronic information to provide onestop access and eliminate course packs. “We have the capability to make information easier to access, store and share for everyone, especially for students and faculty,” said Price, who was a law professor for 24 years and has been Law Librarian of Congress and head of law libraries at Duke, New York University and Minnesota. “Change can be difficult, but the rewards are tremendous.” During construction, the library will move off campus in 2004 for a year. “Our plans for service include locating space in a shopping center with free parking for students, as well as maintaining a reserve and reference presence in Bruton-Geer Hall,” said Price, then added with a smile, “Instead of ‘LIC,’ we’ll be called ‘LIE,’ for ‘Library in Exile.’” This summer, the Department of Educational Technology Services was formed by merging Computing and Media Services under LIC Associate Director Andy Adkins, who also has increasing responsibility for content and support for the college’s Web site. Price — who is credited with founding the Library of Congress International Legal Information Network — brings more than her skill and interest in the benefits of technology. Thanks to her extensive international teaching and consulting, she has a unique perspective on the UF College of Law and its place in the academic community. “We have to focus far beyond Florida and look at what our real competition is doing,” said Price. “I enjoyed the past nine years at New York University, which has received national acclaim for its tax and international programs,” Price said. “But the opportunity to help Florida achieve well-deserved recognition while participating in the shaping of its physical space and infrastructure to support new and established programs was a major reason for my acceptance of UF’s offer.” Price earned an M.A. in library science from Florida State University in 1967, then worked at Alabama and Illinois university law libraries while taking law courses. She became associate director of the Illinois law library and book review editor for the Illinois Law Forum, and earned her J.D. (Order of the Coif) there in 1973. She practiced with a Chicago law firm for two years, then taught at Duke for five years and at the University of Minnesota’s law school for 10, focusing primarily on criminal law, legal research and writing, torts and bio-medical ethics. She has taught in both Sweden and China, and was attracted to the Law Library of Congress — the world’s largest law library, which she headed for four years — because it provided comparative foreign and international law research for Congress. And now Price has returned to UF, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science in 1963. “I look forward to participating in Florida’s internationalization of its library collection, its teaching and research, and its employment opportunities for our students. I appreciate the focus developed here on partnerships with key international institutions of interest to our community,” said Price. “I am especially impressed by our strong LL.M. students, who enrich the experience for all of us.”

Introducing: Christopher L. Peterson

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:43:52 +0000

New Assistant Professor Christopher Peterson has been an advocate before Congress and federal regulators for consumer protection from predatory lending and in bankruptcy and for open consumer access to the civil justice system on behalf of approximately half-million grass roots members of state public interest research groups. A staunch believer in the power of law to promote positive social change, his book, Taming the Sharks: Towards a Cure for the High Cost Credit Market, is forthcoming. “Rules, like all other social institutions, can be misappropriated,” said Peterson. “For this reason, it must be the occupation and obligation of lawyers to make law serve the interests of the people.” Earlier in his career, Peterson was a judicial clerk to Judge Wade Brorby, U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. He has won numerous research grants and honors, including the Spencer S. Eccles Research Fellowship in Political Economy, Edward Clyde Fellowship, and first prize in the Joseph Bernfeld Bankruptcy Law Writing Competition. He earned his B.A. (philosophy, cum laude), B.S. (political science, cum laude) and J.D. (Order of the Coif) from the University of Utah, where he served as senior editor for the Utah Law Review. Peterson is teaching Consumer Law, Secured Transactions, and Sales. He recently joined the Conference on Consumer Finance Law, National Association of Consumer Advocates and North-East Florida Consumer Law Task Force. He published an article, “Truth, Understanding, and High-Cost Consumer Credit: The Historical Context of the Truth in Lending Act,” in the Florida Law Review, and is working on another, “Democracy and Deception: The Case of Predatory Home Mortgage Lending and the Responsible Lending Act.” He also is serving on three law school committees: Pro Bono Opportunities, Teaching, and Judicial Clerkships, and will co-host a workshop Nov. 14 at the J. Wayne Reitz Union for students and practicing attorneys on the mechanics of handling predatory home mortgage lending cases. He and his wife are expecting their first child any day now.