• Honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. Inman attended Carson-Newman College from 1986 to 1990 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management.

Jon L. Mills
Professor; Director of Center for Governmental Responsibility; Dean Emeritus

• Appointed to Advisory Commission to the World Justice Project, American Bar Association (2007-08), a multidisciplinary and multinational initiative to foster human well-being by advancing the rule of law. Launched last year by the ABA, the project is one of the primary initiatives of ABA President William H. Neukom, a Seattle lawyer, and has received $1.75 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal is to form a multidisciplinary movement in which leaders from law, business, journalism, education, conservation and the environment, medicine and public health, and religion work together to advance the rule of law. Co-sponsors include the International Bar Association, the Union Internationale des Avocats, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and the Inter-American Bar Association. Among the individuals who have given their endorsement and support are former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court and former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker and Warren Christopher.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Robert H. Jerry, II
Dean; Levin Mabie and Levin Professor

• WCJB-Channel 20, Oct. 7. Discussed Personal Injury Protection (PIP) auto insurance coverage in a live news segment. On Oct. 1, Florida became the only state in the country that does not require drivers to carry personal injury protection insurance when they drive. Before Oct. 1, the law said every driver had to carry at least $10,000 in personal injury protection, which paid for medical bills no matter who caused the crash. Opponents of personal injury protection said it caused insurance fraud and cut car insurance bills. Drivers, who may now be forced to sue the other driver to pay for medical bills, disagree with the law. On Oct. 3 the Florida Legislature began a special session, and two days later lawmakers sent legisaltion to Gov. Charlie Crist to re-enact PIP, also known as no-fault insurance.

Jon L. Mills
Professor; Director of Center for Governmental Responsibility; Dean Emeritus

• WRUF, Oct. 9. Interviewed on WRUF regarding the National Democratic Party’s stated intention to not count Florida’s votes in the primary due to their accelerated primary date. He said it was the Florida Legislature, not Florida Democrats, who were responsible for the date change, and that the national party was wrong in its actions.
• Florida Trend, July 2007. Recognized as one of Florida’s top lawyers in the magazine’s 2007 Legal Elite list. The special report, developed from voting by Florida lawyers who are members of The Florida Bar, lists 868 honorees, including attorneys in private practice as well as prosecutors, in-house counsel, public-service attorneys and law school professors. Attorneys were asked to name the attorneys that they hold in highest regard as professionals—lawyers with whom they have personally worked and would recommend to others.

Michael Seigel
Professor

• Criminal Law Reporter, Sept. 26. Quoted in article on a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation that would limit federal prosecutors’ ability to pressure cooperation from companies under investigation for corporate fraud. The legislation would bar prosecutors from weighing a company’s willingness to waive its right to confidential communication with its lawyers when deciding to bring charges. Seigel, one of two law professors to speak against the legislation at the hearing, warned that the bill would “shift the balance of power back to the corporation,” leading companies to stonewall requests for investigation. “Companies will say, ‘we’ve given you all our unprivileged information. Now you can’t charge us.’”
• The New York Times, Oct. 9. Quoted in an article about dismissing the case against a former federal prosecutor who was charged for having sex with a 5-year-old girl in Michigan after he committed suicide in his prison cell. “They have no choice,” said Seigel, adding that case dismissal is standard procedure when a defendant dies, even after conviction if the defendant has not exhausted his appeals. “We don’t charge people in absentia in this country. You can’t prosecute somebody who’s not, in effect, there to defend himself.”

Margaret Temple-Smith
Senior Legal Skills Professor

• The Washington Post, Oct. 5. Her political site, Buck Naked Politics, was mentioned on Joel Achenboch’s blog, Achenblog, on The Washington Post website at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/. Achenbach mentioned a note UF Law alum Deborah Cupples and Temple-Smith posted on a recent publication by the Government Accountability Office.

Angones will answer questions after his speech, and a reception will follow in the Faculty Dining Room.

A native of Cuba and a South Florida resident since 1961, Angones is a founding partner of the Miami law firm Angones, McClure & Garcia, P.A., where he practices personal injury defense, commercial torts and insurance defense litigation. He received a B.A. degree, Magna Cum Laude, in June 1972, and a J.D. degree in June 1976, from the University of Miami, where he was inducted into Iron Arrow Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.

Angones has served in numerous Bar positions, including president of the Dade County Bar Association and the Cuban-American Bar Association; membership on the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar; membership in the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association; and on the board of directors of The Florida Bar Foundation. In 2005-2006, he served on The Florida Bar’s Executive Committee, as chair of the legislation committee and a member of the strategic planning committee.

He was appointed by the chief U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida to the grievance committee for the Southern District of Florida and to the Federal Judicial Bar and Community Liaison Committee. From 1997 to 2001, he served on the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the Southern District. He also served on the 11th Judicial Circuit’s comprehensive master plan and indigent services committees. In 1996, he received the Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award, presented by the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, for his work on behalf of the Counsel for Cuban Detainees. In 2000, he received the University of Miami School of Law’s Lawyer of The Americas Award. He is listed in “Top Lawyers in South Florida,” South Florida Legal Guide, 2006, and is a member of the Eugene P. Spellman Inn of Court.

Angones is admitted to practice in Florida; the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, including the trial bar; the U.S. 5th and 11th Circuit Court of Appeals; and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell.

In addition to his Bar service, Angones has been long active in community and business affairs. He has served on the board of directors of First Floridian Auto and Casualty Insurance Co.; the visiting committee for the University of Miami School of Law; the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board; the executive committee of the Miami Coalition for a Safe and Drug Free Community; and the City of Miami District Boundaries Committee of Greater Miami United. He is one of the founding members and a current member of the board of directors of U.S. Century Bank. Additionally, he is a past chair of Victoria Hospital’s board of directors.

Roberts started her quick ascent to the bench as assistant state attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit from 1995 to 2005 involved in prosecuting sex crimes and child-abuse felony cases, where she got to make the world a better place by just doing her job, she said.

“I loved prosecuting because each time I protected another child, it made me feel like I was making a difference and paying back to the community, while at the same time getting my job done,” she said. “It was emotionally satisfying, and definitely where I wanted to be.”

Since day one of law school Roberts knew she wanted to be a judge, and along the way she got to train other prosecutors as an administrative supervisor.

“I loved the role of teaching others because it felt very new and rewarding,” Roberts said. “I got to train and teach the new prosecutors, and see them take the baby steps all the way to being litigators.”

She vividly remembers the day when her dream of being appointed a judge came true. It was Thursday, Dec. 13, at 4:45 p.m., and the screened call from the governor caught Roberts off guard, she said.

“The running joke around the office was that if it was the governor’s office you take a message, but if the governor is calling you pick up the phone,” Roberts said. “It was Jeb Bush on the line and he asked ‘So I hear you want to be a judge?’”

Ever since that day Jeb Bush called, Roberts says she gets to do what she feels is her life’s calling, ruling over criminal misdemeanors, eviction, county ordinances, traffic violations and small claims.

“Now that I’m a judge, I truly have the feeling that I am who I was supposed to be all those years growing up,” she said. “Every day it’s just an amazing feeling, especially for my relationship with my grandfather, who is a federal judge and a mentor to me.”

Even more of a challenge than deciding cases in the courtroom is the task of raising three children, ages 10, 6 and 5 years old.

“I’ve had 10 years to perfect the system so far, and I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to get the kids ready,” she said. “The key is getting to work by 8 a.m., because you would be amazed by how much you can get done before the phone starts ringing off the hook.”

As much as her children need her, she needs them right back, and also gets help from her husband, she said.

“Having three children has become part of who my husband and I are,” she said. “No matter how bad the day could go, when you have a child running at you with a big smile, anything bad that happened that day doesn’t matter anymore.”

For current law students who aspire to be a judge or prosecutor in the future, Roberts says that clinics are the way to go.

“By far the best experience I had was doing the clinic,” Roberts said. “It provides and invaluable experience, and you come out as a certified legal intern, so you know how to do arraignments and docket calling.”