Andrew Z. Adkins III
Director of the Legal Technology Institute

• Adkins and Natalie Kelly, director of law practice management for the State Bar of Georgia, teamed up to give the 2007 ABA Tech Show attendees a how-to check list for conducting a technology assessment and developing a workable technology plan.

George R. “Bob” Dekle
Legal Skills Professor

• Delivered a lecture on the subject of Cross Examination to the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference at their Annual Fall Conference in Chattanooga, TN

Michael W. Gordon
John H. & Mary Lou Dasburg Professor of Law

• Elected to the International Academy of Comparative Law.

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

• Agreed to serve a term on the AALS Committee on Clinical Legal Education.

Juan Perea
Cone Wagner Nugent Johnson, Hazouri and Roth Professor

• Presented his current research to the Critical Race Theory Colloquium at Northwestern University School of Law on Oct. 14.

Christopher Peterson
Associate Professor

• His draft article titled “Usury Law, Payday Loans, and Statutory Sleight of Hand: An Empirical Analysis of American Credit Pricing Limits” appeared on SSRN’s Legal Scholarship Network’s “Recent Hits” list for papers announced in the last 60 days.

Victoria Redd
Assistant Editor

• Book review appeared in the September 2007 issue of The Law and Politics Book Review on L. Hammer, A Foucauldian Approach to International Law: Descriptive Thoughts for Normative Issues.

Michael L. Seigel
Professor

• Accepted an appointment to serve on the UF Committee on a Civil, Safe and Open Environment, which is the committee formed after the student Tasering incident in September.

Christopher Slobogin
Stephen C. O’Connell Chair; Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry; Adjunct Professor, University of South Florida Mental Health Institute; Associate Director, Center for Children and Families

• Spoke on a panel focused on the Virginia Tech shootings and hosted by National Public Radio’s Joanne Silberner at Emory Law School’s Public Interest Conference on Oct. 13.
• Spoke on a panel entitled “Speaking for the Unforgivable: Death Penalty Mitigation Testmony” at the American Association of Psychiatry and Law meeting in Miami on Oct. 19.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Juan Perea
Cone Wagner Nugent Johnson, Hazouri and Roth Professor

• Univision, October 2007. Interviewed on the news show “Aqui y Ahora” regarding a Texas town that made Spanish its official language. This was his first interview conducted entirely in Spanish.

Michael Seigel
Professor

• St. Petersburg Times, Oct. 13. Extensively quoted throughout an article discussing federal prosecutors uphill battle in filing criminal civil rights violation charges against boot camp employees in Panama City for the death of a 14-year-old boy. Seigel said, prosecutors would have to prove that the boot camp employees knew what they were doing and deliberately acted in a manner that caused 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson’s death. “It’s exceedingly rare that the federal government would come in after an acquittal and bring charges,” Seigel said. “They have the power to do so. It’s not seen as double jeopardy. It’s often seen as unfair and overbearing.”
• St. Petersburg Times, Oct. 13. In a separate article discussing the verdict, Seigel was referred to when discussing the initial statement immediately issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. Seigel said government officials likely used the statement as a measure to calm the community.

Green, who attended Loyola University in New Orleans and got her J.D. at St. Thomas School of Law in Miami, realized that she loved tax law so much that she wanted a job where she could really focus on just tax law.

“Tax law was my favorite class in law school and I wanted to go somewhere where I could get the best education for it,” Green said. “It came down to either NYU or UF, and I chose UF because of the combination of its reputation and its great location.”

Green is now busy living her dream working at Ernst & Young LLP in New York. She gets to focus on tax-related issues, which is something she may not have been able do at a big law firm, she said.

“I work in the Transaction Advisory Services department, which means I assist in the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including assisting our clients with structuring, tax due diligence and representing our clients before the IRS, for example writing private letter rulings,” she said.

The environment and the people really make a difference at her company because of the time people get to spend together, she said.

“It’s been a really positive experience at Ernst & Young LLP because it’s very people first and puts on activities outside of work,” Green said. “We have a great training program as well where you get to shadow older employees for three months, and follow them around to meetings, projects and anything else that they’re doing.”

In her office Green runs into UF Law alums all the time, which makes for a fun atmosphere, she said.

“Right now we have two people who got their LL.M.s from UF in the office, and there’s also a bunch of people who got their undergrad degrees at UF as well,” Green said. “Everyone really likes it up here and we’re trying to get back to Gainesville and recruit more Gators.”

For students who want to do tax-related law, Green highly suggests getting an LL.M. because of the special focus if gives to aspects of tax law.

“I would really suggest getting an LL.M. because it teaches you how to really interpret case history, statutes and all the other basics,” she said. “Learning the basics of tax law and how to read and understand the internal revenue code are very important skills to have when specializing in tax work, both of which are taught at UF’s LL.M. tax program.”

Green suggests students go check out job fairs to see all the internships that are out there.

“Internships are a good way to get your foot in the door, and every year during the summer Ernst & Young has internships available,” she said. “Go to job fairs as well, that’s where I found out about the job I have right now.”