Roberts will become the first representative of the U.S. Supreme Court in history to judge the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Final Four on Sept. 5 at the Curtis M. Phillips Center at 10 a.m.

The Moot Court Final Four will be open to all law students, faculty and staff. Students must show law school UFIDs to get in and may not bring backpacks, any other large bags, or laptops. Photography is prohibited and cell phones must be turned off or in silent mode.

Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Late students will be seated during breaks in the balcony. There is parking at and around the Phillips Center. Parking may be in short supply so we encourage students, faculty and staff who cannot find parking to use campus transportation from the law school. Students can ride any RTS bus free when they present a valid UFID card.

Friday morning classes will be cancelled. They will resume at 1 p.m.

For the most up-to-date information on ticketing, policies and procedures check your email and the UF Law homepage at www.law.ufl.edu.

Moore knew he was interested in maritime law because of this experience, but then he took Professor McCoy’s admiralty law course during his first year of law school, and he was hooked. “That pretty much sealed the deal,” Moore said about the course.

Moore’s experience in Cape Cod ended up helping him get his first job in the maritime law field.

“It was during the summer of 1972 when I mentioned my goal of being a maritime lawyer to a young man who I had met on the Cape named Herbert Mayhew Lord,” Moore said. “At first, he seemed to be overly interested in the fact that I wanted to be a maritime lawyer with questions like ‘Why would you want to be that kind of lawyer?’” “As it turns out, his father was the very same Lord of Burlingham, Underwood, and Lord and the introduction to his father paved the way to my first job.”

Burlingham, Underwood, and Lord is a New York maritime law firm that in the past has represented the owners of the Titanic. Moore worked for that firm until 1980, when he landed with Holland and Knight in Miami. In 2004, Moore started his own firm, which has since grown because of the demand for maritime lawyers in Florida. Although Moore was nervous about starting his own firm at first, he is now glad he made that huge decision.

“It was absolutely wonderful,” Moore said. “I never imagined how different it would be. It was something I wanted to do for a long time. …You don’t really know if your clients will follow you and if the phone will ring.”

Moore and Company is up to six lawyers, and Moore is planning on hiring more soon because of the recent boom in yachting in Florida. Moore has noticed more and more significant yacht owners in South Florida during the past two years, he said.

“Once they’ve made their fortunes to some extent, they say, ‘Well where would I like to live?’” Moore said. “If a yacht is in their plans, it’s often the case that South Florida will come up.” He also practices a smaller amount of aviation law, which is a very similar body of law to maritime, Moore said.

He usually represents yacht owners, but maritime law is a very diverse field, he said.

“It can be a serious personal injury that occurs on a vessel one day; it can be a fire in an engine room that damaged a yacht or a vessel the next day,” Moore said. “It’s construction agreements building vessels all over the world. We have easily 20-25 construction projects ongoing all over the world.”

Moore is currently defending an owner of a yacht that ran aground and damaged parts of a reef in the Florida Keys. Moore successfully defended the yacht owner against the salvors of the ship. The salvors were awarded no money for their work because they acted against public policy, Moore said. Next, Moore will defend the owners in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. government for damaging the reef.

One thing Moore likes about maritime law is the flexibility judges have in making a fair ruling. Unlike in most other courts where judges must rule within the law, judges in maritime cases have more leeway to do what they think is appropriate.

“In state court, you’ll often hear judges say, ‘Well if I had more latitude I would maybe rule differently, but I’m constricted by the law and I have to rule this way,’” Moore said. “We don’t have that in admiralty courts.”

Although Moore represents multimillion-dollar yacht owners, his boating habits are quite scaled down. Moore owns a 35-foot sailboat, he said. “It’s nothing compared to my clients’,” Moore said. “My boat would not be a tender on most of my clients’ yachts.”

Roberts will become the first representative of the U.S. Supreme Court in history to judge the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Final Four on Sept. 5 at the Curtis M. Phillips Center at 10 a.m.

The Moot Court Final Four will be open to all law students, faculty and staff. Students must show law school UFIDs to get in and may not bring backpacks, any other large bags, or laptops. Photography is prohibited and cell phones must be turned off or in silent mode.

Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Late students will be seated during breaks in the balcony. There is parking at and around the Phillips Center. Parking may be in short supply so we encourage students, faculty and staff who cannot find parking to use campus transportation from the law school. Students can ride any RTS bus free when they present a valid UFID card.

Friday morning classes will be cancelled. They will resume at 1 p.m.

For the most up-to-date information on ticketing, policies and procedures check your email and the UF Law homepage at www.law.ufl.edu.

Class Size: 397
Number of applicants: 3373
Number of offers: 940
Gender: 52% male, 48 % female
Minority Representation: 25.4%* (8.56% Asian, 5.79% Black, 10.57% Hispanic, .5% Native American) *8.3% self declared as other or did not indicate race, this figure is not included in the 25.4%
Average age: 24
Residency: 80% resident and 20% non-resident.

Academic Credentials:
UGPA: 75th percentile 3.78, median 3.61, 25th percentile 3.38
LSAT: 75th percentile 162, median 160, 25th percentile 156

Dilley’s proposal, Restoring Old Age Income Security for Low Wage Workers, was recognized by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), as part of an initiative to generate social security options for the benefit of groups such as low-paid and disabled workers, elderly widows, and those older than 80 years of age.

“I’m thrilled that my project was selected for the Innovation Award,” said Professor Dilley. “I think the whole project is a wonderful way to turn the debate about Social Security into a discussion on how to improve the program, not just preserve it. People forget that Social Security was established as a way to solve certain serious problems, notably keeping the elderly, who have worked and contributed to society their whole lives, from having to beg for shelter and food,” Dilley said. “I think the current economic situation should bring home the fact that we as a society have to look out for each other.”

An advisory committee of NASI experts reviewed a large number of proposals, but only twelve policy scholars were selected. The winning scholars are from varied disciplines such as political science, law, actuarial science, social work and economics.

“We are delighted to bring Professor Dilley’s insight and experience to bear on this important question of strengthening Social Security for vulnerable groups,” said Virginia Reno, NASI vice president for Income Security Policy. “As shifts in the economy, private pensions, housing values, and financial markets pose more risks to working Americans, we need help from the nation’s top experts to make Social Security part of the solution to workers’ financial insecurity.”

Dilley is a graduate of Swarthmore College, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University Law Center and Boston University School of Law. She has served on the Committee on Ways & Means, U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Social Security, and with the Social Security Administration. Dilley has also worked in private practice, taught tax law at the University of Washington School of Law, Leiden University-the Netherlands, and Seattle University School of Law. Dilley is currently a professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law where her teaching assignments include federal income tax, elder law, pensions and employee benefits, fringe benefits, executive comp, corporate tax, tax policy and deferred compensation.

“Pat Dilley is the perfect recipient for the Rockefeller Innovation Award,” said Alicia Munnell, professor and chair in Management Science, Boston College. “She has spent a lifetime – as a congressional staffer, a private practitioner and an academic — immersed in Social Security and pensions. If anyone can design workable policy options to help vulnerable groups, she can.”