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Financial aid for Florida Bar prep and exam

Are you making plans to take the Bar and wondering where you will come up with the financing necessary for these out-of-pocket expenses? There are private loan companies who will make Bar exam loans to students who are in their final year of law school. These loans can be used for a student’s living expenses while studying for the Bar, Bar prep classes and other Bar related expenses.

Sallie Mae
1-800-984-0190
www.salliemae.com

Wells Fargo
(To apply, student would need to have some type of account/loan with Wells Fargo)
1-800-378-5526
www.wellsfargo.com/student/

For more information contact Financial Aid Coordinator Carol Huber at 352-273-0620.

Build a stronger community with pro bono work

President Barack Obama has challenged all of us to do what we can to make our communities and our nation a better place. On Sept. 19, 2008, the president and his wife called on all citizens to find a way to serve their communities. In the wake of this historic inauguration and in the spirit of “Yes We Can” and “Change,” the Center for Children and Families and the Center for Career Services encourage you to take advantage of the many pro bono opportunities to help others. Consider becoming a guardian ad litem, volunteering with legal services or participating in any of the available opportunities found.

This program, established in 2004 and endowed by Al and Dawn Hoffman in 2005, gives college and university students around the state the unique opportunity to spend a semester working alongside state government’s top staff.

The program is designed to provide students who are interested in public service with the opportunity to gain experience and exposure by working in key areas of government. Gubernatorial Fellows are assigned to the executive office of the governor or the governor’s agencies, based on their major or area of concentration. Fellows will be expected to work a minimum of 20 hours per week and will be paid for their time on the job.

To be eligible for a Gubernatorial Fellowship, candidates should be enrolled at a Florida college or university as an upperclassman (junior or senior) or a graduate student. Approximately 12 students from around the state will be selected based on a competitive application process. The Fellowship year will follow the university calendar, starting in Aug. 2009 and ending in May 2010.

Applicants should possess strong leadership, written and oral communication skills, community activism, and a desire to serve the people of Florida. Applications are due no later than Friday, March 20.

For more information please contact Kelli Chestnutt Gebbia at 850-410-0501 or kelli.gebbia@eog.myflorida.com.

Henry Butler, executive director of the Searle Center for Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern University School of Law, enticed a classroom full of students on the topic of insurance and regulation.

“This is my first trip to Gainesville, but I think that I brought some of the Chicago weather down with me,” said Butler as he began his presentation. “We will be alright though because we have a really hot and sexy topic. There is nothing more exciting than insurance.”

Butler, a leading public policy analyst and law and economics specialist, has devoted much of his career to improving the country’s civil justice system through judicial education programs.

Butler wasn’t looking to become interested in regulation and state licensing but didn’t seem to be upset to have found it.

“I became interested in this issue because there weren’t enough people proposing to write papers on this specific topic, so I said, ‘What the heck I will write one,’” he said.

Butler partnered with Larry E. Ribstein, professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, and wrote A Single-License Approach to Regulating Insurance, which was published in 2008. The paper shows how the many problems with the current system can be addressed without to much intrusion of federal regulators.

During the presentation, Butler talked about different regulation theories that were in place, discussing the pros and cons. He gave his advice about what he thought needed to be changed, which sometimes correlated messages in the article he co-authored.

Dean Robert Jerry wrapped up the event with a couple of question for Butler. The questions he asked dealt with state licensing and states and regulation.

The Federalist Society, who sponsored this event, is a nonpartisan conservative and libertarian organization, dedicated to fostering balanced and open debate on the fundamental principle of freedom, federalism and judicial restraint.

Joshua Mize, president of the Federalist Society, was honored to have this event and was sad to see it end.

“We always end up wishing we had more time at the end of these events,” Mize said.

Career Services is bringing in legal job experts over the next couple weeks to help students land the job of their dreams – even in the current recession.

Ann Skalaski, a legal recruiting consultant, will speak on Jan. 28, in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (HOL180) about managing your job search in an economic downturn.

On Feb. 4, Kimm Walton, author of four legal job search books will head a program called “Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams,” also the title of one of her books.

“You’ll come away from these programs with concrete tangible things that you can do right then and there,” said Linda Calvert Hanson, assistant dean for career services. “You will be so excited about getting started and encouraged.”

Skalaski was the assistant dean for career services at UF Law from 1991-1996. Before that, she worked at Holland & Knight, LLP as the director of attorney recruitment and as the firm’s first attorney development manager.

In a down market, law students have to use different strategies to market themselves, which Skalaski will explain in depth, Calvert Hanson said.

Walton has spoken at UF Law before and has been a big hit with students, Calvert Hanson said.

“[Walton] just does an outstanding job of really inspiring and motivating people, as [her book] says, regardless of your grades, your school, or your work experience,” Calvert Hanson said. “The students connect to her. We will come out after the program and she will stay there and talk to them for hours afterwards. She will talk to them one-on-one; she will answer each and every person’s questions.”

After these two programs, on Feb. 5 (2Ls and 3Ls) and Feb. 6 (1Ls), Dr. Martha Peters will speak about discovering your ideal career through self-assessment.

Calvert Hanson anticipates that this program will help students figure out ideal careers for themselves. Many students are not sure what they would like to do, and many alumni are not happy with their jobs because during law school they did not take the time to identify their values and learn about the type of work environments in which they will thrive and find career satisfaction, Calvert Hanson said.

“Our society today is just on such a fast track that you’re kind of almost programmed: ‘OK, I’ve got to get through undergrad, I’ve got to get through law school, and then I have to get a job,’” Calvert Hanson said. “You hardly ever have a chance to stop and think about what is going to make you happy, what is going to be rewarding and fulfilling for you.”

Career Services put these programs in place to help guide an anxious student body toward their career goals.

“What we’re really finding with the students right now is that we have a group who are what we call ‘the deer-in-the-headlights.’ They’re just kind of like, dazed and ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to be doing?’ (mostly 1Ls). The 2Ls are more resigned, and the 3Ls right now are really eager to do something. They really want to do something, but they don’t know what. These programs that we’re going to provide are going to help give them the next step.”

Be sure to read the CCS Buzz each week for up-to-date information on programming, recruiting, networking and volunteer and “SHIP” opportunities available through the Center for Career Services.

Prominent figures in the sports law and business world gathered for the 2009 UF Sports Law Symposium, put on by UF Law’s Entertainment and Sports Law Society. Last year, the law school participated in a sports symposium on the main campus.

“This year we decided to take it from the Reitz Union and bring more of a law aspect to the symposium,” said Darren Heitner, president of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society. “I’m very happy with how it went. We had amazing speakers, and I hope to be a part of it next year.”

Kevin Sullivan, who served as assistant to the president for communications from July 11, 2006 until President Barack Obama took office, kicked off the event with the keynote speech. Prior to that, he worked in communications for NBC Sports and the Dallas Mavericks.

He told the unlikely story of how he went from the Mavericks to the White House. One day he was riding a train into New York when he got an e-mail from an old acquaintance in Dallas on his Blackberry.

“He sends me this e-mail, ‘Would you be interested in a senior communications position with the administration in Washington?’ I e-mailed him back, ‘You mean the Wizards?’ Because there was no way I was qualified for anything beyond that in Washington, D.C.”

Sullivan said he had no desire to take the position, but he ended up being talked into a position with the Department of Education. Thirteen months later, he interviewed with George W. Bush for the job in the White House. He used this example to tell the audience to always be willing to take risks.

“You can’t always plot out every move for the rest of your life,” Sullivan said.

The next panel was on job recruiting in the sports law field. The experts all stressed how tough it is to crack into the sports agent business. They stressed having a backup plan.

“Don’t expect it to feed you right away unless you are a roommate of someone who is going to hire you,” said Joshua Golka, a Sacramento-based sports attorney.

“I don’t think I’d say don’t do it if that’s something you want to do, but have another plan too. It’s a really tough business to get into and to stay in, especially with some of the regulations that are coming out from some of the players’ associations.”

The next panel was on negotiation. The speakers were an agent, a stadium-naming negotiator and a lawyer for the ATP (men’s tennis tour). They stressed being prepared for a negotiation session and knowing when to walk away from a deal.

Glenn Toby, an agent for the NFL’s Asante Samuel, other NFL players, and hip-hop artists, stressed believing in your client.

“There’s a sign in the back on the wall and it says ‘DO GOOD,’” Toby said. “When you’re doing good, you’re saying good, your client’s playing good. Sometimes people get off course, but if you’re doing what’s right, there’s always that measure. If you’re selling something good, it’s going to have value somewhere. Even if the negotiations go against you, somebody is going to want that client.”

The labor panel talked about collusion in sports and also about the possibility of baseball getting a salary cap.

Marc Edelman, a sports law professor that has practiced sports litigation, said the Major League Baseball Players’ Association will never allow a salary cap.

One audience member asked if the New York Yankees won six World Series in a row, would the MLB Players’ Association change their minds about a salary cap.

Michael McCann, a sports law professor, Sports Illustrated legal analyst, and sports litigator, said this could push public opinion into forcing a salary cap.

“There did seem to be something wrong. This idea that, ‘Why are the Yankees signing everyone [this offseason]?’” said McCann, an admitted Boston Red Sox fan.

“Who are they even competing against signing these guys? Were they bargaining against themselves for some of these players? Because it wasn’t clear that there were other suitable teams that would pay anywhere near what the Yankees ultimately paid.”

But Golka said that might not help the argument for a salary cap.

“People like an evil empire to root against,” Golka said. “They like dynasties like the 49ers and the Cowboys in their eras – they are both for them and against them.”

The final panelists spoke about the future of sports business. They focused largely on how the Internet and technology is changing the sports landscape.

Finally, Bill Rasmussen, who founded ESPN in 1979, gave the closing speech. Rasmussen told the story how he started ESPN from scratch.

When Rasmussen asked his father for funding for ESPN, his dad shot back, “If everybody in the world is going to love it, why don’t you borrow money from them?” Even after the network launched, there were still troubles. TV Guide would not list the network, telling Rasmussen that “TV networks always have three letters.”

Rasmussen stressed a positive attitude in life to achieve one’s goals.

“Whatever you’re doing, in whichever direction you’re planning to head, do it with passion, do it with energy, and do it with an unwavering positive attitude because negative attitudes don’t get us anywhere,” he said.

“I’ve talked about depressions, recessions and business cycles all through my life, and over the long view, we are a great country and we can all be very, very successful.”