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News Brief – January 19, 2010

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:27:08 +0000

Applications for the Summer 2010 Yegelwel Fellowship are still being accepted
Applications for the Summer 2010 Yegelwel Fellowship are still being accepted. The deadline for submission of application materials has been extended to Jan. 22. The fellowship provides a $4,000 stipend to a UF Law student to participate in a Summer Fellowship Program at the Anti-Defamation League, Florida Regional Office in Boca Raton. The Fellowship will last 8-10 weeks, with the student committing to a minimum of 35 hours per week. The fellow will be supervised by the ADL Southern Area Counsel. Previous fellows conducted legal and legislative research on a broad variety of subjects including amending Florida’s hate crime law to include homelessness as a protected category, the teaching of intelligent design in the public school science classroom, and the scope of separation of church and state under the Florida constitution. The fellow also handled constituent discrimination complaints and participated in ADL meetings, functions and events. The Yegelwel Fellowship is limited to UF Law students who have successfully completed the first-year required curriculum, including Constitutional Law, and who are in good academic standing prior to beginning the fellowship. “Successful” completion of the first-year required curriculum means earning a passing grade in each course and maintaining an overall GPA of at least 3.0. See the Center Web site for more details. If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Bamba (CSRRR assistant director) at 352-273-0614 or bamba@law.ufl.edu.

Faculty scholarship and activities

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:26:22 +0000

Elizabeth Dale
Affiliate Associate Professor; Associate Professor of History

Dale was appointed to another five year term on the editorial board of Law and History Review.

Jeff Harrison
Stephen C. O’Connell Professor

Published “Rethinking Mistake and Nondisclosure in Contract Law,” 17 George Mason Law Rev. 17 (2010).
Harrison organized and moderated a panel session at the recent AALS meetings entitled “Emotions and Behavior.” At that panel, Len Riskin made a presentation entitled, “Dealing with Emotions in Negotiation, Law Practice and Other Human Interactions: The ‘Core Concerns’ and Mindfulness.”

Lyrissa Lidsky
Professor; Stephen C. O’Connell Chair

Published a new edition of her casebook with Joe Little, Torts: The Civil Law of Reparation for Harm Done by Wrongful Act, (3d ed. 2009, LexisNexis). Robert Lande is third co-author.

Joe Little
Emeritus Professor; Alumni Research Scholar

“Fundraising rule hampers Thrasher GOP chairman hopes” (Jan. 7, WUSF Tampa)
University of Florida law professor Joseph Little says it will be up to Thrasher’s fellow Senators to decide his fate regarding his fundraising efforts. “It’s a rule that the Senate has adopted for governing its members, and the ultimate enforcement of the rule, and the determination of what it means, is in the hands of the senators themselves,” Little said.
“Election laws in play as Kelly, Baxley try House flip” (Jan. 8, Ocala Star Banner)
Little said the state couldn’t prescribe such regulations on resigning to run for office since the U.S. Constitution spells out the qualifications for Congress. Joe Little, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida’s law school, says the state couldn’t prescribe such regulations anyway, since the U.S. Constitution spells out the qualifications for Congress.
Published a new edition of his casebook with Lyrissa Lidsky, Torts: The Civil Law of Reparation for Harm Done by Wrongful Act, (3d ed. 2009, LexisNexis). Robert Lande is third co-author.
Published a new edition of his casebook on Workers’ Compensation (6th ed., 2010, West), with Thomas Eaton and Gary Smith.

Michael Seigel
UF Research Foundation Professor

“PBS&J reveals internal inquiry” (Jan. 12, 2010, Tampa Tribune)
Seigel sheds light on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits U.S.-based companies from making improper payments to foreign officials. However, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act generally prohibits U.S.-based companies from making improper payments to foreign officials, usually through bribes, said Mike Seigel, a law professor at the University of Florida and former federal prosecutor.
“Neo-Nazi in murder trial gets makeover for trial” (Dec. 9, 2009, AP/Times Union – More than 225 pubs and broadcast)
Seigel explained why it was the tax payers duty to pay for the cover up of tattoos for a defendant. Covering tattoos for a trial is rare, said Michael Siegel, professor of law at the University of Florida, especially in a case like this when the content of the tattoos – neo-Nazi symbols – mesh with the facts of the case. “The defendant did initially make the choice to communicate to the world through the tattoos on his body,” said Siegel. “Now he’s asking for protection from his own decisions.” Siegel said he believes the judge was trying to be “conservative” in his judgment in case the trial results are appealed. “Judges bend over backwards to be fair,” said Siegel. “It’s human nature when you’re a judge.” What doesn’t bother Siegel, however, is the fact that taxpayers will foot the bill for the hourlong makeup session each morning before court proceedings begin. “It’s the responsibility of the taxpayers, whether we like it or not, to provide people with a fair trial,” he said. “And it costs a lot of money.”

Michael Siebecker
Associate Professor

Presented “Guarding the Guardians: How Encapsulated Trust Can Save the Organic Certification Market” at the University of Cuenca, Ecuador. The talk was part of the Sixth International Conference on Economic, Cultural and Economic Sustainability.

Daniel Sokol
Assistant Professor

Sokol’s contribution to a symposium on the future of the Law and Development field, “Law and Development—The Way Forward or Just Stuck in the Same Place?,” has appeared in 104 Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy 238 (2010).

Danaya Wright
UF Research Foundation and Clarence J. TeSelle Professor

Wright’s chapter, “Hogwarts, the Family, and the State: Forging Virtue and Identity in Harry Potter,” has been published in the book The Law and Harry Potter, edited by Jeff Thomas and Frank Snyder and published by Carolina Academic Press.

Michael Allan Wolf
Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law; Professor

Op-ed regarding the U.S. Supreme Court case Stop the Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Dec 3, 2009, Tallahassee Democrat)

Volunteer to prepare taxes with VITA

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:25:53 +0000

It is not too late to volunteer for VITA. Just add “VITA” on the TWEN site. The VITA Program offers free tax help to low to moderate-income people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Certified volunteers (UF Law students) sponsored by the Association for Tax Law and the Levin College of Law receive training to help prepare basic tax returns in Gainesville.

In order to be a volunteer, you must pass two unlimited time, open book tests that demonstrate knowledge of basic tax principles (basic and intermediate). Most volunteers have no prior tax or accounting experience. The returns that will be handled are usually not very complex in nature and there are experienced reviewers who will be available at all times to help answer questions and review the tax returns.

This is also an excellent opportunity to earn pro bono hours toward your Pro Bono Certificate. In addition, it gives the volunteers an understanding of how our tax system works and valuable interaction with VITA clients.

VITA Volunteer Training Details
In addition to preparing tax returns, we will also assist eligible clients get qualified for public benefits. The Benefit Bank training for VITA volunteers is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 18, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Gerson Hall (UF Fisher School of Accounting) Room 122. VITA training for Site Coordinators is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 19, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Gerson Hall (UF Fisher School of Accounting) Room 122.

The kick-off meeting and initial tax preparation training session by the IRS is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Reitz Union, room 282. You will need to bring your laptop, power cord, pen / pencil and paper. If you do not have a laptop or UF internet connection please let us know by return e-mail.

Classroom training will continue Thursday, Jan. 21, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 22, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Jan. 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Much of Saturday is devoted to IRS certification at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels. You must certify at the intermediate level to prepare tax returns. Those certifying at the basic level only can help in other important ways. You will receive a certificate for each level you pass.

The class will be split into two training groups during the kick-off session. Group one will meet in room 284 on Thursday and room 349 on Friday and Saturday in the Reitz Union. Group two will meet in room 285 on Thursday and rooms 361-363 on Friday and Saturday in the Reitz Union.

Tax preparation begins Feb. 2, and ends April 8 (excluding Spring Break). VITA hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Volunteers are only asked to select one day, but are free to volunteer additional days if they so choose. Dinner is provided to volunteers each night. For more information please contact Kimberly Thomas at kim.s.thomas@ufl.edu.

UF Sports Law Symposium to examine legal playbook as collective bargaining agreements expire

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:25:06 +0000

On Jan. 29, sports agents, litigators, salary cap analysts and sports law students will huddle up at the University of Florida Levin College of Law to get ready for a whole new ball game.

In the next two years, time will expire on the collective bargaining agreements affecting the negotiation of salaries and playing conditions for professional athletes. The 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium, “Discussion: Bargaining Collectively,” presented by UF’s Entertainment & Sports Law Society, will bring together sports law experts and representatives from the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to discuss why CBA’s exist, how they help players and owners, and to identify contract terms that will likely be argued before the agreement expires. The event is free and open to the public, and is set to kick off at 11 a.m. at UF Law’s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (room 180). The event will offer CLE credits.

“The 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium will be an excellent forum for students, athletes, professors and others interested in sports law to network and learn from the brightest minds in sports law,” said Darren Heitner, president of UF Entertainment & Sports Law Society.

The keynote speaker for this year’s symposium will be Harvey W. Schiller, Ph.D., who has served as president of the International Baseball Federation since 2007 and is also chairman of the board and CEO of GlobalOptions Group, a multidisciplinary international risk management and business solutions company located in New York. Prior to joining GlobalOptions in 1994, Schiller held posts at Turner Broadcasting System, served as the executive director/secretary general of the United States Olympic Committee and was commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. Schiller’s presentation topic is titled, “Where is the sports world going?”

“It’s an honor to be able to address future sports-business leaders in Gainesville,” Schiller said. “We live in very challenging times, where changes in the way we conduct business occurs in minutes. Adapting and understanding those changes is critical to our success as professionals. It is my hope that forums like the one being held at the University of Florida provide the framework for the growth of the industry and inspire further discussion and opportunity.”

Closing the day-long symposium will be Donald Fehr, who served as general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association beginning in 1977, and as its executive director for 26 years. In his role as executive director, Fehr served as the players’ chief negotiator in collective bargaining with major league owners and was responsible for contract administration, grievance arbitration and pension and health care matters. Fehr will address the role of collective bargaining in professional team sports, and discuss his experiences in his role with the players association.

“Interesting things are on the horizon for the four major professional team sports in North America,” Don Fehr said.

To view the symposium agenda, speaker profiles and designated CLE credits, visit http://www.ufsportslaw.com/symposium.html.

For more information regarding the symposium, contact Darren Heitner at heitner@gmail.com.

UF Law will host Human Trafficking Symposium on Jan. 28

wsmitty@ufl.edu — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:24:19 +0000

To commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect in January 1863, President Barack Obama recently signed a proclamation declaring January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

It is estimated that one million people, mostly women and children, are trafficked around the world each year, lured into involuntary servitude and sexual slavery. According to the Somaly Mam Foundation, a non-profit public charity committed to ending modern slavery around the world, global slave trade generates $12 billion annually.

In an effort to bring these issues to light, the University of Florida Levin College of Law will hold a Human Trafficking Symposium on Jan. 28 from 4:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. in UF Law’s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (room 180). Co-sponsors of the event include UF’s Immigration Law Association, LexisNexis, CaribLaw, Asian/Pacific American Law Association, and the Hispanic and Latino/a Law Student Association. The event is free and open to UF students. Presentation Schedule:

4:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – Luz Estella Nagle, a professor of law at Stetson University College of Law and expert on human trafficking, will speak about the impact of globalization on human trafficking.

5:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Break

5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. – The Human Trafficking Project, a New York-based non-profit organization that utilizes art and technology to raise awareness of modern day slavery, connect those working to combat the issue and support trafficking survivors, will present a film about international child trafficking titled, “Holly.” This film addresses child sex slavery in Cambodia. For more information on the film and The Human Trafficking Project, visit http://traffickingproject.blogspot.com/2007/12/human-trafficking-film-holly.html.

7 p.m. – 8 p.m. – Panel discussion and food. Panelist, including Professor Nagle, Tyson Elliot, detective, Alachua County Special Victims Unit and Sherry Kitchens, president, Alachua County Human Trafficking Task Force, will discuss current efforts to combat human trafficking in Florida.

For more information regarding the symposium, contact Justin Bleak, president of UF Law’s Immigration Law Society, at justbleak@gmail.com or call 352-262-1300.