LCC election results
Executive Officers: President, Brandon Sapp; Vice President, Josh Nemser; Treasurer, Daniel Cardenal; Secretary, Kyla Tan; At Large Representatives: Justin Berlin, Michael Gutman, Alena Haurykava, Greg Kwok, Alyssa Lunin, Matthew Michel, Patrick Painter, Moish Peltz, Jeff Rechtman, Vivian Seymour, Liridona Sinani, Guichard St. Surin, Jason Taylor, and Tyler Yonge. Organization Representatives: Daphne Duplessis, Ben Friedman, Amber Hall, Stephanie Johnson, Amanda Kotula, Leslie Owen, Maria Thompson, and Mirelis Torres.

Congratulations to the 2010-11 Florida Law Review editorial board
Congratulations to the newly elected Florida Law Review editorial board. Editor in Chief, Dwayne Robinson; Exec. Managing Editor, Claudia Murray; Exec. Research Editor, Justin Alex; Exec. Article Editor, Nate Edenfield; Exec. Notes & Comments Editor, Ben Lingle; Exec. Communications Editor, Ben Steinberg; Symposium Editors: Elizabeth Bowers & Andrew Brown; Managing Editors: Jaime Barwig, Daniel Mahfood, Amy Wessel, Maddie Parro; Research Editors: Leigha DiGregory, Suzanne Palms, Katie Moum, Adam Griffin, Darren Schweiger; Senior Research Editor: Kristen McKinney; Articles Editors: Steve McGinley, Frank Mari, Luis Casas; Notes & Comments Editors: Tara Richardson, Rania Kajan, Lauren Kirkpatrick, Heather Reynolds, Kimon Korres; Communications Editor: Chris Burton; Special Works Editors: Nathan Frazier, Josh Winegar, Spencer Diamond.

• “Student Government is taken seriously by both UF, students’ (Feb. 24, 2010, Gainesville Sun)
  Little told the Gainesville Sun that the claim that students are participating in a mock government might have carried more weight decades ago, before the voting age was dropped to 18 from 21. UF law professor emeritus Joe Little, an attorney for the online voting group, argued that university student governments were created under state law. In addition, the Florida Constitution created university boards of trustees and the Florida Board of Governors to oversee state universities. Both bodies include former student government presidents as members. Little said the claim that students are participating in a mock government might have carried more weight decades ago, before the voting age was dropped to 18 from 21. Now, students come to the UF campus officially as legal adults, so he said the argument is outdated. “It’s just inconsistent with today’s world,” Little said.

The students weren’t alone in their attempt to better their community. The project was just one of eleven, as all of the law schools in Florida created opportunities to give back. The project was organized by UF Law’s chapter of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Law Student Division, along with the local Florida Bar affiliate. The event was titled, “Raising the Bar: Florida’s Legal Community Service Day.”

For those who aren’t familiar with the Midtown area of Gainesville, it’s home to some of the most popular bars in Gainesville, and is right across from main campus. Unsurprisingly, the popularity of these bars has also created a thriving business for any eateries that stay open late, serving pizza and sandwiches on paper plates and wax paper. The combination results in more than a little bit of litter scattered around, meaning that there was plenty of work for the volunteers.

The trash ranged from hundreds of cigarette butts and bottle caps to a pizza box, complete with unsavory contents. By the end, ten trash bags were full of trash picked up from about five or six blocks.

In the intimate setting of a small classroom, about 25 students enjoyed Diner’s brief presentation followed by a 40-minute question and answer session. Diner, a shareholder of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., firm Atkinson, Diner, Stone, Mankuta & Ploucha, P.A., spoke on a variety of subjects, but lingered on the Florida Legislature’s responsibility to properly fund the state’s judicial system.

“Court funding is a new and extremely important initiative of The Florida Bar. The state’s judicial system is being treated like a state agency,” Diner said. “Everyone recognizes our three-branch system of government and the separation of powers, yet everywhere we turn we run into a brick wall in terms of funding.”

The Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court have been working to raise public and legislative awareness of the negative effects of under-funding on the state’s judicial system, which Diner said suffered a 10 percent cut in funding last year. The reduced funding resulted in layoffs and reduced court services during a time of skyrocketing foreclosure actions, which has restricted citizens’ access to the courts.

“People have a difficult time getting their disputes resolved in a timely manner,” he said. “The courts are absolutely clogged.”

Though the dramatic increase in foreclosure filings provided an unexpected boost to the courts’ income through filing fees, Diner said he expects the legislature to raid that money from the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund to pay for other state budget items that are not related to the judiciary — even as the courts remain overwhelmed and courthouse buildings and paper-based filing systems grow more archaic.

During the Q&A session, one law student asked what responsibility the Bar has in assisting its members in job searches, especially as it applies to young lawyers.

“I think it is The Florida Bar’s responsibility to help young lawyers find jobs whenever and wherever,” Diner said. “The Bar’s Career Center Web site to help young lawyers connect with employers debuted in October, and we offer discounted business services as member benefits. … I remember when I graduated from law school, how hard it was to get that first job, and you feel, ‘If I could just get that first interview, I could get that job.’ ”

Once young lawyers have that first job, Diner recommends they go the distance to prepare for every case, to put themselves into the shoes of their opponents to understand every angle and every argument that could be used against them. During his 37 years of practice, he said he’s never found a short cut for preparation.

“Don’t ever become satisfied with being good. Don’t ever stop digging deeper to be better,” he said. “When they tell you the law is a jealous mistress, they’re not kidding.”

During the two days of the conference, distinguished scholars from all over the United States presented various theories and supporting research as to why the present juvenile justice system is inadequate and how it should be reformed.

The conference was sponsored by the Center on Children & Families and the Center for Race and Race Relations, and was co-sponsored by The Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School, the Juvenile Justice Clinic at Georgetown Law School, with support from the University of Florida Office of Research. The conference was helpfully staffed by student volunteers from the Levin College of Law.

During his introductory comments, Levin College of Law’s Dean Robert Jerry offered personal insight into the juvenile justice system, as the father of three teenage children.

Jerry expressed hope that the Juvenile Justice Law Conference could lead to open discussion of issues affecting the juvenile justice system and the implementation of an improved system.

“When we’re talking about children in any context, we’re talking about our future,” Jerry stated.

Nancy Dowd, Levin College of Law professor, David H. Levin Chair in Family Law, and Director of the Center on Children & Families, echoed Dean Jerry’s sentiments and expressed hope that the conference could help the law to “move forward to change the system that we all know has deep flaws.”

On Feb. 19, topics included foster care, mental health, disproportionate minority contact, gender issues, and changing attitudes and approaches to juvenile justice law.

Claudia Wright, juvenile justice monitor with the Office of the Attorney General in Maryland, began her presentation with an anecdote that captures her view of the present juvenile justice law system. In her story, there is a river that runs through a village that has become inundated with drowning babies. Everyone in the village frantically tries rescue the babies, but still more babies are showing up in the water, desperately in need of rescue.

“So one person turned away from the river and began to walk up the river. Everyone said he had to come back and help [the babies] out of the river. He turned around and said ‘I’m going to go up here and find out who is throwing them in.’”

Wright compared her story to young practitioners – in both education and law – who know the system is failing and want to improve it, but do not go directly to the source of the problem when trying to devise solutions.

Wright’s presentation, titled “Making Systems Integration Work” was the first of the conference. In addition to emphasizing the need to identify the source of failures in the juvenile justice law system, Wright also urged the need for teachers, counselors, and lawyers to “practice without boundaries.” She hailed Gator Team Child as exemplary of this approach, because it assigns an interdisciplinary team of professionals to handle all of the cases surrounding a child, so that case management staff are keenly aware of all aspects of the child’s situation and are able to work more flexibly with that child and his or her family to secure a positive outcome.

“Success is not the responsibility of the child, but rather becomes the responsibility of the adults surrounding that child. They have to change and be flexible and provide that child with what [he or she] need[s]. So when the child fails, it’s the team’s failure and not just the child’s,” Wright said.

Other popular topics of discussion throughout the first day of the conference included factors which may increase a child’s chance of entering the juvenile justice law system. Among these factors are foster care, race, gender, mental illness, and poverty.

Leslie Harris, Dorothy Kliks Fones professor at the University of Oregon School of Law, correlated foster care with delinquency and suggested trying to prevent children from entering foster care as a means to curb juvenile delinquency. Harris rejected the familiar argument that there are simply not enough resources to provide support for children other than foster care and suggested wider use of “family group decision meetings” that consist of a social worker convening the family group, and accepting solutions devised by the family, so long as the solutions meet a basic set of criteria.

Harris’ presentation was followed by Alonzo DeCarlo, associate professor with the Department of Psychology at Chicago State University. DeCarlo brought a unique, clinical perspective to the discussion of juvenile justice law and discussed the rise in prescription drugs to treat behavioral disruptions and the discrepancies between psychiatric treatment and care offered to African-American juveniles as compared to treatment offered to other juveniles. According to DeCarlo, African-Americans are three times more likely to receive antipsychotic medications, but 76 percent less likely to receive new generation drugs that may offer more favorable therapeutic outcomes.

Professor Kenneth Nunn had strong words for the impact of the juvenile justice law system on minority children, furthered by socioeconomic disadvantages and comparatively limited access to quality education.

“What we’re talking about is the existence of oppression in our society today…and greater involvement of kids in those communities with the criminal justice system,” Nunn said.

Nunn called on lawyers to recognize their responsibility to “get our communities to address the fundamental problem here, which is that we are continuing to oppress communities.”

On Feb 20, the second day of the conference, presenters addressed developmental perspectives and programs for change. The conference was concluded with an enlightening and powerful presentation by Geoffrey Canada, founder, president, and CEO of The Harlem Children’s Zone, as well as acclaimed author of Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America and Reaching Up for Manhood. Canada is also the subject of Paul Tough’s book, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America.

Canada himself grew up in the South Bronx, and went on to successfully complete a master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Canada discussed his revolutionary program, The Harlem Children’s Zone, which is composed of a network of sub-programs, and seeks to provide “a net so tight a child cannot slip out” and fall into the juvenile justice system. He also discussed his philosophies on education and juvenile delinquency that have made his program so successful.

“If our country continues to treat the children of America the way it has, we are going to destroy our nation’s prosperity…essentially, we’re going to destroy America,” Canada warned.

He described what he sees as “a certain population that are basically not being prepared for anything except jails and prisons.”

Canada also discussed the disproportionate impact of low graduation rates and incarceration on African-Americans, citing statistics that show that 64 percent of Americans 16-24 who do not graduate from high school are unemployed; 69 percent of this group are African-American. Additionally, 25 percent of African-Americans who drop out of high school will face incarceration, he said.

“There is a direct connection with our ability to educate our children and this end result,” Canada stated.

According to Canada, these statistics constitute a “national crisis.” He dubbed it “the education equivalent of [hurricane] Katrina— there are a bunch of people standing on rooftops waiting on someone to save them, but no one is on the way.”

This year, Canada’s program will work with 8,000 children. Canada said that 500 graduates of Canada’s program are now in college and will work for the program during their summers away from school — a testament to the success of his work.

Canada described his program as “changing the norm” for Harlem and advocated that the same kind of radical thinking that is transforming the futures of Harlem’s children should be applied to schools which are currently failing. He suggested that failing schools should be closed and replaced with programs and teachers that can promote student success.

“We have an industry that’s designed around explaining why poor children failed. Poor children failed because adults let them fail,” Canada said.

Yee Huang, policy Aanalyst with the Center for Progressive Reform, spoke during a special lunch presentation at the PIEC.

The idea of environmental protection often conjures up thoughts of faraway places, most of which we’ve never seen. Whether it’s ice caps, rainforests, or the middle of the ocean, we don’t think of the issue as being close by or tangible. Even the Everglades are hundreds of miles away. But there is much to be done for the environment, and much happening, in our own neighborhoods. This created the focus of the 16th annual Public Interest Environmental Conference, titled “Bringing It All Back Home: Leadership, Land Use, and Locanomics.”

The conference, held Feb. 25-27, kicked off with an opening speech by Julian Juergensmeyer, a professor at Georgia State University College of Law, and professor emeritus at UF.

On Friday, several conferences were held, each covering a different subject, and each chaired with a panel of noted experts from around the country. Each panel not only discussed current challenges, but also ways to address them.

Critics of environmental advocates sometimes argue that these attempted solutions are impractical, but conference co-chair Zach Broome said that special attention was paid to ensure that these were realistic measures that were being discussed. “This year, especially, we wanted to go with very practical solutions,” Broome said. “While some of the ideas may be a little novel or unusual, they’re definitely not merely idealistic.”

By Saturday, conference-goers had been privy to a wealth of information of the problems facing the environment, methods that are being used to solve those problems, and some innovative ideas that have yet to be implemented. But for any change to take place, people need to step up and take the reins. With that in mind, the last event before the closing remarks was a workshop on the next generation of environmental leadership.

Mother Nature wasn’t being very cooperative, making Saturday a rainy and cool day, but that did not keep conference-goers away. Every seat was filled as the workshop began with a video of UF Law students asking questions to former Senator and Governor Bob Graham. Graham didn’t mince words about what he thinks Florida needs. “From the tip of the panhandle to the Florida Keys, we need leadership,” he said.

Not only does the state need leadership, he said, but it needs participation in government and society, especially from young adults. Voting and other signs of participation have been declining in worrying numbers, Graham said. “One of the keys to the future of our robust democracy is for your generation to reverse this.”

After the video concluded, the conference attendees were introduced to a panel of experts, who ranged from members of public boards to those who worked in the private sector. Discussion ranged from the confines imparted by the Sunshine open records laws to Florida’s place as 47th in terms of active citizenship. But throughout the workshop the message was clear: the solutions to our problems are out there, but Florida needs leadership.

And while the conference was attended by a crowd that devotes much of their personal and/or professional life to dealing with matters that confront the environment, Broome said that those credentials aren’t a requirement to bettering your surroundings or getting involved. “You don’t have to be a public interest environmental advocate to do things that are environmentally practical or beneficial.”

Josh Greenberg

The digitization of music has transformed the music industry, marginalizing the role of record labels and placing greater power in the hands of consumers. This sea-change in how music is marketed was the topic of the day at the eighth annual UF Music Law Conference, held at the UF Levin College of Law on Feb. 27.

Musicians, entertainment lawyers, students and others participated in a full-day discussion on issues relating to the digitalization, monetization, licensing and sharing of music online.

With an impressive list of panelists — including keynote speaker Josh Greenberg, co-founder of Grooveshark.com, one of the fastest-growing Internet music services — the conference tackled a variety of issues affecting the music industry.

With the collapse of the record labels’ outdated business model of tightly controlled artists and retail distribution, one of the biggest challenges now facing the music industry is the monetization of digital content, a topic that emerged as a common thread among the panelists’ discussions.

File sharing and the illegal downloading of music may have contributed to the consumer mentality that music downloads from the Internet should be free. Panelists during the first session, “File Sharing: The Uploads and Downloads of Music Sharing,” however, rejected the commonly-held belief that piracy and the use of illegal networks have led to the current disarray of the music industry.

Davey Spicciati, associate for the Orlando firm, Triveti & Associates, noted that the availability of music online in digital format has dramatically changed customer buying habits. In the past, consumers were forced to buy an entire album, she said. Now, they can purchase a digital single of their favorite song from an album.

“There are also a lot more “players” who want to piece of the digital pie,” said Brian Mencher (JD 02), founding partner Beame & Mencher, UF College of Law alumni and founder of the Music Law Conference These players are the artists, the new tech companies, and the record labels and music publishers.

So, if the monetization of content is the problem, how does the music industry create sustainable economic platforms in the new media environment?

In the session, “Musicians’ Perspective, Digital Media Strikes a Chord with Musicians,” which included singer-songwriter Ravi as a panelist, the consensus was that music industry professionals will be forced to develop alternative avenues of revenue stream.

“Music has almost become a promotional tool for the rest of what you do — be it the show, the concert, the merchandizing — it’s kind of the giveaway,” Ravi said. “It’s no longer a durable good, it is a consumable good. To me, that is great opportunity because you can keep making it over and over again, and people will keep on buying.”

Ravi said merchandizing and brand development and management are essential commodities to the artist.

Attoney Chrissie Scelsi understands the importance of an artist maintaining and controlling his own image. In fact, brand management is the crux of the licensing and litigation issues at the center of her research on music video games.

Video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have spawned a whole new set of lawsuits, launched by recording artists such as Courtney Love on behalf of Kurt Cobain, and Gwen Stefani. The lawsuits claim “inappropriate” uses of artist names and likenesses. In her lawsuit Gwen Stefani claims her likeness was depicted doing things she, the actual performer, would have never agreed to do. Courtney Love has likewise threatened to sue Activision, the developer and publisher of the game, for the posthumous use of Cobain’s likeness.

Contracts outlining use of an artist’s likeness are extremely detailed, right down to hair style and way the person is dressed, Scelsi said.

“Sometimes a little bit of humor emerges with technology going before the courts. I can see both sides on this, but, even if you’re a savvy manager, how far out of the box do you have to think? How much research into the technology could you possibly do? And even if you did your research, unless you’ve played the game for hours and hours upon end — you might not know how the character could be used and the implications of the license,” Scelsi said.

One of the highlights of the conference was hearing from Josh Greenberg, the co-founder of Grooveshark.com, an online streaming music service that allows users to search, stream, and upload music instantaneously and free of charge.

Although the company was founded in March 2006 by three UF undergraduate students, it is now one of the fastest-growing online music services on the Web, striving to be the “YouTube” of on-demand music streaming, Greenberg said.

“In order for a service to truly compete with the illegal networks, it has to be better. So what is better?” Greenberg said. “Well you have to start with what peer-to-peer offers. …. If you could have an illegal network get you a song in 30 seconds, then you have to have it in two seconds legally, and these are areas that Grooveshark has taken very seriously.”

“All that having being said, the future is not on your computers — the future is in your pocket. And that’s why Grooveshark has put a lot into mobile development,” he said.

The goal of the competition is to provide moot court team members with useful critiques regarding their oral arguments as they prepare for the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition. This year’s team consists of David Hughes (2L), C. Andrew Roy (2L), Cary Aronovitz (3L), and Philip Moring (3L). Kevin Combest (3L) and Shelly Garg (3L) will serve as alternates.

“This competition provides our students an excellent opportunity to observe the ‘cream of the crop’ exhibit their superb advocacy skills,” said Henry Wihnyk, senior legal skills professor, director of UF Law’s Legal Research, Writing and Appellate Advocacy Department, and moot court team faculty advisor.

Providing critiques for the Maguire competition will be five retired chief justices of the Florida Supreme Court, including the Hon. Harry Lee Anstead (JD 63), Hon. Stephen H. Grimes (JD 78), Hon. Parker Lee McDonald (JD 50), Hon. Ben F. Overton (JD 67), and Hon. Charles T. Wells (JD 64).

“On this, the 100-year anniversary of the Levin College of Law, we are honored that these distinguished judges have returned to the college and given so generously of their time to help our members prepare to compete in the ABA’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition,” said Rob Davis (3L), president, Florida Moot Court Team. “We are looking forward to a very memorable event.”

Students interested in joining the Florida Moot Court Team must be entering their third semester of law school, successfully completed appellate advocacy and be in good academic standing. Once the basic criteria have been met, students must participate in an intramural competition where they write and submit an appellate brief and present two oral arguments before a panel of student and faculty judges. Those who do well in this process are selected to join the team.

The Florida Moot Court Team, founded in 1961, is governed by the Justice Campbell Thornal Executive Board, named after Justice Campbell Thornal (JD 30), the prominent Florida Supreme Court chief justice. The competition is sponsored by the Orlando office of Holland & Knight. The competition would not be possible without the support of Charles W. Abbott (JD 53), retired partner at Holland & Knight.

For more information on the Florida Moot Court Team, visit www.law.ufl.edu/students/organizations/mootcourt.