The theme of the annual conference was, “Preparing to Serve,” and its main purpose was to bring the leaders and members of the organization together to exchange ideas and learn various skills to promote and spread various conflict resolution programs and initiatives. Over 140 members from all over the world attended the conference, including renowned author Bernard Mayer, United States Ambassador John W. McDonald and President Jamil Mahuad, president of Ecuador from 1998-2000. Attendees also included student representatives from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, University of Winnipeg Faculty of Law in Canada, and University of Maryland School of Law.

The five law school representatives from GADR proudly represented UF Law at the conference. The students learned practical mediation skills from professionals as well as various ways for students to participate in mediation missions in local and foreign communities.

“Not really knowing anything about MBB and the work that they do I was blown away by the dedication and impact that the members have in their local community as well as in remote communities worlds away. From mediating disputes between Israeli and Palestinians in the Middle East, to working with communities in New Orleans trying to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina and mediating at the 2009 Climate Change convention in Copenhagen, there was truly nowhere the members of MBB could not reach through the complex and often misunderstood art of mediation,” said Alison Wender.

In addition, the GADR representatives met with the leaders of MBB to discuss the importance of expanding student chapters to include more skills-based training in the form of on-campus visits by mediation professionals and national training conferences.

“This weekend was such a wonderful experience and it inspired me in ways I can’t explain. Besides learning some skills at the workshop, we learned so much by meeting people who are actually working as peace builders and mediators. I am genuinely touched by this conference and when I’m back home in the Netherlands I want to start up an MBB University Chapter,” said Rachel Loeve, exchange student from the Netherlands.

Both the leaders of MBB and the general members expressed a deep appreciation for the students who were in attendance. On multiple occasions, leaders and members of MBB praised the students before entire congress and commented that student members are the future leaders of conflict resolution initiatives in the world.

“Hearing about the real-world challenges of professionals in the thick of resolving conflict, like Ken Cloke, Lynn Cole, Tom Fiutak, Prabha Sankaranarayan, and Judge Srdan Simac, helped to put in perspective what the preparation and learning of law school is really all about. I would recommend this conference to any law student dedicated to serving the local and global communities in changing our world,” said Michael Kelley.

In addition to the leaders praising the students, Zarra Elias was a keynote speaker at the conference and had the opportunity to address the congress. Zarra is the chair of MBB’s University Chapter Leadership Committee, and she spoke passionately about the work being done by the student chapters, the rapid progress of GADR at UF Law, and the need for more practical, skills-based training for university students.

“From listening to speakers to attending workshop presentations, I must say that this has been one of best conferences I have attended. I have never been in a room filled with that many inspiring people. Meeting judges, attorneys, doctors, and fellow law students have been a remarkable experience for me. The conference is a testament of goodwill as well as a reminder that many people are capable of opening their hearts to strangers and those in need. They are not just mediators, but they are also ambassadors of peace and kindness,” said Zarra Elias.

Based on the input from Zarra and the other student members, the MBB executive board is currently putting together a proposal to host a national workshop specifically for student members to facilitate skills-based conflict resolution trainings to better prepare students for service.

Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB) is a non-profit, humanitarian organization that partners with communities worldwide in order to build their conflict resolution capacity for preventing, resolving and healing from conflict. MBB is comprised of professional alternative dispute resolution specialists and students of all backgrounds who share a common passion for bringing conflict resolution to communities in need across the world. GADR is one of twelve MBB student chapters.

“The team did a terrific job. It’s always an impressive field of well-prepared teams from schools around the country, so it’s gratifying that they placed so well among the field,” said faculty advisor Alyson Flournoy, director of UF Law’s Environmental and Land Use Law Program.

The competition problem focused on issues related to the export of used electronic devices (computers and cell phones) to a fictitious developing country where recycling of the components was causing harm to health and the environment. The problem raised issues under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act as well as administrative law and jurisdictional issues. The hypothetical case used in the competition involved three distinct parties, so in addition to writing a brief arguing one party’s position, the team had to prepare to argue for three different parties during the competition.

“Representing UF and competing in the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition was a highlight of my time at the Levin College of Law” said Sean McDermott. “I gained incredible practical experience and I had a lot of fun working closely with UF faculty members and others who care so much about environmental issues.”

Tryouts for next year’s team will take place in early April. Interested second year students should look for the announcement in FlaLaw or e-mail Lena Hinson to request information. In fall 2010, a second year student will be selected to serve as coach for the team. The coach shadows and supports the team, assisting with logistics, and travel to the competition with the team during the student’s second year and then automatically becomes a member of the competition team the following year.

Support for the team’s travel to the national competition is provided by a generous gift by Akerman Senterfitt.

Lawyers Crossing Lines is a collection of true stories about lawyers from all segments of the legal profession. The authors, Michael L. Seigel, University of Florida Research Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and former first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, and James L. Kelley, who prior to his death, practiced law for more than 30 years and taught professional responsibility at Georgetown University Law Center, chronicle those who have transgressed ethical boundaries in a big way.

The book’s 10 chapters reveal in rich detail some of America’s most infamous trials and legal personalities. Chapter titles include, “The Ironic Road to Club Fed,” “The Legal Doctor Kevorkian,” “The Case of Casanova and His Clients,” and “Vegas Judge Gone Wild.” Comments and questions designed to explore the issues in greater depth follow each tale.

Here’s what the legal profession has to say about Lawyers Crossing Lines.

“Students learn more from real life than they will ever learn from just reading cases and codes,” said Laurie L. Levenson, David W. Burcham Chair of Ethical Advocacy and professor of law, Loyola Law School. “This book provides an opportunity for students to learn the critical lessons of ethical practice by carefully examining situations where lawyers crossed the line. These are lessons that will stick with them forever.”

“I use Lawyers Crossing the Lines, in a required first-year course on professionalism,” said Patrick E. Longan, William Augustus Bootle Chair in Ethics and Professionalism, Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law. “The stories make it possible for the students to see problems of ethics and professionalism from the perspectives of real lawyers dealing with real situations. They learn more from discussions about the stories than they could possibly learn from just studying abstract principles.”

“The stories contained in this work are compelling, instructive and witty,” said Paul Byron, partner, Overchuck, Byron, Overchuck P.A., Winter Park, Fla. “I had the pleasure of working with Professor Seigel when he was second in command at the U.S. attorney’s office. Mike leads by example, and his message was clear – always take the high road and never short cut ethics. This is a lesson for lawyers, young and not-so-young, to live by.”

To order Lawyers Crossing Lines: Ten Stories, 2nd Edition, visit www.cap-press.com/isbn/9781594606847.

Judge Stan R. Morris

Ethics, professionalism and civility will be the focus of discussion during the University of Florida Levin College of Law 2010 Professionalism Seminar. UF law students, faculty and local attorneys are invited to attend the seminar to be held at 9 a.m., Friday, March 26, in UF Law’s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (room 180). The event is free to UF Law students and faculty.

The seminar features keynote speaker Judge Stan R. Morris of the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida. Judge Morris’ presentation is titled, “Professionalism: The Path to Independence of Lawyers and the Judicial Branch.” Following Judge Morris’ presentation, attendees will break out into small discussion groups lead by judges of the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida, UF Law faculty and local attorneys to discuss criminal law, estates and trusts, family/domestic relations, personal injury/insurance defense and commercial/transactional law.

To register for the event, UF Law students should contact Dean Rachel Inman at inman@law.ufl.edu.

The seminar is sponsored and supported by the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida and David B. Mishael, P.A.

Solomon is currently the director of Ernst & Young’s National Tax Department, a post he took up in 2009. For a decade before then, Solomon worked for the Treasury Department, most recently serving as the assistant secretary for tax policy.

The first subject of Solomon’s presentation, global trends in taxation, may seem puzzling to some. Why should one country care how others tax their citizens? Solomon answered that question at the outset, saying, “I submit that we have to recognize, now, that we are inextricably interconnected to the rest of the world.”

As Solomon presented these trends, such as the globalization of economies and international cooperation, he pointed out that these trends were in response to the problems that countries around the world are facing. As transactions become more complicated, governments must try to keep up, and as revenues shrink, enforcement rises.

Solomon said that in a world where a company can pack up and move its operations overseas, a country must acknowledge the impact that its tax code can have on such decisions. “We have to understand that our tax system is relevant to business decisions made in this country,” he said.

At the same time as countries change their tax codes to create attractive business environments, countries are also working with one another in the enforcement side of the equation. Countries are sharing information with one another, signing treaties, and even joint-auditing. Solomon said that the U.S. and UK are looking for a volunteer to be joint-audited and joked, “If you know a company that wants to be joint-audited by the UK and U.S., let me know.”

While these factors make tax legislation an important subject every year, Solomon pointed out that 2010 will be a particular important year. Solomon explained that there are many code provisions that expire every year, and must be reinserted in order to take effect. However, as Congress has stagnated under the load of the aforementioned controversies, many of these provisions have not been reinserted, with the estate tax being the one that has generated the most attention.

Even with all of this on the horizon, Solomon pointed out that “tax reform is not at the front of everybody’s mind.” With highly controversial subjects like health care, carbon emissions, and unemployment being debated every day, a technical subject like tax reform hasn’t seen a great deal of discussion.

Revenue neutrality has been a focal point for much of the discussion on tax reform that has taken place, but Solomon doubts that it will be much of an issue when tax reform is finally taken up by Congress. The reason, he explained, was that, at that point, the country is almost sure to need more revenue. But still, Solomon only offered one promise on the issue, that there would be individual winners and losers.

“It’s not going to be revenue neutral on an individual basis,” he said,” I can assure you of that.”

“First of all, instead of thinking about possession, I want you to think about dispossession,” Fennell said. “Unfortunately, this does not require a lot of imagination because we have this housing crisis going on around us and there is a lot of it happening right here in Florida.”

According to RealtyTrac, a California-based real estate tracking company, one in 17 housing units in Florida had at least one foreclosure filing in 2009. The company also reported that in 2009, nearly one-half of Florida’s residential mortgages were “underwater,” a scenario where the value of the house is less than the balance due on the mortgage.

“So, we see a lot of dispossession happening around us and it causes a lot of concern,” Fennell said. “As we abstract away from these statistics, we have a depressingly common scenario of a family living in a house they can no longer afford, whether it’s because the mortgage has become unaffordable, or whether it’s because the breadwinner has lost his or her job. Either way, we have a situation where we end up having property rights and possession pulling apart and something’s got to give.”

Fennell explained that either property rights are going to be enforced in a way that cause possession to end, maybe very painfully, or property rights will have to be altered in some way that will allow possession to continue.

“We know that there is a great concern from a policy perspective with dispossession and it’s not limited to these current crises,” Fennell said.

“Similar issues about dispossession come up when we think about landlord-tenant law and we think about policies that are designed to help protect tenants against being displaced due to rising rent levels. We even see concerns about possession being brought up in other legal doctrines like adverse possession.”

Fennell said that many scholars have written on the concerns of dispossession, including former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. when he gave one rationale for why we might have something like prescriptive rights or adverse possession, a principle of real estate law where somebody who possesses the land of another for an extended period of time may be able to claim legal title to that land.

In his 1897 Harvard Law Review article, “The Path of the Law,” Holmes wrote “A thing which you have enjoyed and used as your own for a long time, whether property or an opinion, takes root in your being and cannot be torn away without your resenting the act and trying to defend yourself, however you came by it.”

“So we have this idea that dispossession is really bad,” Fennell said. “If we think that dispossession is problematic, and if we also think that part of what property law is designed to do is to provide continuity of possession and stability of possession, then why is it the case that in the United States, where we have very well developed property rights, that we also have a lot of insecurity of tenure with a lot of people who might be at risk of losing their possessions.”

Fennell explained that those suffering from home loss or are “underwater” is due to external forces that are outside of their control. “Could there be a way to have something that gives you more of what people really want from homeownership including the ability to stay in the home without necessarily carrying all of the risk?” she said.

Fennell suggested the development of local housing market indexes might be one way to address this risk.

“These indexes could be important because it potentially allows us to separate the home’s appreciation,” Fennell said. “Was it due to some really clever remodel or was it because the housing market got better? If we have indexes that could kind of peg the initial purchase price to a certain level and look at how much home prices in the area have increased, it may offer a platform for being able to trade risk better.”

The Wolf Family Lecture in the American Law of Real Property was endowed by a gift from UF Law Professor Michael Allan Wolf and his wife, Betty. Wolf, the Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law, is the general editor of a 17-volume treatise, Powell on Real Property, the most referenced real property treatise in the country, which is regularly cited by the courts, including several citations in the U.S. Supreme Court. Last year, Wolf condensed the 60 year-old treatise into Powell on Real Property: Michael Allan Wolf Desk Edition (LexisNexis 2009) and recently co-authored Land Use Planning and the Environment: A Casebook (Eli Press).

Past scholars who have delivered the Wolf Family Lecture in the American Law of Real Property include, Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and Gregory S. Alexander, A. Robert Noll Professor of Law at Cornell Law School.