Find out about Environmental and Land Use Law opportunities
The Environmental and Land Use Law Program offers students many opportunities to learn about this exciting area of law and develop relevant skills, by earning a Certificate in Environmental and Land Use Law, or enrolling in any of the wide array of course offerings, including the Conservation Clinic, summer externships and the Summer Study Abroad in Costa Rica. A one year post-J.D. LL.M. is also offered through the program. In addition, students can gain experience and knowledge, broaden their networks, and get to know fellow students and faculty by participating in the Environmental and Land Use Law Society (GreenLAW), the Environmental Moot Court Team and the Public Interest Environmental Conference. This year, the program will also offer several fellowships for students involved with the program. To learn more about these opportunities, students should attend the ELULP informational meeting Tuesday, Oct. 12, from 12–12:50 p.m. in HOL 345. If you want to learn more now, please visit our website, or contact Lena Hinson at elulp@law.ufl.edu if you have specific questions or want to set up an appointment with Program Director Alyson Flournoy.

Enrollment deadline for Environmental and Land Use Law Certificate Program
Students interested in enrolling in the Environmental and Land Use Law Certificate Program for this semester are encouraged to do so before Monday, Oct. 18. Through the Environmental & Land Use Law Certificate Program, students can graduate from law school with a valuable credential that indicates both concentration and accomplishment in these two fields. If you have recently enrolled, or plan to do so, please contact Lena Hinson at hinson@law.ufl.edu to set up an appointment with Program Director Alyson Flournoy to discuss your course of study for Spring 2011. For more information on the ELUL Certificate Program, please click here. Enrollment forms are available online or in HOL 319. Students enrolled in the certificate program will receive e-mail notification regarding priority pre-registration for core courses.

Anti-Defamation League Fellowship in Boca Raton
The 2011 Yegelwel 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. A generous gift from UF Law alumnus Evan Yegelwel, who graduated in 1980, has made this Fellowship possible. Yegelwel is a partner in the Jacksonville law firm of Terrell Hogan Ellis Yegelwel, PA.
Fellowship duties: The fellowship will last eight to 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 freedom of speech and association, religious freedom and separation of church and state, and employment and public accommodations discrimination. The fellow also handled constituent discrimination complaints and participated in ADL meetings, functions and events.
Eligibility: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. First-year students are encouraged to apply for the fellowship, subject to verification of successful completion of their first-year courses prior to the start of the fellowship term. The student must also pass a background check. To apply, please submit the following: (1) a personal statement of 500 words or less outlining any past experiences or qualifications that indicate your interest in and commitment to public service; (2) a resume; (3) two references (including names, addresses and phone numbers); (4) an official transcript and (5) a letter verifying good academic standing. Please submit a hard copy of these items to Patricia Hancock in HOL 340. Deadline to apply is Nov. 1. Questions? Come to the Yegelwel Fellowship Open House. Past Fellows will discuss their experiences and answer questions about applying for the Fellowship, Wednesday, Oct. 13, at noon in HOL 350. Open to 1Ls, 2Ls and 3Ls. Pizza and refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact Melissa Bamba (CSRRR Assistant Director) at 352-273-0614 or bamba@law.ufl.edu.

Specialist can help your writing skills
Concerned about your writing skills? Our new legal writing specialist, Andrew Reynolds, is now available to help you. He graduated from UF this August with a Ph.D. in English, and he has worked as a writing instructor and tutor for several years. You are encouraged to visit Reynolds for assistance with any writing issues you might have, whether you need specific questions answered or want to learn general strategies for more effective communication. His office is located in HOL 372. He is available Mondays (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Tuesdays (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and Thursdays (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). E-mail him at areynold@law.ufl.edu to make an appointment. Walk-ins are also accepted. In addition, Reynolds will be conducting writing workshops on Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Oct. 7 and Oct. 14. All four workshops will take place in HOL 285C at 10 a.m. Additional information about the workshops will be provided closer to the scheduled times.

Patti Williams, left, stands with Deb Staats at Tuesday's Service Pin Ceremony. Williams was awarded a 30-year pin for her service to the College. (Photo by Joey Springer)

UF Law faculty honored staff members at the Service Pin Ceremony Tuesday, Sept. 21. Employees received recognition for their years of work at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Dean Jerry personally thanked everyone for their service and recognized how much of the school’s success is attributable to them.

This year, Michelle Horn, Micah Johnson, Angelia Forder and Robin Henry received five-year pins. Lenny Kennedy, Liz Mosier, Judy Boyd and Lisa Caldwell received 10-year pins. Marilyn Henderson received a 15-year pin. Janet Williams, Ellen Robinson and Betty Donaldson received 25-year pins. Theola Thornton and Patti Williams received 30-year pins. “We appreciate all you do,” Dean Jerry said. “We are pleased and proud to have you in our UF community.”

Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Professor Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colordblindness" addresses the crowd Wednesday, Sept. 22. (Photo by Joey Springer)

“We have not ended the racial caste system in America, we have merely redesigned it,” said Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Professor Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” at her discussion Sept. 22.

Students, faculty and community members gathered to hear the lecture and ask the first-time author questions. Alexander intended her book to be “a wake-up call.”

“It was my greatest hope in writing The New Jim Crow that it would help to stimulate public dialogue and debate about a phenomenon that has been ignored for far too long in this country – the mass incarceration of poor people of color,” Alexander said. “I’m thrilled that I’ve been invited to share my work and research, and that the university community is eager to have a serious conversation about our nation’s undercaste.”

She recognized that the idea may seem absurd, even admitting that 10 years ago, she thought a bright orange sign in Oakland, Calif., that said “the drug war is the new Jim Crow” was ridiculous. However, after spending 10 years working on issues of racial profiling, drug law enforcement, police brutality and attempting to assist individuals “attempting to ‘re-enter’ a society that never seemed to have much use for them in the first place”, she finds the claim irrefutable.

“With the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, people of all colors are more reluctant than ever to acknowledge that an enormous percentage of the African American community remains locked in a permanent, second-class status. Our nation’s prison population has quintupled for reasons rooted more in politics than crime, and the racial dimension of this tragedy is undeniable. In major American cities today, the majority of young African American men are behind bars or branded felons for life. And once branded a felon, you’re trapped. You’re ushered into a parallel social universe in which you can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against in employment, housing, access to education, and public benefits. So many of the old forms of discrimination that we supposedly left behind, are suddenly legal again once you’ve been labeled a felon.”

When asked the best way to take a stand on the issue, Alexander responded that it is “not easy.” Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., she continued, “You have to be willing to stand alone if you are going to stand for justice. This is as true today, as it was back then.”

She said the most important thing anyone can do is to raise awareness and break the silence about how mass incarceration works and how it has devastated communities. She hopes The New Jim Crow will provide the information people need to start discussing “the devastating impact of the War on Drugs and the ‘get tough’ movement on poor communities of color in the U.S.”

“Nothing short of a major social movement has any hope of ending the mass incarceration in the U.S.,” she concluded.

The Center on Children and Families and the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations sponsored Alexander’s lecture.

Joshua Lukman is among the UF Law grads who passed the July Florida Bar exam.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law achieved the highest passage rate on the July Florida bar exam out of the state’s 11 law schools, according to results recently released by the Florida Supreme Court.

Out of 310 UF Law grads that took the examination, 269 passed, resulting in a 86.8 percent pass rate compared to the state’s overall pass rate of 79.2 percent. Florida State University (86.2) and University of Miami (86) rounded out the top three schools.

“UF Law was first in Florida on the July 2010 Bar Exam, and continues to hold the record of having the most consistently strong performance on the bar over time of any law school in the state. When February and July exam results in the same year are combined to ensure accurate class-by-class comparisons, UF Law ranks first in 2010 and have been in the top two six of the last seven years, 12 of the last 13 years,” said UF Law Dean Robert Jerry.

“UF Law is also proud to be the only top-tier law school in Florida, the only Florida law school ranked in the top ten in the nation in the Super Lawyers ranking of alumni and the first-choice destination for most Florida residents seeking a legal education in Florida,” Jerry said.