• Dominique McPherson
• Nicole Safker
• Yvette Ceandreas Wiltshire

The competition, which took place March 17 and March 18, focused on mediation advocacy, requiring the competitors to undergo mock mediation sessions where one party served as a client and the other as the attorney needing to advocate the client’s interests.

On March 17, Hoffman and Wihnyk competed against two teams from the University of Memphis: Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and West Virginia University College of Law, respectively.

With positive feedback and high scores issued by practicing mediators from the area, Hoffman and Wihnyk advanced to the final round the following day, surpassing ten other teams from across the South.

“I really felt that the vagueness of the fact patterns and the strong competitors put our skills to the test, and made for a challenging competition,” Wihnyk said. “I was incredibly proud and satisfied with how we, as a team, competed, and were able to overcome the numerous obstacles that a start-up organization faces to make it to the finals in only our third competition.”

In the final round, Hoffman and Wihnyk mediated against the second team brought by the University of Memphis.

“We were pleasantly surprised when it was announced that we would be competing in the finals,” Hoffman explained, “but it all came full circle when we realized that the other team had an advantage — having teammates who had competed against us and a coach who had observed the entire mediation. We knew that we would need to develop a strategy whereby we acted in the roles those team members had not observed us in.”

Though the team did not win the final round, Hoffman and Wihnyk felt validation for their preparation after hearing the judges explain that the scores were incredibly close, and commend them on their performance.

“In the end, it was the first time the UF ADR team advanced to the finals of any competition,” UF ADR President, Jennilyn Thiboult said, “we are incredibly pleased with the results, proud of our team and looked forward to future competitions.”

Members of NBLSA attended a gala as part of the convention.

University of Florida Levin College of Law students traveled to the nation’s capital for the National Black Law Students Association annual convention.

The 44th convention, which took place March 7 through March 11, gave law students the opportunity to network, attend workshops, conduct community service, and compete in one of the three competitions.

Four University of Florida Levin College of Law students turned out for the 6th annual international negotiation competition.

Vivian Seymour (3L), Mikalla Davis (3L), Keisha Edwards (2L), and Gisselle Martinez (2L) paired up in two rounds of negotiations. This year’s competition challenged students to negotiate a solution to the Greek economic crisis.

“The average score for our negotiations was 96 out of 100. I think our high score speaks to the caliber of the competitors and the professionalism that all the teams in the competition put forth,” Seymour said.

Although Seymour did not advance in the competition, she found the experience of advocating for a client educational since she applied skills she learned from semesters of negotiation classes and clinics to the competition. She also picked up new negotiating tactics along the way.

“It was an exhilarating experience to negotiate,” she said.

Also present at the convention was UF Law student Anitra Raiford (3L), the national director of membership for NBLSA.

Raiford has been involved with NBLSA for two years, where she previously served as the southern region parliamentarian. Raiford’s duties as director of membership include overseeing national enrollment, coordinating partnerships with businesses to provide benefits for NBLSA members, and organizing membership receptions, amongst other activities.

For the convention, Raiford organized a panel called “Sister to Sister,” which brought female attorneys and students together for a discussion about legal practice. She said the panel was so popular that some attendees had to stand.

Raiford also helped coordinate the annual A. Leon Higginbotham luncheon and implement the pre-law division panels.

“It was a huge success. We had the most attendees ever,” Raiford said of the convention.

Lisa Thelwell (3L), the national director of communications for NBLSA, is responsible for developing the communications strategy for the organization and overseeing all membership publications, such as the organization’s official magazine and the national website.

After serving as the recording secretary of the southern region of NBLSA last year, Thelwell began to appreciate the role NBLSA plays in assisting black law students, especially those without family members in the legal profession.

“Becoming active in NBLSA is by far one of the most memorable experiences of my law school career,” Thelwell said. “The organization has helped me to grow professionally in ways that I could not imagine.”

Before and during the convention, Thelwell and a team were responsible for marketing and promotion, including updates to the website, and informing the membership and the general public about the convention. She also served as a chair for two panels during the convention.

For her tireless efforts in promoting NBLSA, Thelwell received the NBLSA Board Member of the Year award, which recognizes a board member who has demonstrated outstanding service to NBLSA.

Also in attendance was Miaya McCray (2L), chapter president of the W. George Allen Black Law Student Association (BLSA). McCray is also a member of the southern region of NBLSA and acts as regional director of community service.

“The ability to learn and network with other members of NBLSA, black attorneys and supporters of the organization, be they black or of another race, was incredible,” McCray said about the first NBLSA convention she had the chance to attend.

Although this year’s competition is over, McCray and Raiford encourage law students to attend future NBLSA conventions for its discussion of diversity, networking benefits and educational opportunities.

“I think that conventions are a way of discussing and addressing the state of the black law student as well as the black legal professional. Attending conventions offers perspectives from diverse religious, regional, and cultural aspects,” said McCray.

Raiford agreed, saying, “I would highly recommend that all law students, and not just NBLSA members, attend the National Convention because it has so much to offer. There are so many opportunities made accessible to law students that are not generally available.”

Sara Phillips (3L) shows what she can do with her prosthetic running leg at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park late October. She ran her first race with the leg Oct. 8 in the GreenLaw annual Eco-Run 5K. (Photo by Melissa Montilla)

A story featuring a University of Florida Levin College of Law student is now award-winning. UF journalism student Jared Misner won the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Region Three Mark of Excellence Award for “Running through life.”

“Running through life” tells the story of Sara Phillips (3L) and her struggles after losing a leg. It was printed in FlaLaw Online in October 2011.

“She is an inspiration,” Misner said of Phillips. He worked with Phillips over the course of a few days to compose the article, even following Phillips to the GreenLaw annual Eco-Run 5K.

Misner submitted the story to the annual competition because of its subject matter and inspirational qualities.

“The article spoke most to me,” said Misner about choosing Phillips’ story over other articles he wrote throughout 2011.

The Mark of Excellence Award is given by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) to recognize the best student journalism in the country. Awards are given in various categories, from sports photography to radio news reporting.

“Obviously, (I am) very humbled to be recognized for the work that I do,” Misner said. Last year, SPJ awarded Misner regional first place for editorial writing.

This year, winners from the region will receive their awards during the Mark of Excellence Luncheon held in Gainesville on March 23. The first-place winners will go on to compete nationally.

Although Misner will not be attending the luncheon, he said the award and recognition is just a small part of the journalism package.

“Having the ability to tell stories for a living is an honor,” said Misner.

Click here to read the story.

Florida Moot Court Team members Amanda Finley (3L), Bob O’Linn (2L) and Nick Andrews (2L) traveled to the 20th Annual Honorable Conrad B. Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition hosted by St. John’s University in New York March 10-12.

Duberstein is the largest one-site Moot Court competition in the nation, with well over 50 teams from across the country competing. Finley, O’Linn, and Andrews survived the gauntlet with an impressive display of advocacy and cruised into the semifinal round, as one of the top four teams, where they eventually fell short against the eventual champions from UT-Austin, finishing in a tie for third overall. In addition to their remarkable run, the trio took home the coveted Best Brief Award for the competition, which is the first for the Florida Moot Court team since Fall 2010.

This honor was not without merit, as Finley, O’Linn, and Andrews worked tirelessly on the brief, fine-tuning it to near perfection. For Finley, this will be a tremendous warm-up as she will be competing with her fellow classmates next month at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition in Vienna, Austria. Meanwhile, O’Linn and Andrews are well-prepared to carry the mantle for the Florida Moot Court Team into 2012-2013.

While the team has demonstrated a promising growth in written advocacy, the team continued its dominance at oral advocacy at the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition last month at the Atlanta Regional. There, the Florida Moot Court Team sent two teams of competitors: Leigh Anne Siddle (3L), Dan Lazaro (3L), and Jordan Peterson (3L) consisted of one team, while Andrew Labbe (3L), Dylan Shea (2L), and Kelsey Veitengruber (2L) were the second team. Each survived to the Quarterfinal round of the Regional. From there, the team of Labbe, Shea, and Veitengruber advanced to the Regional Final.

As expected, they did not leave empty-handed, as Dylan Shea brought home the Best Oralist award for the Regional, and Labbe was named Runner-up to Shea. These accomplishments were not surprising, as both Labbe and Shea consistently finished with the top scores in every round. This success wasn’t just limited to Shea and Labbe, as each of the competitors received high scores in each of the rounds.

For the team of Siddle, Lazaro, and Peterson, they could not overcome an unlucky matchup with the team that ultimately received the Best Brief award. Meanwhile Labbe, Shea, and Veitengruber found themselves on the wrong side of a tie-breaking vote in the final round.

Nevertheless, the Florida Moot Court Team is well positioned to make another run at a Top 16 ranking nationally with several competitions left in a variety of subjects before the year is over. This past weekend, the Florida Moot Court Team sent two teams to competitions in New York City (Entertainment Law) and Boston (Intellectual Property). Soon, the team will travel to competitions focusing on Evidence, Criminal, and Constitutional Law. For 1Ls who are interested in litigation or possess an insatiable competitive-streak, the Florida Moot Court Team will be holding informational and tabling sessions in the near future regarding tryouts this summer and will soon have a TWEN page with more details.