Newly selected members of Florida Blue Key stand in the Advocacy Center courtroom with current Blue Key President Dana Somerstein, third from right. From left are Ryan Gilbert (3L), Dane Ullian (2L), Allie Menegakis (3L), Somerstein, J. Wes Stephens (3L) and Brock Hankins (2L), the incoming Florida Blue Key president. (Photo by Haley Stracher)

By Jenna Box
Student writer

University of Florida Levin College of Law students continue to lead the Florida Blue Key.

The fall president-elect is Brock Hankins (2L), who succeeds current FBK President Dana Somerstein (3L).

On April 7, five UF Law students were tapped as members into the prestigious organization, and Hankins was tapped as president-elect of FBK effective fall 2013. On April 27, they will be officially inducted along with Honorary Tapping Class 2013 members Rachel Inman, UF Law associate dean for student affairs, Glenn J. Waldman (JD 83) and Gwynne Young (JD 74).

UF Law’s 2013 spring FBK inductees are: Chelsey Clements (2L), Ryan Gilbert (3L), Allie Menegakis (3L), J. Wes Stephens (3L) and Dane Ullian (2L).

FBK was founded in 1923 at the University of Florida with the mission to unite leaders across campus and generations. Membership offers the chance to serve the community and the university while also providing personal enhancement and growth. The network of FBK includes many UF Law alumni who have gone on to become great leaders, such as Stephen C. O’Connell (JD 40), a Florida Supreme Court justice and president of the University of Florida, and Stephen N. Zack (JD 71), president of the American Bar Association from 2010 to 2011.

“I am honored to induct these wonderful leaders into the Florida Blue Key organization,” Somerstein said. “They are all incredibly hard workers and great representatives of the law school community. I cannot wait to see how they will represent Florida Blue Key as they continue their involvement and servant leadership in the future.”

Black Law Students Association President Brandon Campbell (2L) speaks during a presentation at the UF Law Board of Trustees meeting on Saturday. UF Law’s BLSA chapter has been named best in the nation. (Photo by Haley Stracher)

By Felicia Holloman (3L)

The University of Florida Levin College of Law Black Law Students Association represented the college at the annual national convention in Atlanta March 6-10, and took home two prestigious awards.

UF Law BLSA, also known as the W. George Allen chapter, was recognized as the national chapter of the year, beating out over 200 other groups. It is the National Black Law Students Association’s highest award and honor given to any chapter.

“This award shows yet again that UF is among the top law schools in the country, and that UF’s excellence is consistent in many areas,” said BLSA President Brandon Campbell (2L).

The group submitted a three-part application then competed for the title of regional chapter of the year. After being named chapter of the year for the southern region, UF Law BLSA went on to compete nationally.

The last step in the process included an interview in which Campbell answered questions posed by two NBLSA board members.

Campbell highlighted all of the community service outreach that BLSA spearheaded throughout the year, including the state of the Black Law Student town hall meeting, diversity initiatives with pre-law students across the country, the 50-year anniversary celebration of W. George Allen, UF Law’s first black graduate and UF BLSA’s namesake, and a professionalism week program.

“The leadership of our UF Law BLSA chapter has been superb these past years, so the chapter being recognized as the national chapter of the year is a well-deserved and exciting honor,” said UF Law Dean Robert Jerry.

Meanwhile, BLSA’s negotiations team won first place in the international negotiation competition held during the convention. The winning team consisted of Atiya Munroe (2L) and Laselve Harrison (2L).

“Getting one national title is a rare achievement for any law school, so the BLSA Negotiations Team also winning the national championship creates an extraordinary combination of awards, demonstrating that UF Law’s students have succeeded in making our BLSA chapter one of the very best, and I would argue the number one chapter, in the country,” said Jerry.

Campbell believes the awards are also representative of the movement toward diversity in education.

“This award is a major step in the right direction, not only for BLSA, but for the advancement of diversity at UF,” he said.

As for what the future has in store, BLSA has already established a conference in September, which will include every chapter in Florida and chapters in Puerto Rico and other states.

“I am fully confident that those coming after me will be able to continue BLSA’s model of excellence,” Campbell said.

The members of BLSA give special thanks to Donald Pritchett and Eugene Pettis for their annual endowments to UF BLSA. BLSA would also like to thank its graduate advisor, Katheryn Russell-Brown; the Center for Race Relations; the Law College Council; and the Center for Career Development for sponsoring its trip to Atlanta and supporting its activities this year.

Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnett discusses the Affordable Care Act at the 32nd annual Dunwody Distinguished Lecture in Law on March 22. (Photo by Haley Stracher)

By Matt Walker

Although the Supreme Court did not reach the overall decision on the Affordable Care Act that he would have liked, Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnett said victory was achieved “by the constitutional theories we prevented from being adopted by the Supreme Court.”

Barnett, who represented the National Federation of Independent Business in its case against the Affordable Care Act spoke on “Who Won the Obamacare Case (and Why Did So Many Law Professors Miss the Boat)?” at the 32nd annual Dunwody Lecture in Law on March 22.

The Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at Georgetown University Law Center said he became involved in the case because of two issues.

“One was saving the country from Obamacare, which I think is disastrous public policy, and we’re all going to have to find out how disastrous it is shortly,” Barnett said. “And the second thing was saving the Constitution for the country.”

He said that although they lost in the first point, he was relieved that they won the second point – five of the justices affirmed his views of the Commerce, and Necessary and Proper clauses.

The clauses, which give Congress the power to regulate commerce and “to make all laws which shall be necessary” to carry out its powers, were upheld when the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was struck down by the court, according to Barnett.

He said rather than a mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance, individuals will have the option to purchase insurance or pay a tax penalty. Analysts say that people who decline to purchase health insurance will see no difference whether it is called a “mandate” or a “tax.”

Barnett said the ruling makes bad law in two ways, but made constitutional law better in more important ways.

“First (Chief Justice John Roberts) claimed the power to rewrite a law by giving it a saving construction to uphold it even though that construction is not the most natural reading of the statute,” he said. Additionally, “the chief justice allowed that Congress may impose an unprecedented tax on inactivity.”

Barnett said as a result of the ruling, “Congress has the unprecedented and potentially dangerous power to tax inactivity without apportioning the incidence of such tax equally among the states.”

Despite those losses, Barnett emphasized several points on which he said his side was victorious: Denying the government the power to force citizens into economic activity, preventing the Supreme Court from adopting a stance that would give Congress more power to regulate the national economy, and upholding that conditions on federal spending are unconstitutional.

“While our failure to prevent the egregious Affordable Care Act from taking effect remains a bitter disappointment and one I have not gotten over yet, this should not be allowed to detract from all we have accomplished,” Barnett said. “Only time will tell who really won the Obamacare case, but for now the constitutional scheme of limited and enumerated powers lives to fight another day.”

The Florida Law Review Dunwody Distinguished Lecture in Law series was established by the U.S. Sugar Corporation and the law firms of Dunwody, White, & Landon, P.A. and Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody & Cole in honor of Elliot and Atwood Dunwody. The honorees were brothers who dedicated their lives to the legal profession and who set a standard of excellence for The Florida Bar. As graduates of the University of Florida College of Law, they labored long, continuously and quietly to better the social and economic conditions in Florida.

The series is intended to perpetuate the example set by the Dunwody brothers by providing a forum for renowned legal scholars to present novel and challenging ideas.

An archived video of the Dunwody Lecture is available at www.floridalawreview.com.

“Gay Marriage and the Promise of Equality” will be at noon in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180, with a book signing immediately following. The talk is free and open to the public. Parking restrictions in the green areas at the law school will be lifted for the event.

Sachs’ career as a human rights activist started in his student days at the University of Cape Town, when he took part in the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign. He devoted his law practice to defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. Many faced the death sentence. He himself was raided by the security police, subjected to banning orders restricting his movement and eventually placed in solitary confinement without trial for two prolonged spells of detention. In 1988, Sachs was the victim of a car bomb attack carried out by South African security agents, losing an arm and the sight of one eye.

During the 1980s and early 1990s Sachs was centrally involved in drafting the African National Congress’ proposed constitution for a new democratic South Africa. As a member of the Constitutional Committee and the national executive of the ANC he took an active part in the negotiations that led to South Africa becoming a constitutional democracy. He was appointed by President Nelson Mandela in 1994 to serve on the newly established Constitutional Court, and in 2005 he authored the court’s landmark decision requiring legal recognition of gay marriage in South Africa.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Albie Sachs speak at UF,” said UF Law Senior Legal Skills Professor Joseph Jackson. “He’s a remarkable person and a major player in the constitutional transformation of South Africa, who has helped that country heal the divisions of the past.”

Sachs’ talk is co-sponsored by UF Law’s Center on Children and Families and UF’s Center for African Studies.

Sachs will also give a talk at the Center for African Studies at 4 p.m. titled, “Combating Corruption: Kenya’s Efforts to Judge its Judges.” Visit the African Studies website for complete details, http://web.africa.ufl.edu/.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law is up in U.S. News & World Report rankings released March 12. Among the nation’s 201 public and private ABA-accredited JD-awarding law schools, UF’s law school is 23rd among public schools and 46th overall.

The publication places the school in two top specialty program rankings: first among public law schools and third overall in tax, and fifth among publics and 12th overall in environmental law. UF Law also continues to be highly rated in terms of reputation – 10th among publics and 26th overall in the assessment of practicing lawyers and judges, and 15th among publics and 35th overall in the assessment of academics.

“We are pleased that we continue to be one of the best values available in legal education,” said UF Law Dean Robert Jerry, referring to UF Law’s high placement for quality and equally low placement for cost among all U.S. law schools. “We’re among the three most affordable law schools in the US News top 50, when taking tuition and cost of living into account.

“At the same time, I caution every year that U.S. News and other rankings need to be considered in context and weighed along with other factors in evaluating institutional quality and fit, particularly when one considers the many factors not reflected in this ranking that make UF Law a leading law school,” Jerry said. “For example, we have a proven track record in providing leaders for the profession at both the national and state levels, and the prominence of our alumni in the federal and state judiciaries also sends a strong statement about our quality.”

In other national rankings, UF Law was fourth among public law schools in 2011 (eighth among all law schools in the nation) in the number of its graduates serving as federal district and circuit court judges.  More than 250 graduates serve as state appellate and trial judges in Florida, and many serve in those roles in other states as well. A 2012 Journal of Legal Education article titled “Where Do Partners Come From?” surveyed the National Law Journal 100 law firms and found that UF Law ranked 11th among publics and 29th overall in the number of alumni graduating from 1986 to the present serving as partners. A ranking by Super Lawyers magazine placed UF Law first in Florida, fourth among public schools, and eighth overall in “output,” i.e. the caliber of a school’s graduates. A 2012 article from Legal Metrics ranking law schools based on the number of arguments by their alumni before the U.S. Supreme Court since 2000 placed UF Law in the top 10 nationally.

“That a large number of law schools hire our graduates as law professors is also a sign of the college’s strength,” said Jerry.

A study published in the August 2011 Journal of Legal Education ranked UF Law in the top 33 (17 percent) of law schools nationwide, and as high as 22nd (11 percent) in one calculation, for the impact of its faculty on the law.

UF Law is also one of the top 10 law schools in the nation for Hispanics, according to Hispanic Business Review (seven times in nine years), and was ranked in 2012 as one of the top six schools for blacks in the South by On Being a Black Lawyer magazine.

It is unusual for a school to be so affordable, successful in both academia and the profession, and highly rated in such diverse areas.

“Thanks to our exceptional faculty and outstanding graduates, the UF Law Graduate Tax Program has ranked at the top of the U.S. News specialty tax area for as long as they have published the list, and remains the No.1 public school in this area,” said Associate Dean for Graduate Tax Mike Friel. “We are always gratified to see the program’s quality recognized in this way.”

ELUL Program Director Mary Jane Angelo said, “We are proud that UF’s Environmental and Land Use Law Program continues to be distinguished as a top program in this critical area. We have a large and dynamic program, and the faculty and students work very hard through projects like our annual Public Interest Environmental Conference, which attracted 250 participants to Gainesville this year, to make a genuine impact on current environmental issues.”

Jerry concluded, “The University of Florida is a quality school that cares about our students and offers them multiple paths to career satisfaction and success. We have state-of-the-art facilities and a beautiful campus, and we are part of one of the best and most comprehensive universities in the nation. The loyalty and influence of the Gator Nation’s law alumni cannot be overstated. Rankings like those published in the Journal of Legal Education and elsewhere offer interesting information for prospective students to consider and can help guide us in our continuing efforts to improve, but should be used as only one data point among many.”

Tim Center, executive director of Sustainable Florida, standing, facilitates, from left, a conversation among Daniel Rohlf, an associate professor at Lewis & Clark in the school’s environmental and natural resources program; Amelia Savage, attorney at Hopping Green & Sams; John Kostyack, vice president of Wildlife Conservation for the National Wildlife Federation; and Reed Noss, Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida during a panel on Feb. 22 at the 40th Annual Public Environmental Interest Conference at UF Law. (Photo by Maggie Powers)

By Lindsey Tercilla
Student writer

More than 250 students and environmentalists reflected on 40 years of the Endangered Species Act at the 19^th annual Public Interest Environmental Conference Feb. 21-23.

The conference, which spanned Thursday to Saturday, included multiple panel discussions, a workshop sponsored by The Florida Bar, and training opportunities for attorneys and those outside the legal field.

Tim Center, executive director of Sustainable Florida, facilitated a Friday afternoon conversation among a panel of speakers about the ESA’s future in Florida.

While the act has been a great tool in providing protection for many species, John Kostyack, vice president of Wildlife Conservation for the National Wildlife Federation, observed that the act has not evolved to account for species migration.

“The ESA is one small tool in a larger tool box,” he said. “Ninety percent of the force to change the act will be through economic incentive.”

Kostyack then posed the question of whether or not there is a happy meeting ground for how to change the act.

Amelia Savage, attorney at Hopping Green & Sams, assists developers in acquiring building permits navigating the regulatory process, the legislative arena, or a litigation setting with regard to environmental law. Savage provided a different perspective from the land development and construction side of the argument.

Daniel Rohlf, an associate professor at Lewis & Clark in the school’s environmental and natural resources program, focused on addressing sections four and seven of the ESA. The difficulty comes with defining an endangered species.

“It’s amazing that we still aren’t sure what an endangered species is,” he said.

There’s also the question of how much security we want for species biodiversity.

Classifying endangered species, amending the act, and accounting for a sufficient amount of biodiversity are all at the forefront of environmentalists’ minds. However, one major thing that affects the ESA and environment alike is our ever-growing population.

Reed Noss, Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida, spoke about this growth in relation to new species and our duty to the environment.

“There’s a lot going on simply due to population growth and overconsumption that could lead to the extinction of some species before we’ve even named them,” Noss said. “We are custodians and stewards of the land. The land is not a commodity that belongs to us.”

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference included Carl Safina, founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute and award winning author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Eye of the Albatross, and Zygmunt Plater and Patrick Parenteau, attorneys in the landmark decision of Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill et al. – temporarily halting the completion of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River in order to protect the snail darter, an endangered species of fish.

Carl Safina, founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute and award winning author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Eye of the Albatross, addresses conference attendees Thursday as a keynote speaker at UF Law’s 19th Public Interest Environmental Conference. (Photo by Elise Giordano)

When the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, it proved to be a great step forward in showing the United States’ and Congress’ commitment to preserving our nation’s natural heritage and protecting native plants and animals from extinction.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the ESA, the 19th annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Florida Levin College of Law focused on the evolution of endangered species protection over the past four decades. “The Endangered Species Act at 40: Polishing the Crown Jewel,” was held this past weekend. The full story will be available in the March 11 issue of FlaLaw.

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference included Carl Safina, founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute and award winning author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Eye of the Albatross, and Zygmunt Plater and Patrick Parenteau, attorneys in the landmark decision of Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill et al. – temporarily halting the completion of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River in order to protect the snail darter, an endangered species of fish.

The conference also included multiple panel discussions, a workshop sponsored by The Florida Bar, and training opportunities for both attorneys and those outside the legal field.

When the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, it proved to be a great step forward in showing the United States’ and Congress’ commitment to preserving our nation’s natural heritage and protecting native plants and animals from becoming extinct.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the ESA, the 19th annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Florida Levin College of Law will focus on the evolution of endangered species protection over the past four decades. “The Endangered Species Act at 40: Polishing the Crown Jewel,” will be held Feb. 21-23 at UF Law.

“I’m very excited about this year’s conference,” said UF Law Professor and Director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Program Mary Jane Angelo. “We are bringing in experts from around the U.S. to discuss the act’s many successes, such as the recovery of our national symbol, the bald eagle, as well as significant challenges we face in the future such as addressing impacts from habitat loss and climate change.”

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference include Carl Safina, founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute and award winning author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Eye of the Albatross, and Zygmunt Plater and Patrick Parenteau, attorneys in the landmark decision of Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill et al. – temporarily halting the completion of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River in order to protect the snail darter, an endangered species of fish.

The conference will also include multiple panel discussions, a workshop sponsored by The Florida Bar, and training opportunities for both attorneys and those outside the legal field.

UF Law student and PIEC co-chair Chelsea Sims said the PIEC is one of the largest student-run conferences in the nation.

“It’s a great opportunity for UF students to engage with cutting edge issues surrounding endangered species such as the Florida panther, corals, sea turtles, manatees and more,” Sims said.

To view the agenda and register for the conference, visit http://www.law.ufl.edu/academics/concentration/elul/public-interest-environmental-conference. UF Law students and faculty attend free-of-charge. Select “student” when registering.

“Any student that is interested in learning about the status of endangered species, the role of climate change, or the interface of science and policy regulating endangered species will enjoy this free event at the law school campus,” said Rachael Bruce, UF Law student and PIEC co-chair. “Please come out and join us.”

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens speaks with UF Law professors Kenneth Nunn, John Stinneford and Danaya Wright during the Marshall M. Criser Distinguished Lecture Series held in the Marcia Whitney Schott Courtyard on Tuesday. (Photo by Elise Giordano)

At 92, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has a lifetime of experience and legal wisdom to impart, which he readily did Tuesday at UF Law. Stevens was welcomed for the second time in five years as the Marshall M. Criser Distinguished Lecturer. Stevens spoke at the inaugural Criser Lecture at UF Law in 2008.

The conversation was facilitated by UF Law Professors Kenneth Nunn, John Stinneford and Danaya Wright. Stevens addressed a wide variety of topics, including proportionality in sentencing, interpreting history, changing technology, and experiences and court opinions from his years as a justice.

“Justice Stevens not only appears to have encyclopedic memory of his decisions during his term on the court, but he remembers his reasons for reaching the conclusions he did and also the countervailing arguments that might have led him to decide differently,” Stinneford said. “As someone who can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning, I found this very impressive.”

One of the cases Stevens addressed in particular was Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. – a case Stevens said he believed to be a routine case in 1984 when he wrote the majority opinion. In the years since, it has become one of the most cited cases in administrative law.

“You don’t – at the time you’re working on a case – always appreciate what its long-run impact will be,” Stevens said.

Stinneford said “this is a nice reminder that we should take even the mundane events of our lives seriously, as they may turn out to have a bigger impact on our lives than we realize at the time.”

Stevens also addressed his legacy as a Supreme Court justice when Nunn suggested that his opinions over the years seemed to grow more liberal.

“To tell you the truth, I think I’m a good deal more conservative than people often assume because I feel very strongly that judges should not be deciding certain issues,” he said. “I’m sure I must have changed to a certain extent but I don’t think I’ve changed a tenth as much as the court in general has changed.”

He said each Supreme Court appointment beginning with his own was more conservative than his or her predecessor.

Wright said of spending time with Stevens before and after the lecture that he was delightful, modest and interesting.

“He told stories of his days before the court and he remembered almost all the cases we talked about quite well,” she said. “I did manage to dredge up a case he had only signed onto the majority opinion on, and he didn’t remember it very well.”

Stevens also imparted some advice for current law students, including the benefits of attaining a clerkship.

“I think it’s really excellent experience, and that’s at all levels, not necessarily appellate court but trial courts too,” he said. “You learn a great deal about how litigation actually works by being in the inside of the process for a year or so.”

In closing, Stevens emphasized the importance of studying hard, and ultimately having a good reputation as a practicing lawyer.

“It’s very simple and you’ve heard it over and over again: One, study hard and take your work seriously,” he said, “and remember that the most important asset that you’re going to have when you get out in practice is to have everybody in the profession know that your word is good, because that is a critical part of the profession – the integrity of the lawyer – and that’s something you must always keep in mind.”

The Marshall M. Criser Distinguished Lecture Series was created in early 2007 by Lewis Schott (B.A. 1943, LL.B. 1946) of Palm Beach, Fla., as a tribute to his fellow UF Law alumnus, former UF President Marshall Criser (JD 51). The goal of the speaker series is to host prestigious national and international speakers every year on topics of particular interest to law students. Past speakers have included Justice Clarence Thomas and former ABA President Stephen N. Zack (JD 71).

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