Former Gov. Buddy MacKay (JD 61), center, and his wife Anne speak Feb. 12 to UF Levin College of Law Professor Jon Mills (JD 72), UF Law students Vivek Babbar (3L), LL.M. candidate Alexis Segal and Chelsea Sims (3L) during a fundraiser for a UF Law environmental fellowship. The fundraiser was held at Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell in downtown Orlando. (Photo by Richard Goldstein)

By Richard Goldstein

At the behest of a who’s who of Florida politicians, the foyer of Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell in downtown Orlando was packed with 70 people for an evening fundraiser.

The crowd gathered on behalf of UF Law students and in honor of the “defender of the Everglades.” Friends and colleagues said Thom Rumberger devoted much of his career fighting on behalf of the Florida environment.

Former Gov. Buddy MacKay (JD 61) and his wife Anne mingled in the crowd Feb. 12, and MacKay, who was Rumberger’ UF Law schoolmate, was just one of several prominent figures lending their names to the goal of raising $300,000 for environmental law scholarships. Others include former Gov. Charlie Crist, former Attorney General Bill McCollum (JD 68), former Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink, and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

The law firm and UF Law are spearheading the drive to endow the E. Thom Rumberger Everglades Foundation Fellowship Program.

“This fellowship celebrates three of Thom’s favorite passions: The Everglades, the University of Florida Law School and the law itself,” Frank Sheppard, managing partner of Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, told the crowd.

Jon Mills (JD 72), a UF Law professor and director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility, worked with Rumberger on landmark environmental and constitutional cases.

“We’re going to have a permanent legacy of students who represent the kind of principled commitment and integrity that Thom Rumberger represented,” Mills said. “So exhibits one, two and three, please step forward.”

UF Law students Chelsea Sims (3L), Vivic Babar (3L) and LL.M. student Alexis Segal squeezed to the front of the room. These are the type of students who will benefit from the fellowship, Mills said.

Sims, from Bevard County, is working on a Conservation Clinic project securing permits to salvage tires damaging endangered corals off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.

Babar, from Lake Mary, works with UF Law Conservation Clinic clients drafting legislation for a noticed general permit for oyster reef restoration and who participated in UF Law’s three-week course on South Florida ecosystems in the Everglades.

Segal is seeking an LL.M. in environmental and land use law. She launched the Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper in January 2011. It’s a nonprofit devoted to protecting, conserving and enhancing the water quality of Biscayne Bay and its surrounding watershed. Segal is a Climate Institute Fellow who works with the UF Law Conservation Clinic to assist a Bahamian nonprofit to establish a marine reserve zone and research facility in Long Island, Bahamas.

“What this fellowship will do is create the opportunity for students to work in the public interest areas, Everglades restoration in particular … in order to build a career,” explained UF Law Dean Robert Jerry. “I promise you that we will use your investment in this fellowship most wisely and the future returns on this investment will be wonderful.”

Eric Eikenberg, executive director of the Everglades Foundation, noted Rumberger’s long involvement with environmental conservation and encouraged everyone in the room to call elected representatives on behalf of pro-Everglades environmental policy.

“We need to ensure that in these tight budget times the commitment to conservation remains strong,” Eikenberg said.

Debbie Rumberger called the scholarship an apt send off for her late husband.

“This is such a fitting legacy for him and on behalf of the family,” she said. “I want to thank you from the bottom of our heart.”

To donate to the E. Thom Rumberger Everglades Foundation Fellowship Program go to www.uff.ufl.edu/appeals/Rumberger.

Two Colombian law professors discuss ways to enhance the law school’s human rights curriculum with Dean Robert Jerry at UF Law on Feb. 18. From left, Tim McLendon, Center for Governmental Responsibility staff attorney and director of the UF Law-Colombian project; Elvia Serrano, director of the law program at Universidad del Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia; Veronica Torres, director of El Consultorio Juridico at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia; Dean Robert Jerry; Dr. Philip Williams, Director of UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. (Photo by Haley Stracher)

Two Colombian law professors visited UF Law on Feb. 18-19 as part of the Center for Governmental Responsibility’s project on “Building Human Rights Capacity in the Colombian Caribbean,” a three-year project based on capacity-building for law schools in relation to the human rights curriculum. The project includes service to their communities through clinics and outreach programs; sustainability in identifying and meeting human rights needs; and information exchange and joint research on human rights topics.

Veronica Torres, director of El Consultorio Juridico at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia, and Elvia Serrano, director of the law program at Universidad del Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia, visited UF Law to learn about UF’s various programs and activities and to discuss ways we can enhance their human rights curriculum. UF law is working with UF’s Center for Latin American Studies and College of Education on this project.

UF will receive funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development through Higher Education for Development (HED) to support this project. The U.S. Agency for International Development administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.  For more information, visit www.usaid.gov. HED mobilizes the expertise and resources of the higher education community to address global development challenges. Higher Education for Development (HED) works closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is founded by the nation’s six major higher education associations to support the involvement of higher education in development issues worldwide. For more, visit www.hedprogram.org.

Conservation Clinic students work on water quality issues with a woods restoration consultant and an Adventure Outfitters guide along the springs coast at the Florida Chassahowitzka River during a fall 2012 field trip.

By Francie Weinberg
Student writer

Looking for a chance to work with clients and make a difference in the world? Housed at the law school’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, the University of Florida Levin College of Law Conservation Clinic offers both law and graduate students the opportunity to work on cutting-edge environmental and land use law and policy issues.

The Conservation Clinic provides upper-level environmental law students and graduate students in conservation-related fields with exposure to environmental and land use professional practice, applied research and public policy analysis under the supervision of Professor Thomas Ankersen, the clinic’s faculty adviser.

Interested students need to have completed three semesters and can earn up to six credits in two semesters. Of the students who apply, Ankersen accepts between nine to 12 students per semester. While most accepted students are involved in the Environmental and Land Use Law Program, students in other areas can apply and can benefit from the clinic. The clinic emphasizes applied research and writing as well as speaking skills, and the ability to work with Ph.D. and other graduate students is a unique aspect of the Conservation Clinic.

After graduating from UF Law in 1986, Ankersen practiced in an environmental law firm in Miami for five years. He then spent a year with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund where he developed an interest in international law that brought him back to UF Law and a series of projects in Latin America, India and Africa.

Ankersen started the clinic in 2002 when faculty saw the need to expand its Environmental and Land Use curriculum and students were seeking skills training in the area. Over the past 10 years, the program has grown exponentially and the clinic is an essential part. The program is now fifth among public colleges and ninth overall, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.

“Anything that you can do to demonstrate that you have real world experience is going to help you get a job,” Ankersen said. “If you’re working on projects that require you to understand an area of law Florida’s water law and do an analysis for a client that leads to a change in the law, or even an internal decision that client makes, that’s something you’ll do when you’re practicing law. That’ll definitely be recognized by a potential employer – in addition to providing a public service.”

So many people are interested in the clinic’s services that Ankersen said they’ve had to turn projects away. He picks projects based on what he thinks students will get value out of, whether their work will have an impact, and if the client would be able to accomplish its goals without the help of the clinic.

Past projects have included drafting local ordinances and comprehensive plan amendments, obtaining environmental permits for coastal restoration and preparing contracts for environmental service payments. Clinic clients include the Sea Turtle Conservancy, the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education and the Blue Water Initiative. Occasionally students have opportunities to work on international law projects or with local governments.

Chelsea Sims (3L) began her work in the Conservation Clinic while studying abroad in Costa Rica. Her first project was for The Nature Conservancy, where she worked to help ensure that environmental service concessions benefit indigenous communities.

Sims then took on the Blue Water Intitiative, Inc., a reef restoration and conservation nonprofit, whose main project is removing tires from the Osborne Reef off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale. This reef was home to more than 1 million tires that were dumped in the 1970s in an attempt to create an artificial reef. Years of currents and hurricanes have become dislodged tires from the main tire field and they are destroying real reefs by bumping into and crushing them.

Sims helped the Blue Water Initiative obtain the necessary state and federal permits to remove the loose tires and dispose of them. She went with Blue Water Initiative members on their first dive to remove about 100 tires. The group no longer needs the clinic’s services, but asked Sims to remain on its board of directors to help with future legal issues.

“The clinic taught me real-world skills that cannot be learned through lectures and books,” Sims said. “It introduced me to a great network of people in the field I want to work in when I graduate, and it allowed me to work on a range of projects so I could discover what areas I would like to work in when I have my own career.”

The Environmental and Land Use Law Program, the Conservation Clinic and the Public Interest Environmental Conference all represent the College of Law’s commitment to developing the skills of tomorrow’s environmental lawyers to face tomorrow’s environmental problems.

UF will receive nearly $757,200 from the U.S. Agency for International Development through Higher Education for Development to create the Colombian Caribbean Human Rights Center, which will build capacity in human rights among two Colombian Caribbean law schools through rigorous interdisciplinary research, education and community service with emphasis on serving vulnerable populations.

The center will assist regional law schools in training future legal practitioners with knowledge on national and international human rights standards, the skills to support human rights reform in Colombia, and in enhancing outreach initiatives to better serve minorities, displaced persons and other vulnerable populations.

“The faculty at the colleges of law and education, and at the Center for Latin American Studies, possess great depth in international law, human rights and experiential learning,” UF Law Dean Robert Jerry said, “and are very well suited to achieve the goals of this ambitious program.”

Directors of the project are Jon Mills, dean emeritus and director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility at the Levin College of Law; Pilar Mendoza, a native Colombian and assistant professor in higher education administration in the College of Education; Philip Williams, director of the Center for Latin American Studies; and Timothy McLendon, Center for Governmental Responsibility staff attorney.

The UF team will work with the Universidad del Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia, and the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. Both universities offer courses and activities to enhance human rights awareness and education in the region.

“Respect for the rights of individuals, especially vulnerable populations, is vital to the development of the democracy and economy of a nation,” Mills said. “We are honored to have this opportunity to work with two distinguished Colombian universities on such an important priority for the U.S. government. The Levin College of Law is acknowledged for its faculty expertise in human rights.”

The three universities will work toward establishment of the human rights center through enhanced human rights curricula; workshops and training programs in Colombia; educational opportunities at UF for Colombian faculty members and LL.M. students; and collaborative research and scholarship between Florida and Colombian faculty.

The project will include law faculty with expertise in human rights, clinical legal education and comparative law; and education faculty from the Collaborative Assessment and Program Evaluation Services . The award will be managed by the Center for Latin American Studies.

“Given the fundamental importance of enhancing the protection of the human rights for Colombian citizens after years of internal conflict, the Center for Latin American Studies is thrilled to be working alongside the Center for Governmental Responsibility and the College of Education in a project of such national and international significance,” Williams said.

During the first two years of the project, the Center for Governmental Responsibility’s annual Conference on Legal and Policy Issues in the Americas will focus on human rights in Colombia, beginning with a workshop in Gainesville in spring 2013, and a major conference to be held in Colombia in spring, 2014.

Two recent factors have increased U.S. interest in human rights in Colombia – the end of overt civil war and weakening of guerilla movements and the development of free trade agreements.

Colombia also is an important trading partner with the State of Florida, as evidenced by an upcoming trade mission to Colombia, led by Gov. Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida. In announcing the trade mission, the Governor’s Office said Florida trade with Colombia totaled $9 billion last year, noting that Colombia is one of the top five destinations for Florida products, representing nearly $3 billion a year in exports.

“The higher education sector is rapidly developing in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Mendoza said. “The University of Florida is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these developments and engage in these types of collaborations.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.  For more information, visit www.usaid.gov.

HED mobilizes the expertise and resources of the higher education community to address global development challenges. Higher Education for Development (HED) works closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is founded by the nation’s six major higher education associations to support the involvement of higher education in development issues worldwide. For more, visit www.hedprogram.org.

Pedro Malavet

What might a judge in Argentina, a lawyer in Brazil, a legislator in Peru and a law student in Gainesville have in common? UF Law.

The Law & Policy in the Americas Program, sponsored by the Center for Governmental Responsibility, aims to bridge geographical boundaries and often-conflicting bodies of law to foster connections between legal scholars and lawyers in the United States and those in Latin America. Each year, the program holds the Law & Policy in the Americas Conference, alternating its location between Gainesville and a Latin American country each summer. Last summer, the conference was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and by all accounts was a great success. Now in its 13th year, the conference has been held in San Jose, Costa Rica; Lima, Peru; Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba, Brazil; and Montevideo, Uruguay, according to the CGR website.

At first glance, it may not seem clear how UF Law can foster important relationships between countries as vast and varied.

“[The conference] is the perfect example of how we as an institution are developing critical connections with Latin America,” said conference coordinator and UF Law Professor Pedro Malavet, who also serves as director of the LL.M. in Comparative Law Program.

The conference panels are led by UF Law faculty, who seek out colleagues from Latin America to provide the complementary international perspective. Each year, the conference is attended by about 100 lawyers, law students, legislators, journalists and businesspeople from the United States and Latin America.

Jon Mills, UF Law professor and CGR director observed that conference participants band together based on their area of interest rather than nationality. Scientists meet other scientists, lawyers with lawyers, legislators with legislators, environmentalists with environmentalists, and so on.

“It’s very rewarding to see,” Mills said. “These relationships in the modern world are easy to sustain,” he added, underscoring the importance of the Internet as a means to keep in touch.

Malavet said a major purpose of the conference is engaging people in legal policy reform. For example, Malavet said, Brazil has recently developed an extensive legal policy regarding environmental regulation and conservation of natural resources, but the country has encountered obstacles when it comes to putting the laws into practice. That’s where the conference comes in – through ties made at the conference, Brazil has been able to call upon other Latin American countries that have already been through the process of implementing and enforcing their environmental regulations.

In addition to fostering relationships among legal practitioners and students in participating countries, the conference promotes UF Law and its academic programs, generating interest among international students and practitioners, especially in the environmental law and land use law LLM programs.

Malavet noted the impact that the rapid economic growth of several Latin American countries has on the Florida legal landscape. There is a large need for legal services on behalf of Latin American investors who forge business partnerships and pursue ventures in the United States. Partnerships between Florida lawyers and their Latin American counterparts serve to bridge the gap between two different legal systems – the common-law system of the United States and the civil law systems predominant in Latin America. But the benefit goes both ways – when United States attorneys help their Latin American counterparts, all parties involved gain a greater perspective and understanding on the role and significance of laws in their own country, Malavet said. This is especially true for the UF Law scholars who participate in the conference, he said.

“I find, ultimately, that looking at other legal systems in detail helps us to understand our own and helps us to produce high-level scholarship here in the United States,” Malavet said.

- Nicole Safker (JD 12)

• Dominique McPherson
• Nicole Safker
• Yvette Ceandreas Wiltshire

The session focuses on “Change Management … Adjusting to Public Expectation” and features panel discussions on benefit and compensation issues; budgets, services, and public perceptions; and preparing for the next generation of Florida managers.

Panelists include city and county managers from throughout Florida, including Gainesville City Manager Russ Blackburn and Alachua County Manager Randy Reid, and CGR Director and Professor Jon Mills.

Registration is required and information is available online.

The Hays-Hood House, built in 1910, was restored by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation as its new headquarters in 2004 in Tallahassee. (Photo courtesy of State Library and Archives of Florida).

Historic preservation activities in Florida contribute more than $6 billion annually to the state’s economy, accounting for more than 110,000 jobs, according to a two-year study by the Center for Governmental Responsibility (CGR) at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

UF researchers, partnering with the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University, examined activities that included rehabilitation of historic buildings, heritage tourism, state historic preservation grants, operations of history museums and Florida Main Street Programs. The study was funded by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources in the Florida Department of State. It updated a similar study completed in 2002.

“Despite negative events of significance to the international economy since our earlier study, we found that historic preservation activities continue to make a significant positive contribution during these tough economic times,” said Timothy McLendon, CGR staff attorney and lead researcher on the project. He cited such events as the impacts of the World Trade Center bombings on travel, tourism and the international economy; the economic meltdown of world banking and financial markets, affecting housing, real estate and construction; the international recession; economic struggles of state and local governments; and unemployment trends.

Using a formula developed by Rutgers economists David Listokin and Michael Lahr, the study found that in-state benefits from investment in historic preservation included: 111,509 jobs; $2.9 billion in income; $4.2 billion in gross state product; $1.38 billion in taxes; and $3.77 billion in in-state wealth.

The overall findings of the study were:

1. Historic preservation creates jobs in Florida and in the United States. Of the more than 110,000 jobs created in Florida, nearly half were in the retail sector and a quarter were in the services sector. Another 20,000 jobs were created in the U.S., outside of Florida.

2. Historic preservation contributes to state, local and federal tax collections.

3. Historic preservation creates in-state wealth, and $2.9 billion in income to Florida residents.

4. Rehabilitation of historic properties in Florida is a multi-billion-dollar business. More than $2 billion was spent rehabilitating existing residential and non-residential historic Florida property in 2007-08.

5. Florida visitors spend billions visiting historic sites. Heritage tourists in Florida spent an estimated $4.13 billion in 2007-08.

6. Investments through the Florida Main Street Program are revitalizing historic downtowns and original commercial corridors, thus bringing citizens, visitors and dollars back to the heart of communities throughout the state. Florida Main Street investment output was roughly $409.6 million in construction and retail job benefits in 2007-08.

7. History museums attract millions of tourists visiting Florida. Approximately 13 million people (Floridians and out-of-state tourists) visited a history museum in the state.

8. Florida’s Historic Preservation Grants program supports rehabilitation and tourism, thus enriching the state’s economy. Researchers visited sites throughout Florida that were among the recipients of a total of more than $193.8 million in state grant funds between 1996 and 2008.

9. Historic designation does not depress property values and may help maintain value. Researchers, working with UF’s Geoplan Center, examined more than 20,000 parcels of single family residential property in communities throughout Florida, including Gainesville, Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth and Tallahassee from 2001-09. The study found that in 12 of 18 cases studied for 2001-09, historic district properties showed greater increases in property values than comparable property in non-historic neighborhoods. For the period from 2006-09, historic districts tended to maintain their values better than the non-historic neighborhoods.

Florida sites featured in the study are: South Beach in Miami Beach; El Jardin Mansion at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Miami; Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid; Historic Masonic Lodge #36 A.F. & A.M., Daytona Beach; Old City Hall, Chipley; Ximenez-Fatio House Museum, St. Augustine; Tarpon Springs; Ponce Inlet Lighthouse & Museum; Crooked River Lighthouse, Carrabelle; Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, Baker County; Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park, Leon County; Ray Charles Boyhood Home, Greenville; Okeechobee Main Street; Lincoln Park Main Street, Fort Pierce; Main Street Punta Gorda; Main Street Wauchula; Dade City Main Street; Panama City Main Street; Main Street Starke; Newberry Main Street; Pensacola Historical Society & Museum, Historic Pensacola Village; Historical Society of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach; The Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida, Naples; Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch; Charlotte County History Center, Punta Gorda; Mandarin Museum and Historical Society; Old Firehouse No. 3, Key West; Bing Rooming House, Plant City; Historic Derby Street Chapel, Cocoa; Vietnam War Patrol Torpedo Fast Boat, PTF3, DeLand; and Flagler College Art Building, St. Augustine.

The research findings are included in a 52-page executive summary and detailed in an extensive technical document that accompanies the summary. Both will be available soon at CGR’s web site at: http://www.law.ufl.edu/cgr/publications.shtml.

• George Eppsteiner
• Camila Pachon
• Amber Seay
• Olga Shraybman
• Kimberly Thomas
• Melissa Welsh