Journal of Technology Law and Policy publishes 15th Anniversary issues this year
The Journal of Technology Law and Policy is excited to be publishing its 15th Anniversary issues this school year. Alumni of the journal can receive recognition by participating in the 15th Anniversary Alumni Sponsorship. We are extremely grateful to the following alumni who have already graciously contributed to the sponsorship: Matthew Thatcher, Kris Powell, Ken Tinkler, Gabriel Fitch, Rebecca McFadyen, and Maulin Shah. For more information on the sponsorship or questions on how to get involved with the journal, please contact Nicole Fluet, editor-in-chief, at jtlp.eic@gmail.com.

Princeton Review seeks input from law students
The Princeton Review has once again named the University of Florida Levin College of Law one of the best law schools in the nation. Distinguished schools will be profiled in the 2012 edition of Best Law Schools. In order to help them represent UF Law accurately, please fill out the following survey to author a new “Students Say” profile and update our ratings.

Law School College Republicans resume meetings
The Law School College Republicans will be starting back up after a brief hiatus. Meetings will be every other Tuesday (beginning on the 18th) at 12:30 p.m. in the meeting room in the back of the law school cafeteria. For more information, join the Facebook group by e-mailing uflawrepublicans@groups.facebook.com. This week the group will be organizing for the upcoming semester. All interested are invited to come. Adviser professor is Steve Willis and club chairman is Bryan Griffin.

Florida Moot Court Team excels in Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition
The Florida Moot Court Team competed last semester in the Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Miami. Team members Rob Davis (3L) and C. Andrew Roy (2L) advanced to the semi-final round after achieving the highest overall score in the preliminary rounds, beating out 10 other teams including teams from the University of Oklahoma, University of Miami, and Emory University. In addition, Roy received the Best Oralist award for the regional competition. Encompassing both First Amendment freedom of speech issues as well Fourteenth Amendment equal protection issues, the competition problem involved a public defender whose employment contract was not renewed following several presentations at CLE seminars regarding the lack of funding for certain minority, indigent clients. The Florida Moot Court Team is UF’s premiere competitive moot court team and is governed by the Justice Campbell Thornal Executive Board.

Tax Moot Court Team places second in national competition
Congratulations to Tax Moot Court Team Captain Joshua Landsman (3L) and James Baley (2L) on their second place finish in the recent National Tax Moot Court Competition. Congratulations also to Chris Pavilonis (JD 09, LLM 10) and Professor Steven Willis, who co-coached the team. The competition included teams from Oregon, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Massachusetts, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida and other states. The Levin College of Law team placed second for the second consecutive year. The UF Tax Law Society sponsored the team for this competition as well as another team for the upcoming Tax Moot Court competition in Buffalo. In addition, the UF Tax Law Society sponsors a team for the National Securities Dispute Resolution Competition in New York. Last year the UF Law team placed first in securities mediation in that event. On behalf of the UF Tax Law Society, the team would like to thank the Law College Council, The Florida Moot Court Team, and the Student Government Association for financial contributions that partially funded the team’s participation this year. In addition, the team would like to thank the Levin College of Law and also Jason Yoepp for his assistance and contributions. (Photo from left to right: James Baley, Joshua Landsman and Chris Pavilonis)

Earn extern credits with UF Law Costa Rica Program
Got Spanish? The UF Law Costa Rica Program enjoys a unique relationship with the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, the research organ of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica. As a result, a qualified UF Law student enrolled in the program can extern with the institute for three credits during the summer program. For students with an interest in international human rights, Latin America and in developing their ability to write and speak in professional Spanish this is a unique opportunity. For more information contact Costa Rica Program Director Tom Ankersen or Michelle Ocepek. Those wishing to get a student’s perspective on the experience should feel free to speak with Miredys Gonzalez, last year’s extern at the Institute.

The Journal of Technology Law and Policy introduces new Web site
The Journal of Technology Law and Policy presents their new and improved Web site, with information on how to contribute, subscribe, and find out more information about the journal and its members. Special thanks to Web site Executive Miriam Cortes and Assistant Editor-in-Chief Jared Beckerman for their outstanding contributions to the site. Interested students should check the site later this semester for updated information about our next write-on/grade-on competition. Visit http://jtlp.org for more information.

Ankersen and Hamann attend international wetlands symposium
Tom Ankersen, director of UF Law Conservation Clinic, and Richard Hamann, associate in law at the UF Law Center for Governmental Responsibility, along with UF PhD students and faculty affiliated with the National Science Foundation’s Integrated Graduate Research, Education and Training Program in Water, Wetlands and Watersheds presented their research at the international symposium “Wetlands in a Flood Pulsing Environment: Effects and Responses in Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning and Human Society” in Maun, Botswana, the gateway to Southern Africa’s storied Okavango Delta. Hosted by the Henry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Center at the University of Botswana, the week long symposium was attended by leading researchers representing some of the world’s most significant wetland environments, including the Okavango, the Pantanal and Amazon flooded forests of Brazil, Florida’s Everglades and the Mississippi River Delta, the TonLe Sap Great Lake wetlands of Cambodia, and the famed marshes of the Tigris & Euphrates River Valley of Southern Iraq – among many others.

Trial Team travels to National Trial Competition
Congratulations to 3L’s Kali Feinman and Aaron Kelley and 2L’s Jennifer Leitner and Brian Wolf, who travelled through the snow to Jackson, Mississippi this weekend to compete in the National Trial Competition. The competition capped nearly two months of diligent preparation and resulted in each team trying the case three times over two days. In addition to handling motions and evidentiary issues, this competition requires all advocates to have both sides of the case prepared and to try either side with very little notice. The team’s next competition will be the American Association for Justice competition held in Atlanta, Feb. 25-28.