“There were five people who were finalists and they’re great people, so that’s a question I had. Why me?” Davis said. “But it’s certainly an honor.”

Davis won student of the year while Professor Lee-ford Tritt won professor of the year for the second consecutive year.

“I’m very humbled by the honor of being named professor of the year,” Tritt said. “And I feel so unworthy of this recognition when I reflect upon the great depth of wonderful professors that the law school is blessed to have. My colleagues daily inspire me and guide me. In reality, the students are prepared and trained so well by the professors who teach first year courses that teaching 2Ls and 3Ls is an effortless pleasure.”

Davis, who will work at Holland & Knight in Orlando after graduation, had a great experience at UF Law and congratulated the finalists for student of the year: Clay Carlton, Jon Philipson, Jennifer White and James Tyger. The highlight of law school for him was arguing in front of Chief Justice Roberts for the Moot Court Final Four.

Professor Lee-ford Tritt wins professor of the year for the second consecutive year.

“Not only would that be the highlight of law school, I have a feeling that will probably be the highlight of my legal career, but you never know,” Davis said. “I learned a lot from that experience. I remember Justice [Rosemary] Barkett, when we were walking to the event, pulled us all aside and told us not to be nervous, which we all laughed at. She also said, ‘Treat this as a conversation. It’s not us interviewing you and you responding. We’re talking to you about your case. We want to know your theory and we have legitimate questions that need to be answered.’”

Tritt, who taught Estates and Trusts, Estate Planning and Fiduciary Administration this year, thanked his students for pushing him to improve.

“It’s an extreme honor and privilege to teach the students who attend UF Law School,” Tritt said. “The students are so sharp, hardworking, and dedicated—they keep me on my toes and positively challenge me. The students set a high hurdle which, in turn, makes me a better teacher and lawyer. I learn more from teaching them then they will ever learn from me.”

But even though Tritt has won the award twice in a row he knows there is still room for improvement.

“There is really nothing more important to me than striving to be a good teacher,” Tritt said. “This award means that I will continue to strive to be a better teacher so that I can be worthy of this honor.”

On April 3, during the ball, the John Marshall Bar Association (JMBA) announced third-year law student Kassie Doyle and Professor Lee-ford Tritt as recipients of the 2009 Student and Professor of the Year, respectively. Each year JMBA selects recipients of both awards through a systematic process.

Doyle said she was completely shocked when her name was called during the ball.

“I honestly didn’t think that I would win. I was just thrilled to be a finalist,” said Doyle, who completed her undergrad at Duke University with a degree in Psychology. “It is a great honor. This school is full of tremendously intelligent people that are dedicated and hard working. To be picked out among all of these students, I am just really flattered.”

Doyle, who is the president of the Law College Council, is the kind of person that loves to get involved. She said though law school is challenging, it is important that students get involved and have fun. Otherwise, she said, students would be doing themselves a disservice.

After graduation, Doyle plans to move to Miami and work at McAlpin Conroy, a small maritime and admiralty firm. She said she instantly knew that the firm was the perfect place for her.

“Some of the interviews I went on felt like they would eat me and spit me out for lunch,” Doyle said. “I didn’t want to go to work scared every day. The environment [at McAlpin Conroy] was so great that when I walked in there I fell in love with it right away.”

Years from now, Doyle hopes to still be at McAplin Conroy. One thing that she doesn’t want to do though is make life all about money. “I don’t care to be the richest attorney around, or the busiest. What I really want is for my clients to be able to say that I helped them and made their lives a little better. I think that is something all attorneys should strive for.”

Professor of the Year, Lee-Ford Tritt, who joined the UF Law Faculty in 2005, said that the award meant a lot to him, especially after a difficult year.

“Florida students are phenomenal,” Tritt said. “They are very respectful, and they cheer you up without knowing it.”

So far, Tritt’s experience with the students has been amazing, he said. Just recently, Tritt suffered a loss, and his students were there to make him feel better.

“I have no idea how they found out or how they knew where I lived, but throughout the evening [after the tragedy] I kept on finding on my front door food and beer, which I thought was funny, he said. “I found it really touching.”

Tritt advices law school students to relax, and said they shouldn’t spend all of their time stressing about grades. Though grades are important, he said, they aren’t always the key to being successful.

“Sit back and try to look at the big picture,” he said. “Law is an amazing thing and in this profession the ‘scrappers’ standout. If you are just resilient and you roll up your sleeves and you work, you will be successful. You might not get that grade you wanted or that job you wanted at first, but the best lawyers in the nation are scrappers. They didn’t go to the best law school; they weren’t number one in their class. They make their name another way.”

Tritt said that his favorite thing about teaching is the interaction with his students and the environment at the University of Florida.

“I have lectured many places, but the Florida students are just a unique entity,” he said.

Tritt said teaching is one of the best decisions that he ever made and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“I don’t think that I could ever give up teaching,” said Tritt. “It is addictive and is just amazing. I don’t know what heroine is like, but I assume it’s similar.”

Thomas T. Ankersen
Legal Skills Professor

• The Office of the Provost announced Ankersen will be the Faculty Fellow in Sustainability beginning in the Spring 2008 semester. As the fellowship awardee, Ankersen will pursue a one to two year project to develop an interdisciplinary certificate/minor in sustainability and will be responsible for the following: Researching best practices at universities for integrating sustainability into academics, which may include the existing frameworks for certificates and minor and major courses of study; collaborating with UF faculty on incorporation of sustainability into academics at UF and promoting such incorporation; working with the Sustainability Committee to develop the best model (including structure and format) for academic offerings in sustainability at UF; developing an implementation plan for adaptation of the best model.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Diane H. Mazur
Professor

• Gulf Defender Tyndall AFB, Panama City, FL), Oct. 26. Quoted on the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act. The USFSPA affects the treatment of military retirement pay in divorce settlements and is an emotional issue for career military families. Because they are unlikely to be long-term homeowners, this pension may be the only asset of significant financial value.

Christopher Slobogin
Stephen C. O’Connell Chair; Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry; Adjunct Professor, University of South Florida Mental Health Institute; Associate Director, Center for Children and Families

• Miami Herald, Oct. 30. A televised American Bar Association panel, on which UF Law Professor Chris Slobogin participated, discussed why the nation’s death penalty system “falls short” in providing defendants with “fair and accurate” treatment. Slobogin, who chaired the team that assessed Florida’s system, told the Miami Herald that a “significant majority” of the group voted for a moratorium. The panel’s presentation appeared on C-Span, and excerpts appeared in other media outlets.
• WCSH6.com (Portland, Oregon), Oct. 29. Quoted in an article discussing the American Bar Association’s recent call for a nationwide moratorium on executions. The move comes after a study by the lawyer’s group found significant problems in death penalty prosecutions in eight states including Florida. Slobogin stated that there had been over 20 exonerations of peopleon Florida’s death row in recent years. He said he was concerned both about “people who are factually innocent, who are nonetheless convicted and sentenced to death [and] people who may have committed the crime but should not have been sentenced to death because they’re not the worst or the worst.”

Lee-ford Tritt
Assistant Professor; Director of Center for Estate and Elder Law Planning and Estates and Trusts Practice Certificate Program; Associate Director, Center on Children and Families

• Orlando Sentinel, Oct. 31. Interviewed for an article discussing a murder case presented to a court that says it does not exist in Sarasota. Steve Esdale, the son of Murray Cohen, began a four-day effort to convince a probate judge that Maria Cohen killed her husband. Under Florida’s “slayer statute,” that would forbid her from serving as Cohen’s executor or receiving anything from his estate. “I’ve never heard of this before,” Tritt said. “This is fascinating.”

The new director of the Center for Estate and Elder Law Planning has his sights set on a national reputation for the program. After spending eight years in top-tier New York City practices, Professor Lee-ford Tritt (J.D., LL.M., New York University) brings a very practical perspective to the center.

“When the director positions were offered to me, I didn’t think twice about accepting,” said Tritt, who also will direct the Estates and Trusts Practice Certificate Program. Because of Florida’s large population of retirees, UF’s status as the state’s flagship university, the large sector of alumni who practice in the field, and the caliber of the college’s tax program, Tritt believes the center has a great potential to become the premiere academic research and resource institute on estate planning issues.

“The college has a unique opportunity to create a meaningful academic center that will enhance our college’s national reputation, help prepare our students to meet the challenges of an estates and trusts practice, and provide community services for the area’s elderly and poor,” Tritt said.

Tritt has five main goals. First, he will begin to establish ties with alumni who practice in the field in order to get valuable input concerning the development of the center as well as to provide learning and networking opportunities for students. Next, he would like to establish speaking series and conferences that will bring together scholars and practitioners to focus attention on prominent issues that affect our daily lives. Tritt also would like to update the Certificate Program to reflect the evolving nature of an estates and trusts practice, the American family dynamic and the laws that govern family structures. He hopes interested students will provide community services such as clinics for the elderly. Finally, he wants the center to play a part in shaping Florida’s estates and trusts public policy and statutes. Once these goals are achieved, Tritt foresees building a national reputation that will reflect well upon the entire college and university.