Last week we had an incident on our campus involving comments written on a classroom whiteboard. Although neither the identity nor the intent of the writer is known, the comments could be and were interpreted by some members of our community as reflecting negatively on their ethnic  and cultural heritage. Communications intended to show disrespect to or degrade other persons or groups are inappropriate and not to be tolerated. Beyond the question of intent, however, we must be aware that  our words and actions can have a negative impact on others, and each of us must be careful to reflect upon how our words and actions will be understood by others. Hurtful language and actions do not become appropriate and acceptable in our community — or in our profession — by virtue of the absence of a specific intent to hurt others.

Within our community, we do not practice and we do not tolerate harassing or threatening behavior, intimidation, abuse of authority, the use of degrading language toward any person or group, impeding any community member’s right to communicate his or her ideas simply because of disagreement with the content, or lack of civility toward those with opposing views.

As members of the legal profession, we have a special obligation to assist our society in dealing with injustice and unfair treatment of individuals and groups. As members of our law school community, we are expected to fulfill this obligation in our interactions with others in the college and the university.

Richardson

Twenty-two years ago Professor David Richardson came to the University of Florida tax program on a whim. In a telephone conversation with Professor Jack Freeland, Richardson not only learned of an opening for the position as director of the Graduate Tax Program, he realized applications were due the next day. He met the deadline and got the job. He served in that position for the next four years and remained a professor for the next 18.

During his time at UF, Richardson has been at the forefront of the Graduate Tax Program, now one of the most highly rated in the country. He helped found the law review that publishes articles dealing with significant issues of tax law and policy, and served as the faculty editor for two years after its inception. In 2005, Richardson co-authored a textbook on civil tax procedure that was published in the LexisNexis Graduate Tax Series. Richardson also serves on the board of directors of the Graduate Tax Series and expects there will be eight books in the series published by next August. Richardson, who is retiring this month, is fulfilled by the success of the LL.M. students.

“The thing that gives me the most satisfaction is that our students are in demand across the country, in private practice, as corporate counsel and in the government. Our graduates carry the college’s banner proudly and enhance the college’s reputation.”

]]> http://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2006/12/professor-richardson-bids-farewell-after-22-years-at-grad-tax-program/feed/ 0 http://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2006/12/book-award-recipients-honored/ http://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2006/12/book-award-recipients-honored/#comments Mon, 04 Dec 2006 00:00:20 +0000 wsmitty@ufl.edu http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=3970 Students, faculty and friends of the law school gathered in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom Nov. 17 to honor Book Award recipients for the spring and summer semesters.

Presented every semester, Book Awards recognize the top performers in each class, and give alumni a chance to support academic excellence at the Levin College of Law.

More than 100 students were honored for their performance in classes over the past two semesters. Joseph S. Tro- endle, above left, took home the most awards with four, followed closely by Adam D. Mait, above right, who earned three. Other multiple award winners include Seldon J. Childers, Jonathan Huels, Joshua R. Levenson, Caroline McKinney, John Rains, Kevin Shuler, and George Wright.

If you have received a Book Award, but weren’t able to attend the Nov. 17 ceremony, you can pick up your plaque in the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at 267 Holland Hall. The office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 Mary Jane Angelo

Assistant Professor

• Presented “Rapanos, Carabell and Beyond” (an analysis of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions addressing jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act) at the Florida Wetlands Conference in Tampa, Nov. 17.

Lars Noah

Professor

• Published the 2nd edition of his casebook Law, Medicine, and Medical Technology with Foundation Press.

Barbara Bennett Woodhouse

David H. Levin Chair in Family Law; Professor; Director, Center on Children and Families and Family Law Certificate Program; Co-Director, Institute for Child and Adolescent Research and Evaluation (ICARE)

• Advised Fordham University in developing its multidisciplinary center on child advocacy. • Presented the keynote speech at St. John’s University’s Nov. 17 conference on “Race, Class, Culture and the Child Welfare Crisis.”

• Spoke at a ceremony in Phoenix in connection with the renaming of Arizona State’s law school in honor of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. 

Michael Allan Wolf

Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law; Professor

• Spoke at the “Preservation 101” seminar sponsored by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, Nov. 16, in Jacksonville on “Who’s Afraid of Property Rights?, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Constitution.”

Steven J. Willis

Professor

• Published “People in Glass Houses” in 113 Tax Notes 477 (2006).

• Presented on the topic of “Family Law Economics: Ruminations on Property,” to Family Law Section of the Collier County Bar Association at its annual Family Law Conference

Joseph W. Little

Professor, Alumni Research Scholar

• Independent Florida Alligator, Nov. 14. Little will be representing Charles Grapski, who has been charged with felony wiretapping.

• High Springs Herald, Nov. 17.  Successfully defended Charles Grapski and had the case against Grapski dismissed by the judge.

• University Wire, Nov. 17. Mentioned in an article about Charles Grapski’s victory against wiretapping charges. He acted as Grapski’s attorney.

Katheryn Russell-Brown

Professor; Director of Center for Study of Race and Race Relations

• C-Span, Nov. 19. Interviewed about her book Protecting Our Own:Race, Crime, and African Americans, following her appearance on a panel at the Miami Book Fai International

Michael L. Seigel

Professor

• Polish National television, Nov. 29. Interviewed regarding the extradition of Edward Mazur, a dual U.S. and Polish citizen who has been charged in Poland with hiring a hit man in connection with the June 1998 killing of the former Polish National Police Chief. Seigel was asked about the US-Poland Extradition Treaty and his views on whether Mazur will be extradicted given his U.S. citizenship.

Justice Wells

Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles T. Wells still remembers the words of the commencement speaker when he graduated from law school at the University of Florida in 1964. The speaker was Chesterfield Smith, a prominent UF Law alumnus who was then president of The Florida Bar.

“I remember that his theme was ‘I love being a lawyer,’” he said. “And he described the ingredients of someone growing to love being a lawyer, that it’s not something that comes naturally.”

Justice Wells, who will address Fall 2006 graduates at the Levin College of Law’s commencement Dec. 22, said that even 42 years after he graduated from law school, the thing that he has come to recognize with each passing year “is just how much there is to continue to learn about the law and the practice of law.” Justice Wells had practiced law for 30 years when he assumed his duties as Justice of the Florida Supreme Court on June 16, 1994, after being appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles. He served the Court as Chief Justice from June 2000 through June 2002.

A proud “Double-Gator,” Justice Wells received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in 1961 and his juris doctor degree from UF Law in 1964. He is a veteran, having served in the United States Army. He was honored by being awarded recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus of UF in 2001.

Justice Wells is perhaps most noted for presiding over election cases brought to the Court as part of the dispute over Florida’s electoral votes in the 2000 U.S. presidential election, which were broadcast live to a world-wide audience.

“The election process doesn’t work very well when the election’s a tie,” Wells said with a laugh. Justice Wells, who has lectured throughout the United States on the Florida Court’s processing and administration of the election cases, wrote a dissent on the court’s second case in the 2000 election, a position which was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court as to the limitations of the role of courts in election controversies. History tells us, he said, that virtual ties in elections and the controversies that follow are inevitable.

“There have been reforms that have been made and changes of machines and still there are controversies and still courts are thrust into a position of making election decisions,” he said. “But I think that the courts have to again recognize the limitations on the role that they can play in deciding who are going to be the political leaders. Because ultimately that has to be a decision by the people in the community and not by the judges in the community.”