Fredric G. Levin College of Law

April 14, 2008 | Vol. XI, Issue 29

Ponce to Speak at UF Law Commencement May 9

Attorney S. Daniel Ponce (JD 73) will be the keynote speaker at the Levin College of Law’s commencement ceremony May 9. Ponce, former Florida Blue Key president, is a partner in Leon, Ponce & Fodiman, P.A., a Miami-based law firm that specializes in complex business and commercial litigation. He has been a lawyer in the State of Florida since 1974 and a Certified Public Accountant since 1972 and is admitted to practice law in all courts of the State of Florida and Federal Courts, including the United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, the Eleventh and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.
READ MORE>>www.law.ufl.edu/flalawonline

Judge William H. Pryor Jr. to Deliver Annual Dunwody Distinguished Lecture in Law April 18

The Hon. William H. Pryor Jr. will deliver the 27th annual Dunwody Distinguished Lecture in Law at 10:00 a.m on April 18 in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (180 Holland). This event is open to the public and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The lecture, hosted by the Florida Law Review, is entitled "The Perspective of a Junior Circuit Judge on Judicial Modesty." Judge Pryor is a judge for the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and former attorney general of Alabama. He is an adjunct professor of federal jurisdiction at the University of Alabama School of Law and he is active in the Alabama Law Foundation, the Alabama Center for Law & Civic Education, and the American Law Institute. The Florida Law Review Dunwody Distinguished Lecture in Law series was established by U.S. Sugar Corporation and the law firms of Dunwody, White & Landon, P.A. and Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody & Cole in honor of UF Law graduates Elliot and Atwood Dunwody.

Center For Governmental Responsibility Fellows Make a Difference With Public Service

The Center for Governmental Responsibility (CGR) Public Interest Law Fellowship program is a cooperative effort between The Florida Bar Foundation and CGR that began in the mid-1980s and provides low-income and indigent citizens with valuable legal assistance. The fellowships are financed by the Foundation from Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA) and more than $700,000 has been provided to help pay for the practical legal education of selected third-year law students. These students, supervised by licensed attorneys, gain hands-on experience as advocates for the poor and serve non-profit and government agencies such as Florida Institutional Legal Services, Southern Legal Counsel, Three Rivers Legal Services, the State’s Guardian ad Litem program and the Eighth Circuit public defender's office. Included as part of the students’ nine-month commitment are projects to promote to the law school and greater community awareness of poverty issues and public interest, and a required course in poverty law. Read each Florida Bar Foundation Public Interest Law Fellows’ article to learn more about their experience.
• Katy Debriere
• Nicole Griffin
• Chelsea Simmons
• Darian Williams

Career Services Welcomes New Assistant Director Kristen Bryant

UF Law would like to welcome new Assistant Director for Career Services Kristen Bryant. Bryant has a Bachelor of Arts from UF and received her JD from Loyola New Orleans College of Law. After law school, Bryant worked as a court attorney for three years at Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court in Louisiana. Bryant said she is excited to be back home in Florida working directly with students to help prepare them for law careers. “I have the opportunity to help students figure out what they are going to do as a career, which is a very life-changing decision,” she said. “It is very rewarding to be involved in the process.” Bryant said her future goals include overhauling the pro bono and community service projects to create several certifications students can receive for their dedication. Bryant replaces Samara (Sam) Sarno, who is relocating to New Hampshire, where her husband will begin his medical practice.

Also, don't miss this week's issue of The CCS Buzz, your source for a quick synopsis of programming, recruiting, networking, volunteer, and “SHIP” opportunities available to you. The CCS Buzz can be found in FlaLaw Online via a link on your Symplicity homepage after you log in or you can pick up a hard copy in Career Services at 244 Bruton Geer Hall. Click below to download The CCS Buzz, your weekly guide to what is important to your career and professional development:
• The CCS Buzz

Alumna Combines Passions as Advocate for Incarcerated Womens' Rights

For some people it’s just in their blood. This is the case for Virginia Hamner (JD 06) and her passion or women’s rights. While growing up, Hamner was always involved with women’s rights advocacy, but it wasn’t until she was a women’s studies student at Georgetown University that she realized that she could incorporate her passion for women’s rights with her future career as an attorney. After her first year at UF Law, Hamner said she needed to engage in more grassroots, progressive politics that she was used to as a high school and undergraduate student. As a result, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in women’s studies while simultaneously earning her law degree. Advocacy work has always been in her blood. Even as a high school student Hamner was an activist for women’s rights. She worked tirelessly promoting pro-choice issues and organizing peaceful protests. Her advocacy work continued "unofficially" throughout her days at Georgetown University where she was involved with feminist advocacy for the reproductive rights of females.
READ MORE>>www.law.ufl.edu/flalawonline

Student Profile: Legislative Intern Gains Hands-On Experience in Tallahassee

The Gator Nation is everywhere – even in Seminole territory. Third-year UF Law student Jesus Suarez found this to be true as a visiting student at Florida State University College of Law while interning at the Florida House of Representatives. The current Legislative Intern Program has 12 graduate students, including 10 second-and third-year law students, who work in various offices within the Florida House of Representatives. Of the 10 law students in the program, nine are students at Florida State University College of Law, which leaves Suarez the lone Gator in the bunch. But being the only Gator does not faze him because of the support of UF alumni in the area. "There are tons of Gators in the Capitol and throughout Tallahassee," Suarez said. "It feels like home."
READ MORE>>www.law.ufl.edu/flalawonline

Career Spotlight: Nancy Baldwin

As each guest twirls a black umbrella and moves ceremoniously to the sounds of "When the Saints Go Marching In," the ashes of Nancy T. Baldwin (JD 93) will be scattered at the water’s edge. The ceremony is part of her funeral plans that she has carefully detailed and shared with her family and friends. Although the elder law attorney doesn’t advocate others to follow a similar plan, she does believe that given adequate time and assistance to consider one’s values, beliefs and goals it is possible to create a plan for both living and dying that will empower individuals. The specialty of elder law is different than other areas of law. "It is usually not adversarial; it can be intergenerational," she said. It can involve entire families and be geared towards clients planning for their own future. "One gets to be involved in the planning for his or her own life," she said.
READ MORE>>www.law.ufl.edu/flalawonline

Fenster Receives Distinguished University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship

UF Law Associate Professor Mark Fenster has been selected to receive a University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship Award for 2008-2010. This professorship recognizes faculty who have established a distinguished record of research and scholarship that is expected to lead to continuing distinction in their field. Fenster, a graduate of Yale law school and whose teaching and scholarship includes property, land use, administrative law, intellectual property, torts and legal and cultural theory, joined the UF Law faculty in 2001. Prior to joining the UF Law faculty he was an environmental and land use law fellow for Shute Mihaly & Weinberger in San Francisco and clerked for Judge Carlos Lucero of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. In addition to his scholarship and teaching, Fenster is the author of Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture and has published numerous law review articles.

News Briefs

Page to Serve as Next Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Professor Bill Page will serve as UF Law's next senior associate dean for academic affairs. Page joined UF Law in 2001 as the Marshall M. Criser Eminent Scholar in Electronic Communications and Administrative Law. Page, whose teaching and scholarship includes antitrust, civil procedure, administrative law, telecommunications, local government, intellectual property, constitutional law and energy policy, has a JD from the University of New Mexico and an LL.M. from the University of Chicago. He came to UF Law from Mississippi College School of Law where he served as the J. Will Young Professor of Law. “I believe Bill is an excellent choice, and that he is the right colleague to serve in this leadership role,” Dean Robert Jerry said. Page is the author of The Microsoft Case: Antitrust, High Technology, and Consumer Welfare, among other books, and has extensively published articles in prominent law journals.

Students Receive Book Awards for Academic Excellence
Students, faculty and friends of the law school gathered in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom April 11 to honor Book Award recipients for the fall semester. 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 in the fall. Multiple award winners included Emily Banks, Joseph Flack, Daniel Glassman, Kate Haddock, Michael Hersh, David Karp, Adam Losey, Jason Pill, Lindsay Roshkind, Lawrence Scheinert, Brent Steinberg, Martin Strauch, Kara Wick and Ben Williamson. If you have recieved a Book Award, but weren’t able to attend the April 11 ceremony, you can pick up your plaque in the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at 267 Holland Hall. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
• See the full list of winners and sponsors.

Little, Adamczyk Named Professor, Student of the Year
Professor Joseph Little and student Steve Adamczyk (3L) have won two of the law school’s highest honors. Little was named Professor of the Year and Adamczyk was named Student of the Year by the John Marshall Bar Association, which presented the awards at the Multicultural Fair April 10. JMBA selects the Professor of the Year by a vote of JMBA members. The Student of the Year is selected by a group of judges who evaluate nominees based on academics, campus involvement, independent community service, co-curricular activities and leadership.

Volunteers Plant Pinwheels for Child Abuse Awareness
UF’s Family Law Society, in conjunction with the Alachua County Child Abuse Prevention Task Force and North Florida Regional Medical Center, hosted its annual "Winds of Change" on April 13. The event was held to foster awareness of child abuse in the community. The Family Law Society and nearly 30 volunteers, including Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, "planted" 1,904 pinwheels to represent each substantiated case of child abuse or neglect in Alachua County in 2007. The pinwheel display will remain on the front lawn of the hospital for the duration of April in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Moot Court Team Finishes in Top 8 in Chicago Competition
The Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Board is one of top eight moot court teams in the nation. The team of Elizabeth Faist, Michael Schuster and Jennifer Jones (pictured left to right) competed in the American Bar Association Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition National Finals in Chicago on April 3-4. As one of only 26 regional champions to advance to the National Finals, the team advanced to the quarterfinals or "elite 8" after beating Michigan State, but by a split decision, the team’s run ended with a close loss to South Texas. The ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition is the largest and most prestigious moot court competition in the United States.

Legal Information Center Extended Exam Hours Begin April 18
Extended hours in the Legal Information Center for the exam period will begin on Friday, April 18, and will run through Thursday, May 1, as follows:

Mon-Fri 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sun 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

On Friday, May 2 the library will be open 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. The library will be closed Saturdays and Sundays after exams have ended until the beginning of the summer term.

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