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ESPN legal analyst to deliver UF Center for Governmental Responsibility lecture

Legal Analyst Roger Cossack will deliver the annual University of Florida Levin College of Law Center for Governmental Responsibility lecture on “Media and the Law” on Friday, April 3 at 10 a.m. His speech, being held in Holland Hall 180, is free and open to the public.

Cossack presently serves as the legal analyst for ESPN, reporting on how the law applies in various ways to sports. He also is distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine University School of Law, where he teaches a course on media and the law.

“Roger Cossack offers our students a unique perspective on the law, as a practitioner, analyst, and professor,” said Jon Mills, professor, dean emeritus, and director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility. “He visited our law school in 2001 as part of a distinguished panel of experts who analyzed the 2000 presidential election in a CGR-sponsored forum. At that time, we knew we wanted to bring him back because he was such an excellent, informed speaker. We hope our students and faculty take advantage of the opportunity to meet and hear from him.”

Cossack was a prosecutor and a defense lawyer during his 22 years of practice, and in 1984 he argued U.S. v. Leon before the Supreme Court. Prior to beginning his private practice of law, he served on the faculty of the UCLA Law School. In 1994 he joined CNN as the co-host of Burden of Proof and also was the CNN legal analyst. From 1994 to 2001 he covered all the major legal events, including breaking the Bush v. Gore decision, the impeachment of President Clinton, and the disputed election of 2000. He has been with ESPN since 2002.

The CGR lecture is sponsored through contributions of CGR alumni and friends, principally led by Judge Anne C. Conway, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, and the Jon Mills Family. Cossack’s visit is jointly sponsored by the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information in UF’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Contact: JoAnn Klein at 352-273-0843 or klein@law.ufl.edu