The announcement was made on the evening of Dec. 3 during a Pensacola, Fla. reception for UF Law alumni. The gift will fund construction of classrooms, offices and meeting spaces on the second floor of the new Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center.

Allen R. Levin, a University of Florida graduate and a well-known property developer and philanthropist in Pensacola, died in January 2007 at the age of 62. A proud family man, he was widely respected for his vision regarding development and beautification of the Gulf Coast area.

“Allen was a humble man and a great leader who loved all of his brothers and was particularly close to his nephew, Martin H. Levin, a UF Law graduate and namesake of the new advocacy center,” Teri Levin said. “We thought naming the mezzanine level of the new advocacy center would be a fitting tribute to Allen and a way to keep his memory and legacy alive.”

Levin College of Law Dean Robert Jerry said this gift, in combination with the Levin’s previous contributions, has helped to make UF Law’s facilities among the best in the nation.

“This significant gift by Teri Levin in honor of her husband, Allen, will enable us to complete the construction of the Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center and build academic space that will benefit our students for many years to come,” Jerry said. “This state-of-the-art facility, which completes the construction and renovation of all of the college’s academic space during this decade, will give our faculty the rest of the tools they need to teach our students to be outstanding legal advocates.”

Fredric G. Levin (JD 61), a prominent Pensacola attorney and UF Law alumnus and the college’s namesake, donated $2 million dollars as the lead gift to build the advocacy center, named for his son, Martin H. Levin (JD 88), who graduated first in his class at UF Law.

The first phase of construction on the 20,000 square-foot Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center was completed in time to host the October 2009 oral arguments for the First District Court of Appeals. The facility houses a fully functional trial and appellate courtroom with a 100-seat gallery, bench for seven judges, jury box and attorney’s tables. The main floor also includes judge’s chambers and a deliberation room. Construction on the second floor is set to begin in fall 2010, with completion expected in spring 2011.

“I feel really good about this donation because I know it would have made Allen very happy to have his name on the building with his brother Fred and nephew Martin,” Teri Levin said. “This is a great tribute to a great man.”

“Most law school rankings look at things like bar passage rates, professor-to-student ratios and the number of books in the library, but they ignore the end product — the quality of lawyers produced,” said Bill White, publisher of Super Lawyers and Law & Politics magazines. “In the real world — the world of clients and juries and judges — no one cares about your GPA or LSAT score. All that matters is how good and ethical a lawyer you are. That’s the focus of Super Lawyers.”

“We’ve been rating lawyers for nearly 20 years,” White said. “This puts us in a unique position to shed light on how well schools fulfill the ultimate mission of producing great lawyers.”

“We also score well in other ranking systems in areas related to our reputation and performance in the legal community, and the feedback we receive from employers on the quality of our graduates has always been excellent,” said Levin College of Law Dean Robert Jerry. “We take great pride in the highly qualified and successful attorneys who earn their law degrees at the University of Florida. This ranking only serves to confirm what we have felt is true for a long time.”

Aside from the University of Florida, the University of Miami had the only other Florida law school included in the ranking’s top 50. For more information and the full ranking, go to www.superlawyers.com/toplists/lawschools/united-states/2009/.

The Super Lawyers’ methodology used to compile the national ranking does not take class size into consideration.

“We found that class size was not as big a factor as you might think,” White said. “There were very large schools that ranked low and small schools that ranked high on our list. The quality of graduates, not the size of the school, is what ultimately determines where schools land on our list.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Robert Jerry, dean of the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, is this year’s recipient of the Julie Sina Award, given each year to a faculty member who shows “outstanding commitment to students.”

Student Government leaders selected Jerry from among UF’s roughly 2,800 faculty for the award, named in honor of former UF Dean of Students Julie Sina. Jerry was given the award in a ceremony on the UF campus April 16.

“Dean Sina was still here when I was in my first semester, and I remember her as someone who was very dedicated to students,” said Student Government President Jamal Sowell, who nominated Jerry for the honor. “I wanted this award to go to someone who showed a similar attitude, putting students first while working to make the University of Florida a stronger institution.”

Sowell said he nominated Jerry because of the dean’s active efforts to interact with students at the law school – including the twice-monthly “Breakfast with the Dean,” a regular get-together which allows students to meet with the dean and ask him questions.

“I’ve never met a student at the law school who had anything bad to say about the dean,” he said. “It’s clear that the students don’t see him as a distant political figure. He’s someone who is present on campus and well known to the student body.”

Jerry said he was honored to receive the award.

“This award means a lot to me because I do believe the law school should do its best to serve its students,” Jerry said. “This recognition shows me that our campus-wide efforts to improve service to students are being noticed.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – Robert H. Jerry II will take over symbolic reins of the country’s seventh largest law school Thursday as the UF Levin College of Law holds an alumni reception in connection with The Florida Bar annual meeting being held here.

Jerry, to become the law school’s 13th dean on July 1st, will accept a “gavel of leadership” from current Dean Jon Mills during ceremonies planned for the World Center Marriott in front of more than 250 alumni of the state’s 93-year-old flagship law school. The event is from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Jerry’s selection was announced in February by UF Provost David Colburn after a national search for a successor to Mills, who will return to the law faculty and directorship of the school’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, which he founded in 1972. Mills, named interim dean in 1999, was appointed to the position full-time in 2001 by UF President Charles Young and agreed to serve through June of this year.

In addition to the leadership change ceremony, those attending the reception will hear detailed plans for the more than $22 million expansion of law facilities due to get underway in July. Included will be enlargement of the library and addition of new classrooms and other space for students and faculty.

Jerry, 49, has been serving since 1998 as the Floyd R. Gibson Endowed Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law. Previously he held the Herff Chair at the University of Memphis School of Law from 1994-98, and served as dean of the University of Kansas School of Law 1989-94. His teaching expertise and scholarship focus is on insurance law, contracts and health-care finance and access.

Jerry earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Indiana State University, and his law degree cum laude from University of Michigan. He clerked for Circuit Judge George E. MacKinnon, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, and practiced law three years with the Indianapolis firm of Barnes Hickam Pantzer & Boyd.

“It is this combination of private-sector experience and national standing as an administrator and scholar that attracted us to Professor Jerry,” said Colburn at the hiring announcement. “He is a leading scholar in his field, widely respected nationally, and we believe he offers the Levin College of Law great leadership for the future.”

Mills has been linked with the law school for more than 30 years, starting as a student and graduating in 1972 after doing undergraduate work at Stetson University. He practiced law as an active alumnus, and served as state legislator (1978-88) and Speaker of the House (1987-88) where he sponsored landmark legislation on education, children’s issues and the environment. He rejoined the law faculty in 1988.

He has appeared in state and federal court, including the Florida Supreme Court, on various issues, including voting rights and constitutional issues. Mills has taught and lectured in Costa Rica, Brazil, University of Warsaw in Poland, and Cambridge University, and has authored books, reports and articles on a variety of legal issues.

Previous UF law deans include Richard Matasar, 1996-99; Jeffrey E. Lewis, 1988-96; Frank Reed, 1981-88; Joseph Richard Julin, 1971-80; Frank E. Maloney, 1959-70; Henry Fenn, 1948-58; Clifford W. Crandall, 1947-48; Harry Trusler, 1915-47; Thomas W. Hughes, 1912-15; and Albert J. Farrah, 1909-12. Interim deans include E. L. Roy Hunt, 1980-81 and 1970-71, and Betty Taylor, 1981.

• For Further Information: Dean Mills and Dean Jerry will be at the law school through Wednesday afternoon and can be reached at 392.9238.
• Additional information on the Thursday reception: Kerrie Mitchell of the Development and Alumni Affairs Office (352.392.9296 or cell: 352.256.6057)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Missouri law Professor Robert Jerry has been named dean of the University of Florida’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law, effective July 1.

Jerry succeeds Jon Mills, who will remain on the law faculty and with the college’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, which he directs.

“We are very fortunate to have Professor Robert Jerry taking the helm at the Levin College of Law,” UF Provost David Colburn said. “He is a leading scholar in his field, widely respected nationally and former dean at the University of Kansas. He also practiced law for three years before joining the academy. It is this combination of private-sector experience, and national standing as an administrator and scholar that attracted us to Professor Jerry. We believe he offers the Levin College of Law great leadership for the future, and I am delighted that he has accepted our offer.”

Jerry said he is excited about his appointment and eager to begin his new responsibilities.

“The college has tremendous quality – a strong faculty, a talented and diverse student body, wise administrative leadership, enthusiastic alumni support and wonderful traditions in serving the state and the nation in many different ways,” he said. “All of this has created a strong foundation that gives the college the opportunity to move into the nation’s highest tier of public law schools. That’s what we’re going to work hard to do during these next few years.”

Jerry, 49, currently is the Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, where he has been on the faculty since 1998.

From 1994 to 1998, he held the Herff chair at the University of Memphis School of Law. He taught at the University of Kansas School of Law from 1981 to 1994, where he also served as dean from 1989 to 1994. His teaching and published books/articles focus on insurance law, contracts, and health-care finance and access.

Jerry received his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in 1974 from Indiana State University and his law degree cum laude in 1977 from the University of Michigan. After clerking for Circuit Judge George E. MacKinnon in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, he practiced law from 1978 to 1981 with Barnes Hickam Pantzer & Boyd of Indianapolis.