Fall Semester Wrap-Up

As the fall semester draws to its conclusion, there has been a plethora of activity — fun as well as purposeful and dedicated — on campus.

One highlight of the semester for many students was the powder-puff flag football game pitting University of Florida fans against Florida State University fans. The event was hosted on the law school green and would not have been complete without a visit from “Osceola” and “Renegade” for Seminole faithful and a Gator chomp chant for the fans in orange and blue. While the Seminoles won the game, it proved a great stress reliever for participants and fans shortly before the beginning of finals. (Click here for more photos from the event.)

Homecoming was another fun event for students and alumni. Milestone classes — 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999 — hosted class reunions of their own in addition to the annual Friday night reception and tailgate.

The semester has provided an abundance of scholastic opportunities as well. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Wayne Logan coordinated visits from two federal judges during the semester. Harris L. Hartz from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeal and Susan H. Black from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal met with students and faculty, giving both the opportunity to learn more about clerking opportunities and a variety of other topics.

The environmental law faculty continued to strengthen that program with two fall programs, the environmental lecture by Professor Tony Arnold of the University of Louisville and the fall forum featuring several well-respected statewide environmental attorneys. Students not only had the opportunity to learn quite a bit during both these events, they had the opportunity to network with the attorney-speakers at receptions.

Networking continues to be key to establishing job offers and contacts for the future for students. To that aim, the Placement Office has initiated several tools to benefit students and recent graduates. First, to facilitate communication between students and alumni, it has created a new Facebook group for job postings, advice for students and information about networking events. Additionally, the Placement Office has implemented a student-placement mentor program by which students who have been successful in finding jobs — full- or part-time externships or summer associate positions — offer input to their classmates. Nearly 30 students have signed up to offer assistance since its inception only a month ago, continuing to show the collegial atmosphere at the law school. Students who have agreed to help their classmates have worked in locations as far-flung as Chicago, D.C. and Atlanta. Their experience has been with prestigious law firms, and the state and federal government. For more details about Placement Office programs, e-mail placement@law.fsu.edu or call 850.644.4495.

For more details about fall 2009 events at the College of Law, view the alumni magazine here.

McCollum offers words of encouragement to graduates

More than 220 members of the Class of 2009 were congratulated by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum during the Saturday, May 9, 2009, graduation ceremony. McCollum was the keynote speaker for Florida State Law commencement exercises at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.

McCollum encouraged the graduates to live up to their extraordinary potential, despite the great challenges they will face as they become members of the country’s oldest profession.

The greatest challenge new J.D. recipients face, he said, is that the rule of law we live by in America often is taken for granted. “It is both expected and accepted,” he said. “And, it is your generation’s responsibility to uphold.”

He asked graduates to take that responsibility seriously, reminding them that there are 18 million people living in Florida, but “only a fraction of them have the knowledge you have.”

The attorney general also counseled the new graduates to be involved in the direction Florida takes, and to not wait until they retire to give of themselves through public service. “We need leaders from your class to make us stronger in the future,” McCollum said.

“Think about going into public law,” he advised. “If not, spend time giving of yourself.”

“Walk proudly; give of your time to your community,” he said, citing To Kill A Mockingbird character Atticus Finch as a model of the integrity of an attorney. McCollum described the fictional character as noble, hard-working and willing to stand up for his convictions and suffer through hardships to ensure that others have a better life.

“You are the next generation of leaders; good luck and God bless,” McCollum concluded.

View photos from graduation at: http://www.law.fsu.edu/alumni/graduation_050909.html.

Former Supreme Court Justice visits Florida State Law

Florida State Law was fortunate to have the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court on campus Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor offered the law and high school students present insight into her path to the high court and advice on bettering their own careers.

She was invited to Florida’s Capitol to discuss a civics education program she promotes and visited Florida State Law while she was in Tallahassee for the joint legislative session.

“There is not a lot of love for judges,” she explained. When O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court, she said she thought, “Maybe there is something I can do. [The courts] had been my life for 30-plus years.”

After a series of conferences, O’Connor led an effort to develop a Web site, http://www.ourcourts.org/, with interactive components to encourage middle school-aged children to learn about civics and government. The effort was aided by Georgetown University and Arizona State University.

“We are missing the boat when it comes to educating our young people about the judicial system,” she said. When she was a young student, she explained, schools had courses in civics and government almost every year. Now, half of states do not require any civics and government education.

“I think that’s appalling,” she said.

After discussing the need for civics education, O’Connor answered questions from the students and faculty gathered in the Florida State Law Rotunda.

She described having graduated from Stanford Law in 1952 and being unable to find a job, not because she was unqualified but because she was a woman. “My classmates were having big success at big firms,” she added.

So, O’Connor approached the San Mateo County (California) District Attorney for a position because she heard he had once hired a woman. He explained that he did not have a salary or office space for her, but she promised to work for him for free until a position was available — which she did for three-and-a-half months.

“In today’s world, some of you may have to be a little innovative to get jobs,” O’Connor said. She said she had to be innovative to find a position on more than one occasion.

O’Connor also advised students to take a speed reading course. She explained that the biggest challenge of the high court was the mountains of reading for each case and the ability to speed read kept her afloat. “In all interesting jobs, that’s often the case,” she added about the reading load.

When asked about any regrets she had as a justice, she said, “I decided early on as a judge to put all the effort in at the front end and not look back and second-guess decisions. That’s no way to be a judge.” She acknowledged that she may not have always gotten a decision right, but she always put her best effort into it — the way any attorney or judge should practice.

At the close of the question-and-answer session, O’Connor offered advice for a visiting group of high school students who might be contemplating law school: “Learn anything — except pre-law.” She said there would be plenty of time to learn the letter of the law and an undergraduate degree provided a chance to study a wide array of options — anything from Shakespeare to geology.

By request of O’Connor and http://www.ourcourts.com/, the law school invited a limited number of student leaders and faculty for “Coffee and Conversation with Justice O’Connor.”

Moot Court Team wins national advocacy competition

The Florida State University College of Law Moot Court Team has won the leading national competition in constitutional law. The team, which was seeded first throughout the tournament, placed first in the 2009 James Braxton Craven, Jr. Moot Court Competition on February 28. The competition was held in Chapel Hill, N.C., and was sponsored by the University of North Carolina School of Law.

The winning team members were law students Robert Powell and Ramona Thomas. In addition to the team’s first-place finish, Thomas was named Best Oralist in the competition. The team was coached by Florida State Law Professor Nat Stern.

The 24 law schools competing included American University Washington College of Law, Boston College Law School, Duke University School of Law, George Mason School of Law and William & Mary Law School. The final round of competition was judged by a federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, a current North Carolina Supreme Court justice and a retired North Carolina Supreme Court justice.

“We are all very proud of our Moot Court Team’s victory,” said Dean Don Weidner. “This win follows on the heels of a year in which our Moot Court Team won five best brief awards in national competitions.”

Legislative preview

The Florida State Law Rotunda was filled Wednesday evening with students who wanted a sneak peak at what the upcoming Florida legislative session may look like.

The sneak peak was offered by Florida Senators Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne) and Dan Gelber (D-Miami), along with Representatives Dean Cannon (R-Winter Park) and Michael Scionti (D-Tampa).

The Fourth Annual Legislative Preview was sponsored by the Student Bar Association, the Democratic Law Society and the Republican Law Society. President Emeritus and Professor Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte was the moderator and most of his questions for the panel centered around the international fiscal crisis and Florida's reaction.

Cannon said the question must be: "Where does Florida stand in comparison to other states?" and the answer is that our economy is suffering, but not as badly as a state like California, which just cut 1/3 of its budget.

He said to help resolve the economic crisis for the state, the legislature must remember the Hippocratic oath: First, do no harm. So the legislature must not raise fees that will be harmful in the long-term. Second, he said, "we must think long-term" and find ways to reduce the government burden through smart investments in education and technological advances.

Haridopolos discussed the cuts the legislature had already made in the state budget. A few years ago, the budget was $74 billion. This year, the budget of $63 billion represents an unprecedented cut, but even that may not be enough. He said the senate is looking at increasing some taxes, on items like cigarettes and gambling. Also, he reiterated, the senate is looking at reductions in other taxes to compensate for those potential increases, including in property taxes and cell phone taxes.

"We can't take money out of people's pockets that they don't have," the Republican from Melbourne said. "People are hurting more than government."

Gelber cited the previous boom growth rate, an already low tax rate and leaner revenue as reasons why. "Florida is free-falling, losing money faster than any other state."

The last time Florida had double digit unemployment rates was during the Great Depression, Gelber said, and soon the unemployment rate will reach 10, 11, 12 percent. The problem is, he added, that people don't know how to fix the problem. However, "we can't just say we're not going to give food stamps or health care."

Scionti addressed the legislature having dipped into trust funds, including the Lawton Chiles and the Stabilization funds.

He said that the legislature had tried to look at trust funds very carefully before making any decisions toward reaching a balanced budget. He had questioned how he would use a personal savings account in his own household.

"I would try to tap into those moneys in a very careful way," he said.

The representatives and senators answered a litany of other questions from D'Alemberte before the forum ended with a reception and opportunity for students to address the legislators.

Alumnus encourages interest in public interest law field

2008 alumnus Laura Chilcutt spoke to more than 20 current Florida State Law students Tuesday, January 20 about the opportunities available to students and graduates in the area of public interest law.

Chilcutt works for the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) in Miami as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. While a student at Florida State Law, she completed an externship and pro bono hours with the organization, which led to her current position at the FIAC. She offered the students advice about how to complete their pro bono graduation requirements while solidifying their future career options in the public interest field. She also addressed new Florida legislation that would help public interest attorneys relieve their law school debt after 10 years of service.

For more information about these topics, you can contact the Placement Office at 850.644.4495 or placement@law.fsu.edu or any member of the Public Interest Law Students Association; the group's president is Michelle Marra, who can be reached at mmm06e@fsu.edu.

Alumni who are interested in offering workshops, mentoring or conducting Networking Nosh lunches may also contact the Placement Office at 850.644.4495 or placement@law.fsu.edu.

Fall 2008 Graduation

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor ('91) was the featured speaker at Florida State Law's final fall commencement exercise. Castor, a Democratic representative from Tampa's 11th Congressional District, spoke to the graduates and their families about the importance of the changing times in which they earned their juris doctorate degrees.

She acknowledged that the world in which these graduates worked to finish law school was completely different from that which she graduated in 1991, adding that her class was on the cusp of the technological revelation.

"Computers were not stables in classrooms," she said. "Cell phones were few and far between. Technology was about to explode."

She told the more than 20 of 36 graduates present that in 18 to 20 years, they too would be able to look back on this time as a significant period of history.

"You graduate at a time of dynamic change," she reiterated, pointing out the coming inauguration of the first African-American president in U.S. history, Democrat Barack Obama. His inauguration, falling on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, cashes a check written by King more than 35 years ago, she said, that truly entitles all to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Future December graduates will have the opportunity to walk with the rest of their class during spring graduation festivities.