Archive for '2012'

Pictured from left to right: Coach Matthew L. Baldwin, Coach Anthony C. Hevia ‘07,  Joseph P. Glace (3L), Nisha Mohammed (3L), Marc Schmulian (4L),  Julian V. Stroleny (4L), Professor H. Scott Fingerhut, and Professor H.T. Smith.

This past weekend in Washington, D.C., the FIU Law Trial Team – composed of students Joe Glace (3L), Nisha Mohammed (3L), Marc Schmulian (4L), and Julian Stroleny (4L) – won first place at the 16th Annual National White Collar Crime Mock Trial Invitational, sponsored by Georgetown Law and the Georgetown University Law Center Barristers’ Council.

From 20 of the top trial advocacy programs across the country, the FIU Trial Team won all five rounds in the competition, defeating the University of Houston, Fordham University, and Barry University in the preliminary rounds. They entered the semi-final round undefeated and as the second-ranked squad, where they defeated the University of Houston once again, and then William & Mary in the final round.

This year’s tournament featured allegations of straw contributions, illegal money orders, a mayoral campaign, and the candidate’s alleged honest services fraud in accepting a bribe to change her position to favor a casino referendum on the same ballot.

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In a recent article by The Florida Bar News, Megan E. Davis features FIU’s LawBridge Program, which combines elements from a medical school residency and a business school entrepreneurial incubator into a two-year program for recent graduates who have passed the Florida Bar Examination.

FIU’s LawBridge gives graduates a hand up

By Megan E. Davis

In January, half a dozen new law school graduates hung their own shingles and opened practices in an office suite on Brickell Avenue in the heart of Miami’s financial district.

Less than a year later, all six firms are operating in the black, but that’s not all, said Alex Acosta, dean of Florida International University’s College of Law.

Thanks to the school’s LawBridge program, the young practitioners are also becoming well-versed in ethical and professional standards central to practicing law and in their responsibilities to the public as members of the profession, he said.

Traditionally, new law school graduates take jobs with established law firms or clerkships with judges to learn those skills not taught in law schools — how to actually practice law and run a firm, said Tony Santos, the director of the LawBridge program.

But many of those opportunities for new lawyers have dried up in the past two decades, and the economic downturn has accelerated that trend in recent years, he said.

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Pictured above, from left to right: Natalie Marcell (3L) and Bryan Belenson (3L).

The FIU College of Law Board of Advocates (BOA) hosted the American Bar Association (ABA) Southeast Regional Negotiation Competition this past weekend, where a FIU Law team took first place.

The competition, which had a total of 24 teams from five states, ended in dramatic fashion on Sunday morning, with a three-way tie among teams from FIU Law, the University of Georgia School of Law, and Stetson University College of Law. Following the ABA tie-breaking rules, FIU Law students Natalie Marcell (3L) and Bryan Belenson (3L) emerged as champions.

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Honorees in the Photo (from left to right): Judge Beatrice Butchko, Alexandra Bach Lagos, Esq. and Laura K. Wendell, Esq.

The FIU Women’s Law Society hosted its Networking Event Celebrating Women in Law on Nov. 1, 2012 at Kork Wine & Cheese in downtown Miami.

The Women’s Legal Society, which strives to connect and motivate future women lawyers to excel within the legal field, honored Judge Beatrice Butchko and Alexandra Bach Lagos, Esq. for their outstanding accomplishments in the legal community and constant support of FIU Women’s Law Society.

Judge Butchko presides over civil cases in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and Alexandra Bach Lagos, Esq. is the immediate past president of Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers.

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FIU Law alumna Katie Edwards (’12) will succeed state Rep. Franklin Sands (D-Weston) as the State Representative for District 98. She defeated her Republican opponent, Cara Christine Pavalock, a bankruptcy and foreclosure attorney from Plantation, and will now represent a district that includes most of Davie and parts of Plantation and Sunrise.

“I congratulate Katie Edwards on her election to the House. Her commitment to public service and the community is palpable and we thank her for her service,” said Dean R. Alexander Acosta.

Ms. Edwards was born and raised in Broward County and has been a resident of Plantation for 23 years. She received her J.D. from FIU Law and her bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Clemson University.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 6, the FIU College of Law hosted the panel discussion “Gender Issues in the Legal Profession: Global Perspectives.” with distinguished international women judges and scholars.

The panel, moderated by Judge Judith C. Chirlin, (Ret.) Los Angeles Superior Court, focused on gender issues in the legal profession.

Discussing the most pressing issues in their respective countries, were featured panelist Professor Kerri L. Stone (U.S.), Florida International University College of Law; Judge Svetlana Filincova (The Republic of Moldova), Supreme Court of Justice; Judge Sofia Waqar Khattak (Pakistan), District & Sessions Judge, Peshawar High Court; Judge Gift Dorothy Mtendere Makanje (The Republic of Malawi), Senior Resident Magistrate for the Malawi Judiciary; Judge Thokozani Agnes Nyirenda-Patemba (The Republic of Malawi), Assistant Registrar High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal; and Judge Ivana Hrdlickova, Ph.D. (The Czech Republic), Appellate Court in the Czech Republic, Legal Expert of Council of Europe.

“The panel could not have been more timely and important due to the plight and challenges of women worldwide who seek equality in employment and in public life, as well as meaningful protection under the law in their private lives,” said Professor Kerri L. Stone. “To have had the perspective of any one of our guests would have been incredibly interesting and valuable; to be a party to the discourse among all of them was a privilege,” she said.

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In the November 2012 issue of the National Jurist, Florida International University College of Law was recognized as the third most diverse law school in the U.S., with a final score of 8.1 – a score well above the median of 4.83.

To determine the most diverse ABA-accredited law schools, the magazine broke down each school into six categories – percentage of minority faculty; percentage of black students; percentage of Asian and Hawaiian students; percentage of Hispanic students; percentage of American Indian students and other minorities; and percentage of Caucasian students. Each category was then assigned a score from one to 10. A school that matched the U.S. national average for any race received a seven, and a school that was 30 percent or higher than the average received a 10. Editors noted that the final outcome of the study is a listing of schools “that have a breadth of races both in student bodies and faculty.”

Of the law schools ranked in the honor roll for diversity, FIU Law boasts the highest percentage of Hispanic students (39%), as well as the highest faculty diversity score (10.0).

“This diversity does not happen by accident.  We are part of a university that embraces diversity in its many forms.  We understand the positive impact a diverse environment can have not only on minority students, but on the student body as a whole.  We remain committed to this founding principle, and through first-generation scholarships, we will work to ensure that all our students have access to opportunities,” said Dean R. Alexander Acosta.

The FIU Law Center for Professionalism and Ethics and the College of Education recently teamed up with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Ethics Advisory Committee to lead a one-day summit for students, parents, teachers and employees from Miami-Dade County’s public school system.

The goal of the summit was “to advance a continued dialog that offers a panoply of tools that assist students with developing the necessary skills and high ethical standards for use as they participate in solving problems on a local, statewide, and global scale.”

Providing an overview of cooperative and effective community approaches, the session leaders covered topics ranging from ethics in government to the ethical leadership and decision making in education.

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Third-year FIU Law student Samah Abukhodeir, was featured in a series of public interest videos for AlJazeera English Channel. She was one of six people chosen to discuss immigration issues as they relate to the 2012 U.S. elections.

“I think people forget what this country was founded on, that we’re all immigrants,” said Abukhodeir. For her, the top election issues are “jobs, immigration, and student loans.”

Samah Abukhodeir, a Palestinian-American law student, has been a student attorney in the Carlos A. Costa Immigration and Human Rights Clinic for two semesters, where she has developed a passion for international human rights. She was born in Bartow, Florida to immigrant parents and received her Bachelors of Science in Psychology with a minor in Arabic and Child Development from Florida State University.

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Professor H. T. Smith was recently honored by the M. Athalie Range Cultural Foundation for 40 years of leadership and service to his community.

Among the achievements for which Professor Smith was recognized are the building of a $5 million youth center in Liberty City that provides academic and athletic programming for 500 kids, working to establish OUR KIDS of Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties — which oversees the provision of services to all abused, abandoned, and neglected children, and helping  to create the 11th Judicial Circuit Historical Society which collects and preserves the history of the legal system in Miami-Dade County.

“It is a special honor to receive recognition for service to my community in the name of the ultimate public servant–M. Athalie Range. Mrs. Range did so much, for so many, for so long,” said Smith.  “This award will continue to inspire me to emulate her legacy of service to the least, the last, the lost, the looked over, and the left out.”

Professor H. T. Smith who specializes in civil rights, personal injury and criminal defense, is the Inaugural Director of the Trial Advocacy Program at FIU College of Law.