Archive for '2013'

In the following op-ed that appeared in the April 19, 2013, edition of the La Plaza, FIU Law Professor Ediberto Roman, and second-year law student Bobby Joe Bracy, make the case that the term “illegal” should describe only an action and is inappropriately used in the immigration debate.

Guest Blogger: Professor Ediberto Román and Bobby Joe Bracy “Words Do Matter in the Immigration Debate”

After decades of inaction, this week’s unveiling of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration proposal suggests that Congress may finally be prepared to reform our immigration system. It is of no surprise that this renewed vigor comes on the heels of a presidential election where an overwhelming majority of Hispanic voters rejected the Republican solution was self-deportation. Yet, despite this crucial and potentially transformative moment, Republican leaders, such as Senator John McCain, one of the Group of Eight, has continued to use of ‘illegal immigrant’ when addressing the subjects of reform. He and many other Republicans who oppose immigration reform continue to use the more provocative yet inaccurate term–“illegal alien”(a term still used by the federal immigration agency, ICE). Conservative Senator Jeff Sessions for his part derided the Gang of Eight’s efforts as “making nearly impossible for ICE officials to distinguish between ‘illegal immigrants’ eligible for legal status and those simply asserting they are amnesty eligible.”

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Florida International University College of Law students Altanese Phenelus and Frandley Julien were honored as scholarship recipients at the 15th Annual Haitian Lawyers Association Scholarship Gala.

The Scholarship Gala, hosted in honor of the dedication, service, and excellence of its members, was held at the JW Marriot in Miami, on April 13, 2013.

HLA’s members include those in the legal field of Haitian or Haitian-American descent, as well as those who are not of Haitian decent, but have a vested interest in issues affecting the Haitian community.

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SBA Secretary Samah Abukhodeir and Professor Christine Rickard

In a night where the FIU Law community dressed in their finest attire, and enjoyed a masquerade ball, Professor Christine Rickard was selected as “Professor of the Year” for 2012-13.

She was selected in recognition of her “excellence in teaching” and her “devoted commitment to the students of the Florida International University College of Law.”

“I am very honored and humbled to be the Professor of the Year,” said Rickard. “I love being a professor and this job means so much to me because I get to teach students how to make a difference every day through the law.”

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FIU Law Professor Cyra Akila Choudhury, recently served as a panelists at the Stoneman Conference on Gender and Human Rights at the invitation of the Albany Law School’s Dean, Penelope Andrews.

The conference, part of Albany Law’s Spring 2013 Kate Stoneman Series of Events, brought together national and international legal scholars of gender rights and international law to discuss the current state of women’s rights.

Professor Choudhury, part of the panel that discussed the issue of culture, spoke on the role of culture in legal reform.

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Third-year law students Latoya Brown and Alejandro Gutierrez will publish articles they originally prepared for a seminar in Comparative Law, in two upcoming national law publications.

Brown’s article, “The Regulation of US Money Market Funds: Lessons from Europe,” will appear in the spring edition of Brigham Young University’s International Law and Management Review. Gutierrez’s article, “The Pitfalls of At-Will and Just Cause Employment: A Comparative Analysis of Employment Law in the United States and Colombia,” will be published in Volume 19 of the ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law.

“It is a great achievement to get published, especially as a student,” said Brown. “I am grateful to have the support of professors who encourage us to push the creative envelope and think outside the box.”

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Nina Lewis works with an elementary school student at Lesotho State Library

After graduating from the Florida International University College of Law in 2006, Nina Lewis began a journey which would lead her to join the U.S. Diplomatic Corps.

We recently caught up with Lewis to discuss her career path and what led her on this journey.

Can you trace your career path after law school? What led you to join the U.S. Diplomatic Corps?

I graduated from FIU Law in May 2006. I spent the summer studying for the bar, took the July exam and sent out applications to masters degree programs. During law school, I was in the part-time program and was teaching full-time at a local high school.  After four years of sheer exhaustion, I wanted to enjoy some time off while waiting to see if I passed the bar, so I left the U.S. to backpack for a few months.  During my time as a teacher, I had summers off and did study abroad programs in The Netherlands and Australia.  FIU Law’s focus on international law and the study abroad experiences sparked my interest in foreign affairs.  I decided that after law school I would do a one-year Master of Arts in International Relations overseas, and learn a foreign language.  I was interested in working for the United Nations.  While backpacking in New Zealand, after a hike on a glacier, I bought a calling card, found a pay phone and called to find out my bar score: I passed!  The same week, I was accepted into a masters program in Brussels and one in Geneva, both starting in September.  I ended up in Thailand and found out that the program in Geneva, was also offered in Bangkok and was able to enroll in the course starting in February. I loved it, so I ended up learning Thai instead of French! My faculty advisor was a retired U.S. Ambassador. She was the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda at the beginning of the genocide.  She encouraged me to join the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer.

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Carlos R. Lago, who received his Juris Doctor from the Florida International University College of Law in 2009, focuses his practice on land use, zoning and governmental affairs.

Lago recently discussed his career path and what led him to his current position at Greenberg Traurig.

What was your career path? What led you to your current position?

After law school, I worked in local government. I began at the city of Miami as a legislative aide for Commissioner Francis Suarez, advising him and working with staff members on land use and zoning matters, including the enactment and implementation of the city’s new zoning code, Miami 21.

That led me to Jackson Health System, where I was asked to serve as Chief of Staff to Jackson’s newly appointed President and CEO, Carlos Migoya. I was attracted to the opportunity to be a part of the financial turnaround of such an important public institution in South Florida. Prior to the new management’s arrival, Jackson had reported losses of more than $80 million in 2011, and by the following fiscal year, the health system had accumulated a surplus of more than $8 million.

After almost four years in the public sector, I felt a strong desire to apply what I learned to the practice of law. My experience had been in local government, so joining the Land Development Practice Group at the powerhouse law firm Greenberg Traurig was a natural match.

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Manuel Gómez, Associate Professor at the Florida International University College of Law, recently discussed his research on the Burning Man festival for the Stanford Program in Law and Society called Order in the Desert: Law abiding Behavior at Burning Man. The presentation was held April 10 at Stanford Law School.

The Burning Man is a massive weeklong event that takes place in the Nevada Desert, which, when compared to similar events, shows one of the lowest crime rates, and high-level law abiding behavior.

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Cyra Akila Choudhury, associate professor at the Florida International University College of Law, recently presented at a symposium about a book called Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. The symposium, sponsored by the the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice, was held at the University of California Berkeley School of Law on March 8.

The symposium brought together nationally recognized scholars from the legal academy to discuss the experiences of discrimination faced by women and particularly women of color in the academy.

Professor Choudhury gave a talk entitled “Diversity and Its Discontents” which explored the issue of discrimination and the use of differing standards of evaluation in a diverse context.

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Pictured above (front row, L-R): Patricia Ramsey Chronicle, Terry Ann Howell and Julie Lockhead. (back row) Assistant Dean Michele Anglade

Three students from the Florida International University College of Law participated in the Caribbean Law Clinic held in Nassau, Bahamas, earlier this month. The participating students included Patricia Ramsey Chronicle (3L), Terry Ann Howell (2L), and Julie Lockhead (4L).

The CLC is organized by the American Caribbean Law Initiative, a collective of American and Caribbean law schools with an interest in supporting the growth and development of the Caribbean Basin by facilitating collaborative relationships and strengthening its legal development and institutions.

As part of the clinic, participating students presented arguments on challenging legal issues to members of the Bahamian bench and bar.

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