Saturday, August 25, 2012 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On the heels of President Obama’s enactment of the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) program, FIU’s College of Law in conjunction with PICO, Americans for Immigrant Justice, S.W.E.R. (Students Working for Equal Rights), and the Florida Immigrant Coalition, will host a day long clinic to help young persons to apply for deferred action.

Local attorneys, volunteers, along with students and recent law school graduates will volunteer to help DACA-seeking young adults determine if they qualify for the program and assist them in filling out the DACA applications.

This is the second DACA workshop with two more planned for South Florida in the upcoming weeks- one in Homestead and another in Little Havana.

The event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 25, from 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. at the College of Law’s Atrium.

DACA grants temporary two-year residency permits to undocumented young adults less than 30 years of age as of June 15. It is aimed at qualifying immigrants who came to the U.S. on or before June 2007 and who were 16 or younger at the time of their arrival. Among other qualifications for the program, the young adults must be free of serious criminal convictions, be enrolled in or have completed high school, or have served in the U.S. military.

Ana Bierman, Director of Career Planning and Placement (right)

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I am very proud to have been selected director of the Career Planning and Placement Office (CP&P).  I enjoy working with young lawyers and law students, and have over 7 years of experience advising students and attorneys about their career paths.  I opened the Miami office of a national attorney search firm — working as a legal recruiter gave me an inside look at the legal hiring process – knowledge that I think will be very useful to me in my new position.

Prior to joining the CP&P I taught in FIU Law’s LSV program for a year. I also taught legal research and writing at another law school for several years — helping students succeed professionally and academically brings me great satisfaction.  I graduated from Penn Law, and received a BA from Cornell. Following law school I worked in the corporate securities department of an international law firm, and at a major high tech firm.

My husband Mitch – an attorney – and I are the happy parents of 2 school age kids –we also consider ourselves the parents of our two dogs! My family loves living in Miami, and we think that community service is very important. My husband and I serve on several not-for-profit boards, and we stay involved in causes that are close to our hearts.

What are the most pressing challenges facing CP&P, and how do you intend to deal with these challenges?

Among our challenges is making sure that FIU Law and its students are front and center in the minds of prospective employers.  Our goal is to develop and maintain strong relationships with private and public sector employers. To do this we are increasing our outreach to employers – we are visiting their offices and bringing them to campus to see the excellent caliber of our students and the excellent training and education that they are receiving at FIU.

During the academic year we will invite many employers to participate in various formal and informal programs hosted by our office.  We hope to provide students with many opportunities to make meaningful contacts that will serve them as they plan their professional life.

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Professor Thomas E. Baker has garnered another important honor and national recognition. Lauren K. Robel, the President of the Association of American Law Schools, appointed Professor Baker to the Advisory Committee of the Journal of Legal Education. He will serve three years on the editorial board of the Journal, the official publication of the legal academy with a readership of more than 10,000 law teachers and other subscribers.

“I have been reading the Journal for a long time and I have published there several times,” Baker said, “so I am looking forward to working inside the Journal.”

Dean Acosta observed, “This is a noteworthy and important service to the law teaching profession.  It recognizes Professor Baker’s scholarly reputation in the U.S. legal academy.”

Pictured Above: (Left to Right) Christina Vilaboa, President 2011-2012; Charles Kondla, Secretary 2011-2012; Cathleen Plasencia, 4L Representative 2012-2013, Vice President 2011-2012; Lian de la Riva, President 2012-2013, Treasurer 2011-2012.

The Hispanic Law Student Association at FIU College of Law has been selected to receive the Law Student Organization of the Year Award. The award will be presented by The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) on Thursday, August 23, 2012, during its 37th Annual Convention.

In the award letter National President Benny Agosto, Jr. wrote: “The Board of Governors of the HNBA is delighted to recognize the extraordinary achievements of HLSA-FIU and its contributions to the Hispanic legal community and Latinos generally.”

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In the August 9th edition of The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, FIU Law Professor Megan A. Fairlie discusses the need for the “International Criminal Court (ICC), both to ensure accountability for the perpetrators of the worst crimes known to humankind and to stem the loss of innocent lives.”

Megan Fairlie is an Assistant Professor at Florida International University College of Law. She has lectured and published in the United States and abroad on international criminal justice issues over the last decade. Her analyses have appeared in such prestigious venues as the American Journal of International Law and the Berkeley Journal of International Law. Professor Fairlie is an honors graduate of Washington and Lee School of Law; she also holds an LL.M. in International Peace Support Operations and a Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law, both from the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Security Council referrals to the International Criminal Court: Much Ado about Nothing?

BY MEGAN FAIRLIE

The ongoing brutalization of civilians at the hands of the Syrian regime makes it abundantly clear that the world needs the International Criminal Court (ICC), both to ensure accountability for the perpetrators of the worst crimes known to humankind and to stem the loss of innocent lives. As it stands, however, leading powers and the UN Security Council are preventing the ICC from effectively deterring the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria and elsewhere.

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This summer in conjunction with the College of Education, FIU Law hosted the  2^nd Annual Math and Civics Summer Institute for Liberty City 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders.

The Math & Civics Summer Institute is the result of the great response received by an FIU Law Forum held in 2011 entitled Quality Education as a Constitutional Right.

The Math & Civics Summer Institute aims to build a new national model for transforming disenfranchised young people into educational change agents in their communities. Using innovative techniques, the institute gets elementary students excited about learning mathematics and teaches them youth rhetorical and civic skills.

Thank you to the following FIU Law students and administrative staff who taught within and organized the program:

• Tesha Allison
• Alejandro Carrasco
• Andrea Ferranti
• Myriam Girado
• Emilio Lorenzo
• Desmond Meade
• Sofia Mitchell
• Virginie Plawecki-Illescas
• Brianna Reid
• Stefan Sinn

In NBC News, Professor Phyllis Kotey is quoted on the possible strategic reasons for George Zimmerman granting an exclusive interview to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on national television.

In the article, Kotey states: “It’s a chance to hone the story and test it — test versions, what works, reactions, to see what’s going to happen. It’s an opportunity to see how a particular position will play.” She also notes that in a television appearance, Zimmerman can speak without the risk of cross-examination by the prosecution.

Phyllis Kotey is a retired judge and former prosecutor , who now teaches at Florida International University College of Law.

Zimmerman to appear on Fox to ‘open up’ about night of Trayvon Martin shooting

George Zimmerman has granted an exclusive interview to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, scheduled to air Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, Fox announced.

“Zimmerman will open up about what happened the night of Trayvon Martin’s death and his experience in the aftermath of the fatal shooting,” according to a Fox press release.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. The case has become the focus of national media, and ignited an emotional debate over race and gun rights.

Zimmerman, the son of a white father and Peruvian mother of Hispanic descent, has pleaded innocent to the murder charge, and says that he shot Martin in self-defense after Martin attacked him. He is out on bail preparing for a trial.

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Professor Mirow will deliver a talk on the Spanish Constitution of Cadiz’s importance in colonial Florida to the 18th Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Historia del Derecho Indiano, in Cordoba, Argentina, at a plenary session of the congress on July 18, 2012.

With over 60 presentations by professors from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, Italy, France, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Venezuela, the congress is often considered the most important gathering of historians of Spanish colonial law.  Mirow and FIU are the only presenter and university from the United States listed in the program.  Presentation at the congress is by invitation.

“It is really an honor for me to be invited to the congress and to represent Florida and the United States at this international event.  There is an incredible amount of interest from the Spanish-speaking world about the colonial period in Florida, it laws and institutions, and its promulgation of the Constitution of Cadiz 200 years ago,” Mirow said.

Florida International University College of Law is delighted to announce Pablo Van Thienen’s arrival this week as a visiting researcher from Argentina.  Van Thienen has a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires Law School and a master’s degree in Corporate Law from Austral University, Argentina.  He has also completed two specialization programs, one in Corporate Accounting & Finance from Austral University, and the other in Management for Small & Medium Businesses from I.A.E. Business School, Argentina.  He is the Director of CEDEF, a law school in Buenos Aires.

Van Thienen plans to do research for one year on the legal, contractual and economic incentives behind the compensation package of top management as members of boards of directors and how these incentives may create serious conflicts between the individual interests of managers and shareholders.

Pablo Van Thienen’s office is in RDB 2063, email: cedef@educedef.com.ar

In the latest edition of Ocean Drive, Brett Graff features Desmond Meade, who thanks to the Chapman Partnership has ascended to a position of leadership where he can fulfill his goal to help those less fortunate.

Desmond Meade is the current president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), and a third-year law student at Florida International University College of Law.

Chasing the Law

It’s noon on a Thursday afternoon in Miami, and Desmond Meade, a third-year law school student at Florida International University, is preparing for a presentation he’ll give at a convention criticizing the state’s push to privatize prisons. It may sound like Meade is taking a natural step for an overachieving law student, but nothing about his climb to this situation was particularly likely. Just about a decade ago, Meade was homeless, suffering from a chronic substance abuse problem, and contemplating suicide.

“If someone would have told me, ‘Desmond, don’t jump in front of those trains because you’re going to serve on boards and get into law school and meet the president of the United States,’ well, I wouldn’t have believed him,” says Meade, now 45.

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