Archive for 'Trial Advocacy Program'

(Pictured from left to right are Professor Rifkin and Professor H.T. Smith, Director, Trial Advocacy Program.)

The Trial Advocacy Program recently recognized Abbe Rifkin on her fifth year as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy for the Florida International University College of Law.

Since 1981, Professor Rifkin has served proudly as an Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, currently as Chief of the Sexually Violent Predator Unit and Senior Trial Counsel in the prosecution of the County’s most complex and high profile homicides.

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Nisha Mohammed (3L) coaching her group on how to develop a theory and theme for the hypothetical case.

Students from Broward County’s Plantation Middle School’s Mock Trial Team visited the FIU College of Law to learn the art of legal storytelling. The program began with a welcome from Professor H.T. Smith, director of the FIU Law Trial Advocacy Program. Professor H. Scott Fingerhut, assistant director of the Trial Advocacy Program, then explained to the students the importance of developing a case theory and theme, and gave them the facts of a hypothetical case on cyber bullying.

Following the presentation, the group of twenty students were divided into smaller groups. Igor Hernandez (3L), Joanna Hernandez (3L), Denita Jones (3L), Daniel Masvidal (2L), and Nisha Mohammed (3L), all Trial Team members and competition veterans, coached their respective groups on how to develop a theory and theme for the hypothetical case.

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On the 125th anniversary of its founding, FIU Law Professor H.T. Smith gave the keynote address at the fall commencement ceremony of his undergraduate alma mater, Florida A&M University.

Speaking to a capacity crowd at FAMU’s 9,000-seat Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium, Professor Smith celebrated the more than 700 graduates who walked across the stage. He described for them his childhood education in Miami’s then-segregated public school system, and that when it came time for him to be the first person in his family to go to college, FAMU “opened the vaults of educational opportunity.”

His address, “There is Greatness Within You,” encouraged the graduates to believe in themselves as precious resources; to search for their passion and dedicate themselves to it; to “do all the good they can in all the ways they can.”

“In life, a person occasionally gets the opportunity to do something great,” Professor Smith said, quoting baseball legend Hank Aaron.  “And when that time comes, only two things matter: Being prepared to seize the moment, and having the courage to take your best swing.”

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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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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.

With Chief Judge Federico A. Moreno administering the oath, Trial Advocacy Adjunct Professor Bernardo (“Bernie”) Pastor was sworn in as the 53rd President of the South Florida Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Consisting of more than 15,000 federal lawyers — including 1,200 federal judges — the Federal Bar Association works to strengthen the federal legal system by promoting the sound administration of justice and the integrity, quality, and independence of our judiciary on behalf of the public they serve.

Professor Pastor has taught Trial Advocacy at FIU Law since 2007 and recently received a five (5)-year teaching award. A graduate of Temple University School of Law, Professor Pastor is a former judicial clerk, federal prosecutor, and associate at Holland & Knight and White & Case. He currently serves as an Assistant County Attorney for the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office.

“I am truly honored to have the opportunity to serve as the president of the FBA’s South Florida Chapter, and feel especially privileged to carry on the tremendous work of our outgoing president, Brett Barfield, who has worked tirelessly for our organization over the past two years, leading us to incredible growth,” said Pastor.

Pictured with Bernie (middle) are Professor H.T. Smith (left), Director
of the Trial Advocacy Program,and Professor H. Scott Fingerhut (right),
Assistant Director.

Last week, the Trial Advocacy Program proudly recognized Bernardo (“Bernie”) Pastor on his fifth year as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy for the College of Law.

Bernie is currently an Assistant County Attorney for the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office, having begun his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable John H. Moore II, of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.  After clerking for Judge Moore, Professor Pastor joined Holland & Knight here in Miami as an associate, following which he became a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida for three years, and then working at White & Case for three years more before going to the County Attorney.

Bernie has been a National Faculty Lecturer for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA).  He has also served on the Advisory (Ad Hoc) Committee on Federal Rules & Procedures here in the Southern District, The Florida Bar Federal Court Practice Committee, and chaired a Florida Bar Grievance Committee.

Professor Pastor earned his B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Fordham University, and graduated from Temple University School of Law.

After a rigorous spring tryout and interview process, the Trial Advocacy Program is pleased to announce that the following students have been selected to join the FIU Trial Team:

Alejandro Carrasco,

Igor Hernandez,

Denita Jones,

Tia Jones,

Jose Lorenzo,

Megan Mackintosh, and

Nisha Mohammed.

These students will now spend the summer participating in advanced advocacy “boot camps” to prepare them to join the current Trial Team members in the fall for the 2012-2013 competition season.

Congratulations to these Passionate Principled Advocates, as they strive to become the next generation of Great Legal Storytellers.

WHAT:  Famed trial attorney Roy Black, who has defended the likes of William Kennedy Smith, Rush Limbaugh and Kelsey Grammer, will share stories from his career as part of the FIU College of Law’s inaugural Great Legal Storyteller Series. To be held every February, the series will give law students the opportunity to listen to some of the great legal stories of America from prominent and successful attorneys. These legal leaders will educate, inspire and cultivate the next generation of passionate, principled attorneys. The series is part of the College of Law’s Trial Advocacy Program. 

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