Coastal Law Magazine (Spring 2008)

THE

MAGAZINE

OF

FLORIDA

C O A S TA L

SCHOOL

OF

LAW

COASTAL LAW

TM

MAGAZINE

Casting One Voice: Defining states’ rights on dormant treaty power. power

SPRING

2008

Welcome toCoastal Law Dear Alumni and Colleagues, and Friends, Welcome to the premier issue of Coastal Law Magazine, the publication of Florida Coastal School of Law. The school’s 12th year was an outstanding one, highlighted by numerous milestones, including the debut of this very publication.We welcomed 565 1Ls this fall and another 88 in January.We also received news of an 84.4 percent pass rate for the July Florida Bar Examination, and a more than 85 percent pass rate for February. Both pass rates set records for Coastal Law graduates.

And, as chronicled elsewhere in this issue, Coastal teams prevailed in moot court competitions sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association and the Florida Bar. In addition, our Jessup International Law team won the Southeast Regional competition for the third year in a row.

C. Peter Goplerud III, Dean and Professor of Law

Our goal for Coastal Law Magazine, which will be published twice a year, is to inform our readers about school successes, events, faculty appointments, and alumni news.We will also offer analysis and insight into the most current and dynamic legal issues of the day through pieces written by Coastal Law faculty.

Our cover story this issue,“Casting One Voice: Defining states’ rights on dormant treaty power,” in addition to providing an examination of current constitutional issues, provides an introduction to Coastal Law’s international and comparative programs.We also introduce you to some key faculty members with expertise and interest in the international arena, as well as the student organizations, and legal clinics that support our global perspectives.

The Florida Coastal School of Law Alumni Board of Directors, now 22 members strong, has been hard at work this year. I invite you to learn how you can help and participate in this growing association. Look for more information about the board and the new Florida Coastal School of Law Foundation on our website and in upcoming publications.

On a final note, October 17 and 18 marks our 3nd annual Alumni Weekend.

A “save the date” notice is elsewhere in this issue and further details will be forthcoming soon.

I wish you all a great summer and invite you to spend some time at our campus.

C. Peter Goplerud III

IntraCoastal SPRING 2008 VOL. 1, NO. 1

I S S U E

D E PA R T M E N T S 5 Save the Date

F O C U S

International Perspectives and Curriculum

Important events for alums and students COVER STORY

6 News and Events

8 Casting One Voice

Coastal Law achievements, appointments, and programs

By Associate Professor Cleveland Ferguson III Defining states’ rights on dormant treaty power

19 Everyday Ethics Importance of civility extends beyond your client

8

14 International Curriculum The world view of Coastal Law’s global approaches

20 Student News Competitive team wins, and campus-wide events and projects

PERSPECTIVES

14

3

IN PRACTICE

18 Alumna Lands Overseas Publications, achievements and presentations

Rachel L. Williams, ’07, defends human rights in The Hague

25 Alumni News and Spotlights Coastal Law Alumni Association highlights, and the personal and professional milestones of former students

30 Q & A Meet Emily Tracy, Coastal Law’s Development Programs Manager

18

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

22 Faculty News

Florida Coastal School of Law

Board of Advisors Robert M. Rhodes, Chair Foley & Lardner LLP

Paul I. Perez Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer Fidelity National Title Group, Inc.

Audrey McKibbin Moran President and Chief Executive Officer The Sulzbacher Center Barbara “Babs” Strickland The Suddath Companies Henry M. Coxe III Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Coxe, P.A.

Kenneth L. Shropshire David W. Hauck Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Paul Vance Senior Vice President of Football Operations and General Counsel Jacksonville Jaguars

COASTAL LAW

MAIN NUMBER 904.680.7700

PUBLISHER:

ADMISSIONS 904.680.7710 admissions@fcsl.edu

SPRING 2008 VOL. 1, NO. 1

C. Peter Goplerud III, Dean and Professor of Law EDITOR:

J. Brooks Terry, Director of Marketing and Communications

ALUMNI 904.256.1212 fcslalumni@fcsl.edu

MANAGING EDITOR:

Margaret Widman Dees, Director of Institutional Advancement CONTRIBUTORS: Associate Professor Cleveland Ferguson III Professor John Knechtle Vice Dean and Associate Professor of Law Teresa Heekin Davlantes

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS 904.680.7730 bterry@fcsl.edu

REGISTRAR DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: BroadBased Communications, Inc. PHOTOGRAPHY: Curtis Bryant Loftis Jim LaBranche

904.680.7631 registrar@fcsl.edu

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT 904.680.7649 mdees@fcsl.edu

Coastal Law Magazine is published by the Florida Coastal School of Law Office of Institutional Advancement Address correspondence to: 8787 Baypine Rd., Jacksonville FL, 32256 Telephone: 904.256.1212 Fax: 904.256.1104 Email: fcslalumni@fcsl.edu Web: www.fcsl.edu or http://alumni.fcsl.edu

Save the Date CALENDAR

OF

UPCOMING

EVENTS

June 19 Coastal Law Alumni Reception - Florida Bar Annual Meeting (Boca Raton)

July 24-28 Circuit Civil Mediation Training Seminar

July 30-August 1 Successful Appellate Advocacy Workshop

5

October 17-18 Alumni Weekend

November 6-7 Environmental Law Summit 2008 – Jacksonville University Campus

November 13 Career Services Department Starting Line Reception for 1Ls

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

OUR

News & Events

A CAMPUS-WIDE ROUNDUP OF HAPPENINGS AND ACTIVITIES

Coastal Law 2007/2008 Bar Pass Makes School History Coastal Law at a respectable third among Florida’s 10 law schools behind only historical leaders Florida State University and University of Florida.

“We believe in continuous improvement, and these groups really embody that,” said Coastal Law Dean Peter Goplerud during the April swearing in ceremony at the United States In April, Coastal Law graduates were sworn in at the United Courthouse in downtown States Courthouse in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville. “The entire school couldn’t be more proud.”

T WAS A BANNER BAR PASS YEAR Of the February results, Bethany Reich, for Florida Coastal School of Law graduassistant director of Academic Success at ates. First time takers from the school conCoastal Law, said most students studied tinued to shatter Coastal Law records, first through their Christmas break and many even passing at a rate of 84.4 percent in July 2007, took advantage of the school’s advanced and most recently at 85.2 percent in Florida Bar studies class, which focuses on February 2008. essay writing and studying for the Bar exam.

The latter pass rate, which was almost nine points higher than the state average, put According to Reich, more than half of the

I

School Welcomes New Assistant Dean

C

oastal Law’s new Dean of Student Affairs may have not taken the most conventional path to the school, but Tom Taggart said he couldn’t be happier with his choice to come aboard this year.

An Ohio native,Taggart relocated to Jacksonville more than 20 years ago after taking an engineering job only a few blocks from Coastal Law’s current campus.While there, he served in a variety of capacities, from improving customer service policies to helping plan and execute team building exercises.

“But I would have to say that for this position I drew heavily from my experiences with the Boy Scouts, and also other volunteer work I’ve

graduates taking the Bar in February enrolled in advanced Florida Bar studies.

“And of the 61 test takers, about 45 or 50 were enrolled in that class. I think that made a difference,” she said.

Odessa Alm, director of Academic Success, said even with the additional preparation, the students polled after the exam still had no way to judge how well they performed.

“The students pretty much say the same thing,” Alm said. “They’re not really sure how they did, but they feel like they were prepared in every way they can be. We really do care about those scores. We take everything we’ve learned over years, and we’re going to try and change things and make it better.”

Reich agreed.

“Our preparation for the Bar starts from day one, and that will remain paramount to our continued success,” she said. “If Florida or Florida State can perform a certain way on the exam, there’s no reason Coastal Law can’t do even better. Our goal is to continuously improve.” COASTAL

done,” said Taggart, who also volunteers as coach and youth counselor.“I never thought I’d be doing this, but as my career evolved over the years, I really began to appreciate being able to work with individuals in helping them achieve their goals, having a positive impact on their lives.”

A father of two,Taggart said he most enjoys meeting with students and, ultimately, helping them make the most of their Coastal Law experiences.

“The school is a great environment where you can feel comfortable bringing in new ideas,” he said.“As soon as I arrived I couldn’t help but notice how well everyone - faculty, staff, and students - worked together as team.

“This is a wonderful opportunity.”

To reach Dean Taggart email him at ttaggart@fcsl.edu. COASTAL

Environmental Law Summit Draws Large Numbers

ABA Approves Study-in-France Program S COMMERCE AND COMMUNICATIONS BECOME more globalized, Coastal Law’s influence continues to grow in tow.

In addition to offering an international and comparative law certificate program, the school introduced its first ABA-approved study abroad program in late 2007, to be held at the University of Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, France from May 25 - June 27, 2008.

Kathy Hartland, assistant professor at Florida Coastal, who also serves as director for the study abroad program, said school faculty members and administrators saw a need for launching a Coastal program after students continued to enroll in study abroad programs hosted by other law schools.

“This has been one of our goals for some time and, ultimately, we always want to be able to give our students what they need,” she said.

As part of the program this year, there will be four professors – two from Coastal Law and two from the University of Auvergne –

A

“Things like this (the summit) are very important in getting the point across,” said Pilkey.“It gives us an opportunity to speak to attorneys and that is what we have been needing to do.”

The closing keynote speaker, Robin Kundis Craig (left), professor at Florida State University College of Law, brought together the different themes from the entire day and how each panel is related. Her primary area of expertise is the Clean Water Act, but she also teaches a variety of environmental law classes.

The City of Jacksonville’s Environmental Quality Division, JEA and the North Florida Land Trust all had informational booths set up for the summit’s attendees.

Abate said they probably won’t begin planning next fall’s summit until March, but he does have an idea for a topic.

“The water transfer issue we are seeing right now,” said Abate.“Atlanta is dealing with it and South Florida is talking about taking water from the St. Johns River.” COASTAL

teaching courses with an international or comparative law focus.

From Coastal Law, Cleveland Ferguson III will teach “Comparative Approaches to the Enforcement of Human Rights,” and Professor Rick Karcher will teach “International Sports Law”.

University of Auvergne Professor Jean Stoufflet will teach “French Business Law,” and Dr. Marie Elizabeth Baudoin will teach “European Union Law”.

All classes will be taught in English and each year Coastal Law will rotate professors.

Hartland said the program is geared towards first-year law students, because many second-year law students are trying to find internships at firms where they’d like to work after graduation.

“This program allows students to earn some extra credits in the summer,” she said. “They will also have a multi-cultural experience. They could still come back and work for a firm or ( Jacksonville Area) Legal Aid until classes start again.”

Hartland said when she went to law school in 1994, she participated in an exchange program that was also in France.

“It was absolutely beneficial in so many ways,” she said. “I still have contacts from the program that I went through, and opportunities like that are invaluable.” COASTAL

7

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

I

n October, more than 100 attorneys, scientists, engineers, professors, students, and local citizens came together to discuss one thing at Coastal Law: how they can all work together to fight the impacts of sea level rise.

The summit, hosted by Coastal Law and Jacksonville University, covered an issue that has been making headlines both locally and nationally.According to the panelists, the summit’s topic — “Rising to the Challenge: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies to Combat the Impacts of Sea Level Rise” — is especially timely in Northeast Florida.

“Our goal is to raise awareness of the

issues that are affecting us in Northeast Florida and even nationally,” said Randall Abate, assistant professor at Florida Coastal and co-organizer of the event.“We want to examine why the sea level is rising and how it relates to the growing climate change.”

In Northeast Florida, Abate said some of the major issues are beach erosion, the impacts on marine wildlife and the impact on coastal properties.

“South Ponte Vedra Beach has been hit very hard,” he said.“That area alone has involved a lot of federal, state and local responses.”

To speak specifically on beach erosion, the summit’s luncheon keynote speaker was Dr. Orrin Pilkey (left), James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology, Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University. Pilkey is known nationwide for his expertise on beach erosion.

Much of his research has focused on basic and applied coastal geology.

C OV E R S TO RY

Casting One I Voice: B Y A SSOCIATE P ROFESSOR C LEVELAND F ERGUSON III 1

‘Federalizing’ State Voices Through the Constitution With the passionate urgings of Framers like James Madison7 and Alexander Hamilton8, two concepts were included in the Constitution to establish a baseline to quash any doubt in dealing

Defining states’ rights on dormant treaty power.

with the U.S. and treaty power: “[H]e shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senate present concur;….”9 “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority under the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land.”10 An additional resolution to the treaty power question was the Framers’ inclusion of Article I, Section 10. It barred states from entering into “any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation…” on their own. Instead states could affect treaty making under the Treaty Clause, Article II, Section 2 through their federal representation.

This is an independently delegated power by which the president and the United States Senate may make law. As a result, states could still secure their positions—their rights—through their representatives and the integrity of the nation’s voice would not be supplanted at the same time.

The Framers also provided language to ensure that ratified treaties had specific application in domestic law as well. Under Article VI, the Supremacy Clause, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby….”

Congress could now make law under the Article I process and the president and the Senate under Article II, and the courts were required to enforce both, assuming constitutionality.

The enumerated authority vertically separated these powers and placed them at the federal level. This authority made dormant the previous ability the states had under the Articles of Confederation.

9

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

n the five years before the formation of the United States Constitution, states secured their individual interests in the Second Continental Congress through their delegates, exploiting the Articles of Confederation for their own ends.

The Congress was unicameral and day-to-day decisions were made by committees. For example, the Articles called for the exercise of treaty power through treaty committees. In practice, these committees frustrated national interests in a variety of areas.

Treaty committees wrangled over property rights and navigation rights of the Mississippi River with the Spanish Empire2, and individual legislatures widened an ever-increasing North vs. South divide3 by supporting certain British positions at the expense of other states who cobbled together their own unions4 and confederacies.5 George Washington lamented, “We are one nation today and 13 tomorrow. Who will treat with us on such terms?”6 Thus, there became an evident need to create a stronger source of law for the new nation.

By replacing the Articles with the United States Constitution, the people could grant enumerated authority to a central federal government, equalize power between the states at the federal level by creating the House of Representatives and the Senate, regulate trade between the states, and speak with unified national voice. By quieting the individual voices of the states, the new nation could avoid sending mixed signals in foreign relations and better secure their rights. Arguably this was accomplished.

Nevertheless, today these clauses are challenged by such actions as state governors and local officials concluding trade missions with foreign governments, state legislatures refusing to allow reciprocal inheritance for non U.S. citizens, passing resolutions condemning the policies of certain nations, and creating decidedly isolationist policies against foreign businesses within their boundaries, many times without the consent or coordination of the federal government.

Their actions raise the question: How successful is the Constitution in unifying the states through the formation of foreign relations and treaty power policies?

Given the specific enumeration by the Framers of Article II, section 2 states do not have the constitutional authority to act in derogation of the executive and legislative branch power to make treaties. Therefore any state actions on these types of issues are preempted unless otherwise stated or reserved.

Arguably then, these clauses – vesting treaty making power in the political, federal branches of government, identifying treaty law as on par with other federal law, and requiring that courts enforce treaties accordingly – should have settled the matter in favor of exclusive federal action.

The treaty clause is short and specific. The president has an independent and substantive authority to negotiate on behalf of the United States and that negotiation must be ultimately ratified by the United States Senate to have binding effect, within the United States of America. So the question becomes, by not providing a role for states in this clause, their activities must be subordinate to those of the president and the United States Senate.11 Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution is an independent delegated power to create federal law.

This is separate from any legislation that would be created under Article I,12 but since this power is specifically enumerated, it is separate and distinct from the power to make law.

Pursuant to the Supremacy Clause, treaties enjoy the same status as congressional sponsored legislation.13 Therefore like all other forms of federal law and the law made by the state, which is inconsistent will be preempted.14 Therefore judges in every state must give effect15 to treaties without regard to the laws of the state in which they are adjudicating the claim.16 What is more, reading this Clause in para materia with the Treaty Clause, the next question becomes whether the president has preeminent power to assemble the diplomats to do the negotiations that result in his or her signature on a document that is to become a treaty prior to ratification? This brings the issue of vertical separation of powers.

Importantly, the Framers put the president of the United States and Congress – in particular, the United States Senate – to work together on foreign affairs without interference from the states.

Therefore, when the Framers drafted the Constitution the Supremacy Clause in relation to the Treaty Clause it granted the federal government exclusive province over those issues which need a uniform, national approach.17 Treaty law being international

law first, domestic law second18 is nevertheless imbued with the dignity of federal law. States must therefore abide by it. Therefore any state actions involving these types of issues are preempted.

States authority then is said to be dormant.

The Courts’Treatment of Article II Treaty Power: Missouri v. Holland and the New Federalism Historically, in 1796, the United States Supreme Court actually stated that “every treaty made, by the authority of the United States, shall be superior to the Constitution and laws of any individual state”19 and that “laws of any of the states contrary to a treaty, shall be disregarded.”20 In 1879, the Court found a treaty provision trumped inconsistent state law. In 1913, Congress enacted a statute regulating the hunting of migratory birds within the states under the Act of March 4, 1913.21 The Secretary of the Interior was delegated the power to create and enforce the attendant regulations.

The regulations were aimed at preserving the supply of birds. At the lower court levels, hunters successfully argued that Congress overreached because the law was beyond its enumerated powers. President Wilson determined that this was a matter of great public importance. He then charged the Department of State with negotiating a treaty with Great Britain22 in which the Senate ratified in 1916, for the protection of migratory fowl covering the United States and Canada.

Congress enacted enabling legislation, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, giving the Secretary of the Interior the power to regulate hunting. The state of Missouri objected and this led to Missouri v. Holland.23 The state of Missouri argued that Congress could not accomplish under treaty power what it could not under other provisions of the Constitution. Citing the Tenth Amendment, Missouri suggested, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Further in Missouri’s view, the treaty was an impermissible challenge to its sovereignty. In a 72 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States disagreed.

Justice Holmes, writing for the Court found that the subject of the treaty was “a national interest of very nearly the first magnitude.”24

“…some bargaining between states and foreign governments may be unworthy of congressional attention…”

11

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

As Professor Edward T. Swaine noted, Holmes answered by which the nation is required to speak in one voice versus those “essentially suppos[ing] that Congress’s domestic authority had to activities that allow for individual state participation – encouragbe coextensive with the federal government’s international author- ing the use of the Compact Clause under Article I, Section 10, ity.”25 Finding the power to make treaties expressly in the Clause 3 for international activities. This would reduce the tension Constitution along with treaties being the supreme law of land on between the states and federal government because consultation par with congressionally enacted legislation, trumped the “…invis- by the former with the latter would be required in all cases, leavible radiation [of ] the general terms of the Tenth Amendment.”26 ing little negative effect on the efficacy of the Treaty Clause or the Thus sovereign regulatory power vested in the states via the Tenth penumbra outlined by Missouri.29 Too, there are a number of Amendment was preempted. mechanisms through federal agencies such as the U.S. Trade As precedence, this case stands for the proposition that treaties Representative’s office that help coordinate these functions. can abridge the regulatory rights that the states enjoy within their Nevertheless, no one line of criticism of Article II Treaty Power exclusive province pursuant to the Tenth Amendment. Missouri not has emerged as the majority view. As scholars and commentators only held that federal treaty power reigns supreme over states’ right have worked through the various tensions of vertical separation of to regulate, but also animated criticism of dormant treaty power. powers, it took the Courts decades to call into question the reach Commentators suggest dormant treaty power may be antiquatof Congressional authority to regulate state behavior. ed and the justifications to keep treaty power in the exclusive That said, case law through the 1950s consistently echoed province of the federal government can no longer be predicated on Missouri’s central theme: federal action was superior to state previously-accepted justifications. As an example, Professor Swaine action given the vertical separation of powers doctrine and preasserts that the United States has matured emption resulting from the Treaty Power. and as a result is less dependent on speakIn United States v. Pink,30 for example, ing with a uniform voice in foreign relathe Court stated “domestic policies power tions. Dormant treaty power should be over external affairs is not shared by the interpreted as less restrictive on issues of states. It is vested in the national governstate taxation of and contracting with forment exclusively. It need not be so exereign governments. cise as to conform to state laws or state Another commentator, Professor Kirk policies whether they be expressed in W. Junker suggests “dormant treaty power Constitutions statutory judicial decrees.”31 may be said to be over inclusive, because While much of the post World War II it condemns a wide range of arrangements community galvanized around a number that states seek to make with foreign govof United Nations-sponsored conventions ernments.”27 He states “[for example] in the human rights area, President some bargaining between states and forEisenhower fought against the United - Professor Kirk W. Junker Duquesne University Law School eign governments may be unworthy of States Senate efforts to return to isolacongressional attention, such as the negotionism. The most famous attempt to tiations between Virginia and the Kingdom of Belgium to open a reduce participation in the international arena was the infamous foreign trade office in Brussels . . . .”28 Bricker Amendment,32 sponsored by Senator John W. Bricker.

If one were to attempt to harmonize the positions of the comSenator Bricker wanted a constitutional amendment abrogating mentators with Missouri, it is plausible to assert that by not defin- Missouri and to limit the effect of international treaties in the ing the boundaries of the “invisible radiation” of the Tenth United States. While President Eisenhower was able to use his Amendment, the Missouri Court understood that a modicum of political office to defeat the amendment, in 1957, the Supreme transnational activity would transpire between state governments Court announced in Reid v. Covert33 that the Constitution superand foreign nations. And, the federal government would do well sedes all international treaties ratified by the Senate and that the to let some of it pass without objection. This acknowledges the Bill of Rights could not be subordinated by international agreemodern discourse between nations. But even critics must concede ments to give Congress power not enumerated in the there are areas in which individual state bargaining will disadvanConstitution.34 Between this case and the United States Senate’s tage the collective interests of all of the people, e.g., national secu- use of its political power demonstrated that the political process rity. A uniform voice then cannot be discarded in favor of state could subordinate the executive’s use of the Treaty Clause and autonomy alone. overrule longstanding precedent.

Perhaps then, the dormant treaty power is best approached by “Bricker adherents” continuously were elected to Congress. considering the impact that individual state interaction with forSome were assigned to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. eign governments may have on sister states as well as the potential In many cases, human rights conventions were not referred out of to compromise collective interests of the nation as a whole. When the Committee even if the president had signed them. The executhat compromise appears probable is when states violate the verti- tive’s use of the Treaty Power clause to sway domestic policy cal separation of powers. remained in a stranglehold through the political process.35 Other commentators also divide the question into one in Arguably Senators who did not approve of the use of this federal

authority continued to maintain a close watch of its use.

Despite this outcome for treaty power since the New Deal, Congress had begun to use the Commerce Clause to regulate the behavior of the states, from personal freedoms such as voting rights to collective responsibilities including environmental protection. As a result, use of the Treaty Power provision to control state action by the federal political branches receded in favor of broad justifications under the Commerce Clause.

Critics saw congressional use of the Commerce Clause as yet another tool to expand the reach of big government and federal control of states’ rights. Also, the Court’s makeup had changed.

When William Rehnquist became Chief Justice, the Court’s view of vertical separation of powers had also shifted. The Rehnquist Court ushered in a new view of federalism that was fairly restrictive of Congressional authority and decidedly in favor of the expansion of states’ authority. Critics found an ally in the curtailment of federal authority in the Rehnquist Court.

In reviving states’ rights arguments in a variety of contexts— most particularly with the analysis of the Commerce Clause—the Rehnquist Court issued opinions that began to curtail congressional power in favor of the states. Looking at the enumerated provisions of the Constitution, the Rehnquist Court fashioned as its cornerstone, the perspective that Congress could not mandate to the states or its officials anything beyond what was enumerated in the Constitution, harkening back to Justice Stone’s analysis of the Tenth Amendment “…All [power] is retained [by the state] which has not been surrendered.”36 Federal regulators began to realize that unless one could justify congressional action through

an explicit constitutional grant of power then the action would be deemed “inconsistent with the federal structure of government.”37 This analysis was so effective at reducing the reach of the federal government that scholars coalesced around the idea that the same analysis could be applied to the federal government’s use of Treaty Power—that one could now flesh out the “invisible radiation” of the Tenth Amendment that the Missouri court was unwilling to do. Missouri could then be overturned.

The Court restricted Congressional authority that inappropriately reached into the province of state sovereignty using the enumeration principle or the anti-commandeering principle. The latter stood for the proposition that state officials who were not a part of law enforcement could not be used to enforce federal laws.

Critics of congressional authority suggested that these theories could be used to reawaken states’ ability to exercise treaty power.

For example, in United States v. Lopez,38 the Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990 was successfully challenged. The Lopez Court found that Congress overstepped its legislative authority under the Commerce Clause under the analysis that the act being regulated had nothing to do with economic activity—the principle feature of the Commerce Clause. The Court held that Congress was limited to that which is enumerated in the Constitution. Thus state power could expand and cover many areas in which the Constitution was silent.

In 1992, in New York v. United States,39 the Court held that the federal government may not compel a state to enact or administer a federal program. In 1994, in Barclays Bank PLC v.

Franchise Tax Bond40, the Court found in favor of the state of California stating that Congress had not specifically foreclosed the ability of the state to regulate franchise taxes of multinationals and therefore states were permitted to so regulate. In 1997, Printz v.

United States,41 the Court held that the federal government may not compel state non-judicial offices to execute federal laws.

States’ rights and their ability to regulate themselves were expanding. Federal power was eroding. Congress then, had to focus on ensuring that the federal statutes were written so tautly that states could be properly regulated in the estimation of the Court.

Critics of expanded federal power got their chance to attack Missouri in 2000. When state action related to foreign governments was again tested in Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council,42 the Court found Massachusetts law restricting state purchasing from companies doing business in Burma was preempted by federal statute. The Court refrained from resolving other constitutional objections. The Missouri precedent could have been narrowed, but the opportunity was not taken by the Court.

Disappointed, commentators suggest that the issue of dormant treaty power would have to be a question resolved politically.

States would have to be sure to instruct their senators to offer the president advice and consent consistent with their wishes. The president would have to involve senators in the negotiating process to better ensure passage. In instances of impasse, the president would have to consider reservations, understandings or declarations to proposed treaty language to accommodate the wishes of individual states.

The Rehnquist Court’s focus on expanding states’ rights seems to suggest that at a minimum, Missouri will be read

narrowly in deference to stare decisis when similar issues arise, calling for political compromises instead. We cannot yet prognosticate with any degree of accuracy what the Roberts Court will do in this area. The Chief Justice was confirmed in part, on the basis of his commitment to uphold precedence. In any case, states continue to push against the tension of the vertical separation of powers as embodied by dormant treaty power with extraterritorial activities. One can conclude that it is likely that Missouri will be in place for a while, but it will not be the last word on the federal exercise of the Treaty Clause and in relation to the states’ dormant treaty power.

Making Sense of Dormant Treaty Power in the 21st Century

9 10 11

12 13

14 15

16 17

18

19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35

Making and Enforcement 1, 154 ( John Byrne & Company, Washington, D.C., 1916) quoting Justice Chase in Ware v. Hylton, 3 Dall. 199, 236 (1796).

Id. ch. 145, 37 Stat. 847 (1913).

Great Britain still negotiated treaties on Canada’s behalf.

252 U.S. 416 (1920).

Id. at 435.

Swaine, Does Federalism Constrain the Treaty Power? 103 Colom. L. Rev. at 420.

252 U.S. at 433-434.

Kirk W. Junker, Conventional Wisdom, DeEmption and Uncooperative Federalism in International Environmental Agreements, 2 Loy. U. Chi. Int’l L. Rev 93, 98 (2004-05).

Id. This exists with the Department of Interior and states with Sovereign Native American nations.

315 U.S. 203 (1942).

Id. at 567.

Actually these were a series of amendments in which Senator Bricker’s was the most wellknown.

354 U.S. 1 (1957).

Id. Even after President George Herbert Walker Bush declared that the nation’s most precious resource was its children could not get the boldest human rights treaty, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1990. As a result, he decided not to sign it.

While President William Jefferson Clinton signed the CRC in 1995, he refused to submit it

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

to the Senate because Senator Jesse Helms, Chairman of the Committee, promised never to allow it to come before the full Senate. One of President George Walker Bush’s first transmissions to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was that he would not submit the Convention for the Senate’s consideration because of its potential effects on state sovereignty. See Cleveland Ferguson III, Incrementalism, Ideology and Social Choice: Should the United States Ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child?—A Practical Perspective, 1 FAMU L. Rev. 15, 22 at note 40 (2006); see also Cleveland Ferguson III, Of Politics and Policy: Can the U.S. Maintain its Credibility Abroad While Ignoring the Needs of its Children at Home?—Revisiting the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child as a Transnational Framework for Local Governing, 14 Tulsa J of Comp & Int’l L 191, 234-35.

United States v. Darby 312 U.S. 100, 124 (1941).

New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144, 177 (1994).

514 U.S. 519 (1995).

505 U.S. 144 (1992).

512 U.S. 298 (1994).

512 U.S. 898 (1997).

530 U.S. 363 (2000).

Broward Counties have 222 different languages; Miami-Dade County has 200. Broward County, Florida School Board Statistics 2006. MiamiDade County, Florida School Board Statistical Report 2007.

SPRING 2008

8

(William T. Hutchinson & William M. E. Rachal Eds., 1962).

The Federalist No. 75, at 452 (Alexander Hamilton) ( Clinton Rossiter, 1961).

U.S. Const. art. II, §2.

U.S. Const. art VI, cl. 2.

See David M. Golove, Treaty-Making and the Nation: The Historical Foundations of the Nationalist Conception of the Treaty Power, 98 Mich L. Rev. 1075 (2000); Edward T. Swaine, Does Federalism Constrain the Treaty Power?, 103 Colom L. Rev. (2003).

Here, Congress has all legislative powers.

Article 6 clause 2, “all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land.”

Id. See U.S. Const. art. III, §2, cl. 1 (providing that “[t]he judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity arising under…treaties made, or which shall be made”…. This judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court of the United States “and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish” U.S. Const. art. III, § 1.

Id. For a great discussion of this point, see Martin S. Flaherty, Are We to Be a Nation? Federal Power vs. ‘States’ Rights’ in Foreign Affairs, 70 Colo. L. Rev. 1277, 1312-14, (1999).

This is true especially if the treaty is not self executing, thus requiring enabling legislation to give it effect in the United States’ domestic spheres.

See Samuel Benjamin Crandall, Treaties, Their

13

|

1 Associate Professor of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law. Prof. Ferguson teaches Contracts, State Constitutional Law, and International Human Rights. He is the author of the forthcoming textbook, A Practical Approach to Florida Constitutional Law (Carolina Academic Press 2008).

2 See Michael Allen, The Mississippi River Debate, 1785-1787, 36 Tenn. Hist. Q. 447 (1977). Negotiating navigable rights to the Mississippi was an issue for John Jay in attempting to enforce the Treaty of Peace.

3 See The Debate in the Virginia Convention on The Navigation of the Mississippi River, 143, June 1788, in 10 Documenting History of the Ratification of the Constitution 1493 ( John P. Kaminski, et al., Eds 1993).

4 Benjamin Franklin tried to form the Albany Plan of Union in 1754 that was to facilitate trade among all 13 colonies. Maryland and Virginia settled on a trade pact in March 1785.

This was a forerunner of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

5 The New England Confederation existed from 1643 to 1684. See Henry William Elson, “History of the United States of America,” (Kathy Leigh, editor, MacMillan Company, New York, 1904) available at http://www.usahistory.info/.

6 Letter of George Washington to James McHenry, August 22,1785, in The Papers, Confederation Series, 3:197-99., available at http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/ constitution/1784/mchenry1.html.

7 Letter of Madison to Jefferson (Aug. 12, 1786), in 9 Papers of James Madison at 93, 96-97

Professor Cleveland Ferguson has written and presented in a variety of forums on the ability of decision-makers to integrate balanced social policy considerations into the administration of rightsand-responsibilities process in the areas of contracts, local governing, elections, transnational business frameworks, the First Amendment, and human rights law.

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

So far, the courts have left us with no bright line by which to measure federal encroachment into authority that is exclusively reserved for states in transnational matters. Imagine drawing a line in the sand just before the wind blows. While there have been fierce debates on either side of the question of dormant treaty power, it is sure in a more interdependent society that states are going to have more interaction with nations whose inhabitants share commonalties. Florida, for example, has cities and counties in which more than 200 languages are spoken in their respective school systems. Citizens will insist on having formal connections with their birth countries. Likewise, states are going to want their governors to participate in trade missions in an effort to better distinguish themselves from other states or small island nations to create jobs and incentivize economic partnerships. Counties and cities will want to further encourage tourism, residency reciprocity for real estate investment, and educational opportunities with other countries.

Yet one can still answer the question as to whether the Constitution has been successful in maintaining vertical separation of powers in this area in the affirmative. States must still be mindful of congressional preemption and remain well within the borders of their authority so as not to negatively affect areas that require a uniform voice as the Framers intended. So long as the federal and state governments can work these issues out before approaching the outer bounds of the invisible radiation of the Tenth Amendment, it will be less likely that the issue will return to the courts for a reconsideration of the Commerce Clause or challenging the precedent of Missouri. COASTAL

PERSPECTIVES

International Curriculum

Coastal Law’s International and Comparative Approaches

o achieve its goal to prepare students for a global and multicultural legal workplace, Coastal Law offers a number of international and comparative courses, clinics, and programs, including the recently ABA-approved summer abroad program with the University of Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, France (See article on page 7).

Coastal Law’s Certificate in International & Comparative Law is the primary vehicle through which students develop international and comparative law expertise at the school.

Professor John Knechtle, the school’s International Programs Director, said the curriculum “… offers an educational experience that will train students how to negotiate complex international agreements, or argue cutting-edge international law issues before a domestic court, an arbitration panel, or an international tribunal. It also offers students opportunities to gain valuable practical legal experience through clinics and externships in international tribunals.”

The strength of the certificate program, like any academic curriculum, lies with the faculty.

Twenty-one full-time faculty members with expertise in international or comparative law, several of whom are profiled in these pages, make it the largest specialty area at Coastal Law.

T

International Criminal Law Externship

In 2007, Coastal Law created a year-round externship program In the Caribbean Law Clinic, the ACLI’s flagship program, with the Association of Defense Council at the International students work with the highest levels of government in the Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague, Caribbean in an effort to help them find answers to legal problems Netherlands (See article “Alumna Lands Overseas”). Under the in their jurisdictions. Attorney Generals from Jamaica, Bahamas, supervision of defense council, externs perform such tasks as Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands, Barbados, Texas and motion writing, legal research, and writing pre and post trial Florida refer live legal problems to the clinic for stubriefs. In its first semester of operation, Coastal Law dents to research under faculty supervision. intern Brent Hicks accepted a job with a defense “Strong interest Every semester, students meet in the country council. from the students where the legal problems originated. They spend results in remarkably fresh International Law Moot the first day discussing their legal memoranda and how to present their findings. On the secand compelling dialogue on Court Teams ond day, they present their recommendations international issues to the staff of the Attorney General’s office.

Coastal’s moot court teams are also vital comin the law.”

“My favorite part of the CLC was brainponents of the school’s international and comparastorming ideas regarding the legal issues with tive law program, most notably making impressive David Pimentel other law students from throughout the region,” showings at the Jessup International Law Moot Coastal Law Assistant Professor said Adam Pylitt, a student in the spring 2008 Court Competition. Now in its 49th year, the Jessup CLC. “This collaborative process of problem solving Cup is the largest moot court competition in the world, was efficient, enlightening, and fun, and at the same time it with participants from more than 500 law schools in approximately gave me a greater sense of other cultures and their legal systems.”

80 countries. Coastal’s Jessup Moot Court teams, under the coaching of Professor Roederer, have won the Southeast Regional rounds for the past three years. In 2006 and 2007, Coastal Law teams placed ACLI Law Conference, Newsletter, among the top 21 and top 10 in the world respectively.

Technical Legal Assistance In 2008 Coastal Law entered its first team in the Willem The ACLI also hosts a biennial law conference on issues relatC. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court ing to the Caribbean. The first two conferences were in Jamaica Competition in Vienna, Austria. Professor Darren Latham and the Bahamas, while the next one is planned for Trinidad & coached this team, which placed second in the 2008 Florida Tobago in July 2009.

Preliminary Competition. This is the best finish for a first-time The ACLI issues a newsletter, “The American & Caribbean entry in the competition’s history.

Law News,” produced by Editor-in-Chief Professor Cleveland Ferguson. Coastal Law currently hosts the ACLI website which, Student Organizations besides describing ACLI programs, offers a substantial database for researching Caribbean Law. Through the combined faculty Over the years Coastal Law’s International Law Society, the expertise at ACLI member schools, professors have provided tech- Black Law Students Association, and the Hispanic American Law nical legal assistance to Caribbean countries in areas of environStudents Association have supported not only Coastal Law’s mental and constitutional law. involvement in the ACLI, but in its entire international and comparative law program. This year under the able leadership of 2L Suzanne Decopain, students formed the Caribbean Law Students Immigration Law Clinic Association for not only the growing number of Coastal Law Coastal Law opened the Immigration Law Clinic with the hir- students with roots in the Caribbean, but for all students with an ing of Professor Ericka Curran in 2007. Students involved in the interest in the Caribbean. CLSA quickly became one of the most clinic become involved in direct legal services to non-citizens and active student organizations on campus this year. COASTAL

15

SPRING 2008

Caribbean Law Clinic

|

Perhaps Coastal Law’s most innovative academic program, The American & Caribbean Law Initiative began in 2000 with a mission to support the growth and development of the Caribbean Basin by facilitating collaborative relationships and strengthening its legal institutions. Today, the ACLI is comprised of four Caribbean and four U.S. law schools that offer an impressive array of programs.

work closely with community organizations to protect the human rights of immigrants through advocacy work. Students participate in client intake and prepare applications based on asylum, family unity, naturalization, and relief under the Violence Against Women Act, and the Victim of Trafficking and Violent Crime Prevention Act. Students conduct investigations, develop case theory, interview witnesses, write declarations, and submit briefs.

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

American & Caribbean Law Initiative (ACLI)

Professor John Knechtle, Director, International Programs Professor Knechtle teaches Constitutional Law, International Law, Comparative Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Caribbean Law Clinic, and the History of the Western Legal Tradition. Since 1997 he has also served as Coastal Law’s Director of International Programs. As a Fulbright Scholar in 2004, Professor Knechtle taught as the Visiting Professor of International and Comparative Law at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

His recent publications in international and comparative law include: Holocaust Denial in the European Union and the Concept of Dignity (forthcoming Florida St. U. L. Rev. (2008); When to Regulate Hate Speech, 110 Penn St. L. Rev. 539 (2006); ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD CONSTITUTIONS, Chapter on Jamaica, edited by Professor Gerhard Robbers, University of Trier, Germany, 2006; THE MODERN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN, SOVIET AND EURASIAN HISTORY, Chapter on Uzbekistan’s Constitution, 2005; The War in Iraq: Implications for International Law, THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Fall 2004), University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan; FIRST AMENDMENT LAW: CASES, COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES, AND DIALOGUES, co-author, Anderson Publishing Co., 2004; The Developing Law of Libel in Central and Eastern Europe, 2 REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LANGUES JURIDIQUES ET DE DROIT COMPARE 2, at 39 (2003) (co-author); The Constitutional Concept of Rights, 2 REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LANGUES JURIDIQUES ET DE DROIT COMPARE 2, at 168 (2003) (co-author).

Professor Charles Martin Professor Martin currently teaches Contracts, International Law and Sales Law. He has previously taught International Business Transactions and Comparative Constitutional Law. Professor Martin taught law at three universities in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2003-2004 for the Civic Education Project of the Open Society Institute. He taught Palestinian and Central Asian lawyers and human rights professionals in Istanbul, Turkey in 2005 for the Open Society Institute Summer Program.

Professor Martin’s published articles in international law are: The Electronic Contracts Convention, the CISG and New Sources of ECommerce Law, 16 TUL. J. INT’L & COMP. L. (Fall 2007); The UNCITRAL Electronic Contracts Convention: Will It Be Used or Avoided? 17(2) Pace Int’l. L. Rev. (Fall 2005); and Comparative Human Rights Jurisprudence in Azerbaijan:Theory, Practice and Prospects 14(2) J. TRANSNAT’L L. & POL’Y (Spring 2005).

Professor David Pimentel Professor Pimentel teaches Criminal Law, Remedies, Comparative Law, and Conflicts of Law. He has led judicial reform projects in Bosnia, Romania, and most recently in Sudan where he was the head of Rule of Law for Southern Sudan for the UN Mission there. He has served as the Chief of Court Management at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in The Hague, Netherlands. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University, with an M.A. in economics and a J.D. from Univ. of Calif. Berkeley. He finished his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1988, after which he practiced law with Perkins Coie in Seattle, and clerked for U.S. District Judge Martin Pence in Honolulu. His 11 years in the federal judiciary before he went abroad included one year (1997-98) as a Supreme Court Fellow.

Professor Pimentel’s recent publications in international and comparative law are the following: Reframing the Independence v. Accountability Debate: Using Judicial Structure to Foster Judges’ Courage and Integrity, 56 Clev. St. L. Rev. ___ (2008) (forthcoming); Restructuring the Courts: In Search of Basic Principles for the Judiciary of Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, 8 Chi. J. Int’l Law ___ (2008) (forthcoming); Technology in a War Crimes Tribunal: Recent Experience at the ICTY, 12 Wm. & Mary Bill of Rts. J. 715 (2004); Notes from the Balkans, Judicial Fellows Newsletter, Summer 2002; and Justice in Due Time: A Report of the Court Administration Reform Project, (with A. Austbø, B. Aspelund, and R. Duriç) published by the Independent Judicial Commission, Sarajevo, April 2002.

17

| C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

Professor Roederer teaches Constitutional Law, Remedies, Torts, Criminal Law, and has taught a number of courses in international law. He has taught International Human Rights, International Criminal Law, International Business Transactions, Public International Law, Comparative Law, and Comparative Criminal Law at various institutions around the world including Seattle University School of Law, the Anglo-American College in Prague, the American International University in Prague, the University of Papua New Guinea, the University of Goroko, the University of the Witwatersrand School of Law, and the University of Rwanda School Of Law. Professor Roederer’s recent publications in international and comparative law include: Democracy and Tort Law in America: The Counter Revolution (Forthcoming W. Virg. L. Rev. (2008)); The Transformation of South African Private Law after Ten Years of Democracy: The Role of Torts (Delict) in the Consolidation of Democracy 37 (2) Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 447 -521 (2006); The Constitutionally Inspired Approaches to Police Accountability for Violence Against Women in the U.S. and South Africa: Conservation versus Transformation, 13(1) Tulsa J. of Comp. & Int’l Law, 91-140 (2005); The Constitutionally Inspired Approach to Vicarious Liability in Cases of Intentional Wrongful Acts by the Police: One Small Step in Restoring the Public’s Trust in the South African Police Services, 21 (4) S. Afr. J. Hum. Rts. 576 -606 (2005) [2006]; Kevin Hopkins & Christopher J. Roederer, Righting the Wrongs of Apartheid: Justice for Victims and Unjust Profiteers, 105 Theoria 129 (2004). Post-matrix Legal Reasoning: Horizontality and the Rule of Values in South African Law, 19 S. Afr. J. Hum. Rts. 57 (2003). COASTAL

SPRING 2008

Professor Christopher Roederer

IN PRACTICE

Alumna Lands Overseas Rachel Williams, Class of 2007, defends human rights at The Hague.

HILE IT MAY TAKE MANY ASPIRING lawyers years to find that dream job, Coastal Law alum Rachel Williams took the fast track to the front of the pack. Making the most of her international and comparative class focus while enrolled, this 2007 alumna quickly landed not only near the top of her class, but thousands of miles overseas defending human rights for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

The ICTY was established in 1993 in response to violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and as an answer to the threat to international peace and security posed by those serious violations.

On her work overseas, which includes serving as a primary legal defense writer for the largest case in Tribunal history, Williams said it far outshines what she expected.

“It’s all that and more,” said Williams, who also drafted joint motions and appeals for the collective defense, and helped prepare reports and summaries of important upcoming witnesses.

While in Belgrade, Serbia, she performed field work with ICTY team counsel and its investigators.

“Not only am I getting a great legal experience, I’m getting a cultural experience beyond anything I could have imagined,” she said.

While an undergrad at Albright College, Williams majored in international relations, even interning with the United Nations.

Towards her senior year, she knew she wanted to continue her education and earn a law degree.

“And I heard some really nice things about Florida Coastal and the programs it was offering, with respect to international law,” Williams said. “I was definitely interested in learning more.”

While enrolled Williams excelled, earning impressive grades, studying abroad in Amsterdam, and winning over her peers and professors in the process. Williams also participated in both the Ferrell Intercultural Human Rights Moot Court Competition and the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Her passion for international law allowed those teams to achieve a level of success that no other Coastal international law moot court had achieved to that point.

“It is safe to say that no other single student has had the kind of impact that Rachel Williams has had on the development and promotion of our international law program,” said Coastal Law

W

Rachel L.Williams, 2007 Coastal Law Alumna in traditional robes and bib.

Professor Christopher Roederer. “She came to my office as a firstyear student inquiring into the possibilities of practicing international law. She was interested in finding out what the school had to offer and seeing how she could improve on that by mobilizing the international law students and faculty to get the certificate program off the ground and to get the ICTY internship established.”

Williams gushes over such praise.

“I could not have even have dreamed of someday working at the ICTY if it were not for the help of some amazing people at Coastal Law,” she said. “Professors (Sander) Moody and Roederer, among many other (Coastal Law) professors, were, and continue to be, invaluable resources for advice and support.

“They helped me to truly cultivate my passion for this field of law, continually challenged me and, most importantly, believed in my abilities.” COASTAL

Everyday Ethics LESSONS

IN

PROFESSIONALISM

Speaking with the ‘Enemy’ B Y T E R E S A H E E K I N D AV L A N T E S Vice Dean & Associate Professor of Law HERE I WAS AT WORK ONE MORNING, A freshly sworn-in attorney, when one of the firm’s senior attorneys walked into my office with a file. He calmly and matter-of-factly explained that he had a conflict and needed me to cover a deposition for him, a deposition which was to begin in 90 minutes.

Having graduated from a law school that stressed theory rather than skills, I had never observed an actual deposition, nor had I even participated in a simulation. Why hadn’t I taken the one trial skills course offered at my law school? Why didn’t I sign up for the clinic instead of the insurance law class with the professor who practically gave grades away?

After recovering from the wave of nausea that had suddenly overcome me, I cracked open the file. The facts were fairly straightforward. A nurse had been pushing a medicine cart and slipped on a crumpled floor mat, and was now claiming recurrent back problems. My firm represented the hospital who was being asked to provide worker’s compensation benefits.

“I can do this,” I thought. “I was a nurse. I’ve pushed a medicine cart many times. I know the routine, and I can ask questions.”

The pieces were all falling together, and I was feeling confident that I could take the deposition and do an adequate, if not good, job.

What I didn’t think about in those 90 minutes of prep time was how I was going to interact with the opposing counsel. I do not recall ever having been instructed on that in law school.

As a nurse, all the players were on the same team, all pulling together to help the patient, and our interactions were all collegial. But now in this case, we two attorneys were on opposite teams, each advocating for a different result. Consequently, I reasoned, my interactions with the other attorney must be of an adversarial nature.

The opposing counsel was a middle-aged man who tried to engage me in conversation. He undoubtedly knew that I was new at this, and he was doing his best to be friendly and put me at ease.

My responses to his chit-chat were curt, and I did not return his questions with other small talk. Even though I am a person who

T

|

Importance of civility extends beyond your client.

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

normally enjoys engaging in friendly discourse, I equated being friendly with this attorney as not representing my client wholeheartedly. Had my mother been an observer to this interaction, she would have likely taken me into the house and given me a long talk about treating others as I would like to be treated.

I muddled through the deposition, and went home that night not feeling proud for having taken the deposition, but instead feeling lousy about the way I had treated the other attorney. Without knowing this person at all, I had treated him as an enemy. I often ran into this attorney after that incident and was amazed that he was still friendly towards me. He obviously had learned early on that just because you are advocating for different sides, you can still be polite and actually enjoy working with each other.

What I learned that day was far more important than the basics of taking a deposition. I understood that basic civility is the core of professionalism, and that it’s not just something reserved for those working on the same team. Rather, it is equally important for those interacting with each other in any relationship, whether it be the relationship shared between nurse and patient or lawyer to lawyer. COASTAL

SPRING 2008

19

Student News AWARDS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND

HIGHLIGHTS

Teams Three-peat at Statewide Moot Court Competition OR THE THIRD YEAR IN a row a moot court team from Florida Coastal School of Law won the state’s most prestigious moot court competition. This year marks Coastal Law’s fourth foray into the 44th Annual Orseck Moot Court Competition, which was held in Orlando.

In addition to the Florida Coastal team winning the overall competition, team member Rick Marshall was recognized as best brief writer, and Rick Lasseter and Valarie Linnen were named best advocates.

“This is a great reward after all of the weeks of preparation that went into this competition,” said Coastal Law Dean Peter Goplerud. “Our students worked very hard for this and they certainly deserve it.”

Joining Lasseter, Linnen and Marshall from the Coastal Law Moot Court Team was Kara Samuels, who served as team manager.

The champion Coastal Law team defeated

F

From left: Rick Marshall,Valarie Linnen, Kara Samuels and Rick Lasseter.

teams from all Florida law schools, the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Miami, Florida International University and Stetson.

The Robert Orseck Moot Court Competition is held in conjunction with the

annual Florida Bar Association Meeting, with the finals being judged by members of the Florida Supreme Court.

At the competition, the teams are given a controversial legal issue and must argue both sides of the issue before a panel of Florida Supreme Court Justices. The issues this year centered on the 4th and 6th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

In 2005 Coastal Law garnered the attention of members of the Bar Association by winning the Orseck competition after competing only one other year. Setting a new precedent last year, Coastal Law was permitted to send two teams to the competition, taking first and second place in the process.

“The success of our team speaks to the level of their hard work and commitment,” said team faculty advisor and coach Sander Moody. “Florida Coastal has a lot to be proud of.” COASTAL

Sports Law Students Meet NFL

C

oastal Law School’s Center for Law and Sports made its debut in 2005 and has quickly become a major draw for future law students. Earlier this year, about 17 students spent the morning at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium as a part of their Sports Law Workshop with assistant professor Roger Groves.

“We have been talking a lot about the business and economic impact of having the Jaguars in Jacksonville,” said Groves.“We are also talking about the state-ofthe-art facility and the naming rights.”

The class had an opportunity to ask questions to Bill Prescott, senior vice president of stadium operations and CFO. Later, senior sales executive Glen Fisher Coastal Law students Barry Johnson, Randy Malesick, spoke to the group in the Crown Royal Touchdown Club and addressed several and Preston Oghton issues that the students had e-mailed him prior to the trip.

Third year law student Preston Ougton said he grew up around sports and he knew he always wanted to go to law school.

“This is the first year the workshop has really connected with the community,” he said.“We hope the relationship continues to grow through the years.” COASTAL

Coastal Law teams have advanced to the final round of the competition three of the past four years, taking the title twice.This year’s champion Coastal Law team out-paced teams from The University of Florida, Florida State University, Stetson, and Nova, as well as Charleston School of Law. In addition to winning the overall competition, the Coastal Law team made a clean sweep of the individual awards.

Team member Jamica Littles earned the Best Advocate Award, and Ryan Trumm received the Best Brief Award.

Coastal Law’s winning team was rounded out by oralist Jason Sexton.

●

In November, Coastal Law won the Chicago Bar Association National Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition for the second time in four years.The championship team was comprised of oralists Jason Sexton and Amy Delauter, and brief writer Drew Sutter.

They beat teams from John Marshall, University of the Pacific and Loyola (Chicago) in the preliminary rounds.

In the out-rounds, they beat Chicago Kent and Texas Tech, and Pepperdine in the finals. In addition to winning for the second time, it is the third time in the last four years a Coastal Law team has been in the finals. A second Florida Coastal team of Tim Moss, Stephanie Tew and Lisa De Long advanced to the quarter-finals, and won the second-best brief award. Both teams were coached by Professor Sander Moody and local attorney and alumnus Nick Martino. COASTAL

ORE THAN 300 FLORIDA COASTAL SCHOOL OF LAW FIRST-YEAR students and 40 legal employers attended the school’s second annual “Starting Line” on November 15, making the event more successful than its 2006 inaugural year.

Starting Line provides Jacksonville’s legal professionals with an opportunity to meet with and give career advice to Florida Coastal students. Event organizers from Coastal Law’s Career Services Department added that Starting Line is not a venue for recruitment, but rather an educational event designed to demonstrate to first-year stuFrom left: Rick Lasseter, a Coastal student and clerk with Spohrer & Dodd Associates, and Coastal Alums dents the versatility of the Jay Howanitz and Galen Baur, and Coastal student Juris Doctor degree. COASTAL

M

Lex Allen.

Coastal Law Newspaper Debuts OASTAL LAW STUDENTS founded “The Rainmaker” in October, realizing one of the school’s long-term goals for a student-operated newspaper. To date, five issues have been published.

Editor-in-chief Christina Shackelford said she welcomed to the opportunity to not only write for the publication, but also help set policy for future staff writers and editors.

“So many people wanted this to happen and it’s incredibly exciting when I think about The Rainmaker becoming a part of Coastal Law’s history,” she said. “The school couldn’t be more supportive of what we’re trying to accomplish, and the number of students who want to participate continues to amaze me.”

Breaking news about Coastal Law student bar pass per-

C

formances, study abroad programs coming online, SBA candidates’ backgrounds, and looming deadlines, The Rainmaker has quickly become one of the most reliable communication tools being utilized campus-wide.

More than 40 writers currently serve on staff, with an additional 10 Coastal Law students comprising the paper’s editorial board.

“The information is out there, but we’re able to collect it and get it out in a way that hasn’t been possible until now,” Shackelford said. “I think we’re doing a great service and that, over time, we’re going to become a crucial piece of the school’s bigger picture.

“It’s not easy to produce, especially when you factor in the demands of going to law school full time.

But the feeling of accomplishment when we finish an issue couldn’t be more rewarding.” COASTAL

21

SPRING 2008

Coastal Law won the E. Earle Zehmer Moot Court Competition in August.The Zehmer Competition is a state-wide competition which also draws entries from law schools from the southeast and beyond.

|

●

First-Year Students Meet Local Legal Community

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

Other Coastal Law Wins

Faculty News HIGHLIGHTS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS

Professor Jagdeep Bhandari Professor Bhandari published a paper entitled “Migration and Trade: Symmetry or Paradox?” in the Hofstra Journal of Law and Business. He also presented a paper in low skilled immigration at the AALS meetings in January. Professor Bhandari also wrote two articles for the Encyclopedia of US Supreme Court decisions, to be published by GaleThompson (Thompson West). In March he published a survey paper on the law and economics on immigration in a scholarly compendium by Elgar (Dau-Schmidt, editor).

Professor Elizabeth DeCoux Professor DeCoux recently published two law review articles. The first was “The Admission of Unreliable Expert Testimony Offered by the

Prosecution: What’s Wrong with Daubert and How to Make It Right,” in the most recent issue of the Utah Law Review. The second was “Pretenders to the Throne: A First Amendment Analysis of the Property Status of Animals,” in the current issue of the Fordham Environmental Law Review.

Professor DeCoux had two additional articles accepted for publication in the spring. The first is “The Residual Exception to the Hearsay Rule: The Near-Miss Debate and Beyond,” which was published in the Southern University Law Review. The second is “Does Congress Find Facts or Construct them? The Ascendance of Politics Over Reliability, Perfected in Carhart,” which was published by the Cleveland State Law Review.

Professor Susan Daicoff Professor Daicoff ’s article, “Lawyer, be thy-

self: An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between an Ethic of Care, A Feeling Decisionmaking Preference, and Lawyer Wellbeing,” will be published by the Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law. Her article, “Growing Pains: The Integration Vs. Specialization Question For Therapeutic Jurisprudence and other Comprehensive Law Approaches,” will be published in a special symposium issue of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review devoted to therapeutic jurisprudence, along with other authors in the field.

Professor Stephen Durden Capital University Law Review published Professor Durden’s article, “Sign Amortization Laws: Insight into Precedent, Property, and Public Policy,” in December.

Professor Durden also had articles accepted for publication in the Quinnipiac

Professor Randy Abate

P

rofessor Abate was an invited speaker for Florida State University College of Law’s Faculty Enrichment Series. On September 17, he delivered a luncheon presentation, “Public Nuisance and Climate Change Impacts: Automobile Emissions, Power Plants, and the Power of the Common Law,” to the Florida State law school faculty. Later that afternoon, Professor Abate delivered a modified version of the presentation to Florida State law students enrolled in the Advanced Environmental Law Seminar at the law school.

Professor Abate delivered a presentation,“Public Nuisance Claims for Climate Change Impacts: Preemption, Political Question, and Foreign Policy Concerns,” in October at the University of Oregon School of Law’s symposium,“Combating Climate Change on the Regional Level:West Coast Policy and Litigation.”

Professor Abate served as a moderator on a panel addressing adaptation measures for sea level rise impacts to beaches and coastal property owners at the Ninth Annual Northeast Florida Environmental Summit held at Florida Coastal School of Law on November 2.

Professor Abate served as a judge for the international finals of the International Environmental Moot Court Competition at Stetson University College of Law on November 9 and 10. Professor Abate judged teams from law schools in India,Australia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

Professor Abate delivered a presentation,“Marine Protected Areas as a Mechanism to Promote Marine Mammal Protection: International and Comparative Law Dimensions,” at the Tenth Annual International Wildlife Law Conference in Granada, Spain.The conference, which was held on March 6-7, featured international wildlife law experts from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Wales, Spain, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States.The conference agenda is available here: http://www.law.stetson.edu/conferences/IWLC/PDFs/IWLCAgenda.pdf. COASTAL

Professor Cleveland Ferguson Professor Ferguson was selected by the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Section on International Human Rights to present “U.N. Millennium Development Goals and State Capacity: Shifting the Focus of Donor Programs to the Public Interest” during the “New Voices in Human Rights - Part Two Panel”, which was held on January 6, 2008 in New York.

Professor Ferguson also published the fourth issue of the American and Caribbean Law News in December.

Professor Brian Foley Professor Foley’s article, “Applied Legal Storytelling, Politics, and Factual Realism,” was accepted for publication in the Journal of the Legal Writing Institute. The JLWI volume will be a symposium issue for the Applied Legal Storytelling conference that Professor Foley co-organized in London in July.

Professor Foley published an op ed, “9/11 and the Road Not Taken,” on the legal website JURIST, on September 11, 2007. If there were “first footnotes” for op eds, Professor Foley says he would thank Coastal Law Professors Darren Latham and Chris Roederer.

Dean and Professor C. Peter Goplerud In October 2007, Dean Goplerud chaired an ABA Accreditation Site Evaluation team that reviewed Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire. In early 2008 he taught an intersession sports law course as a visiting professor at New York Law School.

Most recently Dean Goplerud was appointed by the American Bar Association to a committee charged with presenting a Bar Preparation Conference in October 2008.

Professor Susan Harthill Professor Harthill presented her paper on the UK and US law of workplace bullying at Stetson University School of Law in November, as part of the Florida Junior Faculty Forum.

Professor Herman (shown, left) presented at the POW! Conference in November. The conference is cosponsored by Florida Community College at Jacksonville, and the locallybased Promoting Outstanding Writers organization. Her topic, “What You Need to Know Before You Are Rich and Famous,” included basic copyright law, the rights of privacy and publicity, and literary publishing contracts.

Professor Sonya Hoener Professor Hoener’s article “Due Process Implications of the Rehabilitation Requirement in Character and Fitness Determinations in Bar Admissions” has been accepted for publication in the Whittier Law Review.

23

Professor Nancy Hogshead-Makar In October, Professor Hogshead-Makar (shown, left) was asked to co-write the NCAA’s pregnancy policies. She also made a presentation on “Legal Developments in Title IX” and received an Honor Award from the association on October 8.

In March, The University of Colorado appointed Professor Hogshead-Makar as their Title IX Consultant. CU-Boulder agreed to create the adviser’s position as part of the settlement of Lisa Simpson’s Title IX lawsuit after the Tenth Circuit denied CU’s motion for summary judgment.

Also in March, Professor HogsheadMakar gave a presentation on Title IX to the Jacksonville office of the FBI that was telecast throughout Florida. The speech was a part of the FBI’s celebration of Women in History month.

Professor John Knechtle In December, Professor Knechtle presented a paper entitled “Holocaust Denial in the European Union and the Concept of

SPRING 2008

University Law Review, and the Pace University Environmental Law Review.

In addition, Professor Durden’s latest article, entitled “Sign Amortization Laws: Insight into Precedent, Property and Public Policy, was published by Capital University Law Review, Volume 35 Number 4, pages 891–922.

Professor Carolyn Herman

|

P

rofessor Hornsby (shown, left) spoke on the topic of “Judicial Ethics and SelfRepresented Litigants” at the National Judicial College on the campus of the University of Nevada-Reno in September.

Professor Hornsby also presented on the topics of “Ethical Considerations for Juvenile and Family Court Judges” and “Working With and Navigating Through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children: at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges” on the campus to the University of Nevada-Reno.

In November, Professor Hornsby was elected to the office of President of the Betty Griffin House Domestic Violence Shelter in St. Johns County, Florida.

Professor Hornsby also presented on the topic of Judicial Ethics in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 7.The conference, entitled “Focus on Kids,An Interactive Judicial and Legal Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect Matters,” was sponsored by the Nevada Supreme Court Improvement for the Protection and Permanency of Dependent Children Project Committee (CIP) in conjunction with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Resource-Center-ABA Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. COASTAL

Professor Susan Harthill’s article, “Bullying in the Workplace: Lessons from the United Kingdom,” was later accepted for publication by the Minnesota Journal of International Law, spring 2008 issue.

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

Professor Thomas Hornsby

New Faculty Appointments 2007/2008 Dignity” at the First Amendment Forum hosted by Emory University School of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law, and the Louis Brandeis School of Law.

Professor Michael Lewyn Professor Lewyn wrote a policy paper for the Congress for New Urbanism (www.cnu.org) defending Portland, Oregon’s light rail system and urban planning policies. The paper, available at http://www.planetizen.com/node/27270 was a response to a paper by the Cato Institute on Portland.

Professor Charles H. Martin Professor Martin’s article “The Electronic Contracts Convention, The CISG and New Sources of E-Commerce Law” was published in the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, Fall 2007, Volume 16.

Professor Lynn McDowell In November, Professor McDowell served as a member of the ABA site team doing a sabbatical inspection at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. She is currently drafting the section of the report that will be submitted to the ABA that deals with the law school’s Program of Legal Education. This was Professor McDowell’s sixth ABA site visit and her fourth since joining Coastal Law’s faculty.

Professor Julia McLaughlin Professor McLaughlin presented her paper on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act at Stetson University School of Law in November as part of the Florida Junior Faculty Forum.

Professor Karen Millard In March, Professor Millard (shown, right) delivered a presentation, “A Comparison of Writing in Casebook Courses and Legal Writing Courses,” at the Academic Support Program Workshop held at New York Law School.

Professor David Pimentel Professor Pimentel’s article, “Restructuring the Courts: In Search of Basic Principles for the Judiciary of Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina” was accepted for publication in

the Chicago Journal of International Law.

Shawna Baker

Professor Lucille Ponte

University of Tulsa University of Tulsa College of Law JD Columbia University LLM

Professor Ponte published a peer-reviewed book chapter entitled, “The Warez Scene: Digital Piracy in the Online World,” in the recently released book, Crimes of the Internet (F. Schmalleger & M. Pittaro eds. 2008). The chapter examines highly-organized domestic and international “warez release groups” which compete online to illegally amass huge stores of digital media, including movies, music, games, and software programs. This work addresses the evolution of criminal copyright infringement laws targeting warez traders and considers persistent legal and policy challenges in preventing and prosecuting online intellectual property theft. This chapter concludes with several practical proposals aimed at decreasing illegal warez trading and promoting a global environment that better respects creativity and innovation.

Professor Christopher Roederer Professor Roederer once again followed a fantastic Coastal Law team to the Jessup International Moot Court Competition regional finals in Miami.This regional final was somewhat special in that it was both the third regional win in a row for Coastal Law and that it was a super regional which combined two of the 12 former regions into one.

Coastal Law’s team finished on top of more than 20 teams from the Southeast, many of which have gone to the finals in recent years.

Professor Bradley Shannon Professor Shannon’s latest article, “Responding to Summary Judgment,” has been accepted for publication by the Marquette Law Review.

Professor Shannon was also invited to present his paper, “Should Summary Judgment Be Granted?” at the Junior Federal Courts Workshop at American University in Washington, D.C. in April.

Professor John Stinneford Professor Stinneford’s most recent article, “The Original Meaning of Unusual: The Eighth Amendment as a Bar to Cruel Innovation,” has been accepted for publication in the Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 102, No. 4, 2008. COASTAL

Assistant Professor of Law

Ericka Curran Assistant Professor of Law Evergreen State College Seattle University School of Law JD

Joanmarie Davoli Visiting Professor of Law University of Virginia Georgetown University Law Center JD

Gina Donahoo Assistant Professor of Lawyering Process University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of Florida JD

Roger Groves Assistant Professor of Law Michigan State University Wayne State University Law School JD

Robert Hornstein Assistant Professor of Law Washington University University of Arkansas School of Law JD

David Pimentel Assistant Professor of Law Brigham Young University Boalt Hall School of Law/Harvard Law JD University of California LLM

Lucille Ponte Associate Professor of Law University of Massachusetts New England School of Law JD

Gilda Russell Assistant Professor of Law University of New Mexico Boston College Law School JD Harvard Law School LLM

John Stinneford Assistant Professor of Law University of Virginia Harvard Law School JD

Robert K.Walsh Visiting Professor of Law Providence College Harvard Law School JD

Wenona Whitfield Visiting Professor of Law Illinois Wesleyan University Southern Illinois University JD

James Woodruff Assistant Professor of Lawyering Process Texas A & M University South Texas College of Law JD

Alumni News HIGHLIGHTS, PROMOTIONS, AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

1999 Congratulations! It has been more than ten years since Coastal Law enrolled its first students, and we now have almost 2,000 alumni practicing law around the country and the world.

I’m proud to be the Chairman of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. We have 24 active, enthusiastic, and diverse board members who are committed to engaging in opportunities that benefit alumni.

We have many ongoing and new activities to support our growing alumni base. I’d like to update you on a few of them: • Monthly alumni socials. Alumni meet monthly to network, socialize, and stay informed with school events and news. So far, chapters in the 4th and 1st Judicial Circuits have socials, but with interest, additional chapters can be established.

• Coastal Law Foundation. To provide funding for students to enter the legal profession and pursue their passion for public service, we are pleased to introduce the Coastal Law Foundation.

• Florida Bar Association Annual Meeting reception. Join us at the alumni reception at the Florida Bar Association meeting. Reception sponsorships are available and support the general scholarship fund of the Coastal Law Foundation.

You can read more about these activities elsewhere in the magazine. If you are interested in supporting these efforts, please consider joining the alumni board. Or, you may prefer to work on a committee of the board, which does not require board membership. Either way, now is your chance to make a difference and to build an Alumni Association like no other.

P.S. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Alumni Weekend 2008, October 17-18th!

Warmly, Jim Farah ’99

Millie Kanyar currently serves as President Elect of the Northeast Florida Board of Realtors President, and the Chairman of the Public Relations Task Force. She also manages a Jacksonville-based Watson Realty Office, and is among two partners at The Affinity Law Firm, P.L. and Tidal Title L.L.C. Her partners are Gust Sarris and Graham Syfert both Coastal Alumni. They have two interns and are looking to expand.

2000 Kendra Bunn and husband George Naumovski recently welcomed daughter Milana Grace to the world on January 16, 2008. Mom, dad, and baby are still residing in Jacksonville. Kendra owns an immigration boutique law firm and is also forming an association with the Rogers Towers P.A. immigration department. She has been practicing international/immigration law exclusively for eight years.

Denis Faubert is practicing law in Oklahoma primarily in the areas of family and criminal law. He also engages in some civil practice.

2002 Jason Clark and Nathan Williams have started the law firm of Clark & Williams, P.C. in Brunswick, Georgia.

The firm specializes in Personal Injury, Criminal Defense, and a broad array of Domestic matters.

25

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

Dear Coastal Alumni,

Martha Smith CLASS OF

M

2005

any of you may remember Martha Smith, but do you know from when?

Was it before she started law school?

When she was attending law school? Or after she graduated? Martha joined Coastal Law in 1996 as a librarian, helping set up the library and assisting students. She continued working full-time, even after she enrolled in 2000.

Martha is a member of some very elite groups. The first: Florida Coastal School of Law Employees with 10+ years. Second: First-time Bar Passers. Finally, and perhaps, most importantly: Coastal Law Alums!

“Getting my J.D. really helped me in my work as a law librarian,” she said. “I have a much better grasp of what kind of support the students and professors need, and I’m able to provide much better service.”

Martha enjoys working in the library, and expects to do more teaching in the future.

“Helping prepare future lawyers to be successful members of the legal community is important work,” she said,“and I’m not just talking about monetary success! I’d like to see our alums demonstrate what it means to balance work, family, and service to the community.

I believe legal educators can help teach these skills.”

Karen E. Millard was hired as an Assistant Professor of Lawyering Process at Coastal Law in 2006. She teaches Lawyering Process I, Lawyering Process II, Interviewing and Counseling, Pretrial Litigation Drafting, and Professional Responsibility.

2003 Trey Anderson has spent the past two years working as an Assistant State Attorney in Seminole County, FL. Before that, he spent a few years in the regulatory area of the mortgage servicing field.

2004 Ernie Dukes founded and opened a title company, Omni Title Services, in Jacksonville.

Benjamin Lowe joined Banta Immigration Law, Atlanta’s largest law firm devoted exclusively to the practice of immigration and nationality law.

Bethany Reich (left) is the associate director of Academic Success at Coastal Law. This year she joined the school’s Professionalism Task Force, which is working to increase student awareness of professionalism issues in the classroom and in practice. She also spent some free time working with the Environmental Law Community Action Team (ELCAT) on beach clean-up and sea oats revitalization projects in the North Florida area.

Check the website at http//:alumni.fcsl.edu to see if there is a chapter or events planned in your area.

Don’t see anything?

Contact the Alumni Office to see about how you can get a chapter started.

904.256.1212 or fcslalumni@fcsl.edu.

2005 Richard M. Sheridan and Jessica D. Jacobsen were married on July 14, 2007 at the Glassy Cliffs outside of Greenville, South Carolina. Richard is currently a Senior Contracts Manager for Ross Perot’s consulting company, Perot Systems. Jessica works in the field of early childhood development.

The couple lives on the surface of the sun in Phoenix, AZ.

2006 Rebecca Black (left) works for attorney David Fletcher. She is responsible for representing people at the local immigration office for marriage and naturalization cases, preparing asylum cases, going to deportation court in Orlando, writing appeals briefs to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the 11th Circuit, and handling business immigration cases. It’s never dull!

Sunshine Bradshaw (left) finished her 3L year at Seattle University then moved to Alaska and clerked for a year. Finding Alaska too darn cold and dark, she moved back to Olympia, WA where she is working as a government contracts procurement specialist negotiating, drafting and managing the state’s contracts.

Carey Carmichael is an Assistant Public Defender for the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida. He is assigned to felony cases in the Lake City office.

Kathleen Campbell is an LLM Candidate in International Law at the University of Houston Law Center. She is currently finishing her thesis and expects her degree May 2008.

Melissa Farmer (‘06) and Jonathan Martin (‘07) were married in Washington, D.C. on May 24, 2008. After their honeymoon in Hawaii, they will be living in Crofton, Maryland. Jonathan works for the

8 Great Reasons to Get Involved!

W

hile keeping in touch with friends and faculty is a great reason to be involved in the alumni association and its chapters, there are some tangible benefits to helping the association achieve its goals.The current board initiatives help increase Coastal Law’s reputation and stature nationwide, improving the value and prestige of your degree every day:

1

By helping in recruiting and attracting highly qualified students through visiting pre-law advisors at your alma mater and by contacting prospective students to talk about your experiences at Coastal Law;

2 3 4 5

By working to support alumni in seeking local and state Bar governance roles to increase the reputation and stature of the school in your state and nationwide;

6 7 8

By helping create “future alumni” by mentoring students preparing for the Bar in Florida and in your state;

By assisting and welcoming recent graduates to the legal markets in communities throughout the United States; By focusing on developing new or “young” alumni and creating mentoring opportunities for more experienced alumni; By providing alumni with social and business networking opportunities throughout the year including Alumni Weekend, the Florida Bar Annual Meeting reception, or in your local alumni chapter;

By helping establish and fund scholarships and public service grants opportunities through the Coastal Law Foundation; By encouraging our alumni to distinguish themselves and Coastal Law in performing pro bono service and by exhibiting extraordinary professionalism in their communities.

Keith Schellack is currently in the US Army JAG Corps stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. He will be deployed to Iraq for the next year.

Chris White lives in Boston and enjoys the “best job ever” as a financial planner located in the heart of the city. Chris also travels all over the country to meet with clients in several states, including Florida.

2007 Bradley Blair and Alyssa Weinberg were married on August 11, 2007 in Birmingham, AL. Bradley is an associate at Murphy & Anderson, P.A. and Alyssa is a Media Planning Supervisor at St. John & Partners. They honeymooned in Negril, Jamaica, and currently reside in Jacksonville, FL. Angela Tompkins has been retained as the in-house legal adviser for the Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church of Jacksonville. She has been afforded the opportunity to join forces with local domestic violence abuse organizations in an effort to combat the issue of domestic violence; specifically as it relates to church culture.

Rob Riva (left) began working for Holland & Knight, LLP as an associate in the firm’s real estate and public companies and securities practice groups. He will be getting married June 28 to his fiancé Caroline.

Jeff Close is an Assistant General Counsel in the Enforcement Section of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Tallahassee. He litigates RCRA enforcement cases and hazardous waste

27

SPRING 2008

law firm Farmer & Pyles, P.A. in Waldorf, Maryland, specializing in personal injury and criminal defense. Melissa works in Arlington, Virginia, for Stateside Associates, as Regulatory Counsel specializing in Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Law.

Stephanie Harriet (right) began working for the Duval County Courthouse, Probate Division in 2006 as the Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Peter L. Dearing. In spring 2007, Stephanie began working for Ford, Bowlus, Duss, Morgan, Kenney, Safer & Hampton, PA as an associate in their Estate Planning Department.

In January 2008, Stephanie opened her own firm, practicing in Probate, Guardianships, Estate Planning and Elder Law.

Kristin Kubala is practicing family law with a small firm in Marietta, Georgia.

|

http://alumni.fcsl.edu

Jason Foust is currently an Assistant State Attorney for the Twelfth Circuit in Sarasota, FL.

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

Your fellow alumni can’t refer you a case or invite you to an event if they don’t know where you are and what you are doing so be sure to register with the Alumni Online Community.

cleanup cases on behalf of the DEP. He also reviews consent orders and notices of violations before they are served. Jeff ’s article, Redeveloping Florida: United States Supreme Court Says No Time is Better than Now, has been accepted for publication in the June 2008 issue of the Florida Bar Journal.

Group in its Jacksonville office. Genesis is a private Architecture, Engineer, Planning, and Land Development firm. In April, she presented at a Zoning and Land Development Law CLE in Jacksonville where she discussed recent developments in Florida land use law.

Herb Smith is a patent attorney working in the Jacksonville office of Allen, Dyer, Doppelt, Milbrath & Gilchrist, P.A. They’re an Orlando-based intellectual property firm.

2008

Kevin Moore has a paper, “Seized by Nature: Suggestions on How to Better Protect Animals and Property Rights under the ESA,” that has been accepted for publication in the Spring 2008 issue of the Great Plains Natural Resources Law Journal (University of South Dakota Law School).

Joanna Wymyslo has been accepted into the LLM in Environmental Law and Natural Resources Law program at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. She will begin her LLM studies in the Fall of 2008.

Louise Ambrose is an in-house environmental and land use attorney for Genesis

Ryan Matthews has been accepted into the LLM in Environmental and Natural

SAVE THE DATE Alumni Weekend 2008 October 17-18, 2008

Clark A. D.Wilson

CLASS OF

C

Resources Law and Policy program at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. He will begin his LLM studies in the Fall of 2008.

Births Heather Reynolds ’02 and her husband Justin Winarchick are living in “baby bliss,” having given birth to Madeline Rhett Winarchick (left) on March 28.

Measuring in at 20-3/4” and 7.3 lbs, Madeline is a “cutie.”

In Memoriam: Coastal Law Adjunct Professor Steve Walsh passed away on March 16, 2008.

Professor Walsh relocated to the North Florida area after a long and distinguished career in the investment management and brokerage industries. He very much enjoyed teaching Coastal students courses in Securities Regulation and Investment Management Regulation. His enthusiasm and warm personality will be greatly missed. COASTAL

2005

lark A. D.Wilson recently joined the Intellectual Property firm of Gardner, Groff, Greenwald & Villanueva PC in Atlanta, Georgia, where he primarily focuses on Domestic and Foreign Patent Application Prosecution. For the layperson, that means he evaluates the technical and structural aspects of inventions. He also assists in the acquisition of trademarks for startup and established companies.

“I really enjoy being a patent attorney,” said Wilson, who has an engineering background. “My clients are all happy to see me because they think they have a multimillion dollar invention.”

Taking an active interest in Coastal Law’s growth in both size and reputation,Wilson said he would eventually like to organize an Atlanta-area chapter of the Alumni Association.

“I would because I see Florida Coastal as being similar to my career: we’re both young and we’re both growing,” he said.“And it’s just nice to stay involved and say I’m proud of the school.

It makes your degree more valuable.”

From time to time Wilson gets call from current students who are interested in patent law.

He gladly helps when he can because, as an aspiring attorney not too long ago,Wilson said he remembers writing to attorneys he’d never met asking them for advice. Most never responded, but a precious few did.

“I make it a point to help them out when I can,” he said,“because I might not be where I am today if no one took the time to help me.” COASTAL

SnapShots C OA S TA L

LAW

PHOTO

ROUNDUP

Fraz Ahmed and Bethany Reich

29

|

Jarahn Newman, Rebecca Black and Millie Kanyar

Stephanie Harriett, Coastal Law Director of Institutional Advancement Margaret Dees, and Carrie McClain

Above: Heath Brockwell of Camerlengo & Brockwell, P.L, with associate and Coastal alumna Emily Brown.

Left: Dorie Ortiz, JoAnne Yau and Jim Farah

C O A S TA L L AW M A G A Z I N E

Bradley Blair and Rob Riva

SPRING 2008

Coastal Alumna Judi Setzer with former Jacksonville Jaguar Tony Boselli, attorney Charlie Towers, and Coastal Law students Preston Oughton and Sean Belmudez

Q&A A

C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H

C O A S TA L

Welcome Emily Tracy, Florida Coastal School of Law’s development programs manager. As part of her role with Coastal Law, Emily is responsible for helping advance the mission of the school by developing relationships with alumni, parents, students, and the community. She’ll also be instrumental in identifying strategic giving opportunities, and securing financial resources that support them for The Florida Coastal School of Law Foundation.

Emily is new to Jacksonville, having grown up in Washington D.C., and lived in Seattle for several years.

She’s also a newlywed.

Q A

What were your first impressions of Coastal Law?

Coastal Law struck me as a growing organization with a clear commitment to providing a top-notch legal education to a wide array of students. During my first few weeks, I could see the pride that staff and faculty take in their roles developing future attorneys. I was particularly impressed by the breadth and depth of the clinical programs. Coming to Coastal Law with a background in serving at-risk, low-income individuals, I was pleased the clinics provide both practical experience and the opportunity to serve underserved communities.

Q A

What kind of experiences do you have in the development field?

There’s an old adage that fundraising is “part art, part science” because it requires a careful balance of both people skills and technical skills. Based on the near decade of experience I’ve had working in the development field, I’d agree. Development activities range from meeting with donors to discuss their giving interests to analyzing large sets of complex data.

I’ve also worked in organizations of all sizes tackling many different issues of society. These include a small grassroots group addressing food safety issues, a large international organization focusing on marine conservation, and a multiservice agency helping people with disabilities to live better lives. Although higher education is a new field for me, I look forward to using my background and skills at The Coastal Law Foundation.

LAW’S

E M I LY T R A C Y

Q A

What are your goals for the foundation? How do you plan to achieve those goals?

Q A

How can alumni get involved with the foundation?

Q A

You got married this year. What’s more stressful?

Planning a wedding, or planning for the foundation?

My goals are to launch, promote, and enhance The Coastal Law Foundation to the fullest degree possible. To do that, we market the Foundation’s existence, the need for having one, the giving opportunities, and most importantly, what will be different because of private donations.

We’re also creating an annual fund, which is a year-round fundraising program to raise money to provide additional scholarships, loan repayment assistance grants, and strategic programs at the school.

Because we’re establishing a foundation from the ground up, our plans range from basic infrastructure to employing sophisticated and savvy fundraising techniques. For example, we’re creating policies and practices associated with all aspects of the foundation that will ensure it is smoothly operated. With the nuts and bolts in place, we’ll develop multi-year operational plans for the foundation that outline our day-to-day activities and, in coordination with the foundation board of directors, a long term strategic plan. We’ll also refine various marketing and communication tools that describe the foundation and its goals. Last, we’ll rely on tried-and-true fundraising strategies.

Our alumni will be significant in helping us achieve our goals because of their connection to the law school. More so than any other audience, they understand the value of a Coastal Law education and the role the school played in their path to becoming attorneys. We are already developing relationships with many of our more than 1,600 alumni. With the foundation in place, we will also provide them with opportunities to participate in the annual fund. Alumni will be the single largest group of annual fund contributors. They will have the greatest affect on the annual fund’s success.

That’s a tough one. While each can be stressful at times and certainly requires a great deal of careful planning, I think the end results for both are quite rewarding. One difference that comes to mind is that I probably won’t smush cake in anyone’s face when the foundation is launched! COASTAL

COA S TA L L AW

Alumni Reception

n Gold Sponsor n

Thursday, June 19, 2008 During the Florida Bar Annual Meeting

n Silver Sponsor n Rebecca Black ’06 Imani A. Boykin ’05 William C. Devereux ’00

Ruth K. McDonald ’04

SIDDIQUI LEGAL ENTERPRISE

n Bronze Sponsor n Millie S. Kanyar ’99, Affinity Law Firm John Leombruno ’04 Michael Fox Orr ’05 Robert Riva ’07 Judith L. Setzer ’03

at the

Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Florida Join your friends and colleagues at the Annual Alumni Reception during the Florida Bar Annual Meeting at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Whether attending the Bar meeting or not – join your colleagues from around the country for this great annual event. Sponsored by your Alumni Board of Directors and members of the Alumni Association, this year’s event continues a great tradition.

Thursday, June 19, 2008 • 6:30-7:30pm • Grand H Room

Please RSVP to fcslalumni@fcsl.edu or call 904.256.1212

n Supporter n Jo-Anne Yau ’04 Sponsorship proceeds support the general scholarship fund of the Coastal Law Foundation.

Presorted Standard U.S. Postage

PAID Jacksonville, FL Permit #610

8787 Baypine Road Jacksonville, Florida 32256 www.fcsl.edu