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|  | Florida House interns (sitting, L-R) 3L Lindsay Card, 2L Anastacia Pirrello, 2L Melody Deatherage, 2L Heather Raya, (standing, L-R) 3L Grant Pattison, 3L Austin Engelbrecht, 2L McLane Edwards, St. Thomas University law student William McRea, 2L Zack Nations, FSU grad student studying applied American politics and policy Kirsten D’Souza, 2L Margeling Santiago and 2L Freddie Menard. | |
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We are delighted to report that 10 of the 12 current Florida House of Representatives legislative interns are FSU Law students! They are 3L Lindsay Card, 2L Melody Deatherage, 2L McLane Edwards, 3L Austin Engelbrecht, 2L Freddie Menard, 2L Zack Nations, 3L Grant Pattison, 2L Anastacia Pirrello, 2L Heather Raya and 2L Margeling Santiago. The students are assigned to various Florida House committees, subcommittees and leadership offices, where they have been working since the fall. Their assignments include researching, bill drafting and analysis, oversight activities, and other tasks relating to budget and policy areas. With session officially beginning earlier this month, the students will remain extremely busy until their internships end this May. The program is an excellent opportunity for students who are interested in the legislative process to obtain immersive, hands-on experience. Because of the quality of our students and our close proximity to the Florida Capitol, many FSU Law students have participated in this valuable program, whose participants often go on to successful careers in the public policy arena. Please join me in congratulating our current class of Florida House interns!
- Dean Erin O'Connor
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FSU Law Hosts International IP Roundtable
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|  | Distinguished IP scholars met at the College of Law earlier this month. | |
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Frederick Abbott, our Edward Ball Eminent Scholar Professor of International Law, recently assembled a highly esteemed group of intellectual property scholars to FSU Law for the Eighth International IP Roundtable on March 8-9, 2019. Over the course of their visit, scholars discussed genetic information sharing and data protection; IP, trade and enforcement; the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, patentability and competition; artificial intelligence patents, traditional arts, harmonization and complex exceptions; and trademark-related IP topics. Jake Linford, the FSU Law Loula Fuller and Dan Myers Professor, was among participants in the roundtable. We are privileged to be among law schools such as NYU and Duke in hosting this event. Other attendees included Ryan Abbott of University of Surrey, Law and Health Sciences in England; Bassem Awad of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Toronto; Brook Baker of Northeastern Law; Margo Bagley of Emory Law; Irene Calboli of Texas A&M and National University of Singapore; Maggie Chon of Seattle University Law; Jorge Contreras of University of Utah Law; Thomas Cottier of the World Trade Institute in Bern, Switzerland (via video); Christine Farley of American University Law; Peter Jaszi of American University Law; Ed Lee of Chicago-Kent College of Law; Keith Maskus of University of Colorado Boulder Department of Economics; Ruth Okediji of Harvard Law; Sarah Rajec of William and Mary Law; Lisa Ramsey of University of San Diego Law; Jerry Reichman of Duke Law; Josh Sarnoff of Depaul Law; Xavi Seuba of the Centre d'Études Internationales de la Propriété Intellectuelle in Strasbourg, France; Tony Taubman of the World Trade Organization Intellectual Property Division; Marketa Trimble of University of Nevada Las Vegas Law; and Peter Yu of Texas A&M Law.
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Alum Profile: Kelly Overstreet Johnson (’82)
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Kelly Overstreet Johnson is a Florida Supreme Court certified circuit-civil mediator and certified AAA arbitrator with more than a decade of experience. She recently announced the expansion of her mediation practice throughout Florida. Johnson mediates a wide variety of civil and commercial cases, including litigation involving employment, nursing home, health care, personal injury and numerous types of business disputes. In addition to her mediation practice, Johnson is a commercial and employment litigation attorney and the managing shareholder for Baker Donelson’s Tallahassee office. She is a member of the Baker Donelson Center for Dispute Resolution and serves on the executive council of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of The Florida Bar. Johnson is a former president of The Florida Bar, the Tallahassee Bar Association and Tallahassee Women Lawyers.
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“The expansion of my mediation practice will allow me to assist more parties throughout Florida in constructively and amicably resolving their disputes. I am dedicated to providing a personalized problem-solving approach to each case to help facilitate productive conversations with the goal of achieving positive outcomes for all involved.”
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Student Profile: 3L Mitchell Custer
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Desired Practice Location: Sitting for the Florida Bar Exam; open to any location
Expected Graduation: May 2019
Specialization: Sports law
Field of Law Sought: Has aspirations of working in the competitive industry of Major League Baseball; also passionate about public speaking and interested in litigation
Originally from Fort Lauderdale, Mitchell Custer earned his bachelor’s degree in criminology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Florida. He will graduate from FSU Law in May 2019. Currently, Custer serves as head of analytics for the FSU baseball team. In this capacity, Custer uses a program called “R” to break down performance data to evaluate players. He also leads FSU baseball’s Advanced Scouting Department, which gathers information on FSU’s opponents to best prepare the team for games. Last summer, Custer interned with the Beverly Hills Sports Council, a professional baseball agency located in Santa Monica, Calif. He reviewed contracts, conducted preliminary research on MLB salary arbitration cases, studied arbitration technique, assisted with administrative tasks for client-players, and performed statistical and analytical research on other professional baseball players. The summer following his 1L year, Custer externed with the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida Staff Attorney’s Office, Civil Division. There, he helped draft a variety of memos and briefs for many different civil judges in the Broward County Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale. Custer is the president of the FSU Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Society (EASL). As part of EASL, he has chaired the Major League Baseball Mock Arbitration Team for the past two years. In January of 2018 and 2019, they competed in Tulane University’s International Baseball Arbitration Competition. Custer has a passion for sports, especially baseball, and prides himself on being an extremely hard worker, fast learner and team player with strong interpersonal skills and work ethic. If you are interested in hiring Custer after graduation, visit his LinkedIn profile.
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“In everything I’ve ever done, I’ve been chosen by my peers to lead: captain of the team in high school sports, president of the student body in high school, executive board in my college fraternity, president of EASL here in law school, and head of analytics with the FSU baseball team. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ with me, it’s a matter of ‘when.’ And when someone takes a chance on me, I promise they won’t regret it; they will get a passionate, dedicated and unselfish associate, with a fervor to work and learn matched only by a desire to help the organization.”
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