|
|
|  |
FSU ALDF President Laurel Tallent | |
| | |
We are delighted to report that our Florida State University Animal Legal Defense Fund (FSU ALDF) student organization has been named Chapter of the Year by the national Animal Legal Defense Fund. This is the second time since 2014 that FSU has been named the country’s best chapter. The award recognizes an Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter that has shown incredible efforts in advancing the field of animal law and advocating for animals through original projects and initiatives. FSU was selected following a year of many accomplishments. The organization hosted monthly lectures featuring prominent animal law experts, and screened two documentaries which were open to the entire FSU Law community and the public to increase awareness about animal law issues. In February 2018, FSU ALDF participated in the national Justice for Animals Week, hosting daily breakfast presentations by law professors who spoke about how their areas of expertise interacted with animal law. During the week, FSU ALDF also welcomed lawyers each day for afternoon presentations on different areas of animal law. Additionally, FSU ALDF provided students with monthly opportunities to give back to the community, including a dog washing event that raised more than $500 for the Humane Society. Our students – 3L Laurel Tallent, who serves as FSU ALDF president, 2L Ashley Englund, 3L Jasmine Henry and 3L Judah Lieblich – accepted the award in Chicago on Friday, October 12. Also during the conference, Lieblich presented his award-winning paper, “Minimum Size Restrictions Are a Problem for Fisheries – Is Litigation the Solution?” Congratulations and thanks go to the entire FSU ALDF board and especially to Tallent for her dedicated leadership and FSU's award-winning submission. Thank you also to faculty advisor Professor Tricia Matthews, who is featured below.
- Dean Erin O'Connor
| |
Faculty and Alum Profile: Patricia Ann Matthews (’93)
| |
Legal Writing Professor Tricia Matthews teaches Legal Writing and Research I and II, as well as Animal Law. She is the faculty advisor for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, FSU College of Law Chapter, which was named the national Chapter of the Year Award in 2014 and 2018. She is also active as a member of The Florida Bar Animal Law Section, and previously served as its law school liaison. In addition, Matthews is the faculty advisor for FSU’s Corazon Dancers, a student salsa group on main campus. Prior to joining the legal writing faculty at Florida State in 2005, Matthews clerked for the Honorable L. Arthur Lawrence on Florida's First District Court of Appeal for several years. She also worked as a senior attorney in the General Counsel's Office of the Florida Department of Health. Subsequently, she worked as a senior attorney at the Florida Office of the State Courts Administrator, assisting first with the administration of continuing judicial education, and later working on court improvement issues in the area of juvenile delinquency. Matthews holds a bachelor’s degree in general and comparative literature from the University of Virginia, and a master’s degree in Spanish from Middlebury College in Vermont. She received her J.D. with high honors from Florida State University College of Law in 1993.
| |
“I love seeing the incredible growth in my students over the course of the year. They never cease to amaze me. They are incredibly bright, hardworking and resilient. Many of them also have a fantastic sense of humor, which really helps when times get tough.”
| |
Alum Profile: James Fasig (’97)
| |
James “Jimmy” Fasig is the managing partner of Fasig Brooks in Tallahassee. He also leads the firm’s personal injury division and serves as lead trial counsel for most of Fasig Brooks’ non-medical malpractice cases. He has been with the firm since 2000 and has recovered more than $40 million for his clients. During his first year as an attorney, Fasig litigated a case that resulted in a $1.6 million recovery. His honors include being listed in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and among the nation’s top 1% of lawyers by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel in 2015. Fasig is on the board of directors for Tree House of Tallahassee, and also volunteers in the community by speaking at prisons throughout North Florida and working with The Less Fortunate Still Matter Foundation. He also remains engaged with the law school, most recently speaking to students during a Food For Thought session in February 2018.
| |
“I believe that everything we do in life, especially how we treat other people, matters. I see customer service not only as good for business, but also the way I’m fulfilling my mission in life: To make my community a better place. The best way I know to serve my clients is to get them what they want: A full and fair settlement.”
| |
|
Student Profile: 3L Mourama Saint-Fleur
| |
Desired Practice Location: No preference; open to taking the bar in another state
Expected Graduation: May 2019
Field of Law Sought: Would like to develop her litigation skills and particularly enjoys working on administrative, business, labor and employment, consumer protection or immigration issues
Mourama Saint-Fleur is originally from Ocala, but she grew up in South Florida. She earned a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from FSU, with a minor in communications. When Saint-Fleur graduates from FSU Law in May 2019, she hopes to also earn the Business Law Certificate. Currently, Saint-Fleur is a judicial extern at the Public Employee Relations Commission, where she focuses on labor and employment-related issues brought by public employees and unions in the state of Florida. Last summer, Saint-Fleur was a strategy and governance intern at USAA Federal Savings Bank in San Antonio, Texas. She worked on issues related to federal regulation and consumer protection in the financial sector, and assessed internal structures and systems in order to ensure compliance with the Military Lending Act. During the summer after her 1L year and throughout her 2L year, Saint-Fleur clerked at the Mills Firm, a firm that focuses on appellate litigation in Florida's state and federal courts. In this role, Saint-Fleur focused on products liability, wrongful death and personal injury, and conducted research, reviewed trial transcripts, and drafted briefs and motions. Saint-Fleur is a member of the FSU Law Trial Team and serves as intramural co-chair on the executive board of the Moot Court Team. Last year, she was selected as part of the Moot Court's Final Four who argued in front of the Florida Supreme Court. Saint-Fleur is also an executive editor of the Journal of Transnational Law & Policy. She was a member of the Black Law Students Association and served as vice president during her 2L year. She was also a mentor at Griffin Middle School. If you are interested in hiring Saint-Fleur after graduation, visit her LinkedIn profile.
| |
“I am looking for any opportunity where I can cultivate my legal interests and grow as a young attorney after the bar.”
| |
|
|
|
|
