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Last week, we had the honor of watching four of our outstanding students present oral arguments before justices of the Florida Supreme Court during our annual Moot Court Final Four Competition. Congratulations to second-year students and competitors (pictured above with justices, L-R) Melody Deatherage, Heather Raya, Elisabeth Avilla and Kelsey Anthofer. Their dedication and talent was obvious to everyone viewing the competition. If you did not have an opportunity to watch, the entire competition is available on our Facebook page, where we streamed the event live. A special congratulations to Deatherage, who the justices selected as Best Advocate. Thank you to the justices for once again participating in this annual event and giving so generously of their time to our students. It is a remarkable benefit to FSU Law students to have such engaged justices. With two alumni on the Florida Supreme Court, FSU Law has more justices on the state’s highest court than any other law school in the nation. Pictured above are Class of 1987 alumni Justice Ricky Polston (second from right) and Justice Alan Lawson (far right). Thank you also to the moot court students who organized the competition. We look forward to the event year after year.
- Dean Erin O'Connor
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Faculty & Alum Profile: Nancy Daniels (’77)
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Nancy Daniels is teaching Juvenile Justice: Skills Practice at FSU Law this semester, where she has been an adjunct professor for 17 years. Daniels served as public defender for the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida for 26 years. First elected to the office in 1990, she was re-elected for six additional terms and retired in 2016. Daniels’ career started in journalism, where she was a reporter for the Jacksonville Journal. While reporting on a high-profile death penalty case, Daniels was drawn to criminal law and decided to apply to law school. She graduated from FSU College of Law with honors in 1977. Daniels then served as a law clerk at the First District Court of Appeal. After working six years as an assistant public defender, she was a criminal clinical professor at FSU Law, supervising state attorney and public defender interns around the state.
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“The Juvenile Justice Skills class is the brainchild of Mary Pankowski, and it's been a joy to teach with Mary and now her successor, Georgia Cappleman. The students work hard in this class to learn the substance and skills of an important area of law.”
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Alum Profile: Katrina M. Miller (’05)
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Katrina M. “Katie” Miller is assistant director for instructional services and research at the FSU College of Law Research Center, where she has worked since 2010. Miller is responsible for coordinating with faculty members on supplementary course materials, providing in-depth research services to professors and students, supervising the creation of research guides, and developing and teaching research courses and workshops. She also has served as a guest lecturer for many law school courses during her tenure with FSU Law. In addition, Miller served as an online content manager/consultant for the Florida Justice Technology Center. In this role, she administered and created web content to help low-income Floridians solve legal problems and find free legal services. Prior to joining FSU, Miller was an attorney at the Florida First District Court of Appeal and at Cooper & Byrne in Tallahassee. Miller is active in the American Association of Law Libraries and the American Bar Association, for which she held a presidential appointment to the Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress from 2013-2016. She earned an M.S. in library and information studies along with her J.D. in 2005, both from FSU.
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“I am grateful for my time as a law student at FSU Law and it is a privilege to work here in the Research Center. Teaching law students about legal research is a rewarding endeavor and I hope to impart research skills that help them in their future practice of law.”
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Student Profile: 3L Amber Jackson
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Desired Practice Location: Florida
Expected Graduation: May 2019
Field of Law Sought: Administrative, environmental or land-use regulation law
Originally from Fort Myers, Amber Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from the University of Central Florida. When she graduates from FSU Law in May 2019, she will also earn the Environmental Law Certificate. This semester, Jackson is a judicial intern for Judge Jessica Varn of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings. She conducts legal research and drafts recommended orders for administrative matters. Last summer, Jackson was a summer associate at Earthjustice, where she conducted legal research and drafted memoranda on pending litigation relating to environmental, energy, oil and gas, and property law. She helped prepare motions and trial strategies for the Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative, Amendment 1 (2014) trial. During the spring of her 2L year, Jackson clerked for Hopping Green & Sams, P.A., where she assisted in discovery responses, researched, and drafted memoranda on various property, environmental, health care and administrative legal issues. During the fall semester of her 2L year, Jackson was a civil division intern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida. The summer after her 1L year, she was a judicial intern for Senior Judge Donald L. Graham of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. Jackson is a member of the FSU Law Trial Team, where she serves as vice president. She is also a member of the Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, and previously served as financial secretary and captain of the NBLSA Mock Trial Team. If you are interested in hiring Jackson after graduation, visit her LinkedIn profile.
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“FSU Law has provided me with the unique opportunity to obtain vast and extensive knowledge on environmental law. I am excited to utilize these valuable tools in my legal career. The professors I have met and the experiences I have gained during these three years have furthered my passion for environmental justice.”
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