|
|
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that 2018 is already drawing to a close! I hope this year has been rich and rewarding for you and your loved ones. We were blessed with an excellent year at the FSU College of Law, and I wanted to share just a few of our highlights with you.
| |
Welcomes and Celebrations
In 2018 we welcomed 213 1L students. This class boasted higher undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores, greater diversity and higher rates of out-of-state residence than other recent incoming classes. And a record percentage of this incoming class is women! Our 50th College of Law graduating class walked across the stage in May, after an inspiring commencement speech by Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson (’87). To celebrate our 50th graduation, Professor Chuck Ehrhardt read the students’ names, an honor he held for many years.
| |
 | (L-R) Professor Chuck Ehrhardt, First Lady Jean Thrasher, President John Thrasher, President and Dean Emeritus Sandy D’Alemberte, Patsy Palmer, Martha Barnett, Dean Erin O’Connor and Mark Ellis with the D'Alemberte Presidential Statue. |
| We celebrated the accomplishments of President Emeritus, Dean Emeritus and Professor Sandy D’Alemberte and rededicated his presidential statue, which is now located on the College of Law campus, facing the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. Four new professors joined our faculty in 2018! Professor Carla Laroche joined our clinical faculty from Southern Poverty Law Center to help transform our Family Law Clinic into a Gender and Family Justice Clinic. Michael Morley, a highly accomplished scholar in election law, federal courts, and remedies, joined us from Barry University Law School. Darby Kerrigan Scott (’07), former executive director of Tallahassee’s Legal Aid Foundation, joined our clinical faculty to head a new Immigration and Farmworker Project. And Sarah Swan, who teaches in the areas of torts, criminal law, family law and local government law, joined our tenure-track faculty after earning advanced degrees and completing a fellowship at Columbia Law School.
| |
 |
(L-R) Professors Swan, Laroche, Scott and Morley |
|
| |
In May, we celebrated the retirement of Eminent Scholar Emeritus Fernando Tesón.
Also in 2018, we grew our online master’s degree program to nearly 150 currently enrolled students!
| |
 | Raising the Bar Professionalism Program panel on mentorship in March 2018 |
| New Programs
In January, we launched the Raising the Bar Professionalism Program with more than 30 events and activities, including sessions on leadership, financial health and planning, negotiating styles, becoming a tech-savvy lawyer, the importance of emotional intelligence, and physical and mental well-being.
A new Academic Programs Office now provides enhanced student academic support and advising. We assist students with course selection and provide resources to strengthen academic success, effective writing and bar preparation.
In January, we launched an online master’s degree concentration in Health Care Regulation. The Health Care concentration is our third; programs in Financial Regulation & Compliance and in Legal Risk Management & HR Compliance launched in August 2017.
Also this year, the Florida State University Law Review Online was launched to provide a platform for academic legal discussion that supplements our print journal.
| |
| (Clockwise from top L) Moot Court national champions and their coaches, Student Bar Association officers with the SBA of the Year Award, FSU Animal Legal Defense Fund President Laurel Tallent with the Chapter of the Year Award, Black Law Students Association officers with the regional Medium Chapter of the Year Award
| |
Accolades
Our students, faculty and alumni received many honors and awards this year. The Moot Court Team took first place in the Siegenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition. Our Student Bar Association was awarded SBA of the Year. Our Black Law Students Association received Medium Chapter of the Year honors from SRBLSA. The FSU Animal Legal Defense Fund was awarded Chapter of the Year. And our graduates had strong showings for both the February and July bar exams.
| |
 | Professor Annino and Professor Laroche, who nominated Annino for the ABA award |
| The faculty ranked 29th nationally and first in Florida in terms of scholarly impact, up 10 spots nationally from the last ranking. In addition, we rose to the 47th best law school in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, and our Environmental Law Program moved into the top 10. Professor Paolo Annino (’83) was awarded the ABA Criminal Justice Section Raeder-Taslitz Award. And Professor Shawn Bayern and I were both elected to membership in the American Law Institute.
| |
On campus, Dean Emeritus and Professor Don Weidner was inducted into the FSU Alumni Association’s Circle of Gold. Alumnus Gene Stearns (’72) was selected for the FSU Alumni Association’s Grad Made Good Award. And Kris Knab (’78) received the inaugural FSU Law Exemplary Public Service Career Award.
(Left) Doug Mann and Kris Knab's children, Nathan and Erin Kenney, accepted the Exemplary Public Service Career Award on behalf of Knab. A portrait of Knab was revealed during the Homecoming Reception.
| |
| (Left) ABA President Bob Carlson; (Right) Environmental Distinguished Lecturer Nina Mendelson
| |
Intellectual Life
The intellectual life at the law school is always extraordinary. In 2018, we hosted more than 100 speakers for student, faculty, alumni and university events. The faculty enrichment speaker series was especially rich, with 30 presentations. Many professors from elite law schools came to present their work, including John Goldberg (Harvard), Omri Ben-Shahar (University of Chicago); Katherine Franke (Columbia), Thomas Merrill (Columbia), Nina Mendelson (Michigan), Margaret Radin (Michigan), Daniel Raimi (Michigan), Mark Gergen (Berkeley), Paul Robinson (University of Pennsylvania), Barak Richman (Duke) and Nancy King (Vanderbilt).
In addition, the presidents of both The Florida Bar (Michael Higer) and American Bar Association (Bob Carlson) visited and spoke at the law school, as did former ABA President Martha Barnett, International Bar Association Executive Director Mark Ellis (’84) and Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
| |
(L-R) Alumni at receptions in Orlando, New York City and Naples
| |
Alumni Gatherings
We held and/or attended many outreach events this year. Alumni receptions were held in Orlando, Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Washington D.C., New York City, Pensacola, Naples, and Tallahassee, and at Homecoming, The Florida Bar Annual Meeting, and the Workers’ Compensation Institute Conference. The Colleges of Law and Business teamed up to host an alumni event featuring President John Thrasher (Dec. ’72), who spoke about lessons in leadership. As part of our Pave the Way Student Scholarships Campaign, several law firms hosted meetings with our alums, including Akerman LLP; Berger Singerman; Carlton Fields; Clark Partington; Holland & Knight; Hopping Green & Sams; Messer Caparello; Nelson Mullins Broad and Cassel; Pennington, P.A.; and Woodward, Pires & Lombardo. Vicki Weber (’78) and Carol Gregg (’74) hosted a Pave the Way Scholarships Campaign progressive dinner at their homes. In addition, several regional law alumni groups formed this year, including in Palm Beach, Miami, Tallahassee and Tampa.
We hope to see you in 2019, either in your city or on campus. In the meantime, may your New Year be unprecedentedly warm, bright and fulfilling!
- Dean Erin O'Connor
| |
|
|
|
|
