September 2002

As the Director and Founder of H.E.L.P., Inc. (HIV, Education & Law Project), Caryn Vogel has dedicated the last eight years to serving the South Florida community. H.E.L.P. is a not for profit organization that provides free legal representation to people infected with and affected by the HIV/AIDS virus. Through H.E.L.P., Caryn deals predominantly with family law, but she has practiced in a wide-array of legal areas, including estate planning, employment law, and insurance law. "The majority of my cases involve divorce, child custody, visitation rights and guardianship after death."

Caryn has accomplished a lot since H.E.L.P.'s founding and she gives generous accolades to her alma mater. "I received amazing support from UM and I know I couldn't have achieved what I have without the help of some outstanding people at the law school. No other law school in the country is more supportive of its students than the University of Miami." As a former Student Bar Association president at UM, Caryn has the experience to make such a superlative statement. The position allotted her contact with other SBA presidents from law schools around the country.

Randee Breiter from the Career Planning Center was one person in particular that Caryn recalls as being pivotal to her success. It was through Randee that Caryn found out about the Echoing Green Fellowship. Randee assisted her with an application for the fellowship and Caryn's proposal was selected from a pool of thousands. Today H.E.L.P. is receiving federal dollars and Caryn has a contract with Miami-Dade, but initially it was the Echoing Green Fellowship that kept H.E.L.P. afloat for the organization's nascent first four years. "Randee is an amazing counselor. She doesn't just place students in a job, she follows up to make sure they're happy. Out of the blue, she called me up a few weeks ago to see how I was doing; I graduated six years ago! Through the Law school's clinical placement program, I've had contact with hundreds of UM students and they all rave about Randee."

As an alumna, Caryn has been an active member of the UM Law School community. Since 1999 she has served as an adjunct instructor at the law school. Fall semesters Caryn teaches Aids and the Law. The course presents students with the legal issues unique to individuals living with HIV and AIDS. In this hands-on workshop, Caryn shares her current cases with her students, brings clients in to talk with the class, and requires her students to attend court hearings. In addition to the workshop, Caryn also supervises UM's clinical placement students at H.E.L.P. Her organization has been a popular destination for UM law students seeking practical experience. In any given semester, she has at least three students working for her.

When Caryn is not involved in legal education or H.E.L.P., she manages to find free time to dedicate to other altruistic activities such as community volunteer work and recently to public speaking at legal conventions. In 2000, Caryn received recognition for her dedication. The Florida Bar named Caryn The Most Productive Young Lawyer and UM Law honored her in the school's Women Who make a Difference series. However, the most exciting development in Caryn's life will take place when she gets married in January of 2003.