Miami Law News Headlines: February 2012

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STREET LAW Takes Miami Teens To Court

(Posted: 02-29-12) Later this month, 24 students from five Miami area high schools will present mock cases before judges on the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck and U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick White will hear the students' arguments in the mock trials.

Judge Alex, JD '86, Visits Old Miami Law Stomping Grounds

(Posted: 02-28-12) Miami Law alumnus Alex Ferrer, who hosts the nationally syndicated courtroom show Judge Alex, will share his experiences as a student at Miami Law, his post-graduation years, and his transition into the entertainment industry on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in the Alma Jennings Foundation Student Lounge.

Winner of Weekly Legal Challenge

(Posted: 02-28-12) Third-year law student Julie Dahlgard knows her way around fashion and trademark, as evidenced by her thoroughly persuasive and nuanced argument in support of Yves Saint Laurent in the case of the red-soled shoe.

Scholarship Weekend Woos Prospective Law Students

(Posted: 02-28-12) Twenty-seven of the best and brightest potential first-year students arrived last week for an in-depth, four-day look at Miami Law. The Scholarship Conference, organized to help entice the students to the school, kicked off at a sunset gathering at Monty's Raw Bar in Coconut Grove and then adjourned to the School of Law the following morning.

Miami Law Graduates Exemplify Success, Achievement

(Posted: 02-27-12) Miami Law's graduates continue to shine across the legal spectrum, and with Black History Month drawing to a close, the achievements of at least two of those former law students are very much worth noting.

Miami Law's Cox Named One of Nation's Top Black Attorneys

(Posted: 02-27-12) Marcelyn Cox, the Assistant Dean of Career Development at the University of Miami School of Law, has been named one of the 100 most influential black lawyers in the country. She is in good company. The listing, compiled by a media company called On Being A Black Lawyer, includes the likes of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to President Obama; and Newark Mayor Corey Booker. Dean Cox is listed as a "Pipeline Builder."

Law Students Bask in Glow of Obama Visit

(Posted: 02-24-12) There were a lot of impressed faces in the audience when President Obama came to UM in February. "It was amazing seeing and hearing the president, especially during Black History Month," said second-year Miami Law student Shawn Hairston, president of the Black Law Student Association, as he stood in the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse for Obama's speech on energy policy. "It touched me immensely, and his vision for the future consumption of oil in the U is very progressive, and I support him 100 percent."

Human Rights in Haiti Addressed at Miami Law

(Posted: 02-24-12) With Haiti still mired in poverty and desperation, and its population often abused or ignored, the question of human rights there continues to be of paramount importance.

In-House Counsel? Not So Fast

(Posted: 02-23-12) For many law students, the notion of working one day as in-house counsel for a corporation has great appeal. Not having to worry about going to court every day, billing hours, or prospecting clients is enough to whet any litigation-averse law student's appetite.

Immigration Clinic Wins Refugee Case

(Posted: 02-21-12) Students in Miami Law's Immigration Clinic won the case of a Mexican man whose relatives were killed by members of a drug cartel because they had failed to comply with the cartel's demands. The students took on the case in the spring of 2011, after the client had already been in detention without a lawyer for many months.

Robots at Miami Law

(Posted: 02-21-12) Does sex with robots need consent? Is the automation of law enforcement eroding individual privacy and due process rights? Who shoulders the criminal responsibility when machines kill?

Experts Debate Death Penalty Problems, Proposals at Miami Law

(Posted: 02-21-12) For thousands of Death Row inmates around the country, the years they spend there before execution – sometimes it's decades – are tantamount to a second sentence, Professor Jordan M. Steiker of the University of Texas School of Law told a panel on the death penalty last week at UM.

President Obama to Visit University of Miami on Thursday

(Posted: 02-21-12) As he becomes increasingly active in his campaign for re-election, President Barack Obama plans to visit the University of Miami's Coral Gables campus on Thursday to deliver a speech at the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse.

Winner of Facebook Legal Challenge Announced

(Posted: 02-20-12) Second-year Miami Law student Elsie Padron is the winner of the first Miami Law Facebook Legal Challenge, which launched a week ago. On Feb. 13, the law school's Office of Communications challenged all Miami Law students to ponder whether it was constitutional for California lawmakers to require actors in the pornography film industry to use condoms. Students were invited to post their answers on Miami Law's Facebook page.

Bankruptcy Is Theme For Moot Court Contest

(Posted: 02-20-12) This weekend, Miami Law will host the first annual Florida/Eleventh Circuit Bankruptcy Moot Court Event for the 2012 Cristol, Kahn, Paskay Cup. The initial contests will take place at the Courtyard Miami Coconut Grove Hotel, and final rounds on Miami Law's campus. Sponsored by the Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida, the event, on Friday and Saturday, has the support of some of the nation's most prestigious law firms and attorneys.

Time To Get Those Doctors

(Posted: 02-17-12) After an arduous, 11-day battle of wits, endurance and moxy, sporty students from Miami Law will discover on Sunday whether they've managed to wrest the Dean's Cup from those medical school types and bring it back to where – inarguably – it belongs.

University of Miami Kicks Off $1.6 Billion Fundraising Campaign

(Posted: 02-17-12) Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami will raise a towering $1.6 billion by the year 2016, transforming the face of a still-young institution yet again with new buildings and labs to prepare tomorrow's medical and scientific masterminds, scholarships for students who might not otherwise be able to attend college, and a brand-new group of talented and ambitious researchers and scholars with the knowledge to not only study global problems, but also solve them.

Philanthropy Week to Focus on Children and the Law

(Posted: 02-17-12) Miami Law is preparing for the second annual Philanthropy Week, from Feb. 28th to March 3rd. This year, the proceeds from the fundraising effort will go to the Hope for Congo Foundation, whose founder will speak at a symposium on March 2nd on the Coral Gables campus.

At Oscar Time, Hollywood Comes to Miami Law

(Posted: 02-16-12) Right on cue – just as Hollywood braces itself for the 84th Academy Awards on Feb. 26 – a veteran entertainment lawyer who has been involved in show business in Los Angeles for a quarter century is teaching a three-week course at the University of Miami School of Law.

Ending Inequality, One Paintbrush At A Time

(Posted: 02-15-12) Liz Rieser-Murphy, a third-year Miami Law student who once taught at a middle school in the Bronx, remembers learning about Dr. King's legendary "I Have a Dream" speech when she was a child. "His vision of a just world is part of what inspired me to come to law school," she said.

Profiles of Achievement: Sherry Williams, JD '95

(Posted: 02-15-12) Sherry D. Williams, who graduated from Miami Law in 1995 and went on to become a senior official at Halliburton, seems fond of unpredictability. In most cases, she says, it's an asset.

Judge Adalberto Jordan, JD '87, Confirmed To Appeals Court

(Posted: 02-15-12) U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jose Jordan, a Miami Law graduate, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February to serve on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Judge Jordan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1987, has been an adjunct professor since 1990, and is a member of the school's visiting committee.

Hispanic Law Students Association Welcomes CABA to Miami Law

(Posted: 02-15-12) The days when a Cuban American lawyer might walk into a court room in Miami-Dade County and be reprimanded by a judge for his or her accent are, thankfully, long behind us. Although individual instances of discrimination may remain, inequality towards Cuban American attorneys – as well as attorneys of other minority groups – has largely waned.

Symposium Addressed Death Penalty in America

(Posted: 02-14-12) One of the country's most viscerally contentious issues, the death penalty, was at the center of a symposium on March 2-3 in the Storer Auditorium on the University of Miami campus.

Moot Court Team Headed For Competition In The Hague

(Posted: 02-14-12) Miami Law's International Moot Court team has advanced into the international rounds at the Pace/ICC Moot Competition for the third consecutive year. In a qualifying round at Pace Law School in New York over the weekend, the Miami team became eligible to participate in April at the World Round of the International Criminal Court Trial in The Hague, where the students will argue in front of ICC judges.

A Case For Study: Alejandro Portes Analyzes Generations of Miami Immigrants

(Posted: 02-14-12) In many respects, Alejandro Portes is extremely well-suited to teach immigration and ethnicity at Miami Law, in a city that for half a century has represented the epitome of the immigrant experience in North America.

Puppy Love on The Bricks For Valentine's Day

(Posted: 02-14-12) Warm puppies – the extremely huggable kind – service dogs and law students converged on the Bricks today to share the love. More than a dozen canines nuzzled and licked their way through the lunchtime crowd.

Appeals Judges Hear Arguments, Dispense Advice at UM

(Posted: 02-13-12) Students from the University of Miami School of Law last week got the chance to hear five real-life cases – both civil and criminal – argued right here on campus. They also got some practical advice on how not to irritate judges.

Ethics Film Series Launches Today

(Posted: 02-13-12) A trio of inspiring films will be screened starting today as part of the seventh Ethics Film Series, sponsored by the Adrienne Arsht and UM Ethics Programs, the School of Communication and the University of Miami Alumni Association. Discussions will follow, moderated by faculty experts and others.

Gay Rights and Cultural Wars Explained by Stanford Law Professor Karlan

(Posted: 02-13-12) Last week, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California's Proposition 8, the issue of same-sex marriage moved a step closer to the Supreme Court. By deeming unconstitutional the ban on marital rights for same-sex couples, the 2-1 decision reinforced a growing sentiment that marriage equality for gay couples is not the taboo issue it may have been in the past.

Legal Challenge: Weekly Contest for Miami Law Students

(Posted: 02-10-12) As of Monday, Feb. 13, students at the University of Miami School of Law will be invited to take part in a weekly legal challenge on the school's Facebook page.

LawWithoutWalls, Breaking Barriers Across the World

(Posted: 02-10-12) Now embarked on its second year, Miami Law's revolutionary LawWithoutWalls program – tasked with discovering far-reaching innovations for the legal profession – is challenging the talents and vision of 35 students from around the world.

Former Child Soldier to Speak at National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review Symposium

(Posted: 02-09-12) Tchicaya Missamou, former Congolese child soldier, U.S. Marine, bestselling author, and founder of the Hope for Congo Foundation, will be joined by Washington & Lee University School of Law Professor Mark Drumbl and Dr. Saby Ghoshray, Vice President for Development and Compliance at WorldCompliance Company, at the University of Miami at the Storer Auditorium on Friday, March 2nd, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The title of the symposium is "Child Soldiers and International Law," three short lectures will be followed by a question-and-answer period and book signings.

Miami Law Students To Offer Free Tax Filing on Thursday

(Posted: 02-09-12) Members of the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program are offering University of Miami employees and subcontractors free help with their tax returns.

Miami Law Students to Become Presidential Fellows

(Posted: 02-08-12) Two Miami Law men, Michael Jonathan Gil, 3L, and Philip J. Hoffman, JD '11, have been selected as finalists in the 2012 Presidential Management Fellows Program. Gil and Hoffman were the only finalists this year from the University of Miami.

Health and Elder Law Clinic Joins Miller School of Medicine in National Partnership

(Posted: 02-08-12) The stroke patient, who could not speak and had no living will, was aphasic, a condition that results from damage to the part of the brain that controls language. But she could think and make gestures, so a series of images was created – with input from her doctors at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and her lawyers at UM's School of Law – from which she could select her legally enforceable wish that her sister handle her finances.

A Day in the Life: Lincoln Center Lawyer Discovers Ideal Path

(Posted: 02-07-12) On any given day in the life of Lesley Rosenthal, general counsel at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, she might be immersed in performance contracts with Yo-Yo Ma, hammering out negotiations with one of 13 unions, or preparing clauses in a lease with the property's owner, the City of New York.

Appeals Judge Recounts Humble Beginnings, Rise to Prominence

(Posted: 02-06-12) It's probably safe to say that few federal appeals judges began their careers by selling books door to door. But it's certainly true of Judge Jimmie Reyna, who rose to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from modest beginnings in New Mexico and who recounted some of that history during a chat Friday at Miami Law.

Mariano Gift to Miami Law Celebrated

(Posted: 02-03-12) On Thursday evening, University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala, Miami Law Dean Patricia D. White and other personalities congregated in the Storer Auditorium to celebrate the launch of a first-of-its-kind triple-degree program and the man who made it possible.

Expropriation and Compensation, Key Elements in Arbitration Lecture

(Posted: 02-03-12) The International Law Lecture Series, presented by Miami Law's International Graduate Law Programs, this week welcomed Pablo T. Spiller, a renowned quantum expert and the Jeffrey A. Jacobs Distinguished Professor of Business and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, as he joined Jan Paulsson, Miami Law's most eminent arbitration expert, to discuss expropriation damages within the realm of legal and economic standards.

Mariano Event Today Open to All

(Posted: 02-02-12) University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala, Miami Law Dean Patricia D. White and other personalities will congregate this afternoon in the Storer Auditorium to celebrate the launch of a first-of-its-kind triple-degree program and the man who made it possible.