Miami Law News Headlines: July 2012

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Maura Smith, JD '82: Three Decades in Corporate Law and Going Strong

(Posted: 07-30-12) Growing up in Pennsylvania, Maura Abeln Smith learned about sacrifice early on. Her father had immigrated from Germany during the Great Depression; her mother entered college when Smith was a child, returning for her master's degree at 65. Smith acknowledges their influence. "I was born to older parents, who worked hard to provide for us," she said. "They were much stricter than my friends' parents."

From Miami Law Experience, Ann Levine Becomes Expert in Law School Admission

(Posted: 07-30-12) Although Ann K. Levine graduated from Miami Law 13 years ago, getting into law school is still her top priority. Author of "The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert," and founder of her own consulting firm, Levine has guided more than 2,000 students around the country through the often daunting process of applying to law school.

Devang Desai, President of Law Alumni Association, Emphasizes 'High Value' of Education

(Posted: 07-27-12) Devang Desai is as much a Miami local as one could be. Although born 8,000 miles away in Nairobi, Kenya, he attended Miami public schools from an early age and earned two degrees from the University of Miami – one in political science and the other a J.D. And he has cemented a lasting connection to the law school by becoming president of its Law Alumni Association.

Miami Law Connects With Olympics: Course on Games and the Law

(Posted: 07-23-12) With just a few days to go before the start of the Summer Olympic Games in London, Miami Law adjunct professor Jill Pilgrim and Miami Law graduate Claire Zovko are preparing to offer their own perspective on the event and its legal implications.

Alex Schimel Joins Academic Achievement Program

(Posted: 07-23-12) A 2009 graduate of Miami Law has joined the school's Academic Achievement Program as a full-time academic support advisor and adjunct professor. Alex Schimel, who gained renown while at Miami Law by helping other law students prepare for exams, will join the program's director, Joanne Harvest Koren, in designing and implementing programming to help students acclimate to law school and achieve academic success.

Heckerling's Tina Portuondo to Chair ABA Section

(Posted: 07-23-12) Tina Portuondo moves like a dancer but commands like a CEO. Portuondo, the Director of the University of Miami School of Law's Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, has been appointed chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law, or RPTE.

Students' Resolution on Domestic Violence Approved by Miami-Dade Commission

(Posted: 07-18-12) A resolution that was drafted by two Miami Law students and which condemns domestic violence was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Miami-Dade County Commission.

Legal Corps is Finalist in Awards Contest: Vote to Help it Win!

(Posted: 07-17-12) From a pool of 2,400 nominations, Miami Law's Legal Corps has been selected as a human-rights finalist in the upcoming CLASSY Awards in San Diego, the largest philanthropic prize ceremony in the country.

Judge Adalberto Jordán, JD '87, Sworn In By Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

(Posted: 07-16-12) Miami Law alumnus Adalberto José Jordán swore his oath as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in a Miami courtroom packed with friends, colleagues and mentors from the local legal community.

Fall OCI Program Employer Bidding (Phase I)

(Posted: 07-06-12) Bidding for employers participating in the Fall Recruiting 2012: Fall OCI Program-Phase I will begin on Friday, July 6 at 9 a.m. EST and will conclude on Thursday, July 12 at 11 p.m. EST.

Nancy Chemtob, JD '90, Heads Largest Matrimonial Law Firm in New York

(Posted: 07-06-12) One of the nation's leading experts on family and matrimonial law, Nancy Chemtob, J.D. '90, is more than an attorney. Chemtob practices in one of the most emotionally complicated and contentious areas of the law. For her clients, she has been a therapist, financial advisor and life coach.

Oswaldo Rossi, JD '01, Rocks the Music Industry

(Posted: 07-06-12) Oswaldo Rossi, J.D. '01, may be tone deaf and have very little rhythm, but that hasn't stopped him from rocking the music industry. Living in Los Angeles and working at the legendary Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, Rossi is Vice President of Business Affairs for EMI Music North America.

Alumnus Laird A. Lile Receives President's Award of Merit from The Florida Bar

(Posted: 07-06-12) Miami Law alumnus Laird A. Lile, whose practice in Naples, Fla., deals in wills, trusts and estates, received one of only two President's Awards of Merit presented at the annual convention of The Florida Bar in Orlando. During the meeting, Lile also was sworn in for his fourth consecutive two-year term on the Florida Bar's Board of Governors, representing the 20th Circuit.

Enthusiastic Miami Law Student Juggles Tasks, Makes a Difference

(Posted: 07-06-12) Aric Williams is an affable and engaging young man with a quick, earnest smile. His infectious personality is serving him well as he mentors local high school students and bats ideas around with University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala. If Hollywood ever makes a movie of Williams' life, the lead role should go to Will Smith.

Professors Create Scholarship to Honor the Late Charles M. Haar

(Posted: 07-06-12) A group of Miami Law professors in the Robert Traurig-Greenberg Traurig LL.M. in Real Property Development program have created the Charles M. Haar Award for Excellence in Planning and Zoning in memory of the late professor, who died on Jan. 10 at the age of 91. The award is given to a student who earns the highest grade in Adjunct Professor Brian Adler's Planning and Zoning course, and the recipient is designated as the Charles M. Haar Scholar in Planning and Zoning.

Miami Law's Bossone, Turning Poet, is 'Ready to Take a Chance'

(Posted: 07-06-12) Although his day job involves acting as Special Advisor to Dean Patricia D. White at Miami Law and helping to run LawWithoutWalls, Michael Bossone has an additional talent – poetry.

PREP Explores Practice of Law in Electronic Age With Cuban American Bar Association

(Posted: 07-02-12) Miami Law's Professional Responsibility and Ethics Program completed the spring semester with a CLE ethics training session for the Cuban American Bar Association. Under the supervision of the program's director, Jan L. Jacobowitz, third-year law students Courtney Daniels, Daniela Torrealba and Charlie Muniz addressed ethical issues faced by lawyers in a technologically advanced age.

Law Firm Proves Commitment to Miami Law's Legal Corps

(Posted: 07-02-12) The law firm of Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin, P.A. has supported Miami Law's Legal Corps with two donations over the past two years, each of which funded a six-month fellowship with the housing foreclosure project at Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.

Florida Bar Honors Miami Law Alumnus Burton Young with G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Award

(Posted: 07-02-12) Burton Young, a marital and family lawyer who graduated from Miami Law in 1967, has received the G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Award from the Florida Bar for his service to the legal profession. The award recognizes an attorney who has an abiding respect and caring for others.