Student Spotlights
2008 Spotlights
 |
Fred Sheffield, Class of 2008; Summer Intern (2007), Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Division, Miami, FL; Summer Intern (2006) with the Honorable Andrea Simonton. Federal Magistrate Judge, Southern District Court of Florida, Miami, FL. |
|---|
 |
Vincent Alexander, Class of 2009, Summer Intern (2007), AT&T In-House Counsel, Atlanta, GA |
|---|
 |
Meredith Schantz, Class of 2009, Summer Intern (2007), Recording Industry of America, Anti-Piracy Division, Washington, D.C. |
|---|
 |
Anita Surendran, Class of 2008 (JD/MBA), Summer Associate (2007), White & Case, Singapore |
|---|
 |
Jake Mueller, Class of 2009, HOPE Fellow, Summer (2007), Institute for Justice and Democracy, Port Au Prince and throughout Haiti. |
|---|
 |
Todd Allison, Class of 2008, Split Summer (2007), Quarles & Brady LLP, Phoenix, AZ and Friday Eldredge & Clark, Little Rock, AK |
|---|
 |
Sarah King, Class of 2008, HOPE Fellow (Summer,2007), World Organization Against Torture, Violence Against Women Program, Geneva, Switzerland. |
|---|
 |
Sergei Kotelnikov, Class of 2008, Summer Associate (2007, 2006), Baker & McKenzie, Washington, D.C. |
|---|
 |
Rachel Papeika, Class of 2008 (JD/MS), Summer Intern (2007), U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Special Program Examiner’s Unit, Alexandria, VA. |
|---|
 |
Sara Neugroschel, Class of 2009, Split Summer (2007), MidPenn Legal Services, Central Pennsylvania; Berks County Public Defender’s Office, PA. |
|---|
 |
Kiara Griggs, Class of 2008, Summer Associate (2007), Bercow, Radell & Fernandez, P.A., Miami, FL |
|---|
 |
Dylan King, Class of 2009, Summer Intern (2007), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR  Video |
|---|
 |
Joy Purcell, Class of 2008, HOPE Fellow, Summer (2007), Harlem Community Law Office, Legal Aid Society, New York, NY. |
|---|
 |
Eric Tinstman, Class of 2009, Summer Intern (2007), the Honorable Thomas M. Hardiman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Pittsburgh, PA. |
|---|
 |
Megyn Greider, Class of 2008, Summer Intern (2007), Legal Aid Society, Domestic Violence Unit, Palm Beach Country, FL; HOPE Fellow, (Summer, 2006), National Center for Lesbian Rights, St. Petersburg, FL. |
|---|
 |
Mirs Guazzini, Class of 2008, Summer Associate (2007), Arnstein & Lehr, LLP, Miami, FL |
|---|
 |
Niya Fonville, Class of 2008, HOPE Fellow and Equal Justice Works Summer Corps Program (2007), Council for Children’s Rights, Charlotte, NC. |
|---|
 |
Jordan Dresnick, Class of 2008, Summer Intern (2007), Department of Justice, Anti-Trust Division, Washington, D.C.; Summer Associate (2006), Kenny Nachwalter, P.A., Miami, FL |
|---|
 |
Ryan Florio, Class of 2009, HOPE Fellow and Equal Justice Works Summer Corps Program (2007), Atlanta Legal Aid Society, General Law Unit, Atlanta, GA. |
|---|
 |
Meghan Wood, Class of 2009, Summer Associate (2007), Wood Junoesque & Associates, Bucharest, Romania |
|---|
 |
Rashied McDuffie, Class of 2008, Summer Associate (2007), Law Offices of Matthew W. Dietz, P.L., Miami, FL |
|---|
 |
Grace Betz, Class of 2009, Summer Intern (2007), Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong. |
|---|
 |
Sheena Murray, Class of 2009, Summer Associate (2007), Tannenbaum & Weiss, Miami, FL |
|---|
 |
Aleksandra Cuprys, Class of 2009, Split Summer (2007): University of Miami School of Law’s Center for Ethics & Public Service, Summer Fellowship with Church World Services, Miami, FL; Intern with a large American law firm in Warsaw, Poland. |
|---|
 |
Michelle Valerio, Class of 2008, Summer Intern (2007), Fragomen, Miami FL; Florida Bar Foundation Fellow (Summer, 2006), Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Difficult Immigration Cases Unit, Miami FL. |
|---|
 |
Tommy Wang, Class of 2008, Summer 2007, Worked for a team of plastic surgeons on patent issues, Los Angeles, CA |
|---|
 |
Mihaela Cabulea, Class of 2009, Summer Intern (2007), Federal Public Defender’s Office, Orlando, FL. |
|---|
2007 Spotlights
Andres Chaves Sanz on the International Paper Trail. Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Andres Chaves Sanz epitomizes the Latin influence at Miami's School of Law. More...
Chris Klein (JD ’07): Targeting International Law. As he looks back on the past three years at UM, Chris Klein (JD ’07) is enthusiastic about his experience: “I can truly say that UM Law has surpassed all of my expectations in allowing me to pursue my dreams. I have been able to receive a first-rate education in the law, while focusing on international law.” More...
Third year law student assists in Medicare fraud case. While interning with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida, third year law student Abigail Lyle was involved in a Medicare fraud case for trial. More...
Litigator in the Making: Kristy Militello. Kristy came to UM with a passion for media and entertainment law. More...
A South Beach Party Turns Into Something Much More. During his first year of law school, Danny Hertzberg and a fellow student of his, Josh Rubens, decided to promote a party on South Beach as a networking event. More...
Sports and Government: A Perfect Blend for Second Year Law Student. What’s it like working with a boxing promoter? “Very interactive and never boring” says Tamara Toussaint, a 2L at UM who had the opportunity of interning with Warrior's Boxing Promotions in Hollywood, FL.More...
2006 Spotlights
Leslie Peterson: Focuses on Litigation. After spending three years working with attorneys in the area of trust and estate and fiduciary litigation, second-year law student Leslie Peterson was convinced that T&E is all she wanted to do. More...
Second Year Law Student Focuses on Political and Governmental Fields. Despite spending a tremendous amount of time contemplating which type of law he would like to practice, Vance Aloupis is still unsure. More...
Megyn Greider is pursuing a future in public interest law and is currently interning at the UM School of Law Children and Youth Law Clinic. In addition to the legal needs of her clients, Megyn will be working on a pamphlet explaining the legal rights of children to health care. More...
Second-year law student, Mindy Reinstein is spending this fall interning for H.O.P.E (Helping Others through Pro Bono Efforts). H.O.P.E. provides information, guidance and support for students seeking to do public interest work and community service. More...
Fourth-year JD/MBA student, Matt Simmons spent this past summer interning at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Atlanta, GA and Jorden Burt LLP in Miami. . More...
Second-year law student, Sergei Kotelnikov is spending this summer interning in Washington D.C. at Baker & McKenzie. More...
Third-year law student Joe Mamounas has been elected Editor-in-Chief of The University of Miami Law Review, the principal scholarly legal journal for UM. More...
First-year students Rebecca Yagerman, Anna Mance and Quinn Smith took advantage of their Spring Break this year to travel to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. More...
Nancy Millar: The National Association of Legal Search Consultants has chosen to award the “NALSC Freedom Fellowship” to UM Student Nancy Millar this year. Nancy will be interning at the Caribbean regional headquarters of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Barbados this summer. More...
Ajay Rai: Lands Job in Los Angeles. Ajay Rai will be moving to California immediately following his graduation from Miami Law in May to begin preparations for the Californian bar examination. Ajay has accepted a position with Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman in Los Angeles More...
David Tilden: Summer Internship with the Indonesian Central Bank in Jakarta. Second-year law student, David Tilden, spent the past summer in Jakarta working for Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank where he researched U.S. and international banking regulations to be used in proposals for the restructuring of Indonesia’s banking system. More...
2005 Spotlights
Bjorg Eikeland: International Student at the School of Law Bjorg Eikeland, who is currently working on her Juris Doctor degree, began her legal studies at the University of Miami School of Law in the Comparative Law LL.M. program, an intensive one-year study of the U.S. More...
Cristina Lumpkin: Satisfied with Decision to Change Career Path Before coming to the University of Miami to pursue a law degree, Cristina Lumpkin was a management consultant, working for clients such as MGT of America in Tallahassee, Florida and WASTE in Gouda, Netherlands. More...
Vicki Rivas-Vazquez: Part-Time Law Student While the part-time option at the School of Law does not mesh with the traditional 9:00 to 5:00 work schedule, it has worked out great for one student. Vicki Rivas-Vazquez works part-time at the University of Miami Libraries’ Cuban Heritage Collection at the Otto G. Richter Library, right next door to the law school complex. More...
Vanessa Rousso: Law Student/Professional Poker Player After finishing her first year of law school ranked in the top ten percent of her class, Vanessa Rousso spent the summer traveling around the country competing in professional poker tournaments. She finished first in the Palms Summer Series 200$ Buy-In and 7th (out of 833) at the World Series of Poker in New Orleans. Vanessa started playing poker when she was five and her favorite game is Texas Hold-Em. More...
William Willingham: Clerking for an Entertainment Law Firm in Downtown Miami As a summer clerk for a local entertainment attorney, second-year law student William Willingham is spending his summer preparing for a copyright infringement trial concerning a local rap group and some New York rappers. More...
Eric Ray: Summer with Holland & Knight Second-year law student Eric Ray has gotten the most out of his two summers in law school. After completing his first year, Eric interned with the Third District Court of Appeal and this summer More...
Dani Audette: Summer Associate at White & Case In the summer of 2003, Dani Audette drove the length of Interstate 95 from her hometown of Houlton, Maine, located on the Canadian border, to Miami, Florida to start law school at UM. More...
Chauncey Kelly: From Ph.D. Program to Law School Chauncey Kelly was working as an aquaculture specialist in the Florida Keys and in the dissertation stage of his doctorate in marine biology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science when he decided to do a complete 180 degree turn around and pursue a law degree. Now in his final semester of law school, Chauncey has accepted a position with White & Case in Miami. More...
Alexandra Parra: Accepts Offer from Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York Following her summer associate position, Alex Parra was offered an associate attorney position with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. The large multinational law firm has also agreed to postpone her start date until 2007 to allow Alex two years for a judicial clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra in Fort Lauderdale, the same judge she interned for during her first summer of law school. More...
Michael Nadler: Chicago Bound After graduating from the School of Law in May, Michael Nadler moves to Chicago where he will begin work with Sidley, Austin, Brown, & Wood, where he was a summer associate last year. More...
Kevin Franz: Returning to Maryland after Graduating in May - For law student Kevin Franz, his time in Miami will come to an end when he receives his law degree in May. Kevin has accepted a judicial clerkship with Circuit Court Judge E. Allen Shepherd in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. More...
Josh Klein: Summer Internship in Paris Shortly after completing his first semester of law school, Josh Klein received word that he was selected for the State Department's summer internship program. More...
Erik Kardatzke: Headed Toward Practice in Family Law - A summer spent interning with the Family Court Division of the Miami-Dade County Clerk's Office convinced third-year law student, Erik Kardazke, that family law is the field for him. Erik worked at the Self Help Desk for the Family Court where he answered questions on domestic relation matters More...
Cecilia Wright: Graduates Early, Moves to New York - Cecilia Wright spent her holiday season moving to New York where she has accepted a position with the New York City Law Department. She will spend January and February studying for the New York bar as she awaits her district assignment from work. More...
Nathan Alexander: Pursuing the Joint JD/MBA One of the reasons that Nathan Alexander chose the University of Miami for law school was because he was looking for universities that offered a joint JD/MBA. Nathan waited until the end of his second year of law school to apply to the MBA program, allowing him to use his second year to take mostly business-related classes in the upper-level law curriculum in order to decide if the joint degree was the right decision. More...
Will Gilmore: President of the Moot Court Board Whether it's in the courtroom or in memorandum, civil or criminal law, third-year law student Will Gilmore loves constructing and presenting arguments and his ability to do so has served him well in law school. More...
Scott Janowitz: Summer Mediterranean Experience This past summer, the School of Law added a third option to its summer study abroad programs. The Mediterranean Experience is a 7 ½ week program that travels through Greece, Italy, and Spain. More ...
2004 Spotlights
Timothy Moore: Summer Intern for U.S. Court of Appeals - Timothy Moore spent the summer in Providence, Rhode Island, where he interned for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Timothy was one of three law students interning for Circuit Judge Bruce Selya and as the only rising third-year intern, Timothy was given More ...
Toronda Silas: San Antonio's Newest Bankruptcy Attorney- Shortly after graduating from Miami Law, Toronda Silas will relocate to San Antonio where she will begin work as a bankruptcy attorney at Cox & Smith Inc. The small firm is nationally known for its bankruptcy practice. More...
Doug Wolfe:Summer Position in Insurance Defense- Doug Wolfe will be in West Palm Beach this summer to clerk for the insurance defense firm, Powers, McNalis, & Torres. Doug will be mostly involved with insurance defense, but may also gain some exposure to plaintiff representation. More...
Jaimee Codd: Headed to Texas for Clinical Placement- After completing her final exams in May, Jaimee Codd takes off for Houston for a clinical placement with The Children's Assessment Center. The Center, which provides a range of services for sexually abused children and their families, is staffed mostly by social workers, psychologists, and physicians. More...
Jessica Gabel: Wrongful Convictions Project- Combining her legal education at UM Law with her undergraduate background in forensic science, Miami Scholar, Jessica Gabel (3L), started laying the groundwork for the Wrongful Convictions Project during her first year of law school. More...
LegalArt: Serving Miami's Burgeoning Art Community- Last May, after completing their first year of law school, Carolina Garcia and Lara O'Neill founded LegalArt Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to providing legal services to local artists. More...
Jason Barker: Summer Internship with the SEC- Jason Barker spent the summer interning with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Central Regional Office in Denver, Colorado. He was placed in the SEC's Division of Enforcement where he was involved with the investigation of possible violations of securities law. More...
2003 Spotlights
Sarahi Lim Baro: Summer in New York, Interning for the United Nations- Sarahi Lim Baro spent June and July at the United Nation's newly created Office of the Ombudsman. The Office was created a year and a half ago to address employee relations at the United Nations. Sarahi's internship concentrated on reviewing cases of employee grievances and synthesizing the rulings by the UN's Administrative Tribunal into an annual report that the Ombudsman Office presents to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly. More...
Jennifer Barker: Summer Spent Aiding Migrant Farmworkers- Third-year law student, Jennifer Barker, spent two months this past summer interning for Florida Legal Services' Migrant Farmworker Justice Project. Her principal duties were researching case law and investigating violations of workers' contracts, wages, and other violations under the Agricultural Worker Protection Act and Fair Labor Standards Act (AWPA/FLSA). More...
Megan Renze: The Barcelona Exchange- This past academic year, UM Law expanded its relation with Universitat Pompeu Fabra, the host school to UM Law's summer abroad program in Spain. Last fall, Universitat Pompeu Fabra sent two of its law students to Miami for the semester. In January, Miami reciprocated by sending two students to Barcelona. More...
Josh Bosin: Summer Internship at MTV Networks in New York -Joshua Bosin was in New York for the summer, interning for the Business and Legal Affairs Division of VH1: Music First. "It was a cool place to work. The people I worked with were incredibly willing to teach and to share the workload."More...
Jason Albright: Confronting Legal and Health Issues of the Gay Community-Jason Albright has made the most of his two summers in law school. In summer 2002, he was in Paris, studying at Cornell's Institute of International and Comparative Law at the Sorbonne. More...
Lynn Ford: Tour de España.-Having successfully concluded her first-year classes, Lynn Ford could not wait until the fall to begin coursework in international law. Over the summer, she took three courses on the topic through UM Law's study abroad program in Spain, Tour de España. More...
Gina Gerardi: London Summer Program.-Gina Gerardi was one of approximately 100 law students who spent the summer in England with UM Law's London Summer Program. Students in the program take two, three-credit hour courses over an eight week semester. Gina took International Business Transactions, with UM's Professor Swan, and European Union Law, with Professor Moloney, a visiting professor from Ireland. More...
Fara Gold: Idealist In, Idealist Out -Fara Gold arrived in Miami well-prepared to deal with the stresses of law school. During her last two years of college she worked for the Dekalb Rape Crisis Center in Decatur, Georgia, where she counseled victims on the Center's crisis hotline. More...
Jodi Ezrin: Moot Court Mania Jodi Ezrin has a passion for trial advocacy and at UM Law she has become a moot court fanatic. She is a member of the Moot Court Board and she was a member of several UM teams that have competed in national competitions. More...
Richard Jurgens: Commencing a Career in Immigration Law. Having come to Miami with ambitions of one day practicing immigration law, Richard Jurgens was thrilled when the Bureau of Immigration and Citizenship offered him a position that would keep him in Miami indefinitely. More...
Merritt Gardiner: Research in Entertainment Law Takes her to the Grammys - Merritt Gardiner productively used her winter break last year to write a paper for an entertainment law competition. Her paper, which analyzes the Music Online Competition Act of 2001, was one of five papers selected from a pool of over 250 entries. More...
Devang Desai: Accepts Job Offer from Steel Hector & Davis - After graduating from the law school in May of 2003, Devang Desai will begin practicing in the areas of government affairs and bankruptcy litigation with Steel Hector & Davis. More...
2002 Spotlights
Sarathi Ray: Summer in South Africa - While the University of Miami has an excellent reputation for its tax law curriculum, Sarathi Ray never envisioned himself as a tax lawyer. More...
Myles Cochran: Making a Difference in the Lives of Miami's Youth - Myles never considered law school until the summer before his junior year of college when he did an internship for a retired probate judge in Dallas. More...
Jermaine Lee: Summer Internship with the Florida Supreme Court - Jermaine Lee recently returned to Miami from an eight week summer internship with the Florida Supreme Court. Jermaine and fellow UM student, Rob Leitner, were two of ten law students from Florida who interned with the Court over the summer.More...
Michael Huber: Awarded Grant to Attend Communications Law Conference - Last semester Michael Huber saw an announcement that was being circulated by the Career Planning Center. The American Bar Association was offering a grant for law students to attend the ABA's annual conference on communications law. More...
Melody Saint-Saëns: Human Rights & Feminism - It truly hit home one day last summer just how important Melody Saint-Saëns’ work was. Saint-Saëns was an intern at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center’s LUCHA project, which provides legal assistance in immigration matters to indigent immigrant women and their children. More...
Tarana Zaheed: Splitting Her Time Between Miami and London - Miami and London are two cities Tarana Zaheed has gotten to know well over the past three years. Before starting law school at the University of Miami in August of 2000, Tarana spent the spring semester of her senior year studying abroad in London. More...
Lindsay Wolter: Law and Marine Affairs - When Lindsay Wolter completes her legal education at the University of Miami School of Law, she will have the distinct honor of having earned two diplomas in three years. Lindsay is in her second year of the joint degree program offered by the School of Law and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). More...
Gregory McFarlane: Summer Internship in Entertainment Law - Who are you?" asked Luther Campbell of the former 2 Live Crew. "I'm your new intern from the University of Miami School of Law." Gregory McFarlane responded. More...
2001 Spotlights
Yvette Bessent: Summer Clerkship Leads to Job Offer - Yvette Bessent was only four years old when she decided that she wanted to be an attorney. "From an early age, people told me that I would make a good lawyer because I was so analytical." Yvette grew up in Miami and is a graduate of Killian High School. More... 
Leipzig Seminar, Clinical Placement Combine for Great Summer JD/MBA Candidate Interns with Miami SEC - By Ximena Skovron - UM Law, Class of 2003 - Graduate, University of Miami. More...
Jennifer Christianson: HIV Case-Worker Joins the Battle Against Discrimination - Jennifer Christianson, a member of the Class of 2002, was awarded the Soia Mentschikoff scholarship for her academic achievement, demonstrated leadership skills and community involvement prior to enrolling at UM. More...
George Franklin Chooses Law over Academics - A wide, warm smile broke over 2L George Franklin's face as he said the words: "Really hard." He was referring to Professor Terry Anderson with whom Franklin has taken two courses: Elements and Analysis of Evidence.More...
Marcia Reisman Embraces a New Career - Marcia Reisman was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and raised there until the age of 12, when the Reisman family decided to move south to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., which they found to be much quieter than the "Steel City." More...
Bob Dockery: From U.S. Senate Staff to Law School - "The ultimate test of every academic institution is its faculty. After a year and a half at the University of Miami School of Law, I know from my own first hand experience that it passes the test with flying colors! More...
Shakespeare's Macbeth Shows Law Students Are Also Extraordinary Performers Outside of Class - UM Law students-along with faculty members, alumni, administrators, and even the 11-year-old son of a staff member-drew enthusiastic reviews for four performances of Shakespeare's Macbeth at the School of Law in early February. More...
