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University *f *loria Fe. ric -e Levin Col -of 6aw Newse 6. Apl 4

Alumni Inducted into Heritage of Leadership
Two chief justices of the Florida Supreme Court, a president of the American Bar Association and a member of
the U.S. House of Representatives have been selected for the law school's highest alumni honor

Bennett

trvin
Four of the Levin College of
Law's most distinguished alumni
- two chief justices of the Flor-
ida Supreme Court, a president
of the American Bar Association
and member of the U.S. House
of Representatives have been
selected for induction into the
Heritage of Leadership Recogni-
tion Society.
"The society is the law school's
highest mark of distinction for
preeminent graduates who as-
sumed leadership positions on

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
2 Career Services
4 Events
10 Calendar

national and inter-
national levels," said
Dean Robert Jerry.
"These individuals
distinguished them-
selves in remarkable
ways and it is a true
privilege to honor their
accomplishments."
Ehrlich Justice Ehrlich and
the families of the
other three inductees,
who are accepting
posthumous awards,
will be recognized at
an April 8 banquet,
which also will be
attended by members
of the college's Law
Center Association
Smith Board of Trustees and
Law Alumni Council.

The Class of 2005 inductees are:
Charles Bennett, a 1934
graduate, was Florida's longest
serving congressman and the
second longest-tenured member
of the House when he retired in
1993 after 44 years. He spon-
sored legislation that created the
House Ethics Committee and
Americans with Disabilities Act
and made "In God We Trust" the
U.S. motto. Bennett became the

second-ranking Democrat on the
House Armed Services Commit-
tee and chaired the investigative
committees that oversaw the
Watergate and Abscam scandals.
Raymond Ehrlich, a 1942
graduate, practiced law for 35
years before serving on the Flor-
ida Supreme Court for a decade,
including as chief justice. He was
appointed special counsel to U.S.
Sen. Bob Graham in 1991 and
received the Florida Bar Foun-
dation's Medal of Honor Award
in 1993 for outstanding contri-
butions to the administration
of justice, including his work
to automate courts, assign law
clerks to circuit judges, promote
alternative dispute resolution and
defend judicial independence.
Richard Ervin, Jr., a 1928
graduate, was elected three times
as attorney general of Florida,
serving with five governors from
1949 to 1964. He is cred-
ited with desegregating Florida
schools with a minimum of
friction and launching a drive to
rid the state of illegal gambling.
As a Florida Supreme Court
justice from 1964 to 1975 and
chief justice in 1969 and 1970,
Ervin wrote countless opinions in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Study: Payday f Creative Writers
Lenders Target at UF Law
Troops

UF Law Climbs
in U.S. News
Rankings
The Levin College of Law has
climbed in the annual U.S. News
and World Report rankings
of the nation's law schools,
released late last week.
UF's law school was ranked No.
41 this year, up two notches
from last year.
The graduate tax program was
once again rated the second
best in the nation, with only
New York University ranking
higher.
The law school also was ranked
No. 13 for trial advocacy, the
first time that program has ap-
peared in the rankings.
Dean Robert Jerry said he was
pleased by the numbers, though
he said he believes the public
places too much emphasis on
the magazine's rankings.
"Frankly, I don't get too
worked up about the U.S. News
numbers, but it's always good
to see our programs getting
recognition," he said.
"I was particularly pleased to
see the trial advocacy program
ranked so highly," Jerry said.
"Much of the credit for that
can be attributed to the suc-
cesses of our trial teams."

New Judicial
Clerkship
Application
Process

There is a new application pro-
cess for students applying for
federal judicial clerkships this
fall (for clerkships beginning
Fall 2006). Applicants will turn
in all materials to the Center for
Career Services, which will ship
all applications together in one
package, as the judges have
requested. Deadlines are early,
so interested students should
familiarize themselves with the
new rules as soon as possible.
A handout detailing the process
is available in Career Services.
If you have further questions,
make an appointment to see
Assistant Dean for Career Ser-
vices Linda Calvert Hanson.

2 FLA LAW

CAREER SERVICES
Hints to help you in the legal profession

FYI:

Sign Up for 1L
Shadow Program
Now in its fifth year, the 1L
Shadow Program is designed for
first-year law students who have
not had the experience of being
in a law firm, the courthouse, or
other legal environment. During
the week of April 11, students
sign up to shadow an attorney in
private practice, the court system,
or legal services to experience the
legal environment. Sign-up sheets
will be available outside the offices
of Career Services. Space in the
program is limited, and assign-

ments are done by lottery, to be
held April 14 at 5:30 p.m. outside
the Center for Career Services. In
order to accept an opportunity, 1Ls
must bring a copy of their resume
to the lottery drawing and must
be present to accept the position.
For more information, come to the
Career Services office.

No more eAttorney
To remain competitive in this
ever-changing market, the law school
has replaced eAttorney with a new
program called Symplicity. The
new software will facilitate both the

What's Happening This Week:

One Quick Question Real Property, Probate
Career Services Director Jessie and Trusts
Howell Wallace will be available Join guest speaker Rhonda
from 10:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Chung-de Cambre (JD 02) of
today, April 4, in the courtyard Three Rivers Legal Services for
to answer your questions about discussion about career oppor-
externships, mock interviews, tunities in real property, probal
resumes, cover letters, career de- and trusts, at 11 a.m. April 6
velopment suggestions and more. in the faculty dining room. Th
Oriental n event is co-sponsored by Caree
Job Fair Orientation Services and by the Estates,
Career Services Director Jessie Trusts and Elder Law Society,
Howell Wallace will introduce which will provide lunch.
students to the law school's many
job fairs in a workshop at noon Resume and Cover
April 6 in room 285D. The Letter Workshop
Levin College of Law participates Join Career Services Assis-
in over a dozen job fairs and tant Director Carol Kuczora in
interviewing programs, many of room 285D at 11 a.m. April 7
which require pre-registration for a workshop on how to craft
and selections over the summer. a resume and cover letter. This
Come learn about upcoming workshop will provide tips for
deadlines, rules for participation beginning the writing process ai
and the application process. refining your final documents.

a

re

e
r

nd

On-Campus Interview program and
the job listing database. Students can
upload resumes in just about any
format, including .pdf files. Navigat-
ing this new system is very simple,
and instructions are available in the
Center for Career Services or on the
center's website. New passwords will
be e-mailed to students this week: let
Career Services know by Friday, April
8, if you have not received yours. As
with any software change, there may
be bugs that need to be ironed out
in the beginning. Let Career Services
know if you encounter any glitches
in the software.

Judicial Process
Lecture Series

Retired Florida Supreme Court
Justice Ben Overton will discuss
the Florida Constitution, the sepa-
ration of powers, governance of
the bar and other topics in the fifth
installment of the Judicial Process
Lecture Series at 6 p.m. April 6 in
the faculty dining room.
This event is mandatory for
most summer and fall 2005
judicial externs, but all students
are welcome. Students who have
not yet been placed in judicial
externships are strongly advised
to attend the live lectures as space
will be very limited for make-up
sessions on video.

OCI Orientation for New
Participants
Learn how to navigate the
new Career Services database in
a workshop at 5:15 p.m. April 7

2005-2006 Public Service Fellows Applications Available
The Public Service Law Fellowship Program is your chance to do public service work and get paid for
it. Since 1986, the program has been funded by the Florida Bar Foundation I.O.T.A. Law Student Assistance
Grant Program. Recent years have brought severe cuts to the Fellowship Program as a whole, but the founda-
tion continues to fund the program here a sign of just how valuable the program is considered to be.
The number of fellows is dependent on each year's funding. Fellows work in non-profit organizations
in the Gainesville community. Each fellow receives a stipend depending on the grant received by the
Florida Bar Foundation.
How long is the fellowship commitment?
Fellows work from August through May, during their third year of law school.
What does a Fellow do?
Fellows work with lawyers in the following non-profit or government agencies: Guardian ad Litem, Public
Defender, Florida Institutional Legal Services, Three Rivers Legal Services, and Southern Legal Counsel.
Some placements involve intensive research and writing; some include working with clients. The duties
differ depending on the agency. We make every effort to take fellows' aptitudes and interests into account
in assigning placements.
Fellows also write articles for FlaLaw on some issue relating to serving the underrepresented, and they orga-
nize projects to promote awareness of poverty issues and public interest law among the law school community.
How many hours of work will a fellowship require?
Fellows work an average of 10 to 15 hours per week. In addition, they devote time to group projects and
attend fellowship meetings approximately every two weeks. A total of 270 hours is required.
How are fellows selected?
Applicants should have four semesters under their belt by the end of Summer 2005 (a summer counts as a
semester) and a GPA of 2.0 or above after Fall 2004.
The co-directors of the program, Jessie Howell Wallace and Tim McLendon, will interview applicants. Every
applicant will be interviewed unless the number of applicants is so large that this is not feasible.
Applicants will be evaluated based on relevant experiences and activities, demonstrated commitment to pro
bono or public interest activities, demonstrated academic ability, writing ability, and interest in public service law.
How do students apply?
Complete the application form, available in the Center for Career Services and the Center for Governmental
Responsibility. Submit completed applications by noon April 11 to Lenny Kennedy in the CGR office. You should
also schedule your interview at that time.

in room 345. If you are plan-
ning to participate in the Fall
OCI season, and have not previ-
ously attended an orientation,
you will need to come to this
meeting in order to use Symplic-
ity, the software that is replacing
eAttorney.

First Impressions Count
Career Services will conduct
walk-in resume reviews this
week. This first-come, first-
served event is designed to
allow students to put the finish-
ing touches on their resumes.

Students will need to upload
their resumes to the new data-
base in June, so don't miss your
last change for a review before
you leave for the summer. Walk
-in reviews will be held today,
April 4, from 1-3 p.m.; April
6 from 9-11 a.m.; and April 8
from 10 a.m. to noon in the
Career Services offices.

Mandatory Non-Judicial
Externship Orientation
Students who are participat-
ing in Summer and Fall 2005
non-judicial externships must

attend an orientation session
from 9 a.m. to noon April 9 in
room 355C. Those unable to
attend must make arrangements
with Career Services to attend
the make-up session that will
be announced at a later date.
Please note that the Orange and
Blue football game will begin at
1 p.m. on the same day as the
orientation, and the Green stu-
dent lot behind the law school
will be unavailable for student
parking. Parking will be avail-
able on Village Drive and in the
Orange faculty lot.

CSRRR Spring
Lecture April 11
A leading authority on the
history of slavery will deliver
this year's Spring Lecture,
sponsored by the Center for
the Study of Race and Race
Relations.
Paul Finkelman, the Chapman
Distinguished Professor at the
University of Tulsa's College of
Law, will deliver a speech titled
"Affirmative Action for the
Master Class: Understanding
the Proslavery Constitution and
Its Implications for 21st Cen-
tury America" at 1 p.m. April
11 in the teaching classroom at
Emerson Alumni Hall.
Finkelman is author of several
books and articles on slavery
and the Constitution, including
the 2003 volume Defending
Slavery: Proslavery Thought
in the Old South and the 2001
book Slavery and the Founders:
Race and Liberty in the Age of
Jefferson.
This year's lecture is free and
open to the public. Seating
is limited and attendees are
urged to arrive early.

FLA LAW 3

/EVENT

S & OPPORTUNITIES

Attorney-CPA
Foundation
Scholarships
The Attorney-CPA Foundation
now offers scholarships to law
students who are entering their
third year of law school and
have obtained a CPA certifi-
cate. This year the Foundation
will award amounts ranging
from $250 to $1,000 to ten
students who will be graduat-
ing from law school in 2006.
Applicants will be evaluated
based upon their academic
performance, leadership in the
school and community and need
for assistance in completing
their studies.
Scholarship applications should
be postmarked by April 30.
Applications are available online
at www.attorney-cpa.com or
see Carol Huber, financial aid
coordinator,164 Holland Hall.

Student Loan
Interest Rates
Rising
Interest rates are now at an all-
time low for federal student loans.
This will change July 1, when
interest rates are expected to go
up by more than 1 percent.
You may want to consider con-
solidating your federal student
loans before that date to lock
in a fixed rate.
For information about Direct
Loan Consolidation go to:
www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov
or call 1-800-557-7392.

4 FLA LAW

Donate a Day to
Promote Public
Interest Law
The Association for Public
Interest Law encourages stu-
dents who have accepted paid
summer or permanent positions
to make a tax-deductible dona-
tion of the equivalent of one
day's salary to APIL's summer
fellowship program. The pro-
gram allows UF law students to
spend their summers volunteer-
ing for nonprofit legal organiza-
tions without the added burden
of summer loans. To participate
in the Donate-a-Day fundraiser,
come to APIL's table on the
concourse from 10 a.m.-2p.m.
April 4-6, or send an e-mail
to ufpublicinterestlaw@yahoo.
com. Donate $25 or more and
you will get a free ticket to
LawLawPalooza and a chance to
win an iPod (see below).

Win an iPod at
LawLawPalooza
After a one year hiatus,
LawlawPalooza is back. The
Association for Public Interest
Law hosts the event each year
to help raise money for the
Summer Fellowship Program.
This year's LawlawPalooza will
be held April 6 at the Purple
Porpoise from 6:30-11 p.m.,
and will showcase the bands of
UF law students including The
Kindred, featuring Jon Lorimer
(1L) and Lux, featuring Cam-
eron Siggs (1L).
Tickets for this year's Law-
lawpalooza are $5 and can be
purchased on the concourse.
Tickets will also be available
for $5 at the door. Anyone who
buys an advance ticket from the
APIL table on the concourse

Home Lecture Series Draws Crowd
More than two dozen people showed up at Professor Kenneth Nunn's
home March 19 to hear Nunn speak about the roots of the Federalist
Society. The event was the first in this semester's Professors At Home
Lecture Series, sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild, CaribLaw, the
American Constitution Society and the Law School Democrats.

will be entered into a drawing
for a free iPod Shuffle. APIL
will also give out gift certifi-
cates to local businesseses. For
details, e-mail APIL at ufpublic
interestlaw@yahoo.com.

Relay for Life
Relay For Life, an 18-hour
walkathon that honors cancer
survivors and patients and
raises money for cancer research
and awareness, will be held
April 15-16 at the Stephen C.
O'Connell Center.
To volunteer to walk in the
event, sponsor a walker, or
work as part of event staff,
e-mail ufcollegesagainstcancer@
yahoo.com.

ILS to Host Panel on
International Careers
The International Law Soci-
ety will host a panel discussion
on careers in both public and
private international law April
12 at 5 p.m. The group is still
seeking speakers to complete

the panel: if you know someone
whose practice involves inter-
national law, e-mail Michael
Eatroff at meatty4@hotmail.
com

Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes
Celebrate Diversity Day April
4 by joining students from the
American Constitution Society,
Black Law Students Asso-
ciation, Jewish Law Students
Association and CaribLaw for
a symposium on discrimina-
tion and diversity in education.
Held in the faculty dining room
from 2-4 p.m., the event, titled
"Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes: Diver-
sity and Discrimination in Edu-
cation," will include a screening
of the documentary "Eye of the
Beholder," a guest speaker from
the Anti-Defamation League,
and a roundtable discussion
of diversity issues on the UF
campus and at the law school.
The event will be catered by the
Hillel Foundation.

Innocence Project
Director to Speak
Jenny Greenberg, director of
the Florida Innocence Initiative
(FII), will speak to UF law stu-
dents about wrongful convictions
and post-conviction DNA testing
April 18 at noon in the Bailey
Courtroom.
FII is a non-profit entity that
investigates potential wrongful
convictions and seeks post-con-
viction DNA testing in question-
able cases. FII's two-person staff
works closely with law students
and graduate students, training
and supervising them in screen-
ing and investigating cases and in
drafting legal documents.

Lunch and Learn
with JLSA
Explore Jewish law texts as
they relate to the 21st cen-
tury and modern American
law in the "Lunch and Learn"
series sponsored by the Jew-
ish Law Students Association.
Free lunch will be available
at a "Lunch and Learn" event
at noon April 6 in the Bailey
Courtroom. A second event will
be held at noon April 7 at the
Hillel Foundation.

JTLP Now Available
A new edition (Volume
9, issue 2) of the Journal of
Technology Law and Policy is
now available. The new issue
features articles on electronic
surveillance and the reason-
able expectation of privacy, a
Lockean approach to com-
pulsory patent licensing, and
more. For individual copies
or subscription information,
contact Staff Editor Victoria A.
Redd at reddva@law.ufl.edu or
392-4980.

CaribLaw to Hold
Elections
The Caribbean Law Students
Association will hold a general
body meeting and executive
board elections April 11 at 5
p.m. in room 285D. Refresh-
ments will be served.

Tune Up Your
Lexis Skills
Prepare for your
legal career and
summer experi- I
ence by attending '
a workshop on
"Cost-Effective
Tips and/or Area-
of-Law-Specific
Research Tips on
LexisNexis," held
by Lexis represen-
tatives this week.
Participants in
this 45-minute class will receive
200 Lexis points. Class dates,
times and locations are as follows:
* April 4 at 10 a.m. in
room 285A and 11 a.m. in
room 345
* April 5 at 10 a.m. in room
285B, 11 a.m. in room345,
and 2 p.m. in room285D
* April 7 at 10 a.m. in
room 285A
Register for a class on the Lex-
isNexis "My School" page.

Say 'Aloha' with
Class Gift
Attention graduating seniors:
the Senior Class Gift Campaign
Committee would like to help
you say goodbye to the Levin
College of Law by hosting a
series of Goodbye Days on the
concourse. Each Tuesday, the
committee will hold a themed
event to say goodbye to seniors
and remind them of the impor-

tance of donating to the class
gift. Stop by tomorrow, April 5,
for "Aloha Day"; April 12 for
"Ciao Day"; or April 19 for the
final Goodbye Day.
For more information, contact
committee co-chairs Julie Miller
(ufbug@ufl.edu), Angelique
Knox (knox@ufl.edu) or Bonnie
Bolz (bonnie6263@aol.com).

Download Class Outlines
For Free
Students can prepare for
final exams using LexisNexis
outlines. To access the outlines,
go to http://www.lexisnexis.
com/lawschool and click the
"Study Aids" link.

Discuss Disabled
Issues at Conference
Join activists, scholars and oth-
ers to discuss issues affecting dis-
abled people including higher
education, sexuality and media
coverage at the "Building a
DisAbility Movement" conference
on the UF campus April 7.
Featured speakers include
sexologist Dr. Mitch Tepper,
artist Sunny Taylor, and talk-
radio host Greg Smith, star
of the PBS documentary "On
the Roll." For information and
registration go to http://grove.
ufl.edu/-usd/.

James F. Bailey, Jr.
Scholarship Award
Applications are available for the
James F. Bailey, Jr. Scholarship
Award.
To be eligible for this scholarship,
an applicant must: 1) be a first-
or second-year student attending
a Florida law school; (2) have a
grade point average of 2.5 on a
4.0 scale; and (3) be from or have
strong ties to the Jacksonville
area and plan to return to Jack-
sonville to practice law.
Applications are available from
Carol Huber, financial aid coordina-
tor, 164 Holland Hall. Applications
are due April 15.

UF to Phase
Out Forwarding
Addresses
As of Oct. 1, students at
UF will no longer be able to
forward their Gatorlink e-mail
to third-party addresses.
UF administrators rely on
Gatorlink to disseminate
important announcements to all
UF students. But the growing
problem of spam has forced
many e-mail providers to install
spam-blocking software that
blocks messages from the uni-
versity. The result is that many
students miss important news
about events on campus.
Students will still be able to
forward Gatorlink accounts to
other e-mail accounts with ufl.
edu addresses.

FLA LAW 5

Legal and Policy
Issues in Americas
Conference
May 15-17
Lawyers, scholars and law
enforcement officials from
across the Western Hemisphere
will come to the University of
Florida's Levin College of Law in
May to discuss the rule of law,
dispute resolution and tech-
niques for fighting terrorism.
The sixth annual Conference on
Legal and Policy Issues in the
Americas will bring dozens of
law and policy experts together
to discuss legal and policy
issues facing the United States
and its neighbors in both North
and South America.
Attendees will meet May 15
and May 16 for discussions on
the similarities and differ-
ences between justice systems
throughout the Americas, with
a focus on countries that are
currently undergoing or have
recently undergone justice
system reform.
The conference will reconvene
May 17 for a series of discus-
sions on efforts to stop money
laundering and fundraising for
al-Qaeda and other terrorist
groups.
The conference is free and open
to the public, though seating
is limited and available on a
first-come, first-served basis.
Registration ends April 11.
For more information, contact
Lenny Kennedy at 392-2237.

6 FLA LAW

UF Study: Payday Lenders Prey on Military
They've dedicated their lives to defending the country. But with low pay and frequent payroll errors, America's mili-
tary members sometimes have trouble staying out of debt. A study by a UF law professor shows that high-interest
lenders are targeting service members and their families.

Payday loan companies
- which make high-cost loans
to cash-strapped people tar-
get military members and their
families, according to a study
co-authored by a University of
Florida law professor.
After collecting data from
more than 13,000 ZIP codes
across the country, the study's
authors found payday loan
operations clustered in areas near
military bases.
"Payday loan companies
vociferously deny that they are
targeting military personnel, but
the numbers show that they do,"
said Christopher L. Peterson, an
assistant professor at UF's Levin
College of Law. "It's sad enough
to see someone get into financial
trouble because someone lent
him money at more than 400
percent interest. It's even worse
when that borrower is a person
who is fighting to protect our
freedom someone whose
career can be ruined by a loan of
this sort."
Payday loans are high-interest
loans intended to tide the bor-
rower over to his next paycheck.
In a typical payday loan, a lender
might give a borrower $100 cash
in exchange for a post-dated
check for $115. When the loan
comes due, typically two weeks
later, the lender cashes the check,
recouping his $100 plus a $15
"lender's fee."
If the borrower doesn't have
enough money in the bank
when the loan is due, he can
always refinance by borrow-
ing more money on the same
terms. Known as a "rollover,"
this practice can quickly turn a
small loan into a sizable financial
obligation. Charges for payday
loans vary, but a typical lender

will charge around $17
or $18 for a two-week
loan of $100. That's
roughly equivalent to
an annual interest rate
of 450 percent.
"The people who
take out these loans are
typically in a precarious
financial situation to
begin with," said Peter-
son. "When people take
out payday loans, they
take on a debt that can
rapidly turn into yet
another major financial
obligation and quite
often, they don't really
understand just how
high the interest rate is
for one of these loans."

Peterson and co-author Steven
M. Graves, an assistant professor
of geography at California State
University, mapped payday loan
locations in 20 states, including
109 military bases.
They found that ZIP codes
near military bases consistently
had higher numbers of payday
lenders than nonmilitary ZIP
codes of similar population and
demographic makeup.
Military personnel make good
targets for the payday loan indus-
try, Peterson said. Junior enlisted
personnel are often in their late
teens and early 20s, and have
low salaries and little experience
managing money. Many are also
married and have families. Pay-
roll errors are not infrequent in
the military, and young families
often find themselves strug-
gling on a fraction of a normal
paycheck while waiting for those
errors to be cleared up.
Because the military frowns on
nonpayment of debt delin-
quent soldiers can face demotion,

Peterson
loss of security clearances, and
even discharge lenders can be
confident they will be repaid.
"The military's seriousness
about personal debt is a plus
for the payday lenders," said
Peterson. "It also means that a
payday loan can have truly tragic
consequences for someone in the
military. It can ruin a career."
To correct the problem, the
authors of the study advocate a
return to strict enforcement of
usury laws, which ban lending at
a high rate of interest. The cur-
rent resurgence in payday lending
began in the early 1990s, as lend-
ers found loopholes to skirt the
usury laws.
"We're asking our soldiers to
put their lives on the line for
us, and in the current wartime
environment, there's a lot of
incentive for politicians to show
that they support the troops,"
he said. "Simple enforcement of
existing laws on payday lending
would be unquestionably good
for the troops, yet very little is
being done."

r

The 'Write' Stuff

For Mike Seigel, it was a lifelong dream. For Andy Adkins, it all started when he received a decades-old diary in the
mail. Two people at the Levin College of Law both with new books hitting the shelves this year explain why
they ventured into the world of creative writing.

Siegel: Novel Fulfills Lifelong Dream

Michael Seigel

If you
were to
invent the
perfect mys
tery writer,
his resume
would
probably
look a lot
like Mike

Seigel's.
As a Harvard Law School grad-
uate, Seigel knows a thing or two
about putting words together.
As a former federal prosecutor,
he has an insider's view of the
courtroom drama that is the stuff
of hundreds of crime novels. And
as a law professor who teaches an
evidence class at UF, Seigel has a
knowledge of investigative tech-
niques that most mystery writers
would, well, kill for.
Now Seigel has put his mys-

tery-writing credentials to the test
with Improbable Events: Murder
at Ellenton Hall, a mystery novel
released in March. Seigel wrote
the book, his first work of fiction,
during a semester sabbatical.
"To write a novel was always
a dream of mine," Seigel said.
"Sometimes you look at some of
the books that do get published
and you think 'how hard can it
be?' Sometimes you come across
a really great book and you
wonder, 'could I write something
like that?'
"A couple of years ago I got
tired of wondering," he contin-
ued. "I decided to sit down and
just do it."
Improbable Events follows the
adventures of Mark Bolton, an
associate dean at the fictitious
Tampa Bay University School
of Law.

Bolton stumbles across a
mystery when a student is found
murdered in one ofTBU's
classrooms. Against his better
judgment, the former prosecutor
can't resist the temptation to get
invloved in the investigation -
even wangling an appointment as
a sheriffs deputy to improve his
access to evidence.
Along the way, Bolton dodges
the political pitfalls of life as a
law school administrator, from
squabbles about parking spaces to
accusations that Bolton mishan-
dled security before the murder.
Seigel says none of the colorful
characters at TBU are portrayals
of individuals at UF not even
Bolton, whose resume looks a lot
like Seigel's.
"Bolton is definitely not me,
though we have a lot of things
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Adkins: Father's War Diary Becomes Book

When he
was young,
Andrew Z.
Adkins, III
knew better
than to ask
his father
about his
experiences
in World

War II. Adkins knew his dad had
been sent to Europe shortly after
D-Day, and that he had earned
a Bronze Star for his actions in
France. But pressing him for
details was often like talking to
a wall.
"There were a lot of things he
didn't want to talk about, things

I guess he didn't want to think
about," Adkins said. "In that way,
I think he was like a lot of men
of his generation."
Then one day in the 1980's,
Adkins received an unexpected
gift a battlefield diary his fa-
ther had written almost 40 years
earlier. Filled with first-hand ac-
counts of his father's nine months
in combat from the hedge-
rows of France to the mountains
of Austria the diary opened
a window on events the former
Lt. Andy Adkins Jr. had never
discussed with his son.
Two decades later, Adkins
- associate director of technol-
ogy services at UF's law school

- has turned the diary into a
full-fledged memoir of his father's
experiences in Europe, combin-
ing his father's personal accounts
with his own historical research.
Titled You Can't Get Much Closer
Than This, the book is scheduled
for release this summer by Case-
mate Publishing.
The book follows the elder Ad-
kins, a mortar platoon leader in a
front-line infantry unit, through
some of the fiercest battles of
the European war -- including
the August 1944 fight to cut off
retreating German forces at the
Falaise Pocket, and the supply
mission to an embattled French
CONTINiUE ON PAFE 9

Lecture to Address
Genetically
Modified Food
Drew Kershen, a professor at
the University of Oklahoma
College of Law, will be the
2005 Wershow Distinguished
Lecturer April 7 at the Univer-
sity of Florida's Levin College
of Law.
His presentation,"The Risks of
Non-GMOs," will be at 4 p.m. in
room 180A. The lecture is free
and open to the public.
During the last 10 years,
Kershen has authored many
publications on legal liabil-
ity, intellectual property and
regulatory issues in agricultural
biotechnology.
Established in 1985 by James
and Dorothy Wershow, the lec-
ture series is sponsored by the
Agricultural Law Center in UF's
Institute of Food and Agricul-
tural Sciences (UF/IFAS).
Michael Olexa, a professor in
the UF/IFAS food and resource
economics department and
director of the Agricultural Law
Center, said Kershen was se-
lected to speak at UF because
of his extensive research on
GMOs and international reputa-
tion on the subject.

FLA LAW 7

W
YOU CAN'T GET MUCH
CLOSER THAN THIS

Scholarship/Activities
Professor Patricia Dilley ap-
peared at a town hall meeting on
Social Security with Congresswom-
an Susan Davis (D-Calif.) in San
Diego March 26. She was quoted
in a San Diego Union-Tribune
story about the meeting. The event
was also covered by area television
stations.
Chesterfield Smith Professor
Michael W Gordon has been in-
vited to present a series of lectures
in Guatemala as a result of that
country's signing of the Central
American Free Trade Agreement.
The lectures will be presented at
the law faculty of the Universidad
Francisco Marroquin in June.
Gordon also sat on a NAFTA
dispute panel that rendered a
decision on a U.S.-Canadian trade
dispute in March. The panel, in
a 91-page decision, found the
International Trade Administra-
tion of the U.S. Department of
Commerce was in error in its
determination that Canada was
subsidizing wheat by certain fi-
nancial guarantees, but upheld the
IT's determination that Canada
was subsidizing the provision

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
support of the rights of the in-
dividual, especially the poor and
disadvantaged.
Chesterfield Smith, a 1948
graduate, founded one of the
largest law firms in the country,
Holland & Knight. As chairman
for almost three decades, he led
the way in hiring women and
minorities and encouraging pro
bono work. In 1973, he served
as president of the American Bar
Association and challenged Presi-
dent Richard Nixon during the
Watergate investigations. Smith

SCHOLARSHIP
& ACTIVITIES

of railway cars used to carry the
wheat. The decision was covered
by the Reuters News Service and a
number of Canadian newspapers.

In the News
Professor Jeffrey Davis was
quoted in a March 24 Florida
Times- Union article on Winn-Di-
xie's decision to file bankruptcy
in New York, rather than Florida,
where the company is based.
Davis was one of a number of
law professors who commented
on "forum shopping" by corpora-
tions facing bankruptcy. He
said the issue had been a subject
of controversy for a number of
years. The story was also carried
by Black Enterprise Magazine.
Professor Joseph Little was
quoted in a March 25 Associ-
ated Press story on the Terry
Schiavo case, commenting on the
constitutional-law implications of
recent court actions by Schiavo's
parents. He was also quoted on
the Schiavo case in the March 25
Palm Beach Post. He said that in
the wake of the Supreme Court's
refusal to hear the case, Gov. Jeb
Bush had "no more power... than

received numerous honors in-
cluding the ABA Medal from the
Board of Governors, American
Civil Liberties Union's Nelson
Poynter Award, and the Laurie
D. Zelon Pro Bono Award, pre-
sented by Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsberg at the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The Heritage of Leadership
Recognition Society was officially
activated in 2003 with the induc-
tion of 12 men, who collectively
served as five chief justices, two
governors, two Florida Bar
presidents, two U.S. senators,

does any other person" to inter-
vene.
Research Associate Barbara
Noah was quoted in a March 30
Associated Press story about the
Schiavo case. The story explained
the roots of the legal tradition
of identifying a spouse, rather
than other family members, as a
person's next of kin. "The courts
didn't ask Michael Schiavo 'What
do you want to do with Terri?"'
she said. "They asked him, 'What
do you think Terri would want
you to do?"' The story appeared
in more than 50 newspapers,
including The Chicago Sun- Times,
The Boston Globe, The New York
Post and the British newspaper
The Guardian. It also appeared
on the Web sites of a number of
news organizations, including
CNN and ABC News.
Assistant Professor Christo-
pher Peterson was quoted in a
March 30 Kansas City Star story
about payday lenders and the
military. Peterson co-authored a
20-state survey of payday lender
locations and concluded that
lenders are targeting military
families for high-cost loans.

two university presidents, two
law school deans and one U.S.
district court judge.
"The UF College of Law has
served Florida and the na-
tion for almost a century and
has a rich legacy of educating
men and women who demon-
strate a lifelong dedication to
education, civic, charitable and
cultural causes," Dean Jerry said.
"Throughout their careers, they
brought distinction to their fami-
lies and our law school, and they
set the standard for all of us."

PEOPLE

Gordon

Davis

Little

Noah

Peterson

8 FLA LAW

CONTINUED FROM SEIGEL, PAGE 7
in common," Seigel said. "They
say you should write about what
you know, so I write what I
know. There are bits of me, and
of other people I know from all
aspects of my life along with
a large dose of imagination in
all these characters."
Seigel racked up dozens of rejec-
tions before finding a home for his
manuscript a common experi-
ence for first-time novelists. He
says the experience gave him new-
found respect for people who make
a career out of writing fiction.
"Publishing fiction is unbe-
lievably difficult," he said. "Just
writing a book is hard enough.
My hat is off to anyone who can
do this not just once, but mul-

CONTINUED FROM ADKINS, PAGE 7
town that won him the Bronze
Star.
The younger Adkins says
writing the book helped him
unravel a few mysteries about
his father's personality.
"When I was growing up, I
didn't understand why he didn't
like to go camping," he said.
"Now I get it. Basically, he spent
nine months of the war living out
in the open, exposed to the ele-
ments. At one point, he went 39
days without a bath. By the end
of the war, I imagine he'd had
enough of the outdoors."
The book also captures the
darker moments of the war
- things that the father never
told his son.
"He never talked about the
bad stuff, but the diary is full
of the bad stuff- things like
what a body looks like after
it's been dead a few days,"
Adkins said.
The project also gave Adkins,
a Navy veteran, a crash course
in Army jargon, tactics, and
equipment from the Second

tiple times."
Improbable
Events is on
sale locally at
Wilbert's and
at Goering's
bookstores,
where
Seigel held Seigel
a reading
and book-signing last week. The
author admits he'd like to see the
book become a bestseller but
he isn't keeping a close count of
the number of copies sold.
"I'm not losing any sleep over
sales," he said. "If it becomes a
bestseller, great. If nobody buys
it, fine: I've already got a job
that I love."

World War.
"I spent a
lot of time
researching
references in
the diaries
to things
that were
unfamiliar to Adkins
me," he said.
"For instance, there's a passage
where my dad refers to driving
with 'cat lights' headlights
that are dimmed so the driver
of a vehicle won't be spotted by
the enemy. It was a bit of army
jargon that I'd never heard."
Adkins isn't the first baby-
boomer to pen an homage to his
father's war record and World
War II histories of this sort
have proven to be good sellers
in recent years. But even if his
book doesn't hit the bestseller
list, Adkins says he's glad he was
able to share his father's diary
with the world.
"This is really my father's
book," he said. "All I did was
organize the material and flesh it
out. It was a labor of love."

Pro Bono Awards
Staff at the Center for Career Services would like to congratulate
the more than 80 students being honored this year for pro bono and
community service work. Students contributed more than 8,500 hours
of their time to the underserved, the underrepresented, and those with
limited resources in our community.
Student projects this year included ex-felon rights restoration, election
protection and language translation for clients in dependency court.
Those unable to attend this week's Volunteer Gala can pick up their
certificates of recognition at the Center for Career Services. Anyone
interested in participating in UF's Pro Bono or Community Service proj-
ects should make an appointment with Career Services Director Jessie
Howell Wallace, or e-mail her at howellje@law.ufl.edu.
Students being recognized this year include:

Nadia Ahmad
Cathy Ambersley
Kristen Anderson
Christina Anton
Dana Arak
Angeline Attila
Kristi Aussner
Bethanie Barber
Brad Barrios
Sandra Biszantz
Edward Blaisdell
Abby Bourgeois
Andrew Brajcich
John Brock
Suzanne Brown
Steven Burres
Sara Calltharp
Jessica Casciola
Paola Chavarro
Christi Daisey
Jaminette DeJesus
Sara Denny
David Duncan
Kenneth Farmer
Matthew Gale
Sergiu Gherman
Najah Gibson
Daniel Glassman
Jeffrey Glassman
Brandy Grant
Steve Hadjilogiou
Natalie Hanan
Ariadna Hernandez
Elizabeth Baird Illsley
Andy Ingram
Carlean Jones
David Kay
Elizabeth Kenney

Carolyn Kershner
John Kim
Harris Kirsch
Angelique Knox
Andrew Koo
Kate Leber
William Lizarraga
Kimberly Low
Elisa Lucchi
Timothy Markey
Timothy McCourt
Thomas McLaughlin
Natalia Medina
Christine Menendez
Luke Napodano
Barbara Suarez Nolan
Allison Nuth
Jacqueline O'Reilly
Darshna Patel
Nate Quirk
Jose Quintero
Megan Saillant
Jonathan Schwartz
Amy Sell
Shannon Seltner
Yekaterina (Kate) Shonina
Corinne Stashuk
Sarah Stoddard
Brianne Strohsahl
Radha Thakkar
Katrina Thomas
Brikena Tomasic
Jeffrey Troiano
Leslie Utiger
Paul Vicary
Valerie Watson
Erica K. Williams
Melinda Wimbish

FLA LAW 9

College of Law
Administration
* Robert H. Jerry, II, Dean
* George L. Dawson,
Associate Dean for
Academic Affairs
* Stuart R. Cohn,
Associate Dean for
International Studies
* Thomas F. Cotter,
Associate Dean for
Faculty Development
* Michael K. Friel,
Associate Dean 8
Director, Graduate
Tax Program
* M. Kathleen "Kathie"
Price, Associate Dean
for Library and
Technology
* Gail E. Sasnett,
Associate Dean
for Students,
Professionalism and
Community Relations
* J. Patrick Shannon,
Associate Dean for
Administrative Affairs
* Linda Calvert Hanson,
Assistant Dean for
Career Services
* Richard L. Ludwick,
Assistant Dean for
Students
* J. Michael Patrick,
Assistant Dean for
Admissions
* Donald J. Hale,
Senior Director of
Development and
Alumni Affairs
* Debra D. Amirin,
Director of
Communications

* Tim Lockette,
Editor, FlaLaw

Send Us Your News
FlaLaw is published each
week school is in session
by the Levin College of Law
Communications Office.
Submit news of interest to
the law school community
by 10 a.m. Tuesday for the
following Monday's issue to
FlaLaw editor Tim Lockette
at Lockette@law.ufl.edu or
392-9586.

.. UNIVERSITY OF
SFLORIDA

10 FLA LAW

Students Help Restore Rights of Former Felons

By WHITNEY UNTIEDT (3L)
Students from the Levin
College of Law have teamed up
with the Alachua County Mar-
tin Luther King Commission
to form North Central Florida's
first and only civil rights resto-
ration project.
The project is dedicated to
reinstating the civil rights of
former felons who have fully
paid their debt to society, in-
cluding jail or prison sentences,
probation, parole and victim
restitution. By focusing on
citizen empowerment, the
project encourages community
members to take initiative and
do the legwork to reinstate their
own rights.
Florida is one of seven states
that require former felons to
complete a complicated applica-
tion process to restore their civil
rights. Until they have complet-
ed the application process, these
citizens cannot vote, serve on
juries, hold public office, or re-
ceive state occupational licenses.
Former felons must complete
a paper application, and many

applicants are
required to
submit backup
documentation
and to travel to
Tallahassee to
testify in a hear-
ing. The gover-
nor's appointed
Clemency Board
has absolute
power to grant
or withhold an

UF Law students completed training last month to
lead Gainesville's rights restoration project.

applicant's civil
rights.
On March 14,
Courtenay Strickland and Elton
Edwards, both of the American
Civil Liberties Union Foun-
dation's Voting Rights Project,
conducted a training session
for UF law students leading
the local project, including 2Ls
Kara Coggins, Shanon Seither
and Natalia Medina, and 3Ls
Virginia Hamner, Jenna Partin,
and Whitney Untiedt.
Along with supervising
attorneys Meshon Rawls and
Caroline Kravath, the students
will lead several community

workshops to help former felons
navigate the application process.
Workshop volunteers con-
duct initial intake interviews to
identify community members
who are eligible for civil rights
restoration, help applicants
complete the required paper-
work, and follow up with ap-
plicants throughout the rights
restoration process. Students
interested in volunteering to
participate in this pro bono
project should contact Whitney
Untiedt at wuntiedt@gmail.
com to learn more information.

- CALENDAR

April 6 Career Services: Job Fair 7 Career
Orientation, noon, 285D and C
4 Career Services: One Lh

Quick Question, 10:30
a.m.-12:30 p.m., courtyard

Career Services: Walk-In
Resume Review, 1-3 p.m.,
BG 244

Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes:
Diversity and Discrimi-
nation in Education, 2-4
p.m., faculty dining room

6 Career Services: Real
Property, Probate and
Trusts, 11 a.m., faculty
dining room

JLSA Lunch and Learn,
noon, Bailey Courtroom

Career Services: Judicial
Process Lecture Series,
6 p.m., faculty dining room

Career Services: Walk-
In Resume Review,
9-11 a.m., BG 244

LawLawPalooza, 6:30
p.m., Purple Porpoise

7 JLSA Lunch and Learn,
noon, Hillel

Services: Resume
over Letter Work-
1 ) Q IoT

1 1 d.llla.m., aO./l

OCI Orientation,
5:15 p.m., 345

Volunteer Awards Gala,
6:30 p.m., Reitz Union

8 Career Service: Walk-
In Resume Review,
10 a.m.-noon, BG 244

9 Career Services: Man-
datory Non-Judicial
Externship Workshop,
9 a.m., 355C

I

	Alumni inducted into Heritage of...
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