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FLORIDA STATE LAW Inside Dean Don Weidner Annual Report Alumni Recognitions ALUMNI MAGAZINE FALL 2015 Message from the Dean What a Fall World Series! If you build it, they will come. Now our Mock Trial students have taken That was the idea behind our new the game to a whole new level! They have Advocacy Center. It was wonder- ful inheriting and refurbishing just pulled off the Mock Trial equivalent of the historic First District Court of two grand-slam home runs! Appeal courtroom. That impressive appellate courtroom seemed to be the very least we could do for our in the final round of competition. Other schools competing own historic Moot Court program, included Fordham, The University of Alabama, UGA and which has been award-winning for Richmond. And, our winning competitors were all second- decades. Founded under the guidance of Bill VanDercreek and year students! Little more than a week later, a different Mock guided so ably for many years now by Nat Stern, the John W. Trial Team won first place in the National Criminal Trial & Ashley E. Frost Professor of Law, the Moot Court Team is Advocacy Competition sponsored by the California Attorneys a source of pride for every one of us. The special addition, our for Criminal Justice and University of California Hastings new “signature,” if you will, and the reason the building merits College of the Law. The competition was held October 15-18 the name “Advocacy Center,” was four trial court rooms we in San Francisco. Once again, the other competitors included built custom-made to our specifications. Each is equipped with some of the nation’s top law schools. In the final round, we beat a jury box and one is also equipped with a jury deliberation a team from host school University of California Hastings. room. These court rooms are of course useful for our Moot We beat a team from Northwestern in the round before that. Court Team, but they are uniquely useful for Mock Trial. Other top schools competing included University of Califor- With such a facility, how could people not come—come to nia – Berkeley, University of California – Davis, Fordham, see us as a law school especially committed to Trial Advocacy and Pepperdine. as well as Appellate Advocacy. This issue includes more details of our wonderful student Trial teams have started to come from around the nation advocates and their coaches. What the article doesn’t say is to compete in our Advocacy Center. This year, Ruth Stone, that our trial courses supporting our students are stronger the Wayne and Pat Hogan Professor of Trial Practice and the than ever, and now include offerings such as Depositions and longstanding Faculty Advisor to the Mock Trial Team, has Jury Selection. Finally, the article doesn’t mention that Joe for the fourth year in a row planned a competition that will Bodiford, new to Tallahassee and formerly a Stetson coach, draw Mock Trial competitors from law schools across the has joined Ruth Stone as Co-Faculty Advisor to the Mock country to our Advocacy Center to compete over a problem Trial Team. Congratulations to all, with a special thanks to the she designed. Our Mock Trial students will once again serve alumni whose generosity has enabled us to pay to send these as the proud hosts. wonderful students and their coaches to national competitions. Now our Mock Trial students have taken the game to a Last, and by no means least, this issue features stories on whole new level! They have just pulled off the Mock Trial some of our terrific alumni leaders as well as a snapshot of equivalent of two grand-slam home runs! In early October, some of the young lawyers from other nations who have come the Mock Trial Team won first place in the National Trial to Florida State for an LL.M. Advocacy Tournament sponsored by the University of Florida. What an honor it is to be a part of this law school—of this The competition, which was held October 9-11 in Gainesville, wonderful and loving community of students, faculty, staff involved a criminal trial. A total of 13 teams participated in and alumni! Thank you. the tournament, including a team from UCLA, which we beat Don Weidner Dean and Alumni Centennial Professor Table of Contents Contents DEAN AND ALUMNI CENTENNIAL PROFESSOR Features Donald J. Weidner ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR Cover Story ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Manuel A. Utset, Jr. 2 Dean Don Weidner: ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS Friend, Colleague, Innovator, Leader and Nancy L. Benavides Cheerleader-in-Chief ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR PLACEMENT Rosanna Catalano Alumni Focus ASSISTANT DEAN FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS 6 Kimberly Holladay Knows Business from Janeia Daniels Ingram ASSISTANT DEAN FOR the Inside-Out ADMINISTRATION Catherine J. Miller 8 Bruce Blackwell: Leading The Florida Bar ASSISTANT DEAN FOR DEVELOPMENT Foundation in a New Direction Jeanne B. Curtin DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS 10 NBA President Benjamin Crump: & ANNUAL FUND Becky B. Shepherd Seeking Justice Through the Profession DIRECTOR OF and His Practice COMMUNICATIONS AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Christi N. Morgan 12 YLD President Gordon Glover: PHOTOGRAPHY Merging the Law and Technology Bill Lax WRITERS Student Focus Christi N. Morgan Rachael Seitz 14 College of Law Welcomes GRAPHIC DESIGN Perry Albrigo, LL.M. Students From Around the World Pomegranate Studio Please send editorial contributions, including Class DEPARTMENTS Action submissions and changes of name and address 16 Noteworthy to Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, College of Alumni Profiles, Philanthropy, Events Law, Florida State University, 24 Class Action Tallahassee, FL 32306-1601, e-mail: [email protected]. Alumni Notes 36 For the Record Faculty News and Notes 46 Around the Law School College of Law News FALL 2015 1 Cover Story Dean Don Weidner: Friend, Colleague, Innovator, Leader and Cheerleader-in-Chief By Christi N. Morgan plishments have propelled Florida State to be ranked among the nation’s best law schools. “Don has led the College of Law to remarkable heights in every meaningful way: faculty scholarship and teaching, student body profile, placement of graduates, alumni involvement and con- tributions, and national standing,” said John W. & Ashley E. Frost Professor Nat S. Stern, who considered Wei- dner his mentor and close friend well before Weidner became dean. “Even the physical facilities have undergone dramatic improvement and expansion under Don. His unflagging dedication and superb leadership have enabled the law school to make those strides.” “Part of Don’s greatness as a leader is that he would never take credit for all of these successes,” said First District Weidner’s commitment to projecting a law school that the entire community can be proud of has translated into cutting-edge technology throughout the Court of Appeal Judge Stephanie W. campus and also a newly redesigned website (pictured in the background) that will help Ray (’95), who is an alum and who also attract new students for years to come. worked with Weidner at the law school for many years. “He’s masterful at as- sembling resources, sharpening ideas, hen Dean Don Weidner steps the Florida State University College of and inspiring others. But we all know down as dean in June 2016, Law into the top tier of American law where the credit lies.” Wit will be the end of a wildly schools. Under his leadership, the law school’s successful era. It is almost impossible to “I am, of course, pleased that we’ve annual giving rate has increased by ap- succinctly state everything that he has moved into the top tier,” said Weidner. proximately 500 percent – FSU has the accomplished since becoming dean in “And I was deliriously happy when nation’s 10th best alumni giving rate – 1991. Recognized in 2011 as one of the last year we, for the first time, beat and its endowment has grown to more most transformative law school deans University of Florida in the U.S. News than six times what is was. of the past decade, perhaps Weidner’s rankings.” “People who only know Don by most obvious accomplishment is leading Weidner’s countless other accom- reputation will think of him as a con- 2 FLORIDA STATE LAW Cover Story “Weidner” continued from page 2 summate fundraiser, and they’d be ported my research and given me every Business Law Clinic and courses on the right. But they would never guess that opportunity to pursue important proj- Dodd-Frank Act and Game Theory for he didn’t come to it naturally,” said alum ects and present my research to national Business Lawyers. We’re in a position Wayne Hogan (’72), president at Terrell audiences. More than many deans, he to be institutionally nimble with our Hogan and Summer for Undergradu- deeply values good teaching and ex- new 3+3 programs, expanded LL.M. ates Program benefactor. “He knew changes ideas with faculty about how programs and our new Juris Master partnership law like nobody else, but each of us can improve in the classroom. program. And we’ve been pushing the he didn’t know fundraising. He had to He celebrates faculty achievements and cutting-edge, but not the bleeding- train himself into it. He worked hard makes each of us feel that he is proud of edge, of technology by using various at it. And, before we knew it, he was what we have done. It is hard to imagine distance learning technologies, includ- transformed into our version of Bobby a dean making faculty feel more valued.” ing asynchronous technologies.” Bowden in the family kitchen.” “At one point we had a faculty that Weidner embraces technology and in Utilizing the funds he helped raise, recent years has sought to bring state-of- Weidner created a system of merit that the-art software and equipment into all brought top scholars to Florida State of the law school’s classrooms.

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