FLORIDA STATE LAW Inside Stoops: Going Global Annual Report Alumni Recognitions ALUMNI MAGAZINE FALL 2014 Message from the Dean Remembering Dan Markel and Moving Forward with Our Students Dan Markel This issue tells some of the story For many of us, our first few moves of our former colleague, Professor forward following Dan’s death were Dan Markel. Students, staff, faculty colleagues from near and far, and difficult. His empty office symbolized of course Dan’s family, gathered in the empty place in our school and in Tallahassee in September to express our hearts. What made moving forward appreciation for how much Dan’s work and life meant to all of us. It possible was a return to the privileged became clear to everyone that Dan work we at the law school have before us was a truly remarkable lawyer, scholar, teacher, colleague and person. every day: helping our students. For many of us, our first few moves forward following Dan’s death were difficult. His empty office symbolized the empty place in our school and in our hearts. What made moving Business Law Clinic Now Up-and-Running forward possible was a return to the privileged work we at This semester, we launched our new Business Law Clinic. It the law school have before us every day: helping our students. is headed by Professor Richard Benham (’05), former software entrepreneur and counsel to other entrepreneurs. Students The New Entering Class enrolled in this clinic are earning academic credit as they This fall’s new entering class brought with it a tide of new help Richard provide advice to business startups all across energy and enthusiasm that buoyed us all. There are several the Florida State campus. In particular, the clinic is bringing remarkable aspects to this new crop of 1Ls. First, there are us into closer working relationships with entrepreneurs in the more of them than last year. Although law school applications business school. continued to decline last year, both nationally and at Florida State, we increased our entering 1Ls by approximately 10%, Additional Recognition of Our Faculty from last year’s 170 to this year’s 188. Second, despite the As I finalize this column, our faculty has just been rated increase in size, we managed to maintain last year’s strong the nation’s 35th Top Law Faculty. The rating resulted from academic credentials, including a median LSAT score of 159. a survey of the readers of Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports, Third, and perhaps most importantly, this class was more the influential blog on legal education hosted by University “diverse” than ever. An impressive 31 percent of our new 1L of Chicago Law School Professor Brian Leiter. As with this class was either Hispanic/Latino, African American or Asian spring’s rating by U.S. News & World Report, we are again rated American. above all other Florida law schools. I know you all join me in The great strength of our 1L class is the result of an “all congratulating our superbly talented and productive faculty. hands on deck” effort, including a great admissions team, a Thank you again for all your support! We’ll do our best to wonderful Alumni Board Committee helping with recruit- continue to make you proud. ment, alumni who contributed scholarships, as well as alumni joining with faculty and staff to add the personal touch to the recruitment effort. The increase in new 1Ls was more than offset by a decrease in transfer students. Last year, counting spring, summer and fall, we enrolled 94 transfer students. This year, we enrolled Don Weidner only 36 transfer students. 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 Jeff Stoops: Going Global ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS Nancy L. Benavides Alumni Focus ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR PLACEMENT 6 Cecelia Bonifay: Rosanna Catalano ASSISTANT DEAN FOR From Planning to Practice STUDENT AFFAIRS Janeia Daniels Ingram 8 Marla Butler: Focused on Firm and Family ASSISTANT DEAN FOR ADMINISTRATION 01 Judge Karen (Kinkennon) Specie: Catherine J. Miller DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Honored to Sit on the Federal Bench Jeanne B. Curtin DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS Faculty Focus & ANNUAL FUND Becky B. Shepherd 21 Remembering Dan Markel DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Student Focus Christi N. Morgan PHOTOGRAPHY 61 Q&A with 2L Chancey Smith Bill Lax Long’s Photography WRITERS Christi N. Morgan Rachael Seitz DEPARTMENTS GRAPHIC DESIGN 18 Noteworthy Perry Albrigo, Pomegranate Studio Alumni Profiles, Philanthropy, Events 24 Class Action Please send editorial Alumni Notes contributions, including Class Action submissions and 38 For the Record changes of name and address Faculty News and Notes to Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, College of 48 Around the Law School Law, Florida State University, College of Law News Tallahassee, FL 32306-1601, e-mail: [email protected]. FALL 2014 1 Cover Story 2 FLORIDA STATE LAW Cover Story Jeff Stoops (’84): Going Global By Christi N. Morgan ince taking the helm as President relationship and partnership. I helped a tower or by adding towers. and Chief Executive Officer of him figure out that what he was being “As we continued to grow in the SSBA Communications Corpora- offered wasn’t a very good deal.” United States, we saw a point in time tion more than a decade ago, Jeff Stoops One of Stoops’ first priorities during where we would likely run out of has steered the Boca Raton-based com- the early stages of his relationship with enough opportunities to grow our tower pany to new heights. When Stoops left SBA was helping the company raise $30 portfolio exclusively in the U.S. to the his partnership and varied corporate million for its initial private placement. magnitude we wanted,” said Stoops. law practice at Gunster to join SBA, “I was brought in to begin our transi- “We decided that we would expand our the company owned no cell towers but tion to tower ownership,” said Stoops. horizons and take the business outside was looking to get into the business. Now, SBA owns and operates more “My most important jobs today are setting strategy: than 22,000 cell phone towers across deciding whether we are going to go into a new country, the United States and in Canada, Cen- deciding whether we are going to go into a related line tral America and South America, with mroe than 1,500 employees. In addition of business, deciding how much capital we allocate to to growing the company’s footprint, our various business lines, helping my team do their jobs Stoops also has increased its worth. and also ensuring as best as I can that we have the best SBA currently is the sixth most valuable people in the best positions.” public company in Florida, with a value exceeding $22 billion. “We’re the most valuable public “Before I joined the company, the the United States. Operationally, the company in Florida that no one has company didn’t own any towers. I was business of cell phone towers is pretty ever heard of,” joked Stoops, a 1984 brought in to transition the company to much the same around the world. We law graduate. the company that it is today – primarily started in Canada in 2009 and then we Stoops’ relationship with SBA began an asset-based company. When I joined went into Central America in 2010. At by chance. SBA founder Steve Bernstein we were exclusively a services company. the end of 2012, we went into Brazil, hired Gunster to help him evaluate a There was no tower ownership industry, which is already far and away our largest possible merger. “I got the phone call – so I’ve had the fun and excitement to international market and one that we and there were a number of corporate be at the start of and help shape an expect will be a big source of growth partners at SBA, so it could have gone to industry.” for years to come.” any one of us. It happened to come to me As a cell tower owner and operator, As SBA and Stoops have evolved and I met Steve Bernstein. We began SBA can increase shareholder value two together, Stoops’ primary responsibility what has turned out to be a wonderful ways – by adding cell service tenants to has become determining the company’s FALL 2014 3 Cover Story “Stoops” continued from page 3 (L-R) Tim, Lauren, Andrew, Aggie, Dan and Jeff Stoops in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. strategic direction. provided him with skills essential for to address those areas due to my legal “My most important jobs today are his current role. “We’re heavily into background.” setting strategy: deciding whether we finance and capital markets activities, Since Stoops became CEO in 2002, are going to go into a new country, de- so all my years as a corporate securities SBA’s stock has increased from about ciding whether we are going to go into lawyer help me tremendously with new $13.50 per share to more than $112 per a related line of business, deciding how financings and in talking with investors. share. “As a public company CEO my much capital we allocate to our various In addition, the tower business is very job involves so many different things, business lines, helping my team do their much a real estate business; it’s heavily but at the end of the day the one thing jobs and also ensuring as best as I can contractual, with mortgages, zoning, that matters most is stock price per- that we have the best people in the best ground leases, etc.