Dear Alumni and Friends:

I hope you were able to enjoy a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday and that 2022 will bring you each good health, safety, and prosperity!

Though Miami Law has seen much administrative change over the past six months, we are in good hands with our Interim Dean Nell J. Newton. Looking forward, I am honored to serve as a member of the Dean’s Search Committee along with tremendous faculty and our fellow alumnus UM Trustee, Wayne Chaplin, JD ’82. This is only the second time in the history of the school that alumni have served on a search committee for the Dean of the Law School. I will strive to represent you well and keep you informed as we begin our work, and I am very optimistic for the future of our law school.

Fall was an exciting season for Miami Law.  We hosted Keith Ellison at the inaugural Alan S. Becker & Gary A. Poliakoff Preeminent Leaders in Law Speaker Series. Giving Day raised $33,000.00 in support of our scholarship funds, largely thanks to our matching philanthropists: Ed Shohat, JD ’72, Sheldon Palley, JD ‘57 and Andrew Buzin, JD ‘03. Homecoming had new meaning, as many of us met face-to-face for the first time in two years since the beginning of the pandemic.  Tim Kolaya, JD ’02, and Tiffani Lee, JD ’97, did an outstanding job as Homecoming co-chairs, and the Reunion Committees’ enthusiasm and support gave their former classmates a wonderful weekend. The University launched the Ever Brighter Campaign at an event which shined through Homecoming’s storms. A very special thanks to the SOL’s Student Affairs, Career Development, Admissions and HOPE leadership for showcasing our school’s Ever Brighter future. 

There are many ways to make an impact at your Alma Matter: be a force for positive change!  On November 29th, we hosted a special event at the school - the dedication of the Gail D. Serota JD ’79 Reading Room. Family and friends came together to honor the life, memory, and legacy of one of our most outstanding graduates.

As I reflect on 2021, I am especially grateful for the leadership and support of our Law Alumni Association, faculty, and friends. You continue to inspire us all with mentorship of our students, leadership in the community and philanthropic support. I challenge you to think of the future of our profession and the importance of providing an excellent legal education to the next generation of lawyers. Supporting scholarships for our students is one of the LAA’s highest priorities. Please join us in making a gift to the scholarship of your choice today.  

Best wishes for the New Year!

Julie Braman Kane, BA '90, JD '93
President, Law Alumni Association

Partner, Colson Hicks Eidson
 

Remember to connect and keep up with the latest from your Law Alumni Association on the web, and on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. If you have any accomplishments you would like to share, Submit a Class Note and we will update the Class Notes page with your story!

Laurie S. Silvers, AB '74, JD '77, chair of the University of Miami Board of Trustees, and her husband, Mitchell Rubenstein, contribute $2.5 million gift to the School of Law. The gift provides a substantial boost to the University’s Ever Brighter: The Campaign for Our Next Century.

Kendra N. Davis Briggs, JD '02 was nominated by Joe Biden to be an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

On December 6, 2021 at the Miccosukee Chickeechobee Council Grounds, Members of the Iron Arrow Honor Society attended the Business Council Inauguration Ceremony for the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida. At the Inauguration, the new Business Council was formally sworn in including Chairman Talbert Cypress. Chairman Cypress and Iron Arrow have collaborated on a number of initiatives over the years including the well-publicized Memorandum of Understanding that the Miccosukee entered into with Iron Arrow in November 2018, reaffirming the 95-year relationship between the organizations. Pictured in the photo among others are Chairman Talbert Cypress, Vice Chairman Lucas K. Osceola, Secretary William J. Osceola, Treasurer Kenneth H. Cypress and Lawmaker Petties Osceola, Jr as well as Past Iron Arrow Chief, member of the School of Law’s Dean’s Advisory Council, Past President of the Law Alumni Association and Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig Jaret L. Davis, AB '96, JD ’99 and Iron Arrow Council of Elders Member Michelle A. Williams, BBA '88, JD ’01. 

Celebrating the life of Gail D. Serota, JD '79: on Monday, November 29, the Serota family, friends and colleagues joined Miami Law leaders in dedicating that spacious library area as The Gail D. Serota JD ’79 Reading Room.

1982 – Claude Sowle, Dean from 1982-1986, followed Dean Mentschikoff. Before coming to Miami, Dean Sowle was a professor at the Ohio State University College of Law, having also served as president of Ohio University and as dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He set up faculty committees and deeply involved faculty in strategic planning focusing on pedagogy and student relationships as well as scholarly productivity. He was instrumental in securing summer research grants for faculty, making a deeply positive impact on the commitment and overall productivity of faculty. Dean Sowle was an educator at heart and took a close look at the 1L curriculum, adding more core competency, large-block courses. In addition, Dean Sowle proved very effective at negotiating with central administration, leveraging the stature he enjoyed due to his history as a university president to maintain the autonomy of the school.

1985 – The Robert B. Cole Lecture was established in 1985 through the generosity of the former Miami law firm of Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody & Cole. The Cole Lecture provides a forum for faculty, students, practicing attorneys and the public to hear distinguished jurists and public figures discuss important legal and international matters. Examples of legal luminaries who have spoken as part of the Cole Lecture Series include U.S. Supreme Justices John Paul Stevens, Stephen G. Breyer, Harry A. Blackmun, and Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell, among others.            
                            
1986 – Dean Mary Doyle, who served as dean from 1986-1994, is remembered by some as a “history changing” dean. When Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992, Dean Doyle, working in conjunction with the Student Bar Association (SBA), checked in on and reassured every Miami Law student individually, resulting in an almost universal return to campus and the survival of the school. In the storm’s wake, Dean Doyle oversaw a period of dramatic construction and renovation, indelibly altering the face of the complex and ushering in the school’s new era. Dean Doyle’s new era was characterized by visits from high-profile jurists and legal scholars. Dean Doyle is often remembered for playing an instrumental role in attracting retired Supreme Court Justice William Brennan to the Law School to teach.

1988 – Professor Fajer joined the University of Miami School of Law faculty in 1988 and served as the faculty advisor to the Gay People’s Alliance, the predecessor to the law school’s current OUTLaw student organization (a community of Miami Law’s LGBTQ+ students and allies). Professor Fajer wrote an article in the law school’s student newspaper when he joined the faculty coming out openly as gay. He gave the article out to his students on the first day of classes to create a safe environment for students who identified as LGBTQ+. In the article, he states that, “I hope those of you who are not out will not be afraid to come and talk to me.” The Marc A. Fajer Scholarship Fund was created in 2019 at the University of Miami School of Law in recognition of Professor Fajer’s extraordinary service to the law school.

1994 – Samuel C. Thompson Jr. was the first African American dean of Miami Law, serving from 1994-1998. Dean Thompson is an accomplished lawyer and a decorated United States Marine Captain who served in the Vietnam War. As dean, he formed the incredibly lucrative Dean’s Circle Committee and enhanced the robust clinical programming offered by the school. He went on to create the Center for the Study of Mergers and Acquisitions and the Center for Ethics and Public Service.

1995 – LatCrit, a legal academy dedicated to developing an inter-disciplinary approach to law, social change, and policy towards Latinos, was founded principally by Miami Law faculty members, including Professors Elizabeth M. Iglesias and Francisco Valdes, among others. LatCrit aims to promote theory as a conduit of social change and invites stakeholders to participate in discussions through events and symposia on intersectional approaches and frameworks, both domestically and internationally.

1996-97 – Under Dean Thompson’s leadership the law school created its first two endowed chairs.  The first was established in honor of one of the law school’s legendary professors, Richard A. Hausler.  John Hart Ely, the renowned constitutional law scholar, joined the law school in 1996 as the first Richard A. Hausler Professor of Law.  The second endowed chair was named in honor of Professor M. Minnette Massey, a trailblazer at the University of Miami and one of the first women law professors. 

1998 – The Helping Others Through Pro Bono Efforts (HOPE) Public Interest Resource Center was founded. HOPE offers law students a myriad of opportunities to provide community outreach, legal advocacy, and public service to those most in need.

Ronnie Carter, JD '92
Susan N. Eisenberg, JD '86 & Steven Eisenberg, JD '84
Mark Raymond, JD '83
Jennifer Smith JD '92

January - Alumni Reception for Admitted Students
Friday, January 28, 2022, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Hilarie Bass Bricks, University of Miami School of Law
 
February - Alumni Reception for Admitted Students
Friday, February 25, 2022, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Hilarie Bass Bricks, University of Miami School of Law
 
March - Alumni Reception for Admitted Students
Friday, March 25, 2022, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Hilarie Bass Bricks, University of Miami School of Law

Register HERE!