Dear Alumni and Friends:
 
I hope your New Year is off to a great start. The Law Alumni Association just hosted our first alumni gathering in 2022, the Miami Dade Judicial Reception. We showered gratitude on our honorees, the deserving Chief Judges: Hon. Cecilia M. Altonaga, Hon. Ivan F. Fernandez, JD ’92, Hon. Nushin G. Sayfie and Hon. Laurel M. Isicoff, JD ’82.  Their extraordinary leadership protecting access to each of our local courts is incredibly appreciated, as are each of them personally.  We look forward to a successful and healthy year of gatherings and involvement with each of you, our alumni.
 
The U’s training of community leaders has perhaps never been more apparent than it is this year. Deborah Enix-Ross, JD ’81 will be sworn-in as American Bar Association President in August. Gary S. Lesser, JD ’92, will serve as Florida Bar President come June. Save the date as we plan to host an alumni gathering and honor Gary during the 2022 Annual Florida Bar Convention (June 22-25 in Orlando, FL). Miriam Soler Ramos, JD ’02, was just installed as President of the Cuban American Bar Association, Sabrina Puglisi, JD ’00, leads the Miami Dade County Bar, Deborah Gander, JD ’94, just finished a term as president of ABOTA, and Rochelle Wimbush, JD ’09, is President-Elect of the Miami-Dade Trial Lawyers. These outstanding alumni are representing our school and serving our community in wonderful ways.
 
As an alumni voice on the Dean's Search Committee, I want to update you on the search for a new leader of our beloved School of Law. The search committee is conducting a nationwide search for our next experienced Dean, and I am highly optimistic for the future of our law school leadership. I encourage you to join in my enthusiasm as we move forward with the search.
 
Spring semester began in mid-January. This 2021-22 exceptional entering class of 393 had a median 160 LSAT score and 3.63 UGPA.  Of those admitted, 57% are women and 43% are men.  We have 46% minority representation and 61% of the class speak one or more foreign languages. Demographically, this class represents 33 different states and 10 countries. The admissions team has put together a fascincating website that takes a deeper dive into these future ‘Canes.   As bold, innovative leaders, today’s students will become tomorrow’s lawyers and a force for positive change. I want to urge your support of student scholarships, it is one of the greatest ways to make an impact at your alma mater.  Consider joining the  Heritage Society by leaving the School of Law in your estate plans. The school’s future is Ever Brighter thanks to your support.
 
If I or the Law Alumni Association can assist you in any way, please contact me at julie@colson.com.  Meanwhile, I hope to see you at a future Law Alumni Association event, either in person or by Zoom. 

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!

Double 'Cane and Law Alumni Association Board Member Miriam Soler Ramos Ramos, BS '99, JD '02, is the newest president of the Cuban American Bar Association.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Jennifer Prevatte Jordan BA ’06, JD ’12. Health Care Law Externship Leads to Successful Legal Career in the Field.

Miami Law is establishing an endowed scholarship in memory of Nicole “Nicky” Langesfeld, J.D. ’19, thanks to a generous $100,000 donation from her law firm, Reed Smith LLP. Langesfeld and her husband Luis Sadovnic lost their lives in the June 24, 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside.

Larry J. Hoffman, JD '54, and Deborah Hoffman, BA '55, JD '83 are underwriting Miami Law's Hoffman Forum, a conversation series committed to the civil exchange of ideas for the benefit of our university, our community, and the wider world. The  Hoffman Forum will present collaborative and interdisciplinary programs related to issues at the intersection of law, public policy, the arts and social justice.  To date, two virtual Forums emanating from UM Law have been held, the last forum was January 22, 2022. 
 

Miami Law alumni Vaishali Desai, JD '12, LLM '15, Jamie Lincenberg. JD '16. Olivia Issertell, JD '20, and Brian Vaca, JD /LLM '16 joined Miami Law's January Law Day for Admitted Students. 

1999 – Dennis O. Lynch served as dean of Miami Law from 1999 until 2008 after serving as a member of Miami Law’s faculty from 1974-1990 and as dean at the University of Denver College of Law in 1990. Under Dean Lynch's leadership, the law school launched Momentum & Momentum II: collectively, they raised raised over $49.5 million to help recruit top students, faculty, and expand instructional resources for the law school. During his deanship, the School of Law’s endowment increased approximately $30 million--a 150% increase in the law school's total endowment. Dean Lynch oversaw a law school curriculum reform, which improved the overall bar pass rate for Miami Law students. During his last year as Dean, Miami Law achieved the highest bar pass rate in the state for the Florida Bar Exam. Furthermore, he expanded the clinical program by adding the Health Rights and Bankruptcy Clinics and adding long-term, renewable contracts for clinical professors. Dean Lynch furthered Miami Law’s position as a leading institution for international students and for the study of international law by working with faculty to establish the International Arbitration Institute, which ultimately led to the founding of the White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. Program. Under his leadership, Miami Law was consistently ranked in the Top 10 Law Schools for Diversity by Hispanic Business Magazine, and the diversity of the faculty was increased as well. Additionally, Dean Lynch was deeply committed to the greater University of Miami community, serving as Chair of the University's search committee for a new Provost.
 
Dean Lynch is academically and professionally accomplished. His areas of scholarship and publications focus on the legal profession in Latin America, labor arbitration, and civil procedure. After receiving his B.A. from the University of Oregon, he accepted a Fulbright Scholarship, where he worked on regional economic development in Venezuela. After that, he attended Harvard Law School, where he received his J.D. As a 3L at Harvard, he received a Ford Foundation Grant to improve local access to the Boston city government. Upon graduation from law school, Dean Lynch accepted a position with the Ford Foundation in Bogota, Colombia, to support legal education reforms there. He then went on to Yale Law School, where he served as a Fellow in Law and Modernization under an AID grant. At Yale, he completed an LL.M. and a J.S.D. His doctoral dissertation focused on the Colombian Legal Profession, for which he conducted extensive research in the country. Ultimately, this research led to the publication of a book.
 
Toward the end of his studies at Yale, Soia Mentschikoff convinced Dean Lynch to begin his career in academia at Miami Law, where he taught civil procedure, employment law, and labor law. He spent 16 years teaching at the law school, during which he accepted positions consulting for the U.S. State Department and a number of other public and private entities such as the Walt Disney Company. After his teaching career at Miami Law, he served as Dean at the University of Denver College of Law, before he was called back to Miami to serve as our law school’s dean in 1999.
 
2008 – Dean Paul Verkuil was recruited by President Donna Shalala to serve as  the acting dean of Miami Law from 2008-2009 until a permanent Dean was appointed. Prior to his appointment, he served as Dean of Cardozo Law School, president of the College of William and Mary, Dean of Tulane Law School, President and CEO of the American Automobile Association, and Special Master in Ellis Island case, New Jersey v. New York. After his time at the University of Miami, Dean Verkuil was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the head of the Administrative Conference of the United States. 

Enjoy the memories shared in these videos by Miami Law Alumni who attended during these years:
Claudine Chen-Young, JD '03
Christopher Lomax, JD '08
Mindy Reinstein Brodsky, JD '08

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