NSU Law Alumni Newsletter - July 2020
Voluntary Bar Association Leadership
NSU Law alumni continue as leaders within the Broward County Bar Association (BCBA) Board of Directors and the Young Lawyers Section of the BCBA. The following alumni were inducted at the virtual BCBA annual installation event.
BCBA Executive Committee
Jamie Finizio Bascombe (J.D. 1993) President Elect
Alison F. Smith (J.D. 2003) Treasurer
Michael A. Fischler (J.D. 1978) Immediate Past President
BCBA Young Lawyers Section
Omar A. Giraldo (J.D. 2011) President
Kimberly L. Wald (J.D. 2014) Treasurer
Board of Directors
Catalina M. Avalos (J.D. 1996)
Sara Sandler Cromer (J.D. 2008)
Joseph M Goldstein (J.D. 1989)
Diana I Castrillon (J.D. 2001)
Marc A. Marra (J.D. 2011)
Louis Reinstein (J.D. 2006)
Board of Directors
Amanda L. Decker (J.D. 2018)
David P. Newman (J.D. 2012)
Kyle Roberts (J.D. 2015)
H. Seth Rosenthal (J.D. 2014)
Vanessa Seblano (J.D. 2014)
Kerry Valdez (J.D. 2016)
NSU Law leadership continues within the following prominent volunteer bar organizations in our community. Thank you to our alumni that participate, volunteer and contribute to better the legal community at large.
GSCBWLA Leadership Board
Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association
We are proud of the following alumnae:

Sheena Benjamin-Wise (J.D. 2001) – President
April Martindale (J.D. 2015) – Historian
Ashley Gantt (J.D. 2016) – Board Member
BCWLA Board of Directors
Broward County Women Lawyers' Association We are proud of the following alumnae:

Vivian Fazio (J.D. 1996) – President Elect 
Cheryl Bucker (J.D. 1997) – Secretary 

Judicial Liaison: 
Honorable Guiseppina Miranda (J.D. 1999) 

Board of Directors: 
Elisabeth Rodriguez (J.D. 2014) 
Edwina Kessler (J.D. 1994) 

Advisory Board: 
Jamie Finizio Bascombe (J.D. 1993) 
Julie Hough (J.D. 2004) 
Honorable Stacy Ross (J.D. 1997) 
BCHBA Board of Directors
Broward County Hispanic Bar Association
We are proud of the following alumni:

Kristen Palacio (J.D. 2014) – President-Elect 
Jessica D. Marra (J.D. 2011) – Correspondence Secretary 
Yineth S. Aslan (J.D. 2016) – Recording Secretary 
Nazarena R. Hauser (J.D. 2011) – Historian  
Marc Marra (J.D. 2011) - Director 
Nicole Avila (J.D. 2014) - Director  
Elisabeth Rodriguez (J.D. 2014) - Director 
TJ Reddick Bar Association Board of Directors
We are proud of the following alumni:

Ashley Gantt (J.D. 2016) - President 
Kandia Batchelor (J.D. 2012) – Board Member 
Christina Cassie Kuzmich (J.D. 2014) – Board Member 
The Honorable Kal Evans (J.D. 2003) – Judicial Liaison 
NSU Law Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
NSU Law is proud to announce that 289 NSU Law alumni are listed as 2020 Florida Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars in the Florida 2020 Super Lawyers® Magazine. 

TOP 50 WOMEN SUPER LAWYERS (also included in the 2020 Super Lawyers list): 
Samantha J. Fitzgerald, Law Offices of Samantha J. Fitzgerald, Plantation (J.D. 1999)  
Juliette E. Lippman, Birnbaum Lippman & Gregoire, Fort Lauderdale (J.D. 1993) 

TOP 100 SUPER LAWYERS (also included in the 2020 Super Lawyers list): 
Joseph N. Nusbaum, Brotman Nusbaum Ibrahim, Boca Raton (J.D. 1997)  
Andrew Winston, Winston Law Firm, Davie (J.D. 1994) 

142 NSU Law alumni are listed in the 2020 Florida Super Lawyers® magazine:

147 NSU alumni are featured in the 2020 Florida Super Lawyers® Rising Stars magazine:

With over 2000 names to research we did not intentionally miss listing a name. However, if we did, please contact us at lawalumni@nova.edu and we WILL update out listing online right away.
On-Campus Interview Program open
Employers can pre-select students and alumni for the virtual interview program August 24 - November 2, 2020

NSU Law invites students and employers to participate in our Fall 2020 On-Campus Interview Program (OCI), held between August 24 and November 2, 2020. The program allows employers preselect and interview only the students they select after reviewing application materials. FULL DETAILS

Please contact the Office of Career Services and Professional Development if you have questions. https://www.law.nova.edu/career/index.html

We always welcome employers to place job postings in our employment database, Symplicity, where students and alumni review positions and have access to helpful career resources.
Welcome New Adjunct Faculty
Briffa Law
Law Office of Zachary L. Catanzaro, P.A.
Cespedes Roig LLC
ACLU of Florida
Kelley Kronenberg
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Faculty News
Professor Timothy Arcaro 
Elected as the Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Florida Legal Services Corporation for the 2020-2021 term.
Professor Brion Blackwelder 
Published, Building a National Ocean Policy Confronts Deconstruction of the Administrative State , 33 TUL. ENVTL. L.J. 93 (2020).
Professor Randolph Braccialarghe
As one of Florida’s two Commissioners, Professor Braccialarghe attended the 2020 Annual Meeting of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws, also known as the Uniform Law Commission, from July 10 – July 15, 2020. The ULC 2020 annual meeting had been scheduled to be held in Madison, Wisconsin, but because of the coronavirus, this year’s meeting was held online, enabled by Zoom. Except for 1945, the ULC annual meeting has been held every year since 1892. The ULC intends to return to the practice of holding its annual meetings in person in 2021 (New York City) and 2022 (Philadelphia).
Professor Camilla Lamar Campbell 
Published, Getting at the Root Instead of the Branch: Extinguishing the Stereotype of Black Intellectual Inferiority in American Education, a Long-Ignored Transitional Justice Project , L. & INEQ., Summer 2020, at 1. LINK
Professor Kathy Cerminara
Published with L. Syd Johnson, All Things Considered: Surrogate Decision-Making on Behalf of Patients in the Minimally Conscious State , CLINICAL ETHICS (2020). LINK
Professor Jane Cross
Discussed legal educators role can take in confronting racism during the July 10, 2020 NSU Law Virtual Town Hall on The Role of the Lawyer in Eradicating Racism: Rights, Responsibilities and Resilience .

Panelist with Professors Heather Baxter, Camille Lamar Campbell and Kate Webber-Nuñez on Charting New Territories: Giving Effective Feedback in an Online Environment during the William & Mary Virtual Conference for Excellence in Teaching Legal Research & Writing Online held on June 18 and 19, 2020.

Co-organized and co-facilitated with Professor Kenneth Lewis, Jr. and Caribbean Law Student Association President, Claude Crevecoeur, the discussion panel Intersection of the Caribbean Diaspora and the Black Lives Matter Movement . This panel was part of the NSU Student Care Team’s series on Navigating Today’s America: Race, Racial Trauma, and Well-Being. Recording LINK

Published, with Professor Robert M. Jarvis, Casino Gambling in the Caribbean , 24 GAMING L. REV. 337 (2020).  LINK

Authored a chapter on The Vestiges of Colonial Constitutionalism to be published in September 2020 in the OXFORD HANDBOOK OF CARIBBEAN CONSTITUTIONS. LINK

Selected to serve on the Governing Board of the Sirico Scholars’ Workshop.
Professor Michael Dale
Program director for two National Institute for Trial Advocacy online three-day trial skills training programs through Zoom for FEMA lawyers from around the country at the end of July and in mid-August. Among the issues to be covered are preparing witnesses to testify, putting exhibits into evidence, impeaching witnesses with prior inconsistent statement(s), refreshing recollection, and of course, direct and cross examination.
Professor Michael Flynn
Published an op-ed Scams, Scams, Everywhere Scams and Covid-19 in the June 25, 2020 issue of the Sun Sentinel.
Professor Jessica Garcia-Brown
Appointed to The Florida Bar Law Related Education Committee for 2020-2021 to promote effective law related education programs in grades K-12 of Florida’s schools, with an emphasis on teaching young citizens respect for the legal system.

Accepted for publication, Aging in the 21st Century: Establishing a Uniform Protection of Elderly Persons in the United States Through an International and Comparative Law Analysis , CARDOZO INT’L & COMP. L. REV. (forthcoming).

Accepted for publication topic: How the pandemic affected the elderly living in nursing homes, the "why," and what could have been done to legally protect this population, ACTEC L.J (forthcoming).
Professor Jon M. Garon
SSRN has listed Professor Garon’s recent paper, Towards a Conceptual Framework of Entertainment Law for the Twenty-First Century as part of a Top Ten download list.

Accepted for publication, Towards a Conceptual Framework of Entertainment Law for the Twenty-First Century , 102 J. PAT. & TRADEMARK OFF. SOC'Y (2021) (forthcoming). LINK

Quoted in themedialine.com article, Israeli Contact Tracing App Raises Privacy Concerns in US . LINK

Published, A SHORT & HAPPY GUIDE TO PRIVACY AND CYBERSECURITY LAW (2020). LINK
Professor Robert Jarvis
Published:
Abram I. Elkus: The New York Yankees’ First Lawyer, 108 KY. L.J. 467 (2020). LINK

Judges and Gambling, 10 UNLV GAMING L.J. 1 (2020). LINK

Co-author with Professor Jane E. Cross, Casino Gambling in the Caribbean , 24 GAMING L. REV. 337 (2020). LINK

Quoted: 
Palm Beach Post (4/16) in a story about the Eleventh Circuit’s decision denying relief to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (4/23) in a story about a Palm Beach class action lawsuit that seeks damages from China for COVID-19.

Gambling Compliance (4/28) in a story about how COVID-19 is likely to affect Florida’s casinos.

Palm Beach Post (5/2) in a story about a federal lawsuit challenging Governor Ron DeSantis’s COVID-19 closures.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (5/5) in a story about Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony’s fitness for office.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (5/9) in a story about the upcoming Broward Sheriff’s election.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (5/10) in another story about Sheriff Tony’s fitness for office.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel (5/12) in another story about Sheriff Tony’s fitness for office.

South Florida Business Journal (5/20) in a story about the likely long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the legal profession.

Palm Beach Post (5/27) in a story about Governor DeSantis’s two new appointments to the Florida Supreme Court.

Miami New Times (6/12) in a story about police brutality.

TV Appearances
WPLG Channel 10 (ABC) 5:00 p.m. News (4/21) in a segment about this Fall’s race for Broward County Sheriff.
WTVJ Channel 6 (NBC) 6:00 p.m. News (5/11) in another segment about this Fall’s race for Broward County Sheriff.

Received the 2019 Excellence in Writing Award from The Florida Bar Journal for his article Flying Baseballs, Injured Fans, Uncertain Liability: Why Legislative Action Is Needed in the Sunshine State .
Assistant Dean of Academic Success and Professionalism and ASP Professor of Practice Susan Landrum
Accepted for publication, Best Practices and Practical Tips for Designing Accessible Hybrid and Online Law School Courses for Students with Disabilities , THE LEARNING CURVE (forthcoming Spring 2020).

Panelist on the Intersections Between Deliberate Online Pedagogy and Emergency Remote Learning , CALIcon 2020: Law School in the Time of Pandemic in June 2020.

Conference Panelist on the Lessons Learned from Pre-COVID Online Teaching , Virtual Academic Support Conference in May 2020.
The NSU Board of Trustees approved granting of Emeritus status to both Professor Michael Masinter and Professor Michael Richmond.

Congratulations!
Student News
Jordana Rostant-Nunes (3L) is the recipient of the 2020 Virgil Hawkins FL Chapter National Bar Association Scholarship. Jordana is the President of the Black Law Students Association and the Sports and Entertainment Law Society and employed full time as an intake paralegal for the Housing Rights Unity of the Legal Aid Service of Broward County.
2020 Rising 2L Feinrider Virtual Moot Court Competition

Thank you to the alumni, volunteer judges, faculty, and students who participated in the 2020 Rising 2L Feinrider Virtual Moot Court Competition. Forty-four students participated in the initial rounds, culminating in a final round held live on YouTube that was presided over by United States District Judge Raag Singhal, Anton Marino, Bethany Pandher, James Foster, and Jennifer Bautista. Over 150 people tuned in live to watch students Lucia Rodriguez and Kyle Forges show off their incredible advocacy skills, with Kyle Forges emerging as the Feinrider Champion. If you missed the final round, you can view it here: https://youtu.be/uwl5b1i51_M

The College of Law is grateful to Lena Abdin (Moot Court Chief Justice), Zoe Ondriezek (Moot Court Executive Justice of Competitions), and Professor Heather Baxter (Moot Court Faculty Advisor) for coordinating this groundbreaking event, as well as all the volunteer judges who gave their time to help select the new Moot Court members.   
Class Actions
On July 2, 2020, Governor Desantis made appointments and reappointments to Florida’s Judicial Nominating Commissions. Among them were the following NSU Law Alumni:  

1996 
Alexis Yarbrough is appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Committee. Yarbrough is the former general counsel of the Florida Department of Transportation and a former director at Tripp Scott. (reappointed for a term ending July 1, 2024) 

2016 
Eric Yesner is appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Committee. Yesner is a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Raag Singhal at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. (appointed for a term ending July 1, 2024) 

1993  
Kenneth Joyce is appointed to the Seventeenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Committee. Joyce is a partner with Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, LLP (reappointed for a term ending July 1, 2024) 

1986  
Bradley Rossway is appointed to the Nineteenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Committee. Rossway is managing member of Rossway, Swan, Tierney, Barry & Oliver Law Firm. (Rossway is reappointed from a list of nominees submitted by The Florida Bar for a term ending July 1, 2024)

 The July 2020 issue of Florida Legal Elite / Florida Trend magazine states that NSU Law is among the list of law schools with the most honoree graduates.
1980  
Rafael Suarez-Rivas was named chief legislative and policy advisor of the City of Miami. 

1985 
Paul D. Novack of Paul D. Novack, PA . in North Miami Beach was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Family Action Network Movement. 

1986 
Kenneth ‘Ken’ Cutler has been re-elected unopposed for Parkland Commissioner District 3. This will be Cutler's second 4-year term. Cutler has been practicing law at the state and federal level since 1986.

1989 
Robert Samartin has joined The Florida Law Group as a senior litigation attorney and the Litigation Group Team Leader. Samartin focuses his practice on death or traumatic injury cases as the result of the negligence of others.  

2000  
Genny Bernstein of Jones Foster has been named by the Florida Association for Women Lawyers Palm Beach County Chapter as co-chair of the Board Certification Committee. 

Erin L. Deady became a member of Attorney’s Title Fund Services.  

2002 
Lori B. Lewellen has joined the Fort Lauderdale office of La Cava Jacobson & Goodis as an associate. Lewellen focuses her practice primarily on medical malpractice, general liability and insurance defense. 

2004 
The Nova Law Black Alumni Association collected donations from Kenneth L. Lewis, Jr. (President and Class of 2004); Melva Harris Rozier (Vice President and Class of 2003); Latavia Evert (Board Member and Class of 2017); and Jasmine Jackson (Member and Class of 2018). Those donations will be given to BLSA and used to help a student member of BLSA, who, as a result of the ongoing pandemic, has experienced adverse financial effects.  

Sean F. Thompson of Liberman Cabrera Thompson & Reitman, PLLC (LCTR) has been recognized in Florida Trend’s 2020 Florida Legal Elite list. This selection was based on his work in Civil Trial law. Thompson, partner in his firm, focuses his practice on providing representation for medical malpractice and personal injury clients who endure negligence at the hands of a healthcare professional or provider. 

2006 
Jason B. Blank of Haber Blank in Ft. Lauderdale was installed as chair of the George Washington University Columbian College’s National Council of the Arts and Sciences. 

2007   
Chad Klosky is now a partner with Kelley Kronenberg in the firm’s Brickell office. Klosky concentrates his practice on First Party Property Insurance Defense. 

2008 
Caryn A. Stevens of Ward Damon has been appointed to the board of directors for the Jewish Women’s Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches. 

2009   
Christopher A. Aguirre joined Insurance Litigation Group in North Miami Beach as senior trial attorney. 

2010 
Brent M. Reitman of Liberman Cabrera Thompson & Reitman, PLLC (LCTR) is among 112 attorneys in the state who were selected for the Florida Trend’s Legal Elite Up & Comers list. This selection was based on his work in Civil Trial law. Reitman, partner in his firm, focuses his practice on providing representation for medical malpractice and personal injury clients who endure negligence at the hands of a healthcare professional or provider. Reitman has also recently been named Co-Chair of the Trial Lawyers Section of the Broward County Bar Association (BCBA). He has been actively involved with the BCBA for several years, previously serving as President and Executive Committee member of the Young Lawyer’s Section.

Mark Sawicki of the Law Office of Mark E. Sawicki, P.A. has been named on the National Advocates Top 40 Under 40 Directory for his work in matrimonial and family law. Sawicki has also been named to the Super Lawyers® Rising Stars list (see above).  

2011 
Ashley Vanslette has joined Kelley Kronenberg as an associate in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office. Vanslette manages the case intake unit to ensure compliance with state rules governing attorneys and client protocols governing representation. 

2012   
Kandia M. Batchelor has joined Kelley Kronenberg as an associate in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office. Batchelor assists in handling matters related to First Party Insurance Defense Litigation. 

2013 
Matthew D. Barry has been awarded the professional designation of board-certified specialist in elder law by the Florida Bar. Barry is an associate attorney at Lyons, Beaudry & Harrison, PA in Sarasota. He focuses his practice on guardianship law, wills, trusts and estates and public benefits, including Medicaid planning. Barry is a member of the Guardianship Committee of the Elder Law Section of the Florida Bar, the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar, the Sarasota County Bar Association, and the Thomas E. Penick Jr. American Inn of Court. 

2014  
Augusto Perera of Augusto Perera, P.A. , is a Board of Directors member of the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA). Perera focuses his practice on intellectual property including copyrights, trademarks, business law, and internet law. 

2015
Joshua Lida had his article What’s in a name: A Primer on What Governs Beer Labels published in the June 2020 edition of the Broward County Bar Association Barrister magazine. The article is found on page 11 of the issue. Lida is a partner at Lida Law and focuses his practice primarily on criminal defense and professional license defense.

2017 
Lizza Constantine has been named the 2020-2021 President Elect of the Palm Beach County Hispanic Bar Association . Constantine is an associate with Cole, Scott & Kissane in their Palm Beach office and focuses her practice in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property, Professional Malpractice, Banking and Finance, and Real Estate Litigation. Constantine is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Florida Bar, the American Bar Association and the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar Association. 

2018 
Nadine W. Mathieu has joined Kelley Kronenberg as an associate in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office.  

2019  
Kelli A. Evangelist has joined Hinshaw & Culbertson in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office as an associate. Evangelist represents employers while focusing on a wide range of labor and employment and workers' compensation matters.  

In Memoriam 
Mary Virginia Lougheed (JD 2001) of Duluth, Georgia passed away at her residence on July 28, 2015, surrounded by her family. She was only 47 years old. We were made aware of her passing when it appeared in a publication from the Florida Bar.  
Giving to NSU Law
At NSU Law, we are able to offer opportunities for students to realize their potential when our generous donors give to the law school in areas including our scholarship funds, programs, and law clinics. We are grateful to our alumni, staff, faculty, and friends whose support for our students helps us to prepare them for successful careers after graduation, or to support them on an emergency basis during this time of crisis. Please consider making a gift today.

To learn more about opportunities to support NSU Shepard Broad College of Law, please contact our Director of Donor Relations & Stewardship, Tiffany Garner, at 954-262-6303 or
Contact Us
For questions, to submit class actions, information on how to get involved, alumni benefits and resources and to learn more about upcoming events at NSU Law, contact lawalumni@nova.edu
Karen Rose, Director of Alumni Relations
E:  kr550@nova.edu | P: 954-262-6303

How to Get Involved:
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