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PREP

ETHICAL JUDGMENT,PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

DEVOTED TO THE VALUES OF

ABA Awards PREP the Gambrell Professionalism AwardBy Professional Responsibility and Ethics Fellows

The American Bar Association (ABA) has recognized the Uni-versity of Miami School of Law’s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Program (PREP) and its Di-rector, Jan L. Jacobowitz, as a recipient of this year’s E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award.

The E. Smythe Gambrell Profes-sionalism Awards are the leading national awards recognizing pro-grams and projects contributing to the understanding and advance-ment of professionalism among lawyers. The ABA Standing Com-mittee on Professionalism presents the awards annually. This year the award was presented during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago on August 3rd.

“The Committee was particularly impressed with the program’s unique amalgam of an extraor-dinary ‘real-world’ experience for their student instructors and valuable legal-learning benefits for the recipient local legal orga-nization and firms,” said Dennis R. Honabach, Chair of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Profes-sionalism.

Through the program, Jacobow-itz guides students in developing and presenting interactive con-tinuing legal education ethics training for the legal community. Students collaborate in a man-ner that is analogous to an eth-ics law firm; however, they do not offer legal advice, but rather provide education and facilitate discussion of compelling legal ethics issues. Dennis Honabach stated that PREP “offers a model for law schools in communities with a concentration of legal or-ganizations to partner with such a program.”

PREP’s programming originated as an outgrowth of a collabora-tive effort with the nonprofit le-gal community to provide train-ing on ethics issues arising in the context of serving the public in-terest. Today, PREP has not only become an invaluable resource to the nonprofit community, but also has expanded to present ethics training to lawyers working throughout the legal profession.

“PREP provides a unique op-portunity for synergy between our law students and the legal community,” said Jacobowitz. “The program facilitates lively discussion about the importance of professionalism and ethics in the practice of law. I am deep-ly honored to be a recipient of the prestigious E. Smythe Gam-brell Award and look forward to sharing it with all of the students whose dedication and hard work are reflected in this national rec-ognition.”

The Gambrell Awards were es-tablished in 1991 and are named for E. Smythe Gambrell, ABA and American Bar Foundation presi-dent from 1955 to 1956. Gambrell founded the Legal Aid Society in Atlanta, where he practiced law from 1922 until his death in 1986.

Dennis R. Honabach, former Chairman of the Standing Committee on Professionalism and Jan Jacobowitz

AND PUBLIC SERVICE IN LAW AND SOCIETY

Volume 11, Issue 1

CEPSCENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE

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Nonprofit Legal Service Providers & Public Sector

Bar Associations & Law Firms

PREP continued to connect with the bar and bench communi-ty this year by providing its signature customized CLE trainings to the Bench & Bar. Notable new additions this year were the

Coral Gables Bar Association and a national webinar for State Farm attorneys across the country. This year’s trainings included:

PREP’s 2011-2012 CLE Ethics Trainings

(Left to right) Shayla Waldon; Nicole Grimal, BBA Dade County Brown Bag Chair; Patrick Poole

(Left to right) Justin Ortiz, Attorney Christopher Hopkins, Matthew Friendly, West Palm Beach Bar Association

(Left to right) Amanda LeCheminant, Jillian Tate, Kelly Rains, White & Case

(Left to Right) Charles Muniz and Amanda LeCheminant, Catholic Charities

(Left to right) Nykeah Cohen and Daniela Torrealba, Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office

(Left to right) Kamal Sleiman, Tom Headley, Susan Dechovitz, Garret Lorentz (Tom and Susan are senior trial counsel ASA’s), Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office

Bankruptcy Bar Association (BBA) Dade & Broward

Bressler, Amery & Ross

Caribbean Bar Association

Coral Gables Bar Association

Cuban American Bar Association

Dade County Bar Association

Florida Association of Women Lawyers

Gwen Cherry Bar Association

State Farm’s In-house Law Firms National Webinar

West Palm Beach Bar Association

White & Case

Americans for Immigrant Justice (formerly Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center)

Catholic Charities

Dade Legal Aid Society

Legal Services of Greater Miami

Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office

Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office

PREP Professional resPonsibility and ethics Program

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PREP on the Cutting Edge: Launching Its Blog— Legal Ethics in MotionBy Matthew J. Friendly, Steven E. Chaykin Fellow

PREP Students Participate in the Anti-Defamation League’s Summer Associate ProgramBy Shayla Waldon, Akerman Senterfitt Fellow

For over a year, students have discussed the idea of PREP (Professional Respon-sibility and Ethics Program) creating a blog to provide a student perspective on hot button issues in the field of le-gal ethics and professional responsibil-ity. After working diligently for months to make this dream a reality, a group of PREP students launched LegalEthic-sinMotion.com, which was introduced to the world in March 2012. Since its launch, PREP students have begun posting and providing perspective on many hot button topics, such as legal outsourcing, new forms of attorney ad-vertising, and the role of social media in litigation.

As a founding member of LegalEthic-sinMotion, the most rewarding aspect of creating the blog has been to pro-vide a forum for discussion of important legal ethics issues. It allows students to provide their perspective and engage in a virtual dialogue with others inter-

ested in these issues. I am proud to say that of the websites devoted to explor-ing these topics, none are created by law students and focused on the law student perspective in the same fashion as LegalEthicsinMotion.com.

Additionally, the site will highlight and showcase the many wonderful presen-tations that PREP delivers throughout the academic year at forums such as Legal Aid, the Dade County Bar Asso-ciation, and White & Case. There are also exciting ideas in the works to make the blog more interactive and wide-spread, including polls, videos, and an inaugural PREP Legal Ethics debate, to be filmed and placed on LegalEthicsin-Motion.

Be sure to check out LegalEthicsinMo-tion.com to keep up with PREP and read about the latest in the world of le-gal ethics and professional responsibil-ity.

Each year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reaches out to area law firms, as well as the Professional Responsi-bility & Ethics Program (PREP) at the University of Miami School of Law, to engage students to participate in the ADL’s Summer Associate Research Pro-gram (SARP). PREP has participated in SARP for the past three years, and PREP students have written scholarly articles on a variety of civil rights and constitutional issues to assist the ADL in using the power of the law to eliminate discrimination and the spread of hate throughout the community and the na-tion at large.

I participated in the program for the first time this year, and chose to write on a topic especially close to my heart—reli-gious freedom, specifically how Florida courts have applied our state’s Reli-gious Freedom Restoration Act, where a person claims a “substantial burden” on his religious freedom. The topic was closely related to the Establishment Clause article I wrote for my law journal this past year. Completing the task was fairly daunting, as I wrote my article while happily busy as a summer associate at Akerman Senterfitt in the firm’s West Palm Beach office. Above all, I truly en-joyed writing the article, which was my small part within the ADL’s larger mission.

PREP

The Center for Ethics & Public Service hosted visitors from the Middle East and North Africa on April 25, 2012. The visit was part of the International Visi-tor Leadership Program (IVLP), which is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bu-reau of Educational and Cul-tural Affairs in coordination with World Learning.

One of the leading professional-exchange programs, the IVLP is designed to build understand-ing between the U.S. and other countries through carefully de-signed visits that reflect the par-ticipants’ professional interests and support of U.S. foreign pol-icy goals. Selected by American embassies abroad, international visitors come to the United States to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to gain appreciation of the ethnic, cultural, political and socio-eco-nomic diversity of the U.S.

The visitors discussed ethics and transparency in government with a group of students. This is the third time that the center has participated in the Inter-national Visitor Leadership Pro-gram.

“It is fascinating to discuss eth-ics and legal issues with our foreign visitors,” said Jan Ja-cobowitz, director of the PREP program. “It is a cultural and educational experience for our students that often transcends the traditional classroom expe-rience.”

Professionalism and Ethics on an International LevelBy Professional Responsibility & Ethics Program Fellows

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HBCP Historic Black cHurcH Program

The Oral History Program By Historic Black Church Program Fellows

The Historic Black Church Oral History Project signals an un-precedented campus-community partnership intended to preserve the rich cultural and social history of faith-based communities of color in South Florida, support university-wide interdisciplinary collaboration, and educate a new genera-tion of high school, college, and graduate students about the crucial leadership role of Historic Black Churches in Afro-Ca-ribbean-American communities. In the 2011-2012 academ-ic year, three third year law student fellows led a research team of first and second year law student interns in an effort to document the important history of George Washington Carver High School, now a Middle School, in Coconut Grove Village West (“the West Grove”) in cooperation with students and faculty from Ransom Everglades School, the University of Miami’s School of Communication and Otto G. Richter Li-brary Department of Special Collections, the George Wash-ington Carver Alumni Association, and the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance.

When asked to reflect on how the Project has personally im-pacted her own legal education and training, former law student fellow Erica Gooden stated, “I have learned from the Oral History Project that there are innovative ways to serve a community. I also learned that collaboration allows you to effectively serve a community.”

Each week during the academic year, the Oral History Proj-ect team explored the themes of cultural and social history, particularly the unanticipated effects of desegregation and integration on the Coconut Grove community, with high school students from Ransom Everglades School. Ransom stu-dents participated in interviewing Jim Crow era Carver grad-uates, presented their archival findings at a weekly on cam-pus seminar, and produced a written report for publication. In addition, the Project team worked closely with students and faculty from the School of Communication to record and film the interviews, as well as with University librarians to create an archival exhibit.

During the Jim Crow era, Carver was one of the only schools in Miami-Dade County open to Afro-Caribbean-American students. In examining the history of this period, the Project team uncovered complex social issues related to racial segregation, integration, and community. Both UM Project students and Ransom students were given the opportunity to listen and appreciate the stories of how new Bahamian families found a better life, how the civil rights movement created hardships and opportunities, and how a commu-nity came together and made a difference. For example, James Bethel, a Carver alumnus, observed: “We took pride in our school. It wasn’t a large school. It wasn’t a large fac-ulty. It wasn’t a large student body, but we took pride in it. It was our school. Integration took that pride from us, dis-persed us.”

(Left to right) Intern Alexa Diambois and Fellow Erica Gooden

Post-film panel discussion

As a partner with the Coconut Grove community, the Oral History Project has a deep respect for the history and the culture that continues to support the Project as the Project supports the community. The Oral History Project has truly evolved into an exceptional endeavor seeking to guaran-tee that the history of Coconut Grove, and the West Grove in particular, is protected.

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In the fall, the Community Education Project organized the First Annual Coconut Grove Community Health and Education Fair. The event hosted over 400 attendees from the Miami community. Activities included play-ing games and sports, listening to music, enjoying healthy snacks from our sponsors, and receiving free health and social services information from the many local nonprofit provider organizations. Nonprofits includ-ed Helen Bentley Family Health Center, Thelma Gibson Health Initiative, the Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office, Ransom Everglades School and the FIU School of Law Education Clinic.

Additionally, under the direction of Professor Laverne Pinkney, the interns and fellows led bimonthly Education Rights workshops during the fall se-mester. The workshops were held at churches and schools, and focused on providing information to parents and students concerning special education, school discipline, and school choice. During the spring se-mester, students continued to present Education Rights workshops and also assisted the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance by researching eco-nomic development and nonprofit service delivery initiatives. Students prepared a draft memorandum on the development projects in the West Grove, which involved meeting with local officials and developers to gather information, and reported on underwriting resources for non-profits that serve the community.

Lastly, the project also established several new community partnerships during the spring semester, including 1Miami Now and Breakthrough Mi-ami. Students worked with 1Miami Now conducting surveys and collect-ing data on unemployment and education issues. The information will be used to improve the education rights workshops and assess specific legal and policy issues regarding education. Students then partnered with Breakthrough Miami to educate middle school students about the legal system and to address education rights issues. During three two-hour seminars, students at Breakthrough’s Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart learned about school discipline, bullying, and sexting.

The Community Education ProjectBy Historic Black Church Program Fellows

Environmental Justice ProjectFounded in 2012, the Center’s Environmental Justice Project works to increase awareness and provide support to communities affected by issues related to environmental justice throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Project conducts research into the environmental, community, and public health impacts of environmental justice cases, in addition to serving as a liaison between impacted commu-nities and public officials and policy makers. Cur-rently research is focused on the site placement of a City of Coral Gables trolley depot in a residential West Coconut Grove neighborhood.

Dartmouth Ethics Institute to Partner with CEPSThe Dartmouth Ethics Institute is partnering with CEPS to provide an intensive five-day seminar in applied ethics and the law. CEPS founder Professor Anthony Alfieri and Dartmouth Professor Aine Don-ovan will work with a select group of Dartmouth undergraduate students to explore issues of legal ethics, conflict resolution and community service. The students will meet with religious leaders and community organizers who have established pro-grams in conflict resolution.

New Social Entrepreneurship Course The Social Entrepreneurship Workshop is part of the Historic Black Church Program’s two-semester pract-icum on public interest law and leadership with spe-cial focus on civil rights and poverty law. Building on the Program’s ongoing Community Education and Community Research Projects, the Workshop will in-troduce students to the lawyer’s transactional role as counsel to entrepreneurs in both for-profit and nonprofit ventures across local, state, national, and international communities. To that end, the Work-shop will survey theories of economic development, explore legal and ethical issues of transactional rep-resentation, and study the practical skills of counsel-ing social and business entrepreneurs.

Oral History Film Project— May 2013 This year’s film, Someday We’ll All Be Free: The De-segregation of Miami, will focus on the history of de-segregation in Miami-Dade County. Premier sched-uled for May 2013 at Virrick Park in Coconut Grove.

HBCPUpcoming HBcp newsand events

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A Transformative Summer: From Mentee to Mentor and Beyond By Jessica Claitt and Jessica Bouis

The CEPS Summer Public Interest Fel-lowship Program provides students with much more than the typical legal sum-mer internship experience. Our par-ticipation in the program during the summer of 2012 helped us to grow as students, legal interns, individuals, and mentors.

As Fellows, we engaged in eye-open-ing and invaluable internships with the State Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Public Defender. Our colleagues in the program received placements in nonprofits such as Greater Miami Legal Services and Americans for Immigrant Justice. All of the participants were re-quired to attend an evening public in-terest law seminar, taught by Jan Jaco-bowitz, Director of the Responsibility & Ethics Program at Miami Law.

Our class focused on public interest law with an emphasis on ethics. Far from the normal rigors of a traditional law school course, the discussion-based seminar taught us about the unique aspects of practicing law and provided us with an insight into the real-world perspec-tives of attorneys in the legal profession. Based upon our summer legal intern-ship experiences, weekly readings and personal life experiences, our class dis-cussions, often bolstered by the advice and insight of seasoned guest attorneys and judges, propelled us into an array of subject matters. Discussion topics ranged from legal ethics and personal morality, to race and socioeconomic status and its impact on society.

Our class engaged in one particularly intense discussion about personal pros-perity and contact with the criminal jus-tice system, based upon the presence or absence of educational opportuni-ties and economic security. As with ev-ery discussion topic, students had vastly differing views; however, our personal perspectives changed when our class received an unexpected visit from Em-powered Youth.

Empowered Youth is a Miami-based, nonprofit organization, which assists adolescent males who have had con-tact with the juvenile justice system, in turning their lives around. This organiza-tion, founded and directed by Colleen Adams, provides these young men an opportunity to hone their potential, to develop feelings of self-worth and to explore meaningful resources and op-portunities designed to increase self es-teem and the ability to succeed.

The unfiltered and captivating stories of the program participants were noth-ing short of inspirational. Listening to stories about their experiences growing up as underprivileged youth in inner-city neighborhoods challenged us to change our perceptions about persons involved in the criminal justice system.

By the end of their presentation, we re-alized that certain aspects of our own personal stories mirrored their experi-ences, and we willingly and eagerly be-came a part of the organization’s ex-tremely important mission. For the past several months, we have volunteered with Empowered Youth as mentors. In the process, we have established meaningful relationships with the par-ticipants whose ultimate goal is to be-come essential contributors to society.

In the process of participating in the CEPS Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program, we learned not just about the importance of the legal work that we participated in over the summer, but about the ethics and empathy required of good lawyers, and the heart and soul of the persons and communities whom they represent. From the moment that we first became a part of the Fellowship Program, we knew that the opportuni-ties afforded to us would be unique and life altering, but we did not antici-pate an experience so substantial and awe-inspiring. This ethical, intellectual, and humanizing journey has left us with a deeper appreciation for the world around us and a more profound under-standing of what it takes to recognize and fulfill our true potential.

SPIF SUMMER PUBLIC INTEREST FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

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Featured at left: PREP Director Jan Jacobowitz with graduating fellows and interns of the Historic Black Church Program (HBCP), Professional Responsibility & Ethics Program (PREP), and Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program (SPIF).

At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, the Center held its annual spring reception to honor the achievements of our graduating fellows and interns. The students celebrated this milestone with their program mentors, Center Director An-thony Alfieri, PREP Director Jan Jacobowitz, and friends and family.

CEPS Spring Reception

CEPS EvEntS

The Hoeveler Award was created in honor of the Honorable William M. Ho-eveler, senior U.S. District Court judge, as a lifetime achievement award for a lawyer of outstanding ethics and public service. In 2011, the Center for Ethics & Public Service (CEPS) awarded Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle the tenth annual Wil-liam M. Hoeveler Award, for her contri-bution to ethics, leadership, and public service in the legal profession.

Since March 12, 1993, Katherine Fernan-dez Rundle has served Miami-Dade County as State Attorney. Prior to that, she dedicated 15 years as an Assistant State Attorney. When she later served as

Chief Assistant, she acted as legal coun-sel to the Dade County Grand Jury. As such, she presented hundreds of murder and capital cases and oversaw the is-suance of reports that initiated major reforms in such areas as juvenile justice and revision of the building code follow-ing Hurricane Andrew. She also helped to write and pass the Florida Punishment Code. Ms. Fernandez Rundle’s passion and interest in public service is in large part due to the inspiration of her father, Dr. Carlos Benito Fernandez, Miami’s first Hispanic Judge and a founder of the Cuban American Bar Association, the largest Hispanic legal organization of which Ms. Fernandez Rundle was elect-ed president in 1993.

10th Annual William M. Hoeveler Ethics & Public Service Award

In 2011, the Center for Ethics & Public Service (CEPS) awarded Joseph M. Cen-torino the Lawyers in Leadership Award, which honors leading members of the bar and bench. The event included an informal discussion about Mr. Centorino’s life and career. This discussion provided a unique learning opportunity for stu-dents in all fields of study, offering an “up close and personal look” at the choices and decisions that helped to establish Centorino as a community leader.

Joseph M. Centorino has served as the appointed Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust since September 1, 2011.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Centorino served for twenty-five years as an Assis-tant State Attorney at the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office. He cur-rently serves as a member of the Profes-sional Ethics Committee of the Florida Bar and has served as facilitator of Pro-fessionalism & Ethics at Florida Interna-tional University Metropolitan Center. He has lectured extensively to govern-ment officials, and at universities and public forums in the areas of public cor-ruption and government ethics, police internal affairs, the Florida Sunshine and Public Records Laws, election law and legal ethics.

Lawyers in Leadership Award

(Left to right) Daniel Casamayor, Kelly Rains, Jan Jacobowitz, Joseph M. Centorino (award recipient), and Anthony Alfieri

The Honorable William M. Hoeveler, senior U.S. District Court judge on the right and award recipient Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle on the left.

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E. SMYTHE GAMBRELL PROFESSIONALISM AWARDAmerican Bar Association

2012

INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARDORAL HISTORY PROJECT

HISTORIC BLACK CHURCH PROGRAMUniversity of Miami School of Law

2012

INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD

HISTORIC BLACK CHURCH PROGRAMUniversity of Miami School of Law

2009

INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD

COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN PROGRAM

University of Miami School of Law2007

WILLIAM PINCUS AWARDAssociation of American Law Schools

2007

FATHER ROBERT DRINAN AWARDAssociation of American Law Schools

2007

GARY BELLOW SCHOLAR AWARDAssociation of American Law Schools

2004-2005

OMICRON DELTA KAPPA AWARDNational Leadership Honor Society

2002

ARETE AWARDMiami-Dade County Commission on

Ethics & Public Trust2001

SEVENTH ANNUAL PROFESSIONALISM AWARD

The Florida Bar2000

FACULTY PROFESSIONALISM AWARDFlorida Supreme Court

1999

E. SMYTHE GAMBRELL PROFESSIONALISM AWARDAmerican Bar Association

1998

CENTER AWARDSCEPS ADMINISTRATION

Professor Anthony V. AlfieriDirector

Lecturer Jan L. JacobowitzProgram Director

Cynthia McKenzieProgram Manager

Ebonie CarterAdministrative Assistant

HISTORIC BLACK CHURCH PROGRAM

Professor Anthony V. Alfieri Founder

Laverne Pinkney Visiting Senior Fellow

Donald Cramp, Jr. Visiting Fellow

D. Porpoise Evans Visiting Fellow

Eliot FolsomDavid P. Catsman Fellow

Erica GoodenJohn B. Alfieri Fellow

Erika KaneRichman Greer Fellow

Margaret KelseyGreenberg Traurig Foundation Fellow

Quinshawna LandonJohn Hart Ely Fellow

Viraj PatelGreenberg Traurig Foundation Fellow

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY & ETHICS PROGRAM

Jan L. JacobowitzProgram DirectorLecturer in Law

Daniel CasamayorPeter Palermo Fellow

Courtney DanielsWilliam M. Hoeveler Fellow

Casey Carruth DieckHunton & Williams Fellow

Jillian MartignettiAkerman Senterfitt Fellow

Charles MunizBankruptcy Bar Association Fellow

Kelly RainsSteven E. Chaykin Fellow

Daniela TorrealbaRobert A. Ades Fellow

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORIn reflecting on the growth and accom-plishments of the Center for Ethics over the past year, I am struck by the dedi-cation of our program leaders towards their students and how that dedication inspires and ignites passions within the students. As a recent graduate of the Professional Responsibility & Ethics Pro-gram, I am now working as a postgrad-uate fellow for the Center. This position has given me an opportunity to observe the learning process compared to my previous role as an immersed student. Throughout my observations, I am con-stantly impressed and inspired by the excitement and enthusiasm of our stu-dents, as well as their commitment to excellence. As a program alumnus, I am very proud of our past year’s ac-complishments and hope that this newsletter sheds some light on our stu-dents’ great achievements.

By Courtney Daniels

University of Miami School of Law

1311 Miller Drive

Suite G287

Coral Gables, Florida 33146-8087

Ph: 305.284.3934

Fax: 305.284.1588

www.law.miami.edu/ceps

ceps@law.miami.edu

CONTACT US

CEPSCENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE

Fall 2011 & Spring 2012