APRIL 2009
Full-Time Faculty Highlights
Professor Susan Daicoff
Professor Susan Daicoff spoke on "The Value of Apology, Forgiveness, & Reconciliation in Therapeutic Jurisprudence" at a dispute resolution conference held at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in April, 2009, and presented on “Sexual Harassment Law and Therapeutic Jurisprudence” at the Florida Coastal Law Review Symposium on Therapeutic Jurisprudence in February, 2009. She has been invited to speak on Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Legal Education at the International Academy of Law and Mental Health’s annual conference in New York in July. Her article Lawyer, Be Thyself: An Empirical Investigation of The Relationship Between An Ethic Of Care, A Feeling Decisionmaking Preference, And Lawyer Wellbeing, is now at 16:1 Va. J. Social Pol’y & Law (Fall, 2008). Her article, Collaborative Law: A New Tool for the Lawyer’s Toolkit, is forthcoming in Volume 20:1 of the University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy. She also completed an invited book chapter on the Comprehensive Law Movement to be included in Conflict Resolution and Peace Education: Transformations Across Disciplines, edited by Professor Candice C. Carter of the University of North Florida and published by Palgrave Macmillan. As chair of the scholarship subcommittee of the AALS Section on Balance in Legal Education, she is assisting in compiling essays by law deans and other commentators on “Balance in Legal Education,” for publication.
Professor John Knechtle
In April Professor Knechtle completed a legislative drafting project for the Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS) supported by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). For the past four years Professor Knechtle has been working with the OECS and its nine member states to provide greater legal protections for the environment and the purpose of this project was to draft biodiversity laws for the countries of Grenada and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. These laws are intended to implement each county’s legal obligations under various biodiversity multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).
Professor Knechtle formed a team of U.S. and Caribbean lawyers and law students to work collaboratively on this project. The team included Keith Friday, now Head of the Legal Unit at the OECS (a position he obtained halfway through this project), Justin Sobion, a lawyer from Trinidad who just completed an LLM in international law from South Africa and the son of Keith Sobion the recently deceased dean of the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, Sandra Nichols, a senior attorney with the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. and FCSL students Yvette Retamoza and Simon Serrano. After reviewing applicable MEAs as well as national legislation, the team traveled to Grenada and St. Vincent last summer to meet with individuals working on environmental issues in government, nonprofits, academia, and private practice. After drafting the legislation last fall, the team returned in February for stakeholder workshops which reviewed each provision of the draft laws. Once this input was incorporated, the final report was submitted.
In May Professor Knechtle will present a paper “Free Speech Protections for Taking Photos in Public Places – The Google Street View Controversy” at the University of Luxembourg. Professor Knechtle will join free speech scholars from seven countries to discuss in a roundtable format, “Speech and the Problems Posed by the Advance of Technology and Trans-Atlantic Perspectives on Privacy, Speech and the Media.”
Professor Michael Lewyn
Michael Lewyn recently published “You Can Have It All: Less Sprawl and Property Rights Too”, 80 Temple Law Review 1093 (2007) and “Sprawl in Europe and America”, 46 San Diego Law Review 85 (2009). He also participated in National Journal magazine’s online panel on federal transportation spending, available at
In addition, he has updated his “Car-Free in Jacksonville” web page ( ) to reflect recent service changes.
Professor Alexander Moody
Prof. Sander Moody presented at the Federal Bar Association's annual Honorable Ralph "Buddy" Nimmons seminar, held at the Middle District of Florida courthouse in Jacksonville. Prof. Moody appeared on a panel with Judge Gerald Tjoflat and Judge James Hill of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to discuss issues related to appellate advocacy.
Professor David Pimentel
David Pimentel’s article on underreporting of judicial misconduct – The Reluctant Tattle-tale: Closing the Gap in Federal Judicial Discipline – has been accepted for publication in the Tennessee Law Review. His article Reframing the Independence v. Accountability Debate: Defining Judicial Structure in Terms of Judges’ Courage and Integrity is featured as the lead article in the new volume of the Cleveland State Law Review at 57 Clev.St.L.Rev. 1 (2009).
Professor Benjamin J. Priester
On April 2, Professor Priester was an invited speaker at the 2009 Allen Chair Symposium, “Detaining Suspected Terrorists: Past, Present, and Future,” hosted by the University of Richmond Law Review. As part of the event, he and Professor Stephen Vladeck of American University, Washington College of Law, held a panel discussion on the role of the judiciary and proposals for reform in terrorist detentions. Professor Priester’s article, entitled Terrorist Detention: Directions for Reform, was published by the law review in their March 2009 issue, which collects the papers from the symposium.
Professor Rod Sullivan
Professor Rod Sullivan taught a continuing legal education seminar at the Annual Meeting of the Maritime Law Association of the United States entitled Preparing for Oral Argument before the United States Supreme Court. The annual meeting is held in New York City. In addition Professor Sullivan participated in teaching a continuing legal education seminar to the Jacksonville Bar Association entitled Practice and Procedure in Maritime Personal Injury Litigation.