Deaths:

Douglas Hommel, '07 passed away on the morning of March 18, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Rogers Hommel. The funeral Mass was held on March 22nd at St. Patrick's in Bay Shore, NY and Mr. Hommel was laid to rest at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, NY. In lieu of flowers, the family asks loved ones to make a donation:

Births:

Rebecca (LaMantia) Seibert and Kevin Seibert, '06, '06 celebrated the birth of their first child, Thomas Elliott, on January 27, 2011. 

Nathan Manni '04 and his wife Melissa of Oak Harbor, Washington celebrated the birth of Anne Katherine Manni on March 25, 2011. She weighed 6' 15'' and measured just shy of 20 inches. She was greeted warmly by her older brothers and sisters. Uncle and rising 3L, David Manni '12, looks forward to meeting his niece soon.

Bill Baaki, '04 and his wife Julie celebrated the birth of Gemma Gianna Baaki on March 30, 2011. Little Gemma was also greeted by older siblings, Christian, Isabella, Andrew and Xaiver. Mr. Baaki is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council and focuses his practice on civil litigation in state and federal courts at the firm Phillips Lytle in Buffalo, New York. 

Elizabeth "Betsy" (McEwen) Rodriguez, '04 visted campus recently while on a business trip/vacation to Southwest Florida. She is seen here with her husband Heron and four beautiful children.
 

Betsy and Heron Rodriguez with Javier (3), Maria (3), Lucia (7) and newest addition, Adela (now 9 months)

Cindy (Kalar) Northon and Ian Northon, '04, '04 welcomed Madeline Veronica on April 20, 2011. Older siblings Noah, Lily and Natalie couldn't be happier with their new baby sister. She was baptized on campus by AMSL Chaplain, Fr. Michael Orsi, on May 3, 2011 at the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel.

Fr. Michael Orsi holding AMSL's newest little Christian, Maddy Northon

Other Honors, Promotions and News:

 AMSL's First Judge!

John Baier, '06 was appointed Municipal Court Judge in Delta, Colorado. After beating ten other attorneys in a competitive appointment process, Judge Baier is excited about this new challenge and is eager for the opportunity to serve.

His first full day on the bench was March 16, 2011. Full Article Here

AMSL Rising Star!

Joshua Skinner, '03 was named to the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list of Rising Stars in 2010 and 2011.  Article Here. He was also quoted in an article regarding "When can a Texas school ban religious proselytizing on its grounds?"

Joshua Skinner is a member (a/k/a "partner") of the firm Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin in Dallas, Texas. Full profile here. 

Major Gabriel Young!

Gabriel Young, '04 was promoted to the rank of Major in the United States Air Force. Major Young has served his country well as a JAG lawyer since his signed his first commissioning oath on September 21, 2004. AMSL has the highest percentage of JAG officers in the country and, as one of our finest examples of service, Major Young, you make AMSL proud. Personal Tribute Here

We want to hear from you!

Please send us news such as births, marriages, new employment, and promotions.  We also welcome press releases, story ideas or articles you've written. Contact me

Any Big Ideas? Please join AMSL's strategic planning process by submitting your suggestions here.

Announcements:

Jane Adolphe Heading to Eternal City

Associate Professor Jane Adolphe has accepted a very special appointment by the Vatican.  On February 2011, Professor Adolphe was invited by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States to work with the Secretariat of State.  Professor Adolphe has been working as a human rights consultant to the Holy See since 2003, attending various international conferences and meetings in Rome, New York, Geneva, The Hague, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, and Le�n. Her new assignment with the Secretariat of State, which commences this summer, differs from her previous consulting work because she will now be assigned within the Secretariat of State itself, which is based in Rome.  The prestigious invitation recognizes Professor Adolphe's growing stature in the international community, and reflects great credit upon her and Ave Maria School of Law.

Professor Adolphe will be assigned to the Vatican office that has the special task of dealing with heads of government, since the Holy See is a subject of International Law, with international legal personality equivalent to other States.  In other respects, the Holy See is a special entity in that it is both the governing organ of Vatican City State, and the Roman Catholic Church.

During her assignment with the Holy See, Professor Adolphe will remain a tenured member of the Ave Maria School of Law faculty, and she will continue to publish as well as perform some activities at and for the law school. In particular, she will continue as co-advisor to the International Law Journal, and she will periodically return to the Naples campus for teaching, lectures and presentations.    

Please join us in congratulating Professor Adolphe on this important new appointment.  We know that she will represent the Ave Maria School of Law family well in her forthcoming work with the Holy See.

Law Review Continues to Grow in Stature

A Special Message from Ave Maria Law Review Editor-in-Chief

It is my pleasure to address the members and supporters of Ave Maria School of Law.  Though it has been a trying year for all the editors of the Ave Maria Law Review, under the guidance of James W. Devine, Editor-in-Chief, Volume 9, we succeeded in publishing Volume 9, Issue 1 entitled Symposium: The Future of Rights of Conscience in Health Care: Legal and Ethical Perspectives, and we will publish Volume 9, Issue 2 in early summer.  Both of these issues contain cutting-edge legal discussions authored by distinguished academics here at our school and nationwide.  We are confident that the entirety of Volume 9 will be cited frequently by various members of the legal community in years to come. 

AMSL Moot Court Teams Thrive at National Level

American Bar Association's National Appellate Advocacy Competition

An AMSL team reached the Regional Finals at the American Bar Association's National Appellate Advocacy Competition - the nation's oldest and largest moot court competition with over 200 teams competing in six regional events around the country. No Ave Maria School of Law Moot Court team has ever reached the semi-finals, let alone the Finals at an ABA National Appellate Advocacy Regional Competition. Congratulations to the following students: Katlyn Cinelli; Maria DeMoya; and Maria Vigilante. Maria Vigilante was also recognized as the Ninth Best Oralist at the Competition! Cleandria Chevalier served as team manager and she was outstanding in keeping the team on task and setting up numerous practice rounds with faculty. The ABA team was coached by Professors Milliron and Miller.

This year's team swept the first four rounds of the competition, defeating Georgetown, two teams from Charleston, and Drexel. In advancing to the Finals, Ave Maria School of Law also beat out teams from Harvard, University of Maryland and Temple.

Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition

AMSL students competing in the 2011 Jessup Competition made the best showing in school history, advancing to the quarter finals of the South Super Regional Competition and beating 20 law schools with our brief.

The Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition is the world's largest moot court competition, with participants from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries. This competition is widely recognized by the legal community as one of the most prestigious moot court competitions in the world.

The AMSL team, comprised of Majel Braden, Jessica Hoyt, Christopher Koopman, Jessica Palombi and Preston Talanda-Fisher, finished 6th out of 24 teams in the overall scoring, defeating in head-to-head competition Southern Methodist, Georgia State, and St. Thomas University School of Law, and scoring higher than 19 other teams, including Duke, Florida A&M, Louisiana State University, Southern Methodist University, William & Mary, University of North Carolina, and Washington & Lee. Their brief was judged third best overall defeating all the above schools plus University of Virginia and Wake Forest.

Majel Braden scored 18 out of 82 oralists, and Preston Talanda-Fisher scored 27 out of 82 oralists. The team manager was Cleandria Chevalier, and the Faculty Coaches were Professor Isanga, Professor Govern, and Professor Sturm.

Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition

AMSL advanced to the finals in the Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition. The finals of this patent competition were held in Washington, D.C. on April 13-15, 2011, and will be comprised of 2 teams from each of the 4 regionals.

At the Houston Regional on March 11-13, our team of Arthur Brown and John Watson defeated Drake in the first round, defeated the University of New Hampshire in the second round, defeated the University of Tennessee in the third round, and (according to usually reliable sources) narrowly missed defeating a second team from University of New Hampshire in the final round. Teams competing and not advancing also included teams from Georgia State, the South Texas School of Law, the University of Houston, University of Denver, University of Richmond, and University of Texas schools of law. Our team came in second out of 15 teams at what is the nation's premier patent moot court competition.

Our teams were comprised of Arthur Brown & John Watson, Danielle Simmons & Nicole Randazzo, and team manager Maria Vigilante. Faculty Coaches were Professors Frank Fodale and Eric Leach.

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