Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Law professor to teach

in China on scholarship

Stetson Law Professor Steve Everhart was selected for a Fulbright Scholarship to teach in China for the 2004-2005 academic year.

Everhart, who holds a bachelor of arts in Asian studies, will teach civil and criminal law and procedure, evidence, trial advocacy and dispute resolution to judges, lawyers and law professors in China.

The Fulbright program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was established in 1946 to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries. Two other Stetson faculty members have received the scholarship - Professor Peter F. Fitzgerald who is a Fulbright Scholar in Scotland and the late Dean W. Gary Vause, who served in China.

Maria Somers joins

Tampa's Bavol Bush

Maria Y. Somers is a new member of Tampa's Bavol Bush Graziano & Rice PA. She practices in the areas of long-term care and medical malpractice. Prior to joining the firm, she worked at Thompson Goodis Thompson Groseclose & Richardson PA.

Somers earned bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Florida

Robin Rosenberg receives

Hannah G. Solomon Award

Robin L. Rosenberg, Holland & Knight LLP's pro bono counsel, received the Hannah G. Solomon Award from the Tampa section of the National Council of Jewish Women during a recent luncheon at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant.

The award honors the Tampa attorney's commitment to her community, says Florence Minkow, the Tampa section president. It specifically recognizes Rosenberg's pro bono work on behalf of children, immigrants and access-to-justice issues for prisoners.

Members of the Tampa section also recognized her work as founding board member and litigation chair of Florida's Children First! Inc., a statewide, nonprofit children's advocacy organization; as co-chairs of the pro bono committee of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association; and as a director for the Hillsborough Association of Women Lawyers.

Outside her legal advocacy group, Rosenberg now serves as a trainer for Girl Scouts of the Suncoast Council. She also is a facilitator with Project Kesher, a Jewish women's exchange program, and is a founding board member of the Jewish Community Food Bank.

As pro bono counsel, she coordinates all volunteer legal work for the state's largest law firm.

Bush appoints Thomas;

reappoints Frank Adams

Gov. Jeb Bush recently appointed Tampa attorney Claudia M. Thomas, 37, to the Florida Elections Commission.

Thomas succeeds J. Courtney Cunningham for a term that ends in December 2007. Admitted to the Florida Bar in 1993, Thomas earned bachelor's degrees from the University of Florida and a law degree from the American University School of Law.

Bush also reappointed Tampa attorney Frank L. Adams III, 58, to another term on the Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board. His new term expires in March 2007.

A capital collateral regional counsel, Adams was admitted to the bar in 1979. He is a University of South Florida graduate who earned a law degree from the New York School of Law.

Both appointments require Senate confirmation.

Abbey Adams hires

Leduc as associate

Tracy E. Luduc is a new associate at Abbey Adams Byelick Kiernan Mueller & Lancaster LLP. Luduc will practice defense law in the areas of liability, malpractice, workers' compensation, employment claims and appeals.

Wally Pope named

law center trustee

Clearwater attorney Wally Pope is a newly appointed member of the board of trustees at the University of Florida Levin College of Law Center Association. He is a senior partner at Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns LLP.

As a trustee, Pope joins about 50 attorneys in the state who oversee the law school's facilities and program needs. Pope earned bachelor's and law degrees from the university, in addition to the master's degree he received from Boston University.