Florida State University College of Law
With a $200,000 gift to the FSU College of Law, charter class members Jim McConnaughhay (1969) and Steve Rissman (1972) have created the McConnaughhay and Rissman Endowment for Excellence. The gift from the two workers' compensation lawyers celebrated the working relationship between the College of Law and the Florida Workers' Compensation Institute, which they established in 1987. The endowment can be used to fund a McConnaughhay and Rissman Scholar, for faculty incentives and for co-curricular activities, such as the law review, moot court and mock trial.
The Florida Workers' Compensation Institute has sponsored an annual moot court competition, scholarships for children of employees injured on the job, educational functions for judges and an annual update spring forum on workers' compensation.
University of Florida Levin College of Law
The memory of the late Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Raymond Ehrlich will live on in the form of an eminent scholar chair at UF's Levin College of Law. Ehrlich, a UF law alumnus who passed away in July, made provisions in his estate to establish an eminent scholar chair in the law school and another in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The law chair will support a faculty position in U.S. Constitutional Law.
A 1942 graduate of the law school, Ehrlich practiced law in the Jacksonville area for 35 years before being nominated to the Florida Supreme Court. He served on the state Supreme Court for 10 years, including two years as chief justice. Ehrlich was appointed special counsel to Sen. Bob Graham in 1991 and received the Florida Bar Foundation's Medal of Honor Award in 1993 for outstanding contributions to the administration of justice. In early 2005, he was inducted into the Levin College of Law's Heritage of Leadership Recognition Society, the highest honor the law school bestows upon its graduates.
University of Georgia
UGA School of Law Professors Ronald L. Carlson and David E. Shipley have been appointed as charter members of the State Bar of Georgia Foundation of Freedom Commission. The commission was established to promote public understanding of the law and its role in society through an educational campaign concentrating on democracy, the rule of law, the legal profession and the judicial system. Georgia Bar President Robert D. Ingram said it was important for the state bar to undertake this task to reawaken awareness among Georgians as to how the legal system protects their way of life and to ensure every Georgian knows his or her rights and has equal access to justice.
University of Miami
Gov. Jeb Bush has announced the appointment of alumnus Sue McCourt Cobb as Secretary of the Florida Department of State. She replaces Glenda Hood who left to pursue other opportunities. Cobb served as United States Ambassador to Jamaica from 2001-05. Prior to being named Ambassador, Cobb had an extensive legal, business and public service career, including serving as interim Secretary of the Florida Lottery in 1999. Her public sector experience also includes three terms as Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank in Miami and participation in numerous nonprofit organizations. She also led several successful Florida corporations and law firms. Cobb moved from California to Florida in 1972. She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami.