2Ls Samuel Bookhardt IV, Andrew McCarten, and Gina Raijman, as well as 3Ls Brittany Brooks and Jaqueline Frisch recently presented an interactive discussion at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office about the ethical dilemmas faced by prosecutors on a daily basis and the ethical responsibilities that pertain specifically to prosecutors.
“Once again Jan Jacobowitz and the members of her team from the Center For Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law came to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office with an outstanding program covering issues that are both current and real to our daily efforts to well serve the criminal justice system,” said Tom Headley, Assistant State Attorney in charge of training. “Thank you for helping to make us better lawyers.”
Some of the issues discussed at this training included disclosure of the death of a witness, civility towards other attorneys, and cultural competence. “The prosecutors at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office were awesome,” said Bookhardt. “Their participation in the discussion made this training better than I ever imagined.”
McCarten said that “it was a gratifying experience to see our hard work pay off and the lawyers there were engaged and receptive.” Raijman added that “presenting at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office enabled me to have a discussion with over one hundred prosecutors about how their activity on social media can affect their daily encounters with diverse populations.”
Frisch and Brooks are PREP Fellows and have presented several other ethics trainings before. When asked to comment about the presentation Frisch said that “it was a privilege to present to a group of such esteemed attorneys. Gaining an understanding of how these experienced legal professionals approach and dissect complex problems was an invaluable learning and something that I will take with me as I begin my own professional career."
Brooks said, "the unique experience of presenting to the State Attorney's Office (SAO) allowed students to work closely with and receive detailed feedback from SAO personnel, to practice speaking before large audiences, and to learn and understand the state and federal rules governing prosecution."
In addition to presenting ethics trainings, throughout the semester PREP students publish blogs regarding the nation’s newest ethics opinions. The blog, Legal Ethics in Motion, can be found here.
