“The art of persuasion and performance, combined with strategic thinking,” is what Professor Laurence Rose, director of the Litigation Skills Program, says are ultimately the variables that made certain students more effective advocates, as well as attractive to prospective employers.
Miami Law's Litigation Skills Program recently awarded five scholarships to such top students who distinguished themselves through their hard work and talent.
Thomas Ewald Memorial Award
Karissa Stigall accepted two of the awards given to students enrolled in the semester-long Litigation Skills I course. She received the Thomas Ewald Memorial Award, which is given to a student who best exemplifies the devotion to high standards and ethical conduct followed by Thomas Ewald. This award comes with a Montblanc pen – homage to the late Ewald, the Miami Law trial advocacy professor who was known to carry the pen in his shirt pocket.
John F. Evans Memorial Scholarship
Stigall also received the John F. Evans Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $3,000. This scholarship was established in 1989 in memory of John F. Evans, a criminal defense attorney, former deputy chief of the U.S. State Department's Miami Strike Force, and founding partner of the law firm of Zuckerman, Spaeder, Taylor and Evans.
Litigation Skills Adjunct Faculty Scholarship
Oshuteiya Emenike was awarded the Litigation Skills Adjunct Faculty Scholarship in the amount of $5,000. It is awarded to a second- or third-year student who has demonstrated excellence in advocacy, professionalism and civility in the Lit Skills I class.
This semester the award was funded by the adjunct faculty members of the Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton law firm. Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton have been donating their time and funds to Miami Law's Litigation Skills Program since 1995, when the firm became the Program’s patron. The law firm has also hired Miami Law graduates who have taken courses the Program offers.
Additional Winners
• Lilli Balik also received the John F. Evans Memorial Scholarship, a $2,500 award.
• Hailey Blanco took home the Marco A. Vazquez Memorial Scholarship, an $8,000 award which was established in 1996 in memory of a former Miami Law and Litigation Skills Program graduate.
• Maia Fleischman received the Honorable Theodore Klein Endowed Scholarship, a $3,500 award, which was established in 2006 in memory of a former Litigation Skills Faculty member, Law Professor and U. S. Magistrate Judge who was recognized as a leader among his peers.
Beyond litigation training for the courtroom, the Litigation Skills Program incorporates feedback from active serving judges and lawyers. Students are also taught theater techniques in the art of persuasion portion of the curriculum, as students are critiqued by faculty at the University of Miami Theatre department on their abilities.
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