Metro Jacksonville

The Florida Coastal Law Review would like to welcome the Jacksonville public to the 2010 Symposium, "Family, Life, and Legacy: Planning Issues for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender Communities."  The Symposium will feature five scholars from the legal community and will offer CLE credits to members of the Florida Bar.

The Symposium will take place at Florida Costal School of Law, 8787 Baypine Road, Jacksonville on Friday, March 5, 2010, from 9am - 5pm. 

The link below provides information about the symposium, registration information, and sponsorship information.

http://www.fcsl.edu/special/events/2010/law-review/

Registration is limited, so please register as soon as possible!

For questions about registration or sponsorship, please contact Nathan Ross (C297339@law.fcsl.edu), Florida Coastal Law Review, Symposium Manager.

What a great thing for Florida Coastal to do. 

Oh very cool

As a member of the Law Review, I encourage the public to come out to this event.  It will be informative and hopefully show the Jacksonville community that there is a law school in this city that can put on some good events for the public.

Quote from: stephendare on February 03, 2010, 06:52:52 PM
I wonder what the cost is for the registration?

The registration fee for the public is only $15.

Only two weeks until the Symposium!  Space is limited and so the Law Review encourages you to register soon if you plan on attending.

I do not think that I mentioned the previous posts that lunch will be included with the $15 registration fee!

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Sounds like a great event and good opportunity for CLE at a reasonable cost!  Have you published an agenda? And how many hours of CLE have been approved by the Florida bar?

Quote from: Miss Fixit on February 18, 2010, 10:36:06 AM
Sounds like a great event and good opportunity for CLE at a reasonable cost!  Have you published an agenda? And how many hours of CLE have been approved by the Florida bar?

Here is some additional information:

The event presents an overview of contemporary LGBT legal issues by interweaving complex academic analysis with pragmatic instruction and application of the law in the areas of same-sex marriage and adoption, sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace, elder care, and wealth transfer.  The day's agenda will be available shortly.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Continental breakfast and lunch will be included. The Law Review has applied for six hours of CLE credit.

The Florida Bar has approved 3.5 hours of general CLE credit.

Great News!  Matthew's will be catering the FCLR Symposium!  So, that means for $15 you get: 1. Continental breakfast; 2. Lunch from Matthew's; 3. For attorneys, 3.5 hours of CLE credit; and 4. An educational program on estate planning for same sex couples.

Once again, here is the link to register: http://www.fcsl.edu/special/events/2010/law-review/

We hope to see you out there!

Symposium is tomorrow!  Registration starts at 8:30.

Gay Marriage Is Legal in U.S. Capital
By IAN URBINA
WASHINGTON â€" It was cold and drizzling outside the City Courthouse just after 6 a.m. on Wednesday, but no one seemed to mind among the same-sex couples waiting for the chance to apply for a marriage license.

“This is a dream come true,” said Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, as she smiled ear to ear and held up her ticket indicating she was first in line with her partner of 12 years, Angelisa Young, 47. “We wanted it so bad.”

Gay rights advocates hailed the day as a milestone for equal rights and a symbolic victory as same-sex marriage became legal in the nation’s capital.

Washington is now the sixth place in the nation where same-sex marriages can take place. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Despite failing in court, opponents of the law vowed to fight another day.

The law survived Congressional attempts to block it, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Tuesday rejected a request from opponents of same-sex marriage to have the United States Supreme Court delay it.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed the measure into law in December, but because the District of Columbia is not a state, the law had to undergo Congressional review, which ended Tuesday.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington on Tuesday limited employee health care benefits to avoid coverage of same-sex couples. It was the second time Catholic Charities changed its rules to protest same-sex marriage, having earlier ended its foster care program.

The new law was already having regional implications.

Maryland’s attorney general, Douglas F. Gansler, issued a legal opinion last week concluding that Maryland should immediately recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

Mr. Gansler’s move is expected to draw legal and legislative challenges, but for Terrance Heath of Montgomery County, Md., it was the turning point that persuaded him to get married.

“We realized that we can finally get many of the benefits and protections that other couples take for granted,” said Mr. Heath, 41, a blogger who lives with his partner, Rick Imirowicz, 43, and their two adopted sons.

“Before that attorney general decision we could have the legal documents, like wills and medical power of attorney,” Mr. Heath said. “But there was no guarantee that those documents would be recognized.”

He said that he and Mr. Imirowicz had worried about what might happen to any inheritance meant for their sons, Parker, 7, and Dylan, 2. “Marriage gives us peace of mind,” Mr. Heath said. “It gives my family security that we deserve.”

At the city’s Marriage Bureau inside the Moultrie Courthouse, just blocks from the Capitol, the mood was giddy as couples hugged and talked about a day they never thought would arrive.

“I became a naturalized U.S. citizen in the mid-’90s,” said Cuc Vu, a native of Vietnam who was third in line with her partner of 20 years, Gwen Migita. “But this is really the first time that I feel like I have the full rights and benefits of citizenship.”

Court officials explained that the Marriage Bureau had changed its license applications: They ask for the name of each spouse rather than the bride and groom. Officials who perform the weddings read, “I now pronounce you legally married.”

On a typical day the office processes 10 licenses, court officials said. By late Wednesday afternoon, more than 140 couples had filed to be married, the mayor’s office said.

Because of a mandatory waiting period, couples will not be able to marry in the city until Tuesday.

City officials say the measure will also provide a financial boost to the local economy. A study by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, predicted that more than 14,000 same-sex marriages would occur in the city over the next three years, which would bring in $5 million in new tax revenue and create 700 jobs.

I wonder if it will be overturned like in California.
Hopefully not.

Live from the FCLR Symposium:

This morning we have had several presentations on issues concerning the LGBT community.

Speaker #1-Prof. Mark Strasser, Trustees Professor of Law,Capital University Law School
Introduced By: Gregory Pingree, Associate Professor, Florida Coastal School of Law

Panel Discussion- Mine, Yours, or Ours: Marriage, Adoption, and Family Law
Moderated by: Frieda Saraga, President PFLAG of Jacksonville
Panel of: Mark Strasser, Scott Titshaw, Greg Nevins, and Garnett Harrison

Speaker #2 Judi O’Kelley of Lambda Legal
Introduced By: Justin Funck, President Lambda Legal Society, Florida Coastal

Live from the FCLR Symposium:

Currently going on: Greg Nevins, introduced by Quince Hopkins, Professor, Florida Coastal School of Law, speaking on child rearing by same sex couples and adoption of children by same sex couples.

Live from the FCLR Symposium

Currently going on: Speaker #3 - Scott Titshaw Assistant Professor Mercer University School of Law, speaking on Same Sex Couples in a World Without DOMA.

Introduced By: Wayne Blackburn, PFLAG of Jacksonville

Thanks, FCSL and FloCo Law Review, for hosting what has so far been an informative symposium and CLE. Well done!

Live from the FCLR Symposium

Currently going on: Speaker #4 Anthony Brown, Esq. introduced by Lindsey Horn, Florida Coastal Law Review, Symposium Committee, speaking on estate planning for the LGBT community.

Live at the FCLR Symposium

Currently going on: Panel Discussion on Planned Giving and Wealth Transfer for Same-Sex Couples

Moderated By: Cindy Watson, Executive Director, JASMYN of Jacksonville
Panel of: Judi O’Kelley and Anthony Brown, Esq.

Live from the FCLR Symposium

Currently going on: Speaker #5 - Dr. Jillian T. Weiss, Associate Professor of Law and Society, Rampo College of New Jersey

Introduced by: Wayne Blackburn, PFLAG of Jacksonville