Professor Michael Vastine, St Thomas Law’s Immigration Clinic Director, has been recognized along with the law school’s Immigration Clinic by the Archdiocese of Miami and awarded the Mother Cabrini Medal for outstanding service to immigrants.

Prof. Gilbert is an opinion contributor for The Hill. Anyone interested in reading her article can find it here: Trump doesn’t need a wall – he has Jeff Sessions

Additionally Professor Lauren Gilbert spoke on the opening panel of the ACLU of Florida’s 2018 Lawyers Conference. The panel, Evolving Immigration Policy and its Impact on Asylum Seekers, explored the ways in which the Trump Administration has dismantled protections for asylum seekers and the various challenges to these policies currently underway. It was moderated by ACLU staff attorney Amien Kacou and included former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey and immigration scholar Shalini Bahrgava Ray.

Prof. Vastine has commenced his term as President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), South Florida Chapter. He recently served on the due process track planning committee for AILA’s national conference in San Francisco, California, where he led the panel Whether a Noncitizen has been Admitted, Admissions that Matter, and Other Conundrums and the interactive roundtable session: Ask the Removal Defense Expert Roundtable: Crim-Imm.

Prof. Wiessner published the following: The Rule of Law: Prolegomena, Zeitschrift für deutsches und amerikanisches Recht [German-American Law Review] 82 (June 2018); Human Rights and Cultural Identity: The Case of Indigenous Peoples, Diritti Umani e Diritto Internazionale [Human Rights and International Law, Italy] 333 (May-August 2018); El Estado y los pueblos indígenas: La importancia histórica de la Resolución No. 5/2012 de la ILA (Asociación de Derecho Internacional), 51 Ars Juris. Revista del Instituto Panamericano de Jurisprudencia [Mexico] 209 (2016 [2018]).

Professor Wiessner also participated as U.S. member in the deliberations of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the ILA’s 78th Biennial Meeting in Sydney, Australia.

Prof. Chan attended the Loyola Law School Fifth Annual Western Regional Legal Writing Conference in Los Angeles, CA. Professor Chan participated in a teaching method roundtable, a unique presentation format in which participating faculty present teaching ideas in an informal setting designed to facilitate conversation and exchange of ideas. The conference was attended by more than 65 legal writing, research, and other skills faculty from around the country and she was commended by the Dean of the law school for her presentation.

Prof. Douglas Ray was recently named to the Diversity Committee of the Law School Admissions Committee (LSAC.) In June, he was elected to the LSAC Board of Directors.

He is also the lead author of new editions of two labor law treatises: Understanding Labor Law, Fourth Edition (LexisNexis 2015) and Labor Management Relations: Strikes, Lockouts, and Boycotts, 2015 edition (Thomson/West).

Prof. Michael Vastine recently presented his articles at the following events:

• Catholic Legal Services Summer CLE Series in Miami
  • Federal Court: Building the Record for Circuit Appeals, Suing for Return of Your Client and Release from Prolonged Detention After Six Months
  • Beating the Charges, Filing Motions To Terminate, and Recent Developments in the Categorical Approach
• 2015 Annual Conference of American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Washington, D.C.
  • The Building Blocks for Successful Agency and Federal Court Appeals.
• 2015 American Immigration Lawyers Association Annual Conference (AILA Law Student Division Panel Session) Washington, D.C.
  • Maximizing Opportunities: Charting a Career in Immigration Practice
• 2015 AILA National Fundamentals of Immigration Law Conference, Miami Beach, Florida.
  • Asylum and Related Claims for Relief