LAWPALOOZA AND PUBLIC INTEREST WEEK at UF LEVIN COLLEGE OF LAW

The Association for Public Interest Law (APIL) at the University of Florida held its annual LawLawPalooza fundraising event on March 19, at the Backstage Lounge. LawLawPalooza was the closing event for APIL’s Public Interest Week. LawLawPalooza featured talented law students from UF, and consisted of a variety show that included singing, dancing, violinists, belly dancers, stand-up comedy and music performances for 4 different bands.

APIL’s Public Interest Week consisted of four different events in addition to LawLawPalooza. The events were the following:

• Practicing Criminal Law the Public Interest Way The first event featured attorneys Whitney Untiedt from the Public Defender’s Office and Teresa Drake from the State Attorney’s Office. Mrs. Untiedt and Mrs. Drake discussed how they practice from the opposite side of the courtroom and how they see their work contributing to the welfare/benefit of society.

• Florida Amendment 2, Civil Unions, Concerns and Consequences The event will featured Shelbi Day of the ACLU of Florida LGBT Advocacy Project and showcased a discussion on the recent enactment of Florida Amendment 2, the discriminatory effects of the ban on civil unions, and its adverse legal consequences.

 • Student Experiences in Public Interest Law This event featured students discussing their internship/externship experiences in public interest law.

Panelists will included students who have worked for the state attorney, public defender, legal aid, in immigration, and in prisoner right’s advocacy. All proceeds from LawLawPalooza benefited the APIL fellowship which is awarded to UF Law student doing unpaid public interest work during the summer of 2009. With the help of the John Marshall Bar Association, Public Interest week and the LawLawPalooza event were truly a success. We raised over $1600 that night! The proceeds were added to the fellowship funds we have collected over the year, and I am very proud to announce that this year APIL will be awarding two $2000 and one $1600 fellowships for the 2009 Summer.

 

By Camila Pachon