Goodwin Program
Three separate but deeply interconnected trends are challenging the foundation of civil society. The rapid transformation of new technology, environmental challenges, and public health management are among the most significant challenges today, and these require thoughtful public policy proposals derived from strong academic research. To meet this need, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law has launched a new, multidisciplinary effort to provide academic scholarship, legal education, and skills training in these areas.
The new initiative is named the Goodwin Program for Society, Technology, and the Law, and it will operate under the leadership of its inaugural director, Jon M. Garon.
The term “society” highlights that legal and economic changes in the three focus areas raise critical concerns regarding equity, equality, and access across the nation since it is axiomatic that as the future becomes the present, it is never evenly distributed. The Goodwin Program will foster meaningful scholarship and dialogue on the most significant areas of regional and international change. These include issues of public health and disparate access to health care; climate change and ecological stressors; new and evolving forms of technology, media and communication; the scope and shape of effective regulation; and the impact on the knowledge, skills, and values essential to the practice of law.
The program builds upon the existing J.D. Concentrations in Health Law and in Cybersecurity, Technology, and Intellectual Property Law, as well as the longstanding emphasis in Environmental Law and collaboration with the NSU Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center. It affords students in NSU Law’s B.S. in Law, J.D., and LL.M. programs the opportunity to engage in skills training, coursework, and innovative research.
The Goodwin Program’s public policy and scholarship impact will be fueled by offerings tied to public outreach and event activities that are developed by the Program. We must anticipate that the annual events will include the following:
- An annual academic symposium in partnership with European partner law schools, which is planned to alternate between locations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Madrid, Spain.
- CLE programs to highlight timely and exciting subjects among the program topics and the NSU Law concentrations, emphasizing Health Law, Environmental Law, IP and Cybersecurity Law, and International Law.
- Support for legal integration in research grants operating from Principal Investigators across NSU’s eighteen colleges as well as those in with partner universities in Europe and the Americas.
- Undergraduate events to highlight hot topics among the scheduled programs and the NSU Law concentrations, emphasizing Health Law, Environmental Law, IP and Cybersecurity Law, and International Law.
- Collaboration with the Sharon and Mitchell W. Berger Entrepreneur Law Clinic’s Berger Entrepreneur Bootcamp annual outreach event.
- Partnership programs with the American Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, and other legal organizations.
The Goodwin Program complements existing direct legal services and experiential training offered by NSU Law’s Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law (DIAL) Clinic, and its Sharon and Mitchell W. Berger Entrepreneur Law Clinic. With external funding, the program will expand these services, support original scholarship and research for faculty and students, and create new specialized programs of study for LL.M. and other students.
For more information or to be added to our mailing list, please use the appropriate link below:
Events
- September 22, 2023, Goodwin Program Launch CLE: Artificial Intelligence, Crypto, NFTs, and the Metaverse: Applying Today’s Law to Tomorrow and Beyond
- October 13, 2023, Co-Sponsor of the Berger Entrepreneur Bootcamp
- November 2023, Undergraduate Event on the Technology of the Future
- May 2024, Co-Sponsor of the NSU and Universidad Nebrija (Spain) Annual Conference on Society, Security, Technology, and the Law (in development)
Director: Jon M. Garon (see biographical information below)
Technology and Intellectual Property Law Faculty
Cheryl Booth. Dr. Booth is a law librarian at Nova who specializes in online privacy and data security.
Megan F. Chaney. Professor Megan Chaney serves as the Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Field Placement Clinic and teaches courses on Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and has previously taught Trial Advocacy and Professional Responsibility. She has presented, published, ant taught on areas of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence which includes issues of privacy, governmental surveillance, and use of biometric data for law enforcement..
Marc Consalo. Marc Consalo is an Assistant Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Professor Consalo teaches in both the Undergraduate Program and at the Law School level. He teaches Law & Technology, Introduction to Law, Constitutional Law, Professional Responsibility, and additional subjects.
Jane E. Cross. Dean Cross is Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, & Public Impact, and Director of the Caribbean Law Program. She teaches Administrative Law, Electronic Commerce and Digital Trade, Federal Privacy Law, and Legal Research and Methods.
Vicenç F. Feliú. Dean Feliú is Associate Dean for Library Services at Nova. He teaches Intellectual Property and Copyright Law. His scholarship focuses on copyright, trademark, and authorship issues involving AI-generated content.
Jon M. Garon. Professor Garon is a nationally recognized authority on technology law and intellectual property, particularly copyright law, entertainment and information privacy. His teaching and scholarship focus on Information Privacy Law, Cyberspace Law, Copyright Law, Entertainment Law, Cybersecurity, and related topics.
Steven Kass. Steven Kass is the Berger Family Fellow and Director of the Sharon and Mitchell W. Berger Entrepreneur Law Clinic. Prior to becoming the Clinic's Director, Steve practiced as a business lawyer for 35 years in Miami, Florida, primarily in the areas of corporate, securities, and insurance law, most recently at Carlton Fields, P.A. where he was a Shareholder and Treasurer of the firm.
James D. Wilets. Dean Wilets writes extensively on constitutional and international law issues, including Human Rights, Immigration Law, Gender and the Law, and European Union Law.
Health Law Faculty
Julie L. Agris. Dr. Agris, PhD, JD, LLM, is currently Assistant Professor of Law at Nova. She teaches and publishes in the fields of health law, public health law, bioethics, administrative law, and professionalism. Her research focuses on topics at the intersection of law and professionalism with an ultimate goal of enhancing policy recommendations to support the delivery of high-quality patient care in the health sector.
Amanda M. Bertrand. Professor Bertrand's scholarship focuses on Disability Rights Law, and she teaches in the areas of Disability Rights Law, Rights and Health Care Ethics, Health Law, Insurance Law, and Women & the Law.
Kathy Cerminara (Emerita). Professor Cerminara bridges the medical and legal professions with her work on patients’ rights in the end-of-life decision-making arena. She taught Health Policy & Bioethics, Bioethics and Law and Medicine seminars, Mental Health Law, and other health-law-related courses, and also created and was the initial director of the online Master of Science in Health Law program for non-lawyers.
Matthew W. Dietz. Professor Dietz Director of the Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law Clinic. He has been a very active writer, advocate, and speaker on disability rights issues.
Florence Shu Blankson. Professor Blankson is Professor of Law and author of extensive scholarship involving on the intersection between regulatory frameworks and public health policy for HIV and the Ebola Virus as well as the regulation of marijuana. She teaches courses on health law and has been instrumental in supervising student research, scholarship, and publications in the field.
Marilyn Uzdavines. Professor Uzdavines primarily teaches in the area of health care practice and regulation. She also teaches Pharmaceutical Law, Legal Perspectives in Health Care Ethics, and Regulatory Compliance NSU's online Master of Science in Health Law program.
Environmental Faculty
Brion Blackwelder. Professor Blackwelder is Associate Professor of Law at Nova, where he teaches Ocean and Coastal Law to law and oceanography students. He serves on the Broward County Water Advisory Board and for several years was a member of the County's Climate Change Task Force.
Joel Mintz (Emeritus). Professor Mintz’s scholarship focuses primarily on environmental law and policy, environmental enforcement, sustainable development, regulation of hazardous wastes, and state and local taxation and finance. He is an elected member of both the Commission on Environmental Law of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the International Council of Environmental Law.
Eric V. Hull. Professor Hull has published widely on animal law, environmental law, ocean and coastal law, and maritime law topics, with an emphasis on climate change and the impacts of pollution on ocean and coastal systems, human health, and the environment. He teaches courses in animal law, environmental law, environmental justice, ocean and coastal law, property law, and zoning.
Keith W. Rizzardi. Professor Rizzardi moved to legal education after years of government service as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice Environmental and Natural Resources Division and as a managing attorney for the South Florida Water Management District. His teaching and research focuses on environmental and water law, civil and administrative procedure, and legal ethics and professionalism.