by CATHARINE SKIPP
Jordan Brooks, 3L joint J.D./M.D., is a fellow for the Center for Ethics and Public Service and the Human Rights Clinic and completing his third year of medical school. He is also a board member for Buddy System MIA. Jordan has worked with numerous public interest organizations, including Catalyst Miami and Legal Services of Greater Miami. He has received two CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Human Rights and Regulatory Compliance, Corporate Governance, and Sustainability, and a Dean’s Certificate of Achievement in international human rights law. He aspires to create a more sustainable, equitable healthcare system.
The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center and Miami Scholars program attracted Myles Crandall, 3L, to Miami Law. As a 1L, pro bono projects included work with the Fines and Fees Justice Center and Disability Independence Group. He interned with the Federal Public Defender Capital Habeas Unit in Tallahassee. As a 2L, he joined the Innocence Clinic and served on the executive boards of several student organizations. He received the Director’s Book Award for Excellence in Litigation Skills. Last summer, he interned at the Sixth Amendment Center. Myles is a symposium editor for the University of Miami Law Review.
Ashley Garcia, 3L and a Dean’s Merit Scholar, interned with Judge Miguel M. de la O from the 11th Judicial Circuit, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Public Defender Capital Habeas Unit before law school. After her 1L year, Garcia interned at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra. During her 2L year, Garcia received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award as a member of the Innocence Clinic. She was invited to return to the clinic as a fellow for her final year of law school. In 2022, she was a summer associate at Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Cory Hartstein, 3L, drawn by the school’s growing health law program, interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, where he gained experience working in the Civil Division and the Health Care Fraud Unit as a 1L. As a 2L, he served as a student clinician in the Health Rights Clinic. Hartstein serves as the Health Law Association’s secretary and is a UM Law Trial Team member. He received the Daniel Pearson Endowed Scholarship, given to students who show promise as trial lawyers and dedication to public service. He was a 2022 summer associate in Holland & Knight’s litigation practice.
Brittany Hicks, 2L, is passionate about reforming the criminal legal system and exploring her interest in entertainment law. As a 2022 summer associate with Orrick in New York City, Hicks worked on matters ranging from exonerating wrongly incarcerated individuals to closing mergers and acquisitions deals. Hicks also gained an in-house perspective while interning with Netflix’s legal department in the summer of 2022. As a 2L, Hicks focuses on furthering an inclusive campus environment and mentoring Miami’s youth as the vice president of UM’s Black Law Student’s Association. While interning with the Innocence Clinic this year, she is also excited to fulfill the desire that initially attracted her to Miami Law.
Before law school, Tarmo Jõeveer, J.D./LL.M. ’22, worked at the United Nations, providing risk management support in conflict areas and assisting with humanitarian relief in the aftermath of natural disasters in the Philippines, Ukraine, and Haiti, among others. At Miami Law, he was a member of the International and Comparative Law Review. After his 2L year, Jõeveer was accepted to the White & Case International Arbitration J.D./LL.M. program that helped to further focus his passion in international law. Currently, he is an associate at Shutts & Bowen LLP in the International Dispute Resolution practice group.
Estefania Lalinde, J.D. ’22, spent her law school summers as a policy law clerk with D.C.’s Children’s Law Center, a legal intern with MacArthur Foundation, and a summer associate with Baker McKenzie’s transactional group. Drawn to the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center, the former Miami Scholar participated in an international moot court competition in Spanish and served as an intern for the Children & Youth Law Clinic and the Startup Clinic. She started working at Baker McKenzie as an associate this past fall. She is grateful to Miami Law’s clinical education for allowing her to explore her interests and passions.
Stevi Leavitt, 3L, is a member of the Public Interest Leadership Board, served as a 2021 and 2022 HOPE Fellow, and was the recipient of the 2021 Outstanding 1L Award for Community Service. During her 2022 summer, she interned with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Monterey Waterkeeper in California. At Monterey Waterkeeper, Leavitt focused on projects to improve water quality in the Salinas Valley. This spring, Leavitt is externing with Earthjustice, addressing energy and water quality concerns. Upon graduation, Leavitt plans to dedicate her career to tackling environmental justice issues through a community-based lawyering approach.
At age three, David Mancia-Orellana, J.D. ’22, and his family left their home country of El Salvador to pursue a better life. Settling in Rogers, Arkansas, Mancia-Orellana credits his family’s support and mentorship for his accomplishments. Drawing on the strength of his hardworking family, Mancia-Orellana graduated cum laude from Florida State University, then came to Miami Law on a Dean Merit’s Scholarship where he served as the clinic fellow for the Immigration Clinic and clerked at two prominent Arkansas law firms. Mancia-Orellana joined Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C in Greenville, South Carolina, as a business immigration associate.
Tori Simkovic, J.D. ’22, was a staff editor at the University of Miami Law Review; her article about non-unanimous jury verdicts and the Supreme Court’s retroactivity doctrine was published in Volume 76. Simkovic also served as the executive vice president of the Charles C. Papy Jr. Moot Court Board and worked as an intern and fellow for the Miami Law Innocence Clinic. Simkovic was part of the team that worked on the appellate brief that exonerated clinic client Dustin Duty. Simkovic is a litigation associate for DLA Piper.
