Now in its third year of instruction and provisionally accredited by the American Bar Association, the Jacksonville University College of Law expanded its faculty with five professors, a counselor and a law librarian.
• Fifth District Court of Appeal Judge Scott Makar joins the faculty as an adjunct professor, bringing years of appellate practice experience to the curriculum.
Initially appointed to the 1st District Court of Appeal in 2012, he was recommissioned in 2023 when Northeast Florida was made a part of the 5th District.
Before his appointment to the bench, Makar was state solicitor general from 2007-12. In that position he argued five cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Makar also was chief of the Appellate Division in the Office of General Counsel for the city of Jacksonville from 2001-07.
Over the past four decades, Makar has taught law-related courses at colleges and universities including the University of Florida, Florida State University College of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law, the University of North Florida and JU.
Makar was a founding member of The Florida Bar’s Appellate Practice and Advocacy Section and the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section.
• Assistant professor of law Patrick Murphree became interested in the law after his research into the theater and drama of the French Revolution.
Murphree has taught acting, theater appreciation, fine arts, public speaking and Law School Admission Test (LSAT) preparation at Indiana University, Tulane University, Northwestern State University of Louisiana and Kaplan Inc.
He is currently studying performative representations of law and justice and researching conceptions of federalism in complex litigation and in French and American constitutional law.
• Chad Roberts is a new adjunct professor of law and co-instructor in an advanced civil procedures course focusing on modern electronic discovery.
Roberts received an engineering science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and graduated from Florida State University College of Law.
• Adjunct professor Natalie Tuttle is a general magistrate/hearing officer for the 4th Judicial Circuit presiding over family law matters. Before becoming a member of the judiciary in 2017, she was a full-time professor, and later, a supervising attorney and professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.
In the past 15 years Tuttle has taught first year and upper level legal writing courses and Florida practice and procedure courses.
• Katelyn Johnston joins the faculty as an adjunct professor and the law school’s Mock Trial Team coach.
An assistant state attorney with the 4th Judicial Circuit, Johnston attended law school at Stetson University College of Law where she graduated with a concentration in advocacy. She was a member of the trial team, winning national and state championships including the National Trial Competition in 2010.
• Academic Success Counselor Ron Angerer is a Florida licensed attorney who practiced law in Jacksonville for more than 10 years. His practice focused on labor and employment and related civil rights matters.
Angerer’s published work in The Florida Bar Journal was named the Article of the Year by the Labor and Employment Law Section of The Florida Bar.
• Reference Law Librarian Lisa Varon is an experienced trial lawyer with more 30 years of practice in criminal and civil law including as a partner at Fallgatter Catlin & Varon in Jacksonville.
Varon received a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law and a bachelor’s in public relations from the University of Florida.