With pleasure and pride, I welcome the new year by sharing a small sample of stories about Jacksonville University’s inaugural class of law students, known as the “Fabulous 14,” as they prepare to graduate in May 2025.
For example:
A professor recalls how one student “reminded me of a great old trial lawyer I had known” and knew right away she would be a great trial lawyer herself.
Sure enough he was gratified to congratulate her on getting one of the most prestigious advocacy jobs a new attorney can land.
Another professor relishes a story about exams when a student’s computer malfunctioned and she lost all her answers 45 minutes before the exam ended.
With poise and purpose the 1L recreated her answers by hand during the short remaining time. “I knew then,” her professor said, “that the students who had committed to this great adventure were up for any challenge.”
At the Fab 14’s first final exam, a classmate made a jaunty fashion statement, arriving in shorts and a sleeveless Chicago Bulls No. 23 basketball jersey. He explained, “Everyone knows that Michael Jordan was the finals champ. I want to be the champ of law finals.”
One student remembers before the final exam, “I wrote out the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on a whiteboard in one of the study rooms. Before we realized it, two classmates and I were deep into practice questions. When we finally decided to call it a night — or morning, at that point — we discovered that we had been locked out of the parking garage.”
The three students briefly considered spending the night in the law school, but were able to get back to their cars thanks to a security guard in the building. They all passed the exam the next day.
“What stands out most to me from that night is the bond we formed. We could have easily gone our separate ways to deal with the situation, but instead, we stuck together. We were truly in it together — studying together, passing together and refusing to leave anyone behind. That bond is strong throughout the whole class,” the student said.
Several intrepid classmates describe their exhilaration and satisfaction midwifing the “Birth of a New Law School,” a news story in the Jacksonville Daily Record, published as the inaugural classes began.
They posed for pictures and gave interviews. One says, “I still have the clippings. This was a moment of immense pride for us, and we understood the gravity of the mission we had set out on … the audacity and bravery we had in deciding to join and build a brand-new law school.”
Looking back at a treasured group photo with JU President Tim Cost taken during orientation, one notes, “It’s funny … how much each of has changed individually and collectively… that one picture speaks a thousand words about where we were then and now. As we approach graduation, we are different in good ways, more confident and equipped for leadership roles.”
Close-knit cohort
Of the special, shared ties one student observes, “we are especially tight for our close knit first cohort. Over the course of our 2.5 years together, the Fabulous 14 have done more than just study together and argue with each other. We have watched our classmates get married and have children. Ten of us were able to attend a classmate’s wedding, which was one of the first of many weddings and important personal occasions I expect the Fab 14 to attend for one another.”
Unfailingly, the inaugural class cared about and supported each other, as when a classmate coped with a newborn child’s health challenge.
And on a lighter but calorically heavier note, I initially was puzzled about the source of deliveries of a continuous supply of snacks and candy which continues to this day.
I learned it is a gift from one generous student to the law school community, as was the sudden appearance in the communal cafe of a popular video arcade game.
Describing the essence of the Fabulous 14 one of them writes, “I am constantly inspired when I reflect on how unique our class is. We are a remarkable collection of individuals, each bringing a distinct background and set of skills to the table. I share a special connection with every member of the Fab 14. Together, we take immense pride in being the founding class. Above all else, I am proud that all of us started together, worked, grown, matured, and learned together, and now, we are all making it to the end together.”
New organizations
Several inaugural students cited memories of establishing and running all the new student organizations. One spotlighted the fledgling Law Review hosting its first symposium in February 2024 and organizing the upcoming symposium on AI in February 2025.
She reports, “The first event packed the River House on the Arlington campus. I think the upcoming symposium will be an even bigger success, and past experience has taught us that we will definitely need lots more chairs!”
A sparkler in our constellation of stars reports many favorite memories, but cites “as the top, representing the school in the Robert Orseck Moot Court competition this past summer.”
Note that she won the internal moot court competition as well. Her other highlights include “helping to build the history of the school with my law school family, the bonds I have created and the memories I have made which will last forever. I am looking forward to cherishing this last semester.”
One of our originals notes, “One of my favorite memories was our small awards ceremony and celebration at the conclusion of our first year. It felt like a family gathering, not a school event. Although I love the new campus and the many new faces, it is bittersweet when I think back to the 18th floor of the VyStar Tower and my many days in class looking out into the horizon, wondering if we’d make it. Those days bonded us together, made us the class we have become.”
Another fondly says of the VyStar Tower, “It was a unique and intimate workspace for students, faculty and staff to share. Having a small space brought us all closer together.”
A memory that jumps out for many students and, frankly, is one of, if not the, highlights of my long career, is the moment on Feb. 29, 2024, when we entered each classroom and shared the news about receiving initial American Bar Association accreditation.
One student writes, “I am sure that many of my classmates will agree with me in saying that that was a great moment of pride (and relief) for all of us, and I will look back on that moment fondly for the rest of my life.”
They also remember the boisterous ribbon cutting with Mayor Donna Deegan, President Cost and many civic, bench, Bar, alumni and university leaders after we moved into our gorgeous permanent home at 121 W. Forsyth St.
Some still laugh about our first ribbon cutting in 2022 when we opened VyStar Tower doors to law students for the first time. I can’t forget the look on then-Mayor Lenny Curry’s and President Cost’s faces, and the giggles that ran through the assembled 14, when I said, “I would not trade one of them for any other law student anywhere in the United States, not one … maybe two or three of them, and they know who they are, but not one of them.”
A group of Trailblazers
As I said at the opening convocation ceremony of our fabulous first 14 students, our future has been in their hands as much as theirs is in the hands of our faculty and staff. Our first students are trailblazers for the generations of students who will follow them.
During vacation breaks, our students provide many valuable hours of free legal work for those in need in our community. Our students know how to enjoy themselves and each other’s company, consistent with the ever-present obligation that they must adhere to the code of professional conduct.
The JU College of Law is not the place where either duty or fun goes to die. May that ever be so.
Our students created from scratch a vibrant, engaged and productive Student Bar Association. Under SBA auspices, numerous new student organizations drafted and adopted governing documents, elected or selected officers, and have secured a faculty or staff adviser who has agreed to provide support.
Each and every one of our first 14 are characters. A full Whitman’s sampler of them.
But knowing them as I do, I can now drop the faux caveat from the first ribbon cutting and vouch for their fine character. Soon it will be my proud privilege to do so when they apply for their law license.
Those who are involved with our law school and those in Jacksonville and beyond who meet and observe our students for the first time find it difficult to curb their enthusiasm.
We justifiably expect our Fabulous 14 to become fabulous lawyers who will make us proud and the future better.
What a great thought to brighten the new year.