WENDI J. ADELSON
2116 Trescott Dr. (954) 803-0079
Tallahassee, FL 32308
EDUCATION
University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida J.D., 2006
Rank: Top 12%, 3.5 G.P.A
Honors: Cum Laude
Harry S. Truman Scholar (1 of 75 Congressionally-sponsored scholarships for academics and service)
Reid Scholarship (1 of 3 full tuition recipients in a class of 396 students)
Law Review: Staff Editor, University of Miami Inter-American Law Review
Florida State University College of Law, Tallahassee, Florida (Visiting 3L, 2005-06)
Honors: Book award, Alternative Dispute Resolution
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England M.Phil., Int’l Relations, 2002-03
Honors: Gates Cambridge Full Scholarship
Thesis: Distinguishing Between Economic Migration and Political Asylum Seeking in the UK
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies, 2001
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa; magna cum laude; 3.9 G.P.A
Brandeis Gilbert Scholarship (full tuition scholarship for four years)
SELECT WORK AND PUBLIC SERVICE EXPERIENCE
Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, Tallahassee, FL Fall 2007 –
Program Director/Adjunct Professor
· Legal Representation of asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking, battered and abused immigrants and unaccompanied children eligible for special immigrant juvenile visas
· House Bill 605 Exploited Children (passed): assisted in lobbying efforts to change the language of the Florida anti-trafficking legislation as it relates to children to mirror the more relaxed burden of proof in the federal standard.
· Co-teaching seminar on Asylum and Refugee law and Human Trafficking for Spring semester
· Supervision of law students fulfilling their pro bono legal requirement with the Center
University of Miami Center for Ethics and Public Service, Miami FL Fall 2006-2007
Staff Attorney/ Clinical Fellow.
· Representation of abused, abandoned and neglected children in special immigrant juvenile visa proceedings.
· Lecturer in immigration and clinical education and a staff attorney in the Center’s Children and Youth Law Clinic and the Community Health Rights Education Clinics
· Admitted to the Florida Bar, September, 2006.
The Honorable Harry L. Anstead, Supreme Court of Florida, Tallahassee, FL Fall 2005
Intern. Prepared Determinations of Jurisdiction, legal research, and drafted and edited opinions and orders.
Holland + Knight LLP, Washington, D.C. Summer 2005
Summer Associate.
Steel Hector & Davis LLP, Miami, FL Spring 2005
Academic Law Clerk.
University of Miami Center for Ethics and Public Service, Miami, FL January 2004 – 2005
Intern. Secured asylum for Iraqi refugee in immigration court; assisted immigrants with HIV on permanency planning.
The Honorable Patricia A. Seitz, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, Miami, FL Summer 2004
Intern. Drafted and edited orders and opinions on range of issues used by Judge Seitz in judicial proceedings.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C. June 2001- July 2002
Junior Fellow. Served as one of ten students selected nationwide for a one-year fellowship on immigration issues.
Children’s Defense Fund, Washington, D.C. Summer 2000
Intern. Helped draft manual for National Collegiate Outreach for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Oak Hill Juvenile Detention Center Women’s Division, Washington, D.C. Summer 2000
Teacher in Conflict Resolution. Conducted dialogue groups with 13 adolescent female offenders.
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo-Founding Line, Dialogo 2000, Buenos Aires, Argentina Summer 1999
Interviewer, Translator and Teacher.
· Translated documents for Nobel Peace Prize winner on debt relief.
· Interviewed family members of the disappeared.
· Volunteered at Peace and Justice Service camp for abused and neglected children.
Brandeis International Center for Ethics, Justice, Public Life, Waltham, MA Fall 1999-May 2001
Outreach Coordinator.
· Organized events bringing peace builders, journalists, artists and activists to campus. Transcribed discussions between coexistence practitioners and human rights workers. Interviewed and coordinated participants for “Faces of Work at Brandeis” exhibit.
Big Siblings Program, Waltham, MA 1998–2001
Coordinator.
· Expanded the program to provide over 50 at-risk youth with siblings (previously provided to 12). Maintained matches. Recruited new big and little siblings. Worked with social workers, local schools and families. Organized group events.
Starting Blocks, Dade and Broward Counties, FL 1993 – Present
Founder and president.
· Established, at age thirteen, a service organization that has provided over $18,000 in educational materials to over 2,500 children attending under-funded day care centers.
PUBLICATIONS
The Case of the Eroding Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, 18 FLA. ST. J. TRANSNAT'L L. & POL'Y ( Mar. 2009).
Symposium, Human Trafficking: Global and National Responses to the Cries for Freedom, Child Prostitute or Victim of Trafficking?, 6 U. ST. THOMAS L.J. 96 (2009).
Amici Curiae Brief of Special Immigrant Juvenile Case, April 29, 2008.
Op-ed with Sandy Skelaney, Children in the Sex Trade are Victims, Not Criminals, Tallahassee Democrat, March 26, 2008. (also in Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Sun-Sentinel)
Article, Human Slavery Persists: combating human trafficking in Florida, The Gates Scholar, Vol. 4, Issue 3, pg. 7 (Winter 2007).
Article, Foundation grant will help combat human trafficking, The Florida Bar News, pg. 11, October 15, 2007
Manual, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Florida: A Guide for Judges, Lawyers and Child Advocates (June 2007).
Law Stories, Coming Full Circle: Law as a Tool for Social, and Personal, Change, 75 Umkc L. Rev. 1137. (Summer 2007).
Op-ed, Court’s Decision Too Late For David Joseph and Others, Miami Herald, February 8, 2005.
Article, Economic Migrants and Political Asylum Seekers in the United Kingdom: Crafting the Difference,
1 MICH. J. PUBLIC AFFAIRS (Summer 2004).
PRESENTATIONS
Presenter, Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers, Tampa, Florida, November 12, 2008.
Presenter, Ninth Annual Florida Trial Court State Attorneys Association Conference, Orlando, Florida, October 23, 2008.
Presenter, Concurrent Session, 2008 AALS Workshop on Clinical Legal Education (Tucson, AZ, May 5, 2008).
Testimony, Committee on State Affairs, Florida House of Representatives, April 8, 2008.
Key Note Speaker, FSU Office of National Fellowships Recognition Dinner, March 19, 2008.
“Human Trafficking in Florida,” Rotary Club of Coral Springs, December 4, 2007.
Moderator, Panel, On Their Own: The 2nd Annual Conference on Unaccompanied Immigrant Children (hosted by Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Miami, FL, May 18, 2007).
Presenter, Scholarly Works in Progress, 2007 AALS Workshop on Clinical Legal Education (New Orleans, LA, May 5, 2007).
LANGUAGES AND SKILLS
Proficient in Spanish (reading, writing, and speaking), Basic Portuguese, Basic Luganda
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