Levin College of Law
Welcome to UF LAW

UF Law Announces Gerald A. Rosenthal Chair in Labor and Employment Law

RosenthalUniversity of Florida Levin College of Law is proud to announce the newly-endowed Gerald A. Rosenthal Chair in Labor and Employment Law.

The new chair, designed to recruit a nationally-recognized expert in labor and employment law, is made possible through a $2 million gift from Gerald A. Rosenthal (JD 73) and his late wife, Ingrid M. Rosenthal.

“We are so honored that Gerald Rosenthal chose to fund this chair,” said UF Law Dean Laura A. Rosenbury. “We very much look forward to recruiting – and eventually welcoming – a nationally recognized expert in this critical field of law. We are deeply grateful to the Rosenthals for making this possible.”

Rosenthal grew up in a working-class family with New York roots. His father was a member of the garment workers union. Following in his father’s footsteps, Rosenthal joined the hotels and restaurant workers union while employed at a summer job in the Catskills before starting law school. His understanding of the American labor movement spurred his interest in labor law, specifically a desire to represent workers as opposed to corporations.

“I found my calling fighting for these people who were oppressed by employers, by corporations. I just felt that this was right for me,” he said.

Rosenthal founded the West Palm Beach firm now known as Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Ryles. He spent decades representing immigrants, electricians, farm workers, teachers, construction workers, first responders and nurses. He has since retired from the firm though he continues to do consulting work.

“When I went through my time as a lawyer, I worked representing injured workers and dealt with all kinds of labor law issues. I experienced the concept that labor law is dynamic, it’s volatile and it affects every human being who works for a living,” Rosenthal said. “And so I said ‘why wouldn’t we get an academic chair, who could do this, who could be a trailblazer in a state that is at the leading frontier for labor law?’”

Rosenthal credits his late wife Ingrid for pushing him to pursue this passion by funding the chair.

“If you want a center of learning, how is it not at the University of Florida?” Rosenthal asked. “I’ve always wanted something like this.”

Published: October 13th, 2017

Category: Alumni, Leadership Gifts, News

Comments are closed.

Recent News

News Archive

University of Florida Levin College of Law
309 Village Drive
PO Box 117620
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-0804
Text-Only Version

Tools

Website

Quick Links

The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.