News 2011 | UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Governor Rick Scot appoints English graduate, Erin J. O'Leary, to the Eighteenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission. O'Leary, 42, of Winter Springs, has been Of Counsel with Brown, Garganese, Weiss and D'Agresta P.A. since 2002. Previously, she was a trial court staff attorney with the Ninth Judicial Circuit from 1995 to 2002 and an assistant public defender with the Seventh Judicial Circuit in 1995. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida and a law degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is appointed for a term beginning February 9, 2012, and ending July 1, 2012.

She is board certified by The Florida Bar as a specialist in Appellate Practice and has been appointed to the Florida Bar Appellate Court Rules Committee. Ms. O'Leary's practice is focused on the areas of appellate practice and complex litigation support. In those capacities, she represents clients on appeal to Florida's District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Additionally, she assists trial counsel by briefing complex legal arguments at the trial level in both state and federal courts.

The American Astronomical Society has awarded the Helen B. Warner Prize for a significant contribution to observational or theoretical astronomy by an early-career scientist to Eric B. Ford, who is in the Department of Astronomy, “for his theoretical and computational research in the field of extrasolar planets, including ground-breaking work on the dynamical evolution of planetary systems and planet formation.” Ford‘s work has established the importance of mutual gravitational interactions within exoplanet systems and has aided the efficient design of new exoplanet searches.

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