New
partnership sails to Charleston School of Law
Seamen's
Church Institute, law school partner for unique opportunities
CHARLESTON, S.C., April 10, 2007 -- The Charleston School of
Law and the Seamen's
Church Institute (SCI) of New York & New Jersey today
announced an agreement to work together to provide educational
opportunities on seafarers' rights for students and local lawyers
in South Carolina.
The new partnership includes several educational programs, such
as an annual roundtable discussion, an annual lecture on seafarers'
rights, a yearly continuing education seminar for Charleston-area
lawyers and a New York-based student externship program.
"Having internationally-recognized lecturers and professionals
from the Seamen's Church Institute's Center for Seafarers' Rights
will raise the academic bar for Charleston's maritime industry,"
said Prof. Randall Bridwell, director of the Charleston
Maritime Legal Institute at the law school. "The law school
and Charleston legal community are extraordinarily fortunate to
be able to have people of this caliber to partner with."
Douglas B. Stevenson, Esq., director of the Institute's
Policy, Advocacy and Law program, added: "Our global economy
depends on merchant mariners to deliver the world's goods to their
markets. The Seamen's Church Institute advocates for these hard-working
men and women who are so vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
We are thrilled to partner with the Charleston School of Law to
prepare future maritime law leaders with a better understanding
of seafarers' contributions to our lives and the necessity to
preserve seafarers' legal rights."
First Charleston School of Law extern selected to go to
New York
A highlight of the new partnership is an annual May externship
for a Charleston School of Law student. The recipient, picked
in a highly competitive process, will spend a month at the Seamen's
Church Institute headquarters in New York.
"The student who is awarded this externship will be exposed
to a broad array of people and talent," said Prof. Elizabeth
McCullough, who directs the school's externship program. "He
or she will help resolve important issues that arise in the lives
of seafarers."
The recipient of the first Seamen's Church Institute externship
is John O. Radeck Jr., a first-year law student at Charleston
School of Law. A Georgia native, Radeck graduated magna cum laude
from the University of Georgia in 2005 and worked at the Wright
McLeod Law Firm in Evans, Ga. He said he looked forward to gaining
experience on seafarers' rights issues because it will help him
"gain insight into an area of the law that will enable me
to make a permanent, positive impact on the lives of mariners
and those working in the maritime industry."
(more)
Founded in 1834 and affiliated
with the Episcopal Church, the Seamen's Church Institute of New
York & New Jersey (SCI) is the largest, most comprehensive
mariners' agency in North America. Annually, its chaplains visit
3,400 vessels in the Port of New York and New Jersey and along
2,200 miles of America's inland waterways. SCI's maritime education
program provides navigational training to nearly 1,600 mariners
each year at simulator-based facilities located in Houston, Texas,
and Paducah, Kentucky. SCI and its maritime attorneys are recognized
as leading advocates for merchant mariners by the U.S. Government,
including the Congress, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of
Homeland Security, as well as the United Nations, the International
Maritime Organization, the International Labor organization and
maritime trade associations.
The Charleston School of Law,
which will graduate its first class of students in May, was founded
to teach the practice of law as a profession with an emphasis
on providing students with a foundation of public service - -
giving back to the community regardless of the legal career path
taken.
