Student Spotlight

"The opportunity to work with students encouraged me to critically evaluate my own writing techniques"

As the son of a lawyer, Cameron Hall grew up with a natural interest in the law. But it wasn't until the St. Petersburg native visited South Africa for a regatta that his interest peaked.

"While we were there, we witnessed great inequality and disparate treatment," says Hall. Inspired by what he saw, he became more interested in how lawyers could help people who don't have the power to protect their own interests.

Hall's lifelong interest in competitive sailing has led him around the world. Along with South Africa, he's represented the United States at international regattas in Italy, Germany, Denmark, and Puerto Rico. He attended the College of Charleston, where he graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, with a Concentration in Marketing. His continued interest in legal issues and helping others led him to pursue a law degree.

Considering both his father and great-grandfather graduated from Stetson University College of Law and his mother graduated from Stetson University, Hall might have felt obligated to apply—but instead he weighed his options. "When I visited Stetson, I was impressed with the close relationships between the professors and the students," he says. "From my perspective, Stetson allows students to work closely with professors in a way that isn't matched at other schools." 

The choice was clear.

Then, during Hall's senior year at the College of Charleston, his girlfriend, Andrea, was diagnosed with leukemia. Stetson Law helped him defer admission for a year while he moved with her to Texas for her treatment. There, she had a bone-marrow transplant and was able to join him in St. Petersburg during his second year of law school. "Although Ann still receives treatment locally at Moffitt," says Hall, "we just celebrated our eight-year anniversary!"

During his time at Stetson Law, Hall was a member of Stetson Law Review, a Teaching Assistant to Professor Catherine Cameron, and a Research Assistant to Professor Louis Virelli. He interned with the U.S. Department of Justice's Elder Justice Initiative and interned for the Hon. Elizabeth A. Kovachevich of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. These experiences had an impact on his studies.

"I enjoyed my internship with Judge Kovachevich, which took place in the summer after my first year of law school," says Hall. "The internship was an amazing opportunity to see the subjects and techniques that I'd learned in the first year applied to actual cases and events.

Through the internship, I was able to research different issues of law during trial, and to think through how the issues should be resolved. When I passed the bar after graduation, Judge K conducted my swearing-in ceremony."

During his second year of law school, Hall wrote a paper discussing congressional standing applied to the context of executive non-enforcement, arguing that the Executive's refusal to enforce laws afforded sufficient standing for certain compositions of Congress to bring suit. While researching and writing the paper was interesting, he enjoyed discussing the various arguments and considerations with Professor Virelli.

As a teaching assistant to Professor Cameron's Research and Writing classes, he worked  with first-year students. "The opportunity to work with the students encouraged me to critically evaluate my own writing techniques," says Hall. 

Hall graduated Valedictorian of his class at Stetson Law. Today, He is a real estate associate at Holland and Knight's Tampa office. He has been practicing for less than a year, but has had the opportunity to complete a number of interesting projects. "The single most important thing I learned at Stetson is how to critically assess problems by thinking through all possible issues and arguments," says Hall.

Hall continues to sail when he has the time, but spends most of his time with his girlfriend and their dog, Gus. When asked what he'd recommend to those considering going to law school, Hall shared, "Take the time to visit Stetson and sit in on a class, meet with a professor, or talk to current students. Everyone will be happy to talk to you about your questions and concerns."