MENTORING WORKS
We hope these comments from mentors and mentees will help further explain the program and give you some ideas for being a better mentor or mentee. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Cornwell, Esq. Student at Florida Coastal School of Law, 2L March 2012 - I am writing to ask you to support Mr. Kozyak's foundation and annual picnic. Not only does Mr. Kozyak talk the talk, but he walks the walk. I am a minority student who completed a brief form at the picnic. As a result, Mr. Kozyak contacted me himself: he actually wanted to help. He gave me honest feedback about my resume and answered ...
Online Payments
Sponsor Level Platinum Plus . . .$10,000.00 USD Platinum . . .$7,500.00 USD Gold . . .$5,000.00 USD Silver . . .$2,500.00 USD Bronze . . .$1,500.00 USD Supporting . . .$750.00 USD Bar Association: 101 or more members . . .$750.00 USD Bar Association: 100 or less members . . .$500.00 USD Sponsor Name Your Name ______________________________________________________________________________________ Tents are ONLY available with a sponsorship and cannot be purchased alone. Tents are on a first come first serve basis as only a limited amount are permitted by the park. All tents are 10' x 10'. TENT PACKAGE 1 tent, 1 table & ...
THE PICNIC
The Kozyak Minority Mentoring Picnic is an annual event which is currently in its 8th year. The picnic has grown exponentially each year and is well attended by many judges, established lawyers and law students from every school in Florida. The picnic is sponsored by many businesses, multiple voluntary bar associations, a bank and numerous law firms. Many sponsors rent tents where it is easy for students to meet lawyers, judges and potential employees. We have a “Leaders and Legends” tent where some of the very best lawyers in the country have shared their experiences. For example, former Attorney General ...
The Mission
The Kozyak Minority Mentoring Foundation’s mission is to provide assistance and support to minorities interested in pursuing legal careers, mentoring programs, networking opportunities and limited financial aid. The Foundation takes primary responsibility for finding experienced lawyers and judges to mentor black law students at every law school in Florida and working with other voluntary bar associations to find mentors for all minority law students. John Kozyak, the Foundation’s founder, grew up in a totally segregated, community and was in high school when the 1974 Civil Rights Legislation was implemented. He has had a long-time commitment to creating opportunities for minority students. He ...
PHOTOS
2011 Picnic Photos 2010 Picnic Photos 2009 Picnic Photos 2008 Picnic Photos 2007 Picnic Photos 2006 Picnic Photos
PARTICIPATE
The Foundation relies on participation by its sponsors, mentors, and others who donate their time, money and skills in order to make the Foundation and all of its events successful. We are looking for mentors who are interested in mentoring young minority law students. Many lawyers have found the mentor/mentee relationship personally and professionally satisfying. Unfortunately, we need to raise money to put on the annual picnic and other events. Sponsorship opportunities are available and John Kozyak or Detra Shaw-Wilder would be delighted to put interested parties in contact with law firms, accounting firms and bar associations, which have previously been sponsors, to disuss the ...
The Board
John W. Kozyak Foundation Founder and Managing Director Founder of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA John W. Kozyak is a founding partner of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton and co-chairs the firm’s bankruptcy practice. John regularly plays a major role in bankruptcy courts across the nation, representing business owners, lenders, creditors’ committees, and major creditors, and he has been appointed a trustee and receiver in major cases. John grew up in southern Illinois outside of St. Louis and moved to Miami in 1977. His wife, Barbara Silverman, is also a lawyer and Director of the foundation. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Detra P. Shaw-Wilder Associate Managing Director Former President of the Gwen ...
The Founder
John W. Kozyak Foundation Founder and Managing Director Founder of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA For more than twenty years, John W. Kozyak has been promoting black law students and minority lawyers. He has worked to create new relationships, new opportunities and financial sources to help minorities succeed. John designed the mentoring program to take minority law students and connect them with a mentor in the area of law that they are interested in pursuing. Each year, John pairs hundreds of potential mentees with established lawyers and judges who have offered their time and resources to provide mentorship opportunities to their mentees. Mentors help guide ...
THE FOUNDATION
For the past seventeen years, John W. Kozyak and the law firm he co-founded, Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, have played a major role in the promotion of minority law school students in the community. The Foundation provides minority students the opportunity to be mentored by some of the best and most respected lawyers in the mentee’s field of interest. The foundation hosts several networking events. The 7th Minority Mentoring Picnic attracted more than 3,000 judges, attorneys, guest and minority students from every law school in every Florida and some from as far as California and New York. The Foundation helps set ...
John W. Kozyak
Foundation Founder and Managing Director
Founder of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA
John W. Kozyak is a founding partner of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton and co-chairs the firm’s bankruptcy practice. John regularly plays a major role in bankruptcy courts across the nation, representing business owners, lenders, creditors’ committees, and major creditors, and he has been appointed a trustee and receiver in major cases. John grew up in southern Illinois outside of St. Louis and moved to Miami in 1977. His wife, Barbara Silverman, is also a lawyer and Director of the foundation.
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Detra P. Shaw-Wilder
Associate Managing Director
Former President of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyer’s Association
Shareholder for Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA
Detra Shaw-Wilder is a litigation partner at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton. She concentrates her practice in business law, complex commercial litigation, and borrowers in matters related to commercial financing transactions. Ms. Shaw-Wilder represents a diverse range of clients in matters brought in state and federal courts, including contract disputes, commercial foreclosures, and employment law disputes.
Detra is largely responsible for the success of our annual picnics.
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Marcy Cox
Director
Assistant Dean of Career Planning for the University of Miami School of Law
Marcy Cox is the Assistant Dean of Career Development at the University of Miami School of Law and has been a member of the law school community for 14 years. Prior to joining UM, Marcy practiced law in both Los Angeles and Miami. She is active in the legal career professionals’ network and has held numerous leadership positions within the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). Marcy is currently the President of NALP and will serve in this capacity until April, 2012. As a longtime member of NALP, she has served as Treasurer; Chair of the Audit, Investment and Nominating Committees; Chair of the Diversity Section; Vice Chair of the Conference Planning Team; member of the Commission on Legal Recruiting in the Profession; and Liaison to the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession.
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Corali Lopez-Castro
Director
Former President of the Cuban-American Bar Association
Managing Partner for Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, PA
Corali Lopez-Castro concentrates her practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters. Mrs. Lopez-Castro’s practice reflects her extensive experience and expertise in a wide range of bankruptcy and insolvency matters, including bankruptcy reorganizations and liquidations under the United States Bankruptcy Code, receiverships, workouts, debt restructuring, and creditors’ rights. Her practice also involves commercial litigation matters that arise from receiverships and liquidations. She litigates before federal and state courts locally and around the United States.
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Barbara A. Silverman
Director
Shareholder for Colson Hicks Eidson
Barbara Silverman handles appeals in both state and federal court, as well as providing assistance to trial counsel with numerous complex legal issues arising during the course of pretrial, trial and post-trial proceedings. These matters involve a wide range of areas of practice, including personal injury and wrongful death, products liability, commercial litigation, medical, legal and accounting malpractice, fraud, insurance, employment discrimination and admiralty.
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Marlon Hill
Director
Founding partner of delancyhill, PA
Marlon Hill is a founding partner at the law firm of delancyhill, P.A. He concentrates his practice in corporate law, intellectual property/entertainment, and immigration matters. Mr. Hill serves as outside general corporate counsel to a number of small businesses, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations. He is the past president of the Caribbean Bar Association, an inaugural fellow of the Miami Foundation’s Miami Fellows Initiative, and a board member of the Miami Parking Authority, the Miami Foundation, and a member of the Orange Bowl Committee. He serves as an advisor/mentor to the Florida Caribbean Students Association and is a weekly civic commentator on WZAB 880AM, D’ Peoples Politics, every Saturday, 4pm.
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Cesar L. Alvarez
Director
Executive Chairman, Greenberg Traurig
Cesar L. Alvarez became the Executive Chairman of Greenberg Traurig in 2010. Prior to this time, Cesar served the firm as its Chief Executive Officer for 13 years and directed it through its incredible growth. Prior to becoming CEO of the firm, Cesar practiced securities, corporate and international law for more than 25 years. He has represented numerous public companies and currently serves on the board of directors of several publicly-traded corporations and charitable organizations.
Cesar has been recognized nationally and in his community for his professional, business and charitable leadership. As the only Hispanic head of an American Lawyer 100 Top 20 firm, Cesar uniquely understands both the critical need to diversify the legal profession and the challenges that businesses face in attempting to foster a new generation of minority leaders. Cesar’s personal, hands-on approach to overcoming diversity hurdles within the profession has produced results. Cesar’s efforts to promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal community have been recognized by several groups, including the American Bar Association, The National Law Journal and The Florida Bar.
Cesar believes that education provided him with the tools he has used to succeed in the business world. In order to help others achieve their American dream through education, Cesar has accepted leadership positions with numerous educational institutions. His current and recent positions include: Trustee, Florida International University; Trustee, University of Florida Levin College of Law; Chair, Florida International University College of Law, Advisory Board; Director, Take Stock in Children; Trustee, Miami-Dade College, 2005-2007; Board of Directors, Florida International University Foundation, 1998-2008; and Trustee, Manhattanville College, New York, 2002-2007.
