Longtime Stetson University Professor of Law Michael P. Allen celebrated his judicial investiture on March 20 as one of the newest judges serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, D.C.

Along with Judge Allen, Judges Amanda L. Meredith and Joseph L. Toth also celebrated their investiture, with the Office of White House Counsel presenting commissions.

Jason P. Stearns J.D. ’08, recipient of Stetson’s Outstanding Alumni Representative Award, spoke at the investiture ceremony, describing Allen as an impactful mentor whom he first met while he was a first-year law student at Stetson. Allen and Stearns co-coached Stetson’s award-winning National Veterans Moot Court Competition team. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs General Counsel James Byrne J.D. ’95 was also in attendance.

“The entire Stetson Law family is so grateful to Judge Allen for his work and dedication to the many students at Stetson who became professionals committed to giving back to our community and our veterans under his leadership,” said Stetson Law Dean and Professor of Law Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz. “He has done great things at Stetson and we look forward to his continued leadership for veterans in Washington.”

Allen is a recognized expert on the law of veterans’ benefits, and has testified before Congress and written extensively on veterans’ benefits issues.

Stetson Law dedicated its Veterans Law Institute under Allen’s direction in 2012. The Institute serves to increase legal services available to the growing population of military members, veterans and their families. Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic provides representation to veterans appealing decisions denying them Veterans Administration disability benefits.

Joining the Stetson faculty in 2001, Allen taught civil procedure, remedies, complex litigation, constitutional law, the federal courts and the federal system, and veterans’ benefits law and received multiple awards for teaching and scholarship. He also served as associate dean at Stetson Law for four years, co-coached four of Stetson’s moot court teams, and supervised the Stetson internship programs at the Florida Supreme Court, Florida Second District Court of Appeal, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Chief Judge Robert N. Davis, also a former professor at Stetson Law, officiated at the investiture in the ceremonial courtroom of the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Johnny Isakson, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Tom Bowman, and Senior Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas Michael C. Toth also spoke at the investiture. The Senate confirmed Judge Allen in August as a federal judge.

To learn more about veterans advocacy at Stetson, visit www2.stetson.edu/law/veterans/.

-Brandi Palmer