“Lawyers Without Rights” | Exhibit Opening and Panel Discussion

Experts will discuss topics integral to the exhibit, including the historical implications of a failed rule of law in the post-Weimar Republic, and the current state of Holocaust education in Florida schools.

Lawyers Without Rights Panelist Bios

• Joshua Magidson:
  
  Mr. Magidson’s primary area of practice is civil trial work, with extensive work in commercial cases, and probate, estate and trust litigation. He has experience in handling federal civil rights cases involving first amendment issues and local municipal ordinances which he successfully litigated before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Magidson proudly served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, followed by a two-year stint as a professional umpire in the Minor Leagues, and then becoming a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. He joined the firm as a law clerk in 1979, and then became an associate and then a partner.

• Ursula Szczepinska:

Ursula Szczepinska is the Director of Education & Research at The Florida Holocaust Museum. Prior to joining The FHM 17 years ago, she worked at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and at the State Museum at Majdanek on site of the former concentration and death camp in Lublin, Poland. As the head of The FHM’s Education Department, Ursula is responsible for teacher, student, and community education, including docent-led tours for various audiences.  Ursula teaches classes for educators and students at middle, high, and university levels. She also conducts archival and historical research for Holocaust survivors, as well as for exhibitions and other projects of The FHM. She has helped survivors discover the fate of their loved ones from whom they were separated during the Holocaust. She leads the Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project at The FHM in cooperation with Yad Vashem, and received the 2011 “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Florida Association of Museums for submitting over 700 Pages of Testimony from local survivors. In partnership with the Anti-Defamation League and the USHMM, she has been teaching the Law Enforcement and Society: Lessons of the Holocaust program for police agencies across the state.

• Patrick Iyampillai:

Patrick Iyampillai is an attorney and partner at Hale Law – Accident Attorneys. He has successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf of injury victims across the state of Florida and has been recognized with a multitude of awards and recognitions over the course of his career. He is a current member of the Young Jewish Adults group in Sarasota, and he is a former Young Adult Division Board Member of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. While a student at the Stetson University College of Law, Patrick served as President of the Jewish Law Student Association, and during his last school year, recognizing its importance, he coordinated the Lawyers Without Rights exhibit to be displayed at the Stetson Law Library. As a young professional, he brings a fresh perspective and a strong belief in the power of understanding history to shape a better future.

• Consul General Andreas Siegel:

Andreas Siegel is a career diplomat with a broad range of international experience in strategic, political, economic, and cultural affairs. He holds both a (postgraduate) diploma from the College of Europe, Bruges/Belgium, and a Master’s degree in French, English, and American literature/linguistics from the University of Freiburg/Germany.

Andreas has had a long-time connection and affinity with the United States: he was an AFS exchange student in Michigan during the Bi-Centennial year 1975/1976. In the early 1990’s he served as a Vice-Consul at the German Consulate General in Boston, Mass.

Before coming to Florida in July 2019, Andreas headed the German Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Before that he was Head of the Strategic Planning Division for External Cultural Policy in the Directorate General for Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

From 2010 to 2013 he was posted in Brussels/Belgium as First Counsellor at the Permanent Representation to NATO, coordinating in particular arms control and counter-terrorism matters. Prior to this, he worked for 6 years in Strasbourg/France, first as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Permanent Representation to the Council of Europe (CoE) , then – on leave from the Foreign Service – as Director of Strategic Planning, reporting directly to the Secretary General of the CoE. From 2001 to 2004, Andreas worked in the European Directorate General in Berlin, dealing mainly with European cultural policy and cross-border cooperation.

During the first 12 years of his career, Andreas occupied two posts in (the then capital) Bonn and three abroad: after two years of diplomatic training, he started off as a desk officer for Poland at the Foreign Office to move on to Boston/USA as Vice-Consul. He then spent three years in Lilongwe/Malawi (South-Eastern Africa) as Deputy Head of Mission and Chargé d’affaires. Back to Bonn, he worked at the Federal Chancellery, dealing with international strategic issues. Another assignment led him to Rabat and Casablanca/Morocco, where he served as Head of the economic section of the Embassy and Consul General, respectively.

• Mike Igel: Michael A. Igel, a third-generation Holocaust survivor, is chair of the Florida Commissioner of Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education and board chair of The Florida Holocaust Museum. Professionally, he is a partner with the law firm of Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns LLP.