“Lawyers Without Rights” | Exhibit Opening and Panel Discussion
June 1 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
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
- Bill Choyke:
A longtime journalist, Bill Choyke has worked for the American Bar Association since 2010 and is now a senior strategist and writer in the Media Relations Division. He is also the U.S. coordinator of the ABA-German Federal Bar project, Lawyers Without Rights, a traveling exhibit and book which depict the purge of Jewish lawyers and jurists in Nazi Germany solely because of their religion.
- 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.
