Jennifer Mary Zedalis
Email:
zedalis@law.ufl.edu
Bio:
Ms. Zedalis is the Director of Trial Practice at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She is the Co-Chair of the Gerald T. Bennett Public Defender/Prosecutor Trial Program and has served on the PPD faculty for 23 years. She teaches trial practice, pretrial practice, intro to lawyering, and mental health litigation, and has also taught the criminal defense clinic in the past. She is the faculty advisor for the trial team. She serves as Chair of the Peter T. Fay Jurist in Residence Program. She has practiced criminal defense for thirty years, and continues to do pro bono work as time permits. She was formerly an assistant public defender in the Fifth and Eighth Judicial Circuits, and ran a solo law practice from 1998 to 2003. She has handled all types of criminal cases, including capital cases, appeals, and post-conviction proceedings in addition to trial work. She has lectured in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Costa Rica in the areas of American trial procedures, evidence, and criminal practice.
Ms. Zedalis has a courtesy appointment in the UF Dept of Psychiatry, and teaches forensic psychiatrists in the Landmark Cases Seminar. She serves on the Executive Council of the Criminal Law Section, Florida Bar. She is also a member of the ABA Litigation Section, the Florida Bar Trial Lawyers Section, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Eighth Circuit Bar Association. She has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida (1984) and a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from Duke (1980).