Florida Banking February 2022

STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

MY TIME IN IOWA, PART IV: IN THE HEART OF THE LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

BY ALEJANDRO “ALEX” SANCHEZ, FBA PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

L ife at Iowa Law was a great experience. The University of Iowa faculty and local Iowans were very caring people. They always showed much concern that this veteran and Floridian’s needs were being met. I will remember many things about Iowa, but the two that stand out to me are the people and the great education I received at the University of Iowa College of Law. As I entered my senior year, I was looking ahead to graduation. I had done an extra semester in the summer so I could graduate in December of 1983 ahead of my class, which would graduate May of 1984. I was ready to graduate and “start my real working life.” After almost five years in the United States Air Force and three years of law school, I was ready to get back to Florida, start a family and begin working. But first I had to finish that last semester and successfully pass all my classes. Law school exams were no picnic. They usually lasted four hours and were a combination of multiple choice and essay. There were no midterms, so your entire grade was based on this one exam. I learned quickly in law school that class participation did not matter in most classes; even students who never spoke up could pass the class so long as they aced their final exam. My professor who taught Property Law, Charles Davidson, was a great person. Professor Davidson lectured, lectured and did more lecturing. He wasn’t too keen on students asking questions or interrupting his lectures with comments. I learned quickly in his class that good notes were critical. If you took good notes in class, he gave you the questions and answers to the final exam. The challenge was solving the riddle of finding those questions and answers in my hundreds of pages of notes. On a personal note, I learned years later after graduating that Professor Davidson was a military veteran who served in WWII. I wish I had known that at the time. But back in those days there was no

internet and having personal conversations with some professors just did not happen. There were two classes I took at Iowa Law that, looking back, I do not know why I tortured myself by taking. I guess I wanted the challenge when, in fact, all classes were difficult. I signed up in back-to-back semesters for Professor Larry Ward’s Taxation I and Taxation II classes. The first class dealt with personal taxes and the second with corporate taxation. Professor Ward was a former Deputy IRS Tax Commissioner. It was the most difficult class that I have ever taken. On Day One of these tax classes I learned the hard and cruel reality that was facing me: our textbook was the IRS Code, a thick and heavy book with the smallest of font sizes to read. To this day, I do not know how I passed these two classes when my entire grade was based on a four-hour exam. Time was beginning to run out for me at Iowa as December quickly approached; like everything in life, you realize how fast time flies. Graduation came and my law school colleagues graduating with me all had the same thought: Why weren’t we happy? Graduating from law school was the most somber graduating experience one could have. The reason for this was a simple one: We knew we faced more training and the passage of the state bar, another five-hour exam. Nevertheless, in life it is one step at a time. To get to the Bar exam you must graduate from law school, and that’s what I was doing. My memories from Iowa law have stayed with me all my life. I have always been thankful to Iowa for being accepted there and for my law school experience. I have had several opportunities to return to Iowa City and to the school, and it is something I have cherished each time. I hope you have enjoyed this four-part series about my time at Iowa Law. Part five and the final one involves Judge Vann and returning to Miami after graduation.

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