Madeleine Siegel – a first-year Juris Doctor candidate at FSU College of Law and a COSSPP alumna (B.S. Interdisciplinary Social Science and Spanish ’21) – currently serves as the Chair of FSU’s Law School Council, where she facilitates all operations, such as ensuring funding requests are distributed properly and equitably among student organizations.
The Law School Council represents all FSU’s Law School RSOs before the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Congress of Graduate School (COGS). The council sub-allocates funds to all the Law School RSOs and is a Florida State SGA affiliate. Siegel reviews all funding requests and allocates funds accordingly. She also drafts, presents, and passes legislation through COGS in this role.
“When I left my small town in Minnesota, I was ready for big opportunities,” Siegel said. “I was met with an abundance of opportunities that allowed me to explore several passions and gain tangible experience in leadership, legal studies, languages and culture, and social, service-based, and academic student coalitions.”
With her passion for community advancement, Siegel also serves as the Founding Director of the Arts and Co-President of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Society (EASL) at FSU Law. EASL cultivates a network representing interests and issues affecting entertainment law and provides Florida State Law students with academic, professional, and experiential opportunities within the field.
Through her involvement, Siegel worked diligently to restructure EASL and works to increase representation for women and the arts. She plans to create broad-ranging programing to highlight intersections between the entertainment industry and intellectual property, business, and regulatory law. This past Spring, Siegel organized EASL’s first music business lecture at Retrofit Records in Tallahassee.
Before making her impact at FSU’s law school, Siegel double majored in Interdisciplinary Social Science and Spanish at Florida State and graduated in 2021.
“I firmly believe that my ISS education at FSU guided me by fostering critical thinking skills around social, political, economic, and philosophical intersections that are ever-present in the legal cases I encounter to date,” Siegel said.
When pursuing her undergraduate at FSU, Siegel completed a specialization in Law and Society as an Interdisciplinary Social Science major. Siegel was also involved with Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity; International, Women in Pre-Law Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and more. Going into her Juris Doctorate Candidacy, she was eager to take her involvements even further.
“Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, Int’l, was absolutely fundamental. There, I worked to achieve several international awards with my fellow executives and leadership board members,” Siegel said. “After graduation, I applied my dedication to public service and pre-law support to the Bridge to Law School program, spearheaded by Stearns Weaver Miller in connection with FSU CARE and supported by the Tallahassee Bar Association and FSU’s COSSPP.”
Siegel remains just as involved on campus as she pursues her candidacy. For her work with the Bridge to Law School program, she and her team received the Tallahassee Women Lawyer’s Diversity and Inclusion in Leadership 2023 Award and Daily Business Review’s Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2024. She credits her dedication to FSU and the surrounding community for showing her the importance of public service.
“Being a double Nole has prepared me immensely, namely with regard to professionalism, support, networking, and boundless opportunities to explore my varying interests,” Siegel said. “I have had the opportunity to refine my leadership skills through navigating difficult discussions, shortcomings, and logistics to improve student advancement.”
Siegel hopes to apply her academic and professional skills to the music and entertainment industry as counsel for artists and musicians. Above all else, Siegel would like to thank Lisa Turner de Vera, Ph.D., and Radha Modi, Ph.D., for their continued throughout her academic career here at Florida State.
For more information on FSU’s College of Law, visit law.fsu.edu. To learn more about FSU’s Spanish program, visit modlang.fsu.edu. If you’re interested in the Interdisciplinary Social Science program at Florida State, visit coss.fsu.edu.iss.