Lawyer - Stetson University College of Law

Classmates
reunite
to memorialize the friends
who brought life to law school
by Karen Griffin
Anyone who has been
through law school can
tell you it isn’t always fun,
and balancing academics with the
rest of life isn’t always easy.
But in the Class of 1984, there
were two special individuals—Rich
Nenezian and Jim Jones—who kept
things in perspective and made life
brighter for the rest of their class.
Decades later, their classmates
still appreciate the fun and friendship
Rich and Jim brought to law
school. Both men died in their
early 40s, but friends and family are
determined to preserve their legacies
for future generations.
To remember these graduates
who lived life to the fullest
outside the classroom, the Rich
Nenezian and Jim Jones Memorial
Scholarship rewards a Stetson student
who has demonstrated that
there is much more to law school
than memorizing the Uniform
Commercial Code.
The love of sports
Stetson’s intramural sports program
brought together Rich, Jim
and many of their classmates in
the spirit of friendly competition.
Both graduates of the University of
Florida, Rich and Jim also shared a
great love of sports. They enjoyed
playing intramural football, basketball
and softball as a break from the
rigors of academic life at Stetson.
“We bonded from day one,” said
Jeff Adams ’84, managing partner
of the Abbey Adams law firm in St.
Petersburg. “We helped each other
through the difficult times, from
surviving the first year through and
not going crazy waiting for graduation.
Intramurals were the release
that got us through the daily grind.”
A Miami native and honors
graduate of UF, Rich was always
playing or watching a game, and
his great sense of humor frequently
manifested itself on the athletic
field or in the classroom.
“The single biggest thing anyone
would tell you about Rich is
that he was always laughing, always
smiling, and he had a completely
positive attitude about everything,”
recalled Pete Cooley ’84. “You
couldn’t find anyone in our Stetson
class who had anything bad to say
about him.”
Born in Ann Arbor, Mich., Jim
grew up in Sarasota among a closeknit
family of competitive swimmers.
He was a high school All-
American in the 100- and 200-yard
backstroke. Jim was on the swim
team during his freshman year of
college before switching to the UF
water polo team in his sophomore
and junior years.
During law school, Jim was
26 s t e t s o n Lawyer