Archive for 'School News'

Nisha Mohammed (3L) coaching her group on how to develop a theory and theme for the hypothetical case.

Students from Broward County’s Plantation Middle School’s Mock Trial Team visited the FIU College of Law to learn the art of legal storytelling. The program began with a welcome from Professor H.T. Smith, director of the FIU Law Trial Advocacy Program. Professor H. Scott Fingerhut, assistant director of the Trial Advocacy Program, then explained to the students the importance of developing a case theory and theme, and gave them the facts of a hypothetical case on cyber bullying.

Following the presentation, the group of twenty students were divided into smaller groups. Igor Hernandez (3L), Joanna Hernandez (3L), Denita Jones (3L), Daniel Masvidal (2L), and Nisha Mohammed (3L), all Trial Team members and competition veterans, coached their respective groups on how to develop a theory and theme for the hypothetical case.

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On January 16, the Florida International University Health Law and Policy Clinic hosted over 200 FIU nursing and social work students for a workshop entitled “Identifying Legal Issues that Affect Health.” Third-year law students Jonathan Abramson and Ingrid Benson-Villegas, and staff attorney Natalie Castellanos led the successful workshop in the College of Law’s large courtroom.

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Pictured, from left to right: Judge Andrea R. Wolfson, Senator Rene Garcia, Senator Dwight Bullard, and Senator Oscar Braynon.

MIAMI, FL  -  On Nov. 27, the FIU College of Law hosted a local swearing-in ceremony in honor of the 2013-2014 Miami-Dade Delegation.

Judge Andrea R. Wolfson, of the Miami-Dade County bench, administered the oath of office to 24 members of the Florida House and Senate.

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Pictured, from left to right: Igor Hernandez, Jose Lorenzo, Megan Mackintosh, Caridad Garcia, Alejandro Carrasco, Denita Jones, Gregory Pierre, and David Baroff. Not pictured: Saulo Perez.

The FIU Law Trial Team recently won second place at the Hon. E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition held in Tampa and sponsored by the Florida Justice Association.

The squad composed of Alejandro Carrasco (3L), Denita Jones (3L), Saulo Perez (4L), and Gregory Pierre (4L) demonstrated powerful legal storytelling and entered the championship round as the lone undefeated squad out of a field of 14.  Along the way, these student-advocates defeated perennial powerhouse Stetson University, Nova Southeastern University and the University of Miami, before being edged out by the University of Florida in the finals.

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Pictured from left to right: Coach Matthew L. Baldwin, Coach Anthony C. Hevia ‘07,  Joseph P. Glace (3L), Nisha Mohammed (3L), Marc Schmulian (4L),  Julian V. Stroleny (4L), Professor H. Scott Fingerhut, and Professor H.T. Smith.

This past weekend in Washington, D.C., the FIU Law Trial Team – composed of students Joe Glace (3L), Nisha Mohammed (3L), Marc Schmulian (4L), and Julian Stroleny (4L) – won first place at the 16th Annual National White Collar Crime Mock Trial Invitational, sponsored by Georgetown Law and the Georgetown University Law Center Barristers’ Council.

From 20 of the top trial advocacy programs across the country, the FIU Trial Team won all five rounds in the competition, defeating the University of Houston, Fordham University, and Barry University in the preliminary rounds. They entered the semi-final round undefeated and as the second-ranked squad, where they defeated the University of Houston once again, and then William & Mary in the final round.

This year’s tournament featured allegations of straw contributions, illegal money orders, a mayoral campaign, and the candidate’s alleged honest services fraud in accepting a bribe to change her position to favor a casino referendum on the same ballot.

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In a recent article by The Florida Bar News, Megan E. Davis features FIU’s LawBridge Program, which combines elements from a medical school residency and a business school entrepreneurial incubator into a two-year program for recent graduates who have passed the Florida Bar Examination.

FIU’s LawBridge gives graduates a hand up

By Megan E. Davis

In January, half a dozen new law school graduates hung their own shingles and opened practices in an office suite on Brickell Avenue in the heart of Miami’s financial district.

Less than a year later, all six firms are operating in the black, but that’s not all, said Alex Acosta, dean of Florida International University’s College of Law.

Thanks to the school’s LawBridge program, the young practitioners are also becoming well-versed in ethical and professional standards central to practicing law and in their responsibilities to the public as members of the profession, he said.

Traditionally, new law school graduates take jobs with established law firms or clerkships with judges to learn those skills not taught in law schools — how to actually practice law and run a firm, said Tony Santos, the director of the LawBridge program.

But many of those opportunities for new lawyers have dried up in the past two decades, and the economic downturn has accelerated that trend in recent years, he said.

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Pictured above, from left to right: Natalie Marcell (3L) and Bryan Belenson (3L).

The FIU College of Law Board of Advocates (BOA) hosted the American Bar Association (ABA) Southeast Regional Negotiation Competition this past weekend, where a FIU Law team took first place.

The competition, which had a total of 24 teams from five states, ended in dramatic fashion on Sunday morning, with a three-way tie among teams from FIU Law, the University of Georgia School of Law, and Stetson University College of Law. Following the ABA tie-breaking rules, FIU Law students Natalie Marcell (3L) and Bryan Belenson (3L) emerged as champions.

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Honorees in the Photo (from left to right): Judge Beatrice Butchko, Alexandra Bach Lagos, Esq. and Laura K. Wendell, Esq.

The FIU Women’s Law Society hosted its Networking Event Celebrating Women in Law on Nov. 1, 2012 at Kork Wine & Cheese in downtown Miami.

The Women’s Legal Society, which strives to connect and motivate future women lawyers to excel within the legal field, honored Judge Beatrice Butchko and Alexandra Bach Lagos, Esq. for their outstanding accomplishments in the legal community and constant support of FIU Women’s Law Society.

Judge Butchko presides over civil cases in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and Alexandra Bach Lagos, Esq. is the immediate past president of Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 6, the FIU College of Law hosted the panel discussion “Gender Issues in the Legal Profession: Global Perspectives.” with distinguished international women judges and scholars.

The panel, moderated by Judge Judith C. Chirlin, (Ret.) Los Angeles Superior Court, focused on gender issues in the legal profession.

Discussing the most pressing issues in their respective countries, were featured panelist Professor Kerri L. Stone (U.S.), Florida International University College of Law; Judge Svetlana Filincova (The Republic of Moldova), Supreme Court of Justice; Judge Sofia Waqar Khattak (Pakistan), District & Sessions Judge, Peshawar High Court; Judge Gift Dorothy Mtendere Makanje (The Republic of Malawi), Senior Resident Magistrate for the Malawi Judiciary; Judge Thokozani Agnes Nyirenda-Patemba (The Republic of Malawi), Assistant Registrar High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal; and Judge Ivana Hrdlickova, Ph.D. (The Czech Republic), Appellate Court in the Czech Republic, Legal Expert of Council of Europe.

“The panel could not have been more timely and important due to the plight and challenges of women worldwide who seek equality in employment and in public life, as well as meaningful protection under the law in their private lives,” said Professor Kerri L. Stone. “To have had the perspective of any one of our guests would have been incredibly interesting and valuable; to be a party to the discourse among all of them was a privilege,” she said.

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In the November 2012 issue of the National Jurist, Florida International University College of Law was recognized as the third most diverse law school in the U.S., with a final score of 8.1 – a score well above the median of 4.83.

To determine the most diverse ABA-accredited law schools, the magazine broke down each school into six categories – percentage of minority faculty; percentage of black students; percentage of Asian and Hawaiian students; percentage of Hispanic students; percentage of American Indian students and other minorities; and percentage of Caucasian students. Each category was then assigned a score from one to 10. A school that matched the U.S. national average for any race received a seven, and a school that was 30 percent or higher than the average received a 10. Editors noted that the final outcome of the study is a listing of schools “that have a breadth of races both in student bodies and faculty.”

Of the law schools ranked in the honor roll for diversity, FIU Law boasts the highest percentage of Hispanic students (39%), as well as the highest faculty diversity score (10.0).

“This diversity does not happen by accident.  We are part of a university that embraces diversity in its many forms.  We understand the positive impact a diverse environment can have not only on minority students, but on the student body as a whole.  We remain committed to this founding principle, and through first-generation scholarships, we will work to ensure that all our students have access to opportunities,” said Dean R. Alexander Acosta.