Archive for 'FIU College of Law'

FIU College of Law Professor Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod recently gave a presentation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review Ben J. Altheimer Symposium, the school of law’s signature scholarly conference.

In 1972, the Uniform Law Commission adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA). It was enacted in 20 states and provided an “impetus for the widespread adoption of the implied warranty of habitability and laws restricting retaliatory eviction.”

This year’s symposium, “A Question of Balance: 40 Years of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and Tenants’ Rights in Arkansas,” discussed the work of the commission, current topics in residential landlord-tenant law, and current Arkansas law and policy.

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MIAMI (Feb. 18, 2013) – The Florida International University College of Law is pleased to announce a new graduate degree in law, the LL.M., a one-year residential course of study for attorneys holding their first law degree from outside the United States.

The LL.M. provides an introduction to and in-depth study of the law of the United States.  Students will gain a general, conversant level of understanding of U.S. legal institutions, substantive law, and practice.  This program at FIU Law, housed in Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall, offers an academically demanding education to students who seek additional training to advance their scholarly or practical work as lawyers.  The course of study is tailored to the individual needs and interests of the student.

As South Florida’s only public law school, FIU Law is known for its diverse faculty and students, its emphasis on comparative and international law, and its service to the public.  In keeping with Miami’s business and community, many of its faculty members work in international areas or have international experiences.  FIU Law has received numerous awards and recognitions including most recently being ranked as the No. 1 school for Hispanics and the third most diverse law school by The National Jurist.

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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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Pictured from left to right: Benjamin Crego, Brittany Dancel, Senior Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph, Senior Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, Chief Judge Linda Ann Wells, Altanese Phenelus, and Chanel Rowe.

In the final round of the 10th Annual Moot Court Competition, held Saturday, Feb. 9, two teams of second-year law students presented arguments before a distinguished panel of judges at Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall.

Senior Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, presided as chief justice. Joining him on the panel were Senior Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Chief Judge Linda Ann Wells of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.

The four students, who worked in teams of two, included: Benjamin Crego and Brittany Dancel, arguing for the petitioner, and Altanese Phenelus and Chanel Rowe, arguing for the respondent (the Sunshine County School Board).

The issues presented were whether the School Board violated the First Amendment rights of its students by: 1) preventing the wearing of “Islam is the Devil!” t-shirts under its dress code policy; and 2) suspending the students for speech communicated online while outside of school grounds.

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Manuel A. Gómez, associate professor at Florida International University College of Law, was recently invited to present at the “Lessons from Chevron: Stanford Journal of Complex Litigation Symposium.” The symposium, sponsored by Stanford Law School, was held on Feb. 8, 2013.

With a series of panels, the symposium brought together leading scholars and practitioners to discuss the ongoing litigation between Chevron and the people of Lago Agrio, Ecuador regarding alleged environmental harms. Having been characterized as both “a shakedown” and “a landmark victory,” this case raises important questions about the future of transnational litigation.

As part of a panel about forum non conveniens and judgment enforcement, Professor Gómez discussed the efforts to enforce an USD$18 billion judgment issued by an Ecuadorean court, in Argentina, Brazil and potentially other Latin American jurisdictions.

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In a recent interview with CCTV NEWS, Florida International University College of Law Professor Ediberto Román comments on U.S. immigration enforcement. CCTV NEWS is the English language news channel of China Central Television (CCTV), the nation’s largest national broadcasting network.

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Florida International University College of Law Professor Lillian Aponte Miranda was invited to present her scholarship at the University of Georgia School of Law symposium on “International Law in a Time of Scarcity,” which took place on Feb. 4-5.  The symposium, sponsored by the Dean Rusk Center for International Law and Politics, addressed global policy in relation to the scarcity of resources.

The symposium brought together leading policy makers and legal scholars from across the country to address the concept and definition of scarcity, the regulation of scarcity, and potential solutions to the consequences of scarcity.  Policy-makers and scholars engaged in various roundtable discussions throughout the day with the aim of crafting a foundation for future policy and scholarship on the role of international law in scarcity issues.

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Florida International University alumni Victoria Cueto ’09, JD ’12 and Alejandro (Alex) Sola ’07, JD ’12, have been appointed to the position of Committed Training Attorney (CTA) for the Miami-Dade County Court Division. The Miami-Dade Office of the State Attorney announced the appointment on February 1, 2013.

As CTAs, Cueto and Sola will be responsible for overseeing a County Court division including, ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of the courtroom, and making decisions on many of the tougher substantive and procedural legal issues that arise in court on a daily basis.

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Several years ago, a study was launched on workplace bullying by Jaime Lester at George Mason University. Although there were numerous similar organizational studies, this study may have been the first to look specifically at the faculty of a higher education institution. What she found was that “higher education leaders, managers, human resource professionals, faculty, and staff face uncivil, bullying behaviors in academe.”

A new book, with a chapter written by Florida International University College of Law Professor Kerri Stone, aims to push forward more work on this topic.

“Workplace Bullying in Higher Education,” was recently released and features contributions from over a dozen bullying experts. The book makes an effort to walk through practical and legal particularities of a college campus, and hopes to serve as a valuable resource for all higher education professionals.

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Pictured from L-R: Patricia Ramsey Chronicle, Graciela Cardona, Matthew Rogoff, Brigett Potts, Latoya Brown, & their coach Professor Erin Degnan

This past weekend, the FIU College of Law Board of Advocates Intercultural Human Rights Moot Court team won First Runner-Up at the Susan J. Ferrell Intercultural Human Rights Moot Court Competition. The competition was held at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, Feb. 1-3.

The team, which included 3L’s Latoya Brown, Patricia Ramsey Chronicle, Brigett Potts, Matthew Rogoff, and Graciela Cardona, was narrowly defeated in the final round against the City University of Hong Kong, despite receiving the highest overall oral argument scores from the Honorable Fausto Pocar, the former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

The Susan J. Ferrell Moot Court Competition is a “competition revolving around a simulated court proceeding, in which teams representing both sides of the argument prepare written pleadings with respect to a fictional problem of international human rights law and policy, and present their arguments in an oral argument before the International Court of Justice.” This year, the competition featured a dispute under a bilateral investment treaty, environmental law issues, and the relocation of indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.

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