Trial Team Champion at the 2017 Florida Justice Association Hon. E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition — and May 2018 College of Law graduate — Justin James Duran, has been awarded a scholarship by the Miami Chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. FACDL Miami was founded in 1963 and dedicated to defending the rights and liberties of all individuals and promoting excellence in the practice of criminal law.
Justin received his scholarship award at FACDL-Miami’s 55th Annual Gala, held on May 12, 2018, at the J.W. Marriott Marquis in downtown Miami.
The annual FACDL-Miami scholarship – in the amount of $500 – is presented each year to the FIU law student who best exhibits “exceptional courtroom and trial advocacy skills.”
“We are very proud of Justin,” expressed Professors H.T. Smith and H. Scott Fingerhut, respective Director and Assistant Director of the FIU College of Law Trial Advocacy Program. “Throughout his law school career, it has been a privilege to work with Justin to bring out the best in his legal storytelling. And we are confident that Justin’s work ethic, and his consistent commitment to the type of Passionate Principled Advocacy that is our special FIU brand, will enable him to serve client and cause magnificently well in the years to come.”
Once Justin completes the Florida Bar examination in July, he proudly begins his legal career in the courtroom, as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade County.
Pictured at left, FIU Law Trial Team member Justin Duran (COL ’18)receiving his FACDL-Miami scholarship in trial advocacy.