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Trial Advocacy Program

Mission Statement

“If truth were self-evident, eloquence would be unnecessary.”
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Passionate Principled Advocacy.  This is the standard to which FIU’s Trial Advocacy Program aspires.  We aim to educate.  We seek to inspire.  We intend to fulfill our promise to bring forth powerful storytellers, courageous advocates, and the professional and community leaders of tomorrow.  In our students we instill the core values of super-competence, impeccable integrity, a tireless work ethic, and an understanding not only of the legal mechanics but the human dynamics involved in trying a lawsuit.  We accomplish this first by intense, classroom instruction where we focus on fact analysis.  Then, in the courtroom, we hone the art of advocacy by doing, and by doing, and by doing – perfectly – because only perfect practice makes perfect.  We insist that our students are as ethical as they are effective.  Beyond that, we strive to do our part to tender to America the next generation of superb trial lawyers.

Professors H. Scott Fingerhut and H.T. Smith Recognized in “Historic” 30th Edition of Best Lawyers in America

FIU College of Law Professors, trial lawyers H. Scott Fingerhut and H.T. Smith, have...

Professor Fingerhut on Dealing with Devastating Proof in NITA’s Latest Collective Wisdom

Professor H. Scott Fingerhut has again been selected for publication by...

FIU Law Trial Team Caps Season with Semifinal Finish at Estrella in Puerto Rico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Miami, FL – April 20, 2023) Capping its...

FIU Law Trial Team Takes Division Championship at Trials and Tribulations in South Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Miami, FL – April 5, 2023) Going an unprecedented...

FIU Trial Team Repeats as AAJ Regional Champion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Miami, FL – March 7, 2023) The FIU College of Law...

Professor Fingerhut Presents on Search and Seizure at 2023 Teachers’ Law Symposium

Before a packed-to-capacity audience of Florida public high school...

Second Place and Quarter-Final Finishes for FIU Trial Team at Bedell State Championship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (MIAMI, FL -- Wednesday, January 25, 2023) Please...

Contact Information

H.T. Smith, Director
email : htsmith@fiu.edu
H. Scott Fingerhut, Assistant Director
email: fingerhut@fiu.edu
Zoraya Ledesma, Administrative Assistant
email: ledesmaz@fiu.edu
Gustavo Taylor, Audio and Videography
email: gtaylor@fiu.edu