news & events
moot court maintains top national billing
Lt. Governor makes campus visit during Black History Month Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll was on campus in late February to address students during Black History Month. She spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 students about ways they can learn from her political and personal experiences — and their connection to the legal profession. Second-year law student Chelsi P. Henry helped organize the visit, which was sponsored by the Republican Legal Society in partnership with the Women’s Law Student Association, Military Law Student Association and the Black Law Student Association.
“She was able to hit on many different topics from being an African-American to being a woman — she talked about her journey from the Navy to politics,” Henry said. Henry added Carroll “shared many personal moments with the Coastal Law community, including lessons she learned along the way and how she sees the importance of attorneys today.” Carroll is Florida’s 18th lieutenant governor and holds special prominence as the first female and first African-American lieutenant governor in the state of Florida. Described as “the American Dream come true,” Carroll was
born in Trinidad and joined the Navy in 1979. Since then she has been a seven-year state legislator, a small business owner and former executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In her current role, she also oversees the state Department of Military Affairs, the state Department of Veterans Affairs, the Governor Designee on the Florida Defense Support Task Force and is chairperson of Space Florida. Black History Month began in early February with a ceremony and closed at the end of the month with another special gathering of students and faculty.
Florida Coastal School of Law is known around the world for its many strengths, but perhaps none so distinctive as its success in Moot Court. For years recognized as one of the strongest and winningest advocacy programs in the country, Coastal Law’s Moot Court program maintained a national first place standing throughout the spring and fall semesters, and reached top-four status at the Moot Court National Championship in February 2012. “Florida Coastal School of Law is one of the strongest — and most diverse — programs in
The Jacksonville legal community recognized Florida Coastal School of Law in early 2012 for its dedication to representing citizens in all income brackets. Jacksonville Area Legal Aid honored the school with the 2011 Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Award.
Michael Freed, Jacksonville Bar Association president and managing partner for Jacksonville-based Brennan, Manna & Diamond, emceed the event. “The Jacksonville Bar Association is proud of its regular association with Florida Coastal School of Law on the provision of legal services to those who cannot afford it,” Freed said. “Such outreach is critical to the workings of our justice system.” He said Coastal Law “wisely instills this commitment” in its students, who
Coastal Law Magazine | Summer 2012
Each year the Moot Court National Championship invites the top 16 schools in the country to participate. And while law schools at Columbia University, Duke University, George Washington University and the University of Texas create a competitive field, Coastal Law has ranked in the final four of the competition for the past two years. The national championship is one of a number of national competitions in which the school participates throughout the year. Florida Coastal School of Law students, Moody said, command the respect of student peers around the country. “It’s rewarding because our students are treated like royalty — they come in to the competitions with a tremendous
School receives equal justicE award from legal aid
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid presented the award during its annual gathering in January, which highlights local organizations’ and individuals’ pro bono work for the legal aid community. On hand to receive the award were Coastal Law Dean Peter Goplerud, Vice Dean Terri Davlantes and Professors Laura Boeckman, Ericka Curran and Karen Millard, director of the school’s pro bono program.
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the country,” said Professor Sander Moody, faculty advisor for the Moot Court Honor Board. “And it starts and ends with our students’ hard work.”
have a well-known reputation for community service work and involvement. Millard said the class of 2012 performed more than 39,000 volunteer hours at graduation — a school record. “That’s a significant jump,” Millard said, “up from the 26,000 hours last year’s class contributed to community service endeavors.” Students worked with many non-profit organizations, including Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, public defenders’ offices across the state, and other groups including the Clara White Mission and the Sulzbacher Center, Millard said. “One thing to keep in mind is that the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of those living below the poverty level had increased to 46.9 million — that means one person out of seven is living below the poverty rate,” Millard said, adding it is the highest rate the U.S. has seen in two decades. “This work comes at a time when it is desperately needed.”
history of success,” he said. Consistent with the National Championship success, Florida Coastal’s performances at two other national competitions shine additional light on the school’s impressive moot court program. Teams from Coastal Law won the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition’s Southeast Regional championship title in January, and later outpaced 150 competing teams to claim top honors at Nationals. Last September, the team also won the National Latino Law Students Association Moot Court competition in New Orleans. “Diversity is a core value at the law school,” Moody said. “And the success in these competitions shows that the law school is committed to it.”
One of Florida Coastal School of Law’s fundamental pillars, she said, is service to the underserved. The lessons students are learning about pro bono work and commitment to the community through their experiences will serve them well — and help further the school’s mission. “They’re learning right now what their responsibilities are as attorneys — they’re already putting it into action,” Millard said. “Students at Florida Coastal School of Law already are doing more than what some attorneys are doing in their practice.” Kathy Para, pro bono development coordinator at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, said the class of 2012 contributed a greatly needed service to the Northeast Florida community. “Florida Coastal is doing its part to develop and instill in our next generation of attorneys how important it is that they share their unique legal skills with people in need,” she said.
Coastal Law Magazine | Summer 2012
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