A Law School Like No Other
You know a Stetson Lawyer when you see one.
Award-Winning Professional Development… Career and Professional Development
At Every Step Along the Journey
Building a student’s professional identity and practice readiness begins before on-site orientation.
Stetson’s Office of Career and Professional Development delivers a just-in-time toolkit series including weekly foundational messages about purpose, transformation, growth, values, and expectations. This early foundation and preparatory support continues throughout 1L and beyond.
We walk beside our students with on-demand tools and information, preparatory coaching, connections to practicing professionals, inspiring opportunities. The Stetson graduates you hire are practice-ready advocates and reflective collaborators.
The things that aren’t taught in law school ARE taught at Stetson.
— Anne E. Mullins Associate Dean for Assessment and Professional Engagement and Professor of Law
A Student Experience Guided by 3 ABA Award-Winning Professionalism Initiatives
The Stetson Inns
On entry, Stetson Law students are provided with a robust support system of experienced and trained peer mentors. Modeled on the English Inns of Court, Stetson students operate in a system of small group structures, known as Stetson Inns, led by tenured faculty. Through this American Bar Association E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award-winning initiative, Stetson students gain a sense of community, learn the value and practice of civil discourse, internalize the values of the profession, and contextualize their personal values within their law school experience and their unfolding professional path.
An
Education in collaboration, networking, and leadership
Two additional E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award-winning initiatives include student leaders and student organizations as collaborators with faculty and staff in planning and execution.
The Leadership Development Educational Series offers regular workshops taught by judges, professors, attorneys, and leadership development professionals.
Campus to Career introduces Practice Mentors from the legal community to all students during an intensive two-day professional development experience, planned by the Office in partnership with student leaders from various organizations and journals.
Students receive networking training to prepare them for the main event on day two, when more than 130 attorneys arrive on campus for programs, networking receptions, panels, speakers, and learning opportunities. More than 300 students participate.
Fact:
At graduation, Stetson students have first-hand experience in creating and supporting rich mentor/mentee relationships, building collaborative practices and programs, and connecting to the legal community.
Practical Education — Professional Excellence
Building Unmatched Professional Excellence
Stetson, Florida’s oldest law school, founded in 1900, has more than 13,000 alumni in all 50 states, D.C., USVI, Puerto Rico and more than 59 countries. In every state, in any country, you’ll know a Stetson Lawyer when you see one.
Champions, Coached by Champions
Stetson’s Advocacy Teams are national and regional champions steeped in professional and personal excellence, trained and mentored by faculty members and practicing attorneys who were themselves champions in advocacy competitions.
Fact:
Stetson College of Law has more courtrooms than any other law school... and Stetson Graduates know how to use them.
Our trial team, moot court board, and dispute resolution board compete —and excel—in the full spectrum of co-curricular advocacy competitions. Across trial competitions, oral arguments, negotiation, mediation, domestic and international arbitration, client counseling, and transactional drafting, Stetson students practice with the highest level of professional excellence.
Stetson has twice won the ABA Competitions Champion designation, which recognizes all-around excellence in arbitration, mediation, negotiation, client counseling, and appellate advocacy.
By the Numbers:
National Advocacy Championships
World Advocacy Championships
Regional Advocacy Championships
State Advocacy Championships
Advocacy Brief Awards
30 110 6 116 56 66 230 #1 rankings for trial advocacy by U.S. News
Best Oralist or Advocate Awards
Statistics as of March 2026, and only include top awards for each competition.
Historical Legacy –Innovative Education
As graduates of Florida’s oldest law school, wherever Stetson lawyers practice, they bring the confidence and practice readiness gained from participating in one or more of the 300+ clinic or externship opportunities each year. Each is overseen by both accomplished and dedicated faculty and by committed practicing attorneys in the field. Wherever you find them, know that they bring the strength and spirit of the Stetson community that helped to shape their legal career.
Innovative courses that blend the elements of skill and doctrinal knowledge are popular with Stetson students. Integrating collaboration throughout the curriculum increases relevance and value. Pro bono immersion experiences led by the Office help students internalize the professional value of public service while helping them to discern their career path.
Facilitating Connections –On Campus, in the Community, and Around the Country
In addition to expansive career fairs and community connections tabling events, Stetson offers a robust annual recruiting program on campus and virtually, facilitated and tailored to employer needs and preferences.
Fact: Your access to well-prepared students is a priority for us.
In 1954, the College of Law moved from Stetson University’s historic campus in DeLand to a 1924 Mediterranean Revivalstyle landmark that once was a glamorous hotel.
Stetson’s residential law school campus, located in the beachfront community of Gulfport, is contiguous with the city of St. Petersburg and nearby beach communities. Stetson’s Tampa Law Center houses evening classes for the law school’s Flex JD program, and is near downtown Tampa. Both Tampa Bay area campuses are accessible to area businesses and legal communities where students and alumni work, are close to incredible beaches, world-class attractions, and vibrant city centers.
Stetson University DeLand, FL
Tampa Law Center .
Gulfport, FL
A Warm and Beautiful Community
Historic Campus
Stetson’s palm-lined campus, designed by architect Richard Kiehnel, was built as a luxury resort in the 1920s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though the campus has grown in size and technology, Stetson has stayed true to the original architecture.
Convenient Location
Stetson is less than 25 miles away from Tampa International Airport and 12 miles away from St. Pete/Clearwater International Airport.
Beautiful, world-renowned beaches are less than five miles away from Stetson’s St. Petersburg/ Gulfport campus.
Amazing Tampa Bay
Stetson University College of Law is a proud and vital part of the Tampa Bay metro community. Recreational opportunities abound in this thriving cultural center:
• 35 miles of beaches in Pinellas County, including four of the top 25 best beaches in the U.S.
• 81˚ average year-round high temperature
• 5 professional sports teams
• Top-ranked arts scene. The Dalí Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, and Chihuly Museum
• 400 parks and preserves
• More than 5,300 restaurants
• 130+ attractions including Busch Gardens
From Florida’s 1st law school, Stetson Graduates are noticeable for their long tradition of practice readiness, devotion to advocacy, and commitment to civil discourse.
• Ranked No. 1 for trial advocacy and No. 1 in legal writing by US News & World Report, 2026
• 28 clinic and externship courses at 60 hosting organizations:
Stetson guarantees that every student can participate in a clinic or externship course during law school
• 3-time American Bar Association E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award winner for student professional development programs
• Concentrations in advocacy, business law, criminal law, elder law, environmental law, international law, and social justice advocacy
• LLM degrees in advocacy, elder law, environmental law, and international law
• Four academic law journals
