Florida State University College of Law
historyFlorida State University College of Law is the law school of Florida State University in Tallahassee. The law school's highly accomplished and accessible law faculty delivers a program that has an interdisciplinary orientation designed to produce well-rounded and effective lawyers.
The law school borders the southeast quadrant of the University's campus, near the Donald L. Tucker Center, an arena and part of the Tallahassee civic center area, and is immediately across the street from the Florida First District Court of Appeal courthouse (as of Spring 2007, the Florida Legislature has given the court building to the law school for renovation for school use). It is recognizable by the distinctive and historic white wood trellis structures outside the law school's eastern buildings.
Programs
The College of Law offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.), which is the first professional law degree. The three-year program provides students a foundational first-year program, a legal writing program, and a varied offering of upper-level courses, seminars, clinics, and co-curricular activities.
Externship programs exist in the United States and abroad — including at the International Bar Association in London, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague, the Special Court of Sierra Leone, in Washington, D.C., and in every major city in Florida, allowing students to spend a semester outside of Tallahassee.
The College of Law offers an Master of Laws (LL.M.) program in Environmental Law and Policy, as well as an LL.M. program for foreign lawyers. Additionally, the College of Law offers certificate programs in Environmental and Land Use Law and International Law. Its faculty also offers a significant range of courses in Law, Business, and Economics.
The College of Law offers joint degree programs allowing students to earn other degrees in conjunction with the J.D., including Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, and Ph.D. degrees.
Rankings
, part of the College of Law, is used to host special events and in the past has been used by the Florida Supreme Court to convene special sessions]]
Leiter’s Law School Rankings (2010) rates the law school's faculty as the nation’s 23rd best in terms of per capita scholarly impact.
The National Jurist magazine (2009) ranks Florida State the nation’s 10th “Best Value” law school, based on employment rate, bar passage and tuition.
Hispanic Business magazine (2009) ranks Florida State University College of Law as the nation’s 3rd best law school for Hispanic students.
The College of Law is ranked 50th among law schools in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report law school ranking. »http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/college-of-law-03034
It ranked 51st among law schools in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report law school ranking.»http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools
U.S. News ranked the environmental law program as the sixth best in law schools and the highest-ranked in the Southeast.
The National Jurist magazine (2010) ranks the law library the 30th best in the nation.»http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/nationaljurist0310/#24
Faculty
In a recent study of faculty productivity of law schools Florida State Law ranked third and was the top law school in Florida and the most productive in the Southeastern U.S.[http://law.rwu.edu/facultyproductivity Roger Williams School of Law Faculty Productivity Study] The faculty scholarship of Florida State Law regularly ranks among the top 30 law schools based on downloads, according to the Social Science Research Network, which hosts working papers by Florida State Law Faculty in »Public Law and Legal Theory, »Law, Business & Economics and »Sustainability Law & Policy.
Nationally prominent law professors at FSU include faculty in: Administrative and Regulatory Law (Jim Rossi, Mark Seidenfeld); Constitutional Law (Steven Gey, Nat Stern, Tara Grove); Criminal Law (Wayne Logan, Dan Markel, Gary Kleck); Environmental and Land Use Law (Donna R. Christie, Robin Kundis Craig, David L. Markell, J. B. Ruhl, John Scholz); International Law (Frederick M. Abbott, Fernando TesĂłn); Law & Humanities, including Legal Philosophy (Rob Atkinson, Curtis Bridgeman, Fernando TesĂłn); Law, Economics & Business (Bruce L. Benson, Dino Falaschetti, Manuel Utset, Shawn Bayern); and Tax Law (Joseph M. Dodge).
Several Florida State Law faculty members have published their own casebooks in environmental law — David Markell, Robin Kundis Craig, J.B. Ruhl, Jim Rossi and Donna Christie. Other faculty authored books are widely used in law schools across the country for courses in Tax Law (Joseph M. Dodge), International Intellectual Property Law (Frederick M. Abbott), Law and Economics (Mark Seidenfeld), Energy Law (Jim Rossi) and Endangered Species Law (J.B. Ruhl). Beyond the classroom, Florida State Law faculty members are regularly cited as authorities by courts, law reform bodies and other scholars. One faculty member, Sandy D'Alemberte, is a former president of both the American Bar Association and the National Judicature Society.
Affiliated faculty from other university departments holding courtesy appointments at the law school include John Scholz, a leading political scientist addressing regulatory enforcement; Bruce L. Benson, an economist focused and law and economics; R. Mark Isaac, a leading experimental economist; and Gary Kleck, a criminologist known for his work on guns and deterrence.
Journals
The Florida State University Law Review is the flagship law review of Florida State Law. It publishes four issues a year.
The Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law is the state's first and remains its only student publication in the field. It is ranks among the top environmental and land use law journals based on citations.
The Journal of Transnational Law & Policy publishes articles in the field of international law, including human rights, comparative law and U.S. foreign policy.
Law students also publish the Florida State University Business Review a biannual publication which examines the interrelated disciplines of business and law but is not an official cocurricular journal.
Job placement and alumni
Some of its distinguished graduates include:
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{| class="wikitable"
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! Alumni
! Notability
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|John Antoon
|Current U.S. District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida
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|Jim Bacchus
|Former U.S. Representative; justice and chairman of the World Trade Organization Appellate Body
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|Rick Baker
|Former mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida
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|Kenneth B. Bell
|Former Florida Supreme Court justice
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|Terry Bowden
|Current Head Coach, University of North Alabama
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|Shannon Bream
|Fox News Channel correspondent
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|Kathy Castor
|Current U.S. Representative
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|Lacey A. Collier
|Current U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Florida
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|W. Thomas Cumbie
|Current Senior Judge for the United States Air Force, also a Colonel
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|John Dicks
|Former mayor of Plant City, Florida, former candidate for the United States House of Representatives
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|Mark Ellis
|Current Executive Director of the International Bar Association
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|Tor J. Friedman
|Adjunct professor, serves on the Alumni Board of Directors,»Florida State University College of Law Alumni Board of Directors and selected for Florida Trend's Legal Elite 2008 distinction.»Trend's Florida Legal Elite 2008About »Tor J. Friedman
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|Steven Geller
|Former member Florida Senate Minority Leader
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|Eric Gustafson
|Current CNBC financial analyst and commentator
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|Adam Hasner
|Current Florida House of Representatives Majority Leader
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|Eleanor J. Hill
|Former United States Department of Defense Inspector General
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|Skip Horack
|Writer, and currently a professor at Stanford University
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|Tim Howard
|Current director of Northeastern University's Executive Doctorate Program in Law & Policy
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|Patricia Ireland
|Former president of the National Organization for Women, and writer
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|Mark E. Kaplan
|Former Secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation
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|Ken Keechl
|Former mayor of Broward County, Florida
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|Tony La Russa
|Former manager for the St. Louis Cardinals
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|Marcelo Llorente
|Current member of the Florida House of Representatives
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|Stephen MacNamara
|Chief of Staff for Florida Governor Rick Scott
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|John Marks
|Current mayor of Tallahassee, Florida
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|Mel Martinez
|Former U.S. Senator; former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
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|Craig McCarthy
|Attorney on a number of high-profile cases and candidate for the Florida House of Representatives
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|Sheila McDevitt
|Current Chairman of the Florida Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida
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|Anne McGihon
|Current member of the Colorado House of Representatives
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|Gary Pajcic
|Former attorney and philanthropist
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|Sean A. Pittman
|Attorney, lobbyist, entrepreneur and television political analyst
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|Ricky Polston
|Current Florida Supreme Court justice
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|Ion Sancho
|Current Supervisor of Elections for Leon County, Florida, gained notoriety in the 2000 presidential recount
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|Mary Stenson Scriven
|Current U.S. District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida
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|Carlos O. Torano
|Current president of Toraño Cigars and Central America Tobacco
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|H. James Towey
|Current president of Saint Vincent College, and former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
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|J. Alex Villalobos
|Current member of the Florida Senate
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|John Wood
|Current member of the Florida House of Representatives
|}
- »FSU College of Law website
- »FSU College of Law Environmental, Natural Resources and Land Use Law Program
- »Florida State University College of Law Alumni Board of Directors