FOCUSED ON LAWYERING SKILLS
Some observers have called Stetson a "Lawyer's Law School." This designation reflects Stetson's emphasis on practical legal education. College of Law students participate both in academic classes based on traditional legal theory and analysis and in clinical and practical courses geared specifically to training in lawyering skills. The academic program at Stetson devotes significant attention to the lawyering process. The Stetson faculty believes that the teaching of substantive law is enhanced by extensive training in criminal and civil procedure, and by coursework or related experiences in client counseling, drafting legal papers, trial practice and actual representation of clients--all under close faculty supervision. Stetson is a pioneer and a national leader in the development of trial practice, in which students perform the functions of a lawyer in close collaboration with a faculty member. The College of Law's courtrooms, equipped with closed-circuit video systems, allow students to observe and evaluate their own performances.
This laboratory aspect of learning is complemented by the presentation of actual sessions of court in the College's courtrooms. The Tampa Branch of Florida's Second District Court of Appeal shares the William Reece Smith Jr. Courtroom in Stetson's Tampa Law Center with the College of Law. The Court hears actual cases on appeal from the area's trial courts in this courtroom-classroom. This is one of only a few locations in the country where a sitting court and a law school share space.
A Stetson legal education is balanced. It includes comprehensive required curriculum, a broad range of elective courses and an intensive program of skills training through legal clinics and other real-law experiences. Students are offered the opportunity to develop the intellectual and advocacy skills so vital to successful entry into the law-related professions.
Many of Stetson's students have come to the study of law after successful careers in education, private business or government service. The student body includes teachers, writers, law enforcement officers, members of the medical professions and business executives. A substantial number are more than 30 years old, a majority are women and a large number married with families. The students bring an ethnic diversity to their studies that reflects the makeup of the state of Florida and, to some degree, the nation. The minority student body has chapters of the Black Law Students Association and the National Hispanic Bar Association. Stetson also has a long tradition of welcoming and providing needed facilities for disabled students.
Stetson's Law Library is the College's intellectual heart. It contains more than 394,000 volumes, including collections of statutes, court reports, journals and treatises.
This size brings it well above the median for academic law libraries around the country. The Library's resources are enriched by subscriptions to LEXIS/NEXIS, Westlaw and other on-line computer-assisted research systems. The Library also participates in OCLC, a national bibliographic data base, which provides access to the collections of 6,000 other libraries through the interlibrary loan system. The Library currently is being expanded to include more computer facilities, more individual and group workspaces; as well as more space for students to maximize their use of the books, periodicals and microfilms.
Gulfport, Florida 33707-3299