Post by FIUBlue82 on Jan 30, 2008 9:36:48 GMT -5
Interesting story on the FIU law school.
www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/397230.html
HIGHER EDUCATION
Judges bring court to FIU students
A panel of appeal court judges took their show on the road to Florida International University, where law students scrutinized the proceedings.
Posted on Tue, Jan. 29, 2008
BY DOMINICK TAO
dtao@MiamiHerald.com
Like any other day on the bench, the three district court judges went on all morning Monday, trading verbal jukes and jabs with lawyers, case after case.
The bench itself, however, was different.
Unlike most sessions of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal, Monday's was not in a state courthouse -- the three-judge panel of Angel Cortiñas, David Gersten and Juan Ramirez Jr. held forth in one of the mock-trial courtrooms at Florida International University's College of Law, with an audience of more than 30 students looking on at the University Park Campus in Miami.
Maria Garcia, a third-year law student at FIU and president of the school's mock-trial team, arranged the special session with Gersten, the court's chief judge, to give students a first-hand look at what a day in appeals court is like.
''We're still a young school,'' Garcia said. ``Any opportunity for the students to get out and meet these people is extremely valuable.''
Danny Munilla and Daniel Valdes, both second-year FIU law students, agreed that having judges, lawyers and real cases play out live and on campus is a great learning opportunity.
''In law school, every little bit counts,'' Munilla said. ``Most of the lawyers are pretty good, but [regarding] some, I think, I could do better.''
When one of the presenting attorneys neglected to provide the court with a transcript of the case he was appealing, the judges lit into him with a flurry of criticism.
''See, we did this first year,'' Munilla said. ``I already knew that.''
''Except they aren't nervous like we were,'' Valdes added.
After the oral arguments were heard, the judges took questions from audience members, who had been watching from the amphitheater-style rows of seats rising up from the wood-paneled courtroom's floor.
''After watching this, how many of you think you want to be a transactional attorney?'' Gersten asked.
A round of laughter rose from the crowd.
One student asked how the judges prepare for the lawyers' arguments.
''I'm not looking for the strong points, I'm looking for the weak points -- the chink in the armor you can stick the screwdriver in and take the case apart,'' Gersten answered.
After the judges changed out of their robes, they ate lunch and posed for snapshots with students in the law school's atrium.
www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/397230.html
HIGHER EDUCATION
Judges bring court to FIU students
A panel of appeal court judges took their show on the road to Florida International University, where law students scrutinized the proceedings.
Posted on Tue, Jan. 29, 2008
BY DOMINICK TAO
dtao@MiamiHerald.com
Like any other day on the bench, the three district court judges went on all morning Monday, trading verbal jukes and jabs with lawyers, case after case.
The bench itself, however, was different.
Unlike most sessions of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal, Monday's was not in a state courthouse -- the three-judge panel of Angel Cortiñas, David Gersten and Juan Ramirez Jr. held forth in one of the mock-trial courtrooms at Florida International University's College of Law, with an audience of more than 30 students looking on at the University Park Campus in Miami.
Maria Garcia, a third-year law student at FIU and president of the school's mock-trial team, arranged the special session with Gersten, the court's chief judge, to give students a first-hand look at what a day in appeals court is like.
''We're still a young school,'' Garcia said. ``Any opportunity for the students to get out and meet these people is extremely valuable.''
Danny Munilla and Daniel Valdes, both second-year FIU law students, agreed that having judges, lawyers and real cases play out live and on campus is a great learning opportunity.
''In law school, every little bit counts,'' Munilla said. ``Most of the lawyers are pretty good, but [regarding] some, I think, I could do better.''
When one of the presenting attorneys neglected to provide the court with a transcript of the case he was appealing, the judges lit into him with a flurry of criticism.
''See, we did this first year,'' Munilla said. ``I already knew that.''
''Except they aren't nervous like we were,'' Valdes added.
After the oral arguments were heard, the judges took questions from audience members, who had been watching from the amphitheater-style rows of seats rising up from the wood-paneled courtroom's floor.
''After watching this, how many of you think you want to be a transactional attorney?'' Gersten asked.
A round of laughter rose from the crowd.
One student asked how the judges prepare for the lawyers' arguments.
''I'm not looking for the strong points, I'm looking for the weak points -- the chink in the armor you can stick the screwdriver in and take the case apart,'' Gersten answered.
After the judges changed out of their robes, they ate lunch and posed for snapshots with students in the law school's atrium.