Second-Third-Year

Conflict and dispute negotiation and resolution are major aspects of the practice of law. This course will examine principles and best practices of alternative dispute resolution both during, and prior to the institution of, a lawsuit.

This seminar is designed to examine some of the most controversial subjects in constitutional law. Its purpose is to acquaint students to divergent viewpoints as they are articulated through legal rhetoric, precedent, principles, history, norms, and related topics. The seminar brings students into the discussion with leading scholars in the field.

This course will be a hands-on approach to real estate transactions including: residential and commercial real estate closings, title search review, and the lien and foreclosure process. This will include preparation of the real estate contract for purchase and sale, including analysis of the FARBAR Contract and As-Is Contract; practical review of online searches to include entity searches, public records searches and property tax searches.

Florida is a national leader in capital punishment and has been for decades. It houses the largest death row population in the country for states that continue executions and is one of only a handful of states that completes executions. As of August 7, 2023, Florida houses 291 people on death row and has completed five executions in 2023. This two-credit, synchronous virtual course will provide an overview of capital punishment in Florida, focusing on how a sentence of death may be imposed and the constitutional issues involved in capital sentencing.

The course will fully analyze (1) the substantive federal and state laws and regulations concerning deceptive, unfair, and abusive business acts and practices (“UDAAP” and “Little FTC Act”) and (2) the role of the federal and state governmental agencies in enforcing those laws and regulations. The final weeks of the course will involve a hypothetical federal governmental investigation, where the student will play the role of defense counsel for the target of the investigation.

In an era defined by rapid technological innovation, the relationship between technology and civil liberties has become an issue of increasing debate and concern. Are social media companies a blessing or a curse to public discourse? Are Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) a public forum, publisher, a platform or something else? Is it appropriate that social media companies cannot be sued for posts attributed to their users, even when those posts can destroy reputations and lives? With the ubiquity of smart phones, can anyone meaningfully escape surveillance and tracking?

The recent explosion of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) demands that lawyers engage and understand the opportunities and risks posed by AI for clients and the legal industry. The purpose of this seminar is to equip students with the knowledge and skill set to address that intersection of AI and the law. To do this, the seminar will focus on a number of AI-related legal issues, ranging from what governmental agencies are and will likely be regulating AI to a discussion of data privacy, intellectual property rights, and contract and tort liability issues arising from the use of AI.

The functioning of the law is based on how language is interpreted. This course focuses on the role language plays in the interpretation of legal texts, such as constitutions, statutes, and contracts. These formal scenarios involving the interpretation of texts will be contrasted with informal scenarios involving the interpretation of oral statements, such as in police/citizen interactions. Issues of interpretation are constantly before the courts, even in relatively homogeneous, monolingual cultures.

This course examines the history, theory, and jurisprudence of the First Amendment. Particular attention is given to the Free Speech Clause. The rights of expression recognized by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution cover a broad range of subjects. They include categories of core expression (e.g. politics and philosophy), unprotected expression (e.g., obscenity and incitement), and less-protected expression (e.g., commercial speech). Other issues include doctrines concerned with time/place/manner, public fora, and political campaign regulations.

This course addresses the field of women’s human rights in an international context. Various topics will be covered in terms of their impact on women’s human rights globally including discrimination and intersectionality; gender-based violence; sexual orientation and gender identity; COVID-19; #MeToo, non-state actors, and social protest; sexual and reproductive rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; the environment and climate change; regional human rights systems; culture and religion; and the digital world.