This clinic will give students opportunities to develop skills in key business law topics by providing service to clients starting or operating entrepreneurial businesses. Initially, the target client base will be limited to FSU faculty, staff, and student led enterprises and preference will be given to clients seeking to commercialize “University IP.” Students will work on a variety of legal issues typically of importance to entrepreneurs including:
The goal of this course is to develop the ability of prospective lawyers to recognize and handle professional responsibility issues that arise in the practice of business law. For purposes of this course, “business law” includes general business associations law and related specializations such as tax, securities, antitrust, litigation, and “white collar” criminal law.
This interdisciplinary seminar critically examines the “rational actor” model of legal decision making (proposed by classical economic theorists) in light of the work of social and cognitive psychology. This course will examine cutting-edge empirical and experimental research and will challenge the descriptive assumptions that underlie legal doctrine in a variety of areas, including criminal law, contracts, torts, corporate law, administrative law, and the rules of evidence and procedure.
A comprehensive study of the legal principles governing the relationship of debtors and creditors, with primary emphasis on federal bankruptcy law and focus on the rights of unsecured creditors. Traditional state remedies such as attachment, garnishment, execution, fraudulent conveyance and debtors' exemptions also are covered.
Florida’s Solicitor General serves within the office of the Florida Attorney General and handles appeals of statewide importance in state and federal courts. In this two-hour, skills-based course, Florida’s current Solicitor General will offer a hands-on perspective on appellate practice. The material will be taught through lecture and example, including practice problems. The course will explore in detail appellate cases the office has handled. It will use these cases to cover the organization and operation of Florida’s appellate courts and appellate jurisdiction and court authority.
Prerequisites: Legal Writing and Research I & II
This course is designed for students to hone and refine their written and oral advocacy skills, with an emphasis on doing so in an appellate setting. Students will refine their research, writing, and oral argument skills through a series of experiential assignments and exercises that focus principally on brief-writing and oral arguments—and will receive extensive feedback and coaching both inside and outside of class for all such assignments.
A study of judicial decisions construing and applying the federal antitrust laws ( i.e., Sherman, Clayton, Robinson-Patman, and Federal Trade Commission Acts) to the control of the competitive process in the American economy.
Throughout the semester, we will examine the historical and current status of animals in our legal system. We will examine legal issues involving animals, including veterinary malpractice, recovery for injuries to animals, dog bites, animal cruelty, regulation of agricultural animals and animal legal standing. By necessity, these legal issues involve principles of tort law, criminal law, property law and even some constitutional law. This course is not an animal rights course, but rather a survey of a burgeoning and dynamic field of law, of which animal rights is but a part.
Examination of the alternative dispute resolution movement and techniques for incorporating it into your legal practice. A variety of readings and exercises are used as background for discussions of the utility of different mechanisms for resolving certain kinds of disputes. This course focuses on adjudication, negotiation, and mediation. The class includes opportunities to be involved in role-play simulations and to discuss the efficacy of these techniques with experienced professionals.
An introduction to legal sources relevant to banking law, consumer protection, and various other issues related to financial regulation. Students will also learn advanced research techniques.
