On Monday, October 20, we were honored to welcome The Honorable Melissa Damian to the College of Law as part of our Jurist in Residence Program.

This week, the Center for Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law welcomed Professor Kirsten Engel, the Charles E. Ares Professor of Law at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law and Interim Chief of the Environmental Protection Unit in the Arizona Office of the Attorney General, as the featured speaker for the Spring 2025 Distinguished Environmental Lecture.

This week, we were honored to welcome three judges of Florida's First District Court of Appeal back to the FSU College of Law Advocacy Center to hear live oral arguments in our historic courtroom with our students in attendance. Judges Stephanie Ray ('95), Thomas “Bo” Winokur, and Raymond Treadwell presided over the proceedings, providing this annual learning opportunity.

It's always ranking season, and we are excited to share a few new highlights in our rankings. FSU College of Law is proud to celebrate several new distinctions from National Jurist and preLaw magazine:

Health Law – A

Last Friday, the FSU College of Law hosted its third annual Business Law Review Symposium, focused on "Encapsulating Product Packaging Trade Dress." The event, which attracted over 500 attendees both virtually and in person, brought together leading intellectual property scholars and practitioners to discuss the protection of trade dress—the distinctive packaging, colors, or designs that define a brand’s identity.

The Hispanic Law Students Association (HLSA) had the distinct honor last month of hosting a virtual Q&A session with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor.

This past weekend, FSU College of Law was honored to host the National Trial Competition for Region Six, administered by the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA). A total of 25 teams from across Florida, Georgia, and Puerto Rico competed, including two teams from FSU Law. In total, over 300 people attended, including advocates, judges, timekeepers, coaches, and spectators. The competition had two brackets with simultaneous semifinal rounds, leading to two final rounds and two winning teams.

FSU Law’s Legislative Practice course welcomed Speaker Daniel Perez for an engaging discussion on his role as Florida Speaker of the House and his leadership approach. Former FSU President John Thrasher, who co-teaches the course alongside Associate Dean Debra Henley, moderated the conversation.

This week, we welcomed two judicial alumnae to campus. The first was the Honorable Judge Julie Sneed ('95) of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida as part of our Jurist in Residence Program. Judge Sneed was joined by First District Court of Appeal Judge Stephanie Ray ('95) as they enjoyed a breakfast with the FSU Law Federal Bar Association, giving remarks about their law school and post-graduation experiences. After lunch with FSU Law Journals and Moot Court team members, Judge Sneed ended the day by attending Professor Logan's Criminal Law class.

We are excited to announce that former Ireland President Mary Robinson is this year's speaker for the D'Alemberte & Palmer Lecture in International Human Rights.

Robinson will speak on "The Rule of Law in International Human Rights" on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at 4 p.m. at FSU Law in Auditorium 101. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed.