Florida Coastal School of Law

The Florida Coastal School of Law is an ABA accredited law school located in Jacksonville, FL. Founded in 1996, the school received its full accreditation in 2002.

Florida Coastal School of Law

Type	Private
Established	1996
Dean	Peter Goplerud
Students	1350
Location	Jacksonville, Florida , USA
Campus	Urban
Website	fcsl.edu

History

Florida Coastal School of Law was founded in 1996. The school immediately received temporary accreditation from the ABA, and received its permanent accreditation six years later. It is one of three law schools operated by the InfiLaw Corporation. It is one of the few for-profit law schools in the U.S. Currently the school is ranked in the fourth tier due to a high acceptance rate and marginal LSAT scores of the incoming classes, although the school's reputation has been bolstered by a very strong passage rate on recent Florida Bar Exams.

Academics

In addition to its curriculum for a Juris Doctor, Coastal offers several certification programs in specialized areas of the law. Coastal currently offers an environmental law certificate, sports law certificate, international comparative law certificate, and the advanced legal research and writing certificate.

Coastal also has an internship and externship clinical program. Criminal law externships in the United States Attorney's Office, the State Attorney's Office, and the Office of the Public Defender throughout Florida and the southeast United States are available to Coastal students. Recently Coastal began offering externships in international criminal law with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, the Netherlands. Internships in consumer law are available through Coastal's Consumer Law Clinic, and students can learn to offer general legal assistance through a clinical program with Jacksonville Legal Services, a pro bono organization.

Coastal established the Center for Law and Sports in 2005. The Center offers students a comprehensive sports law curriculum in which to obtain a certificate in sports law.

GPA controversy

One of the primary issues at the law school is the GPA distribution curve, which is significantly more difficult than other law schools in an attempt to filter out weaker students. A 2.5 GPA at FCSL is equivelant to a 3.2 GPA at the University of Florida Law School when class rankings are compared. This disparity has drawn complaints of students finding it tougher to compete for jobs and keep their GPA high enough to retain enrollment.

Academic Achievements

Coastal Law has also had great success with its moot court program, and has been recognized at the state-wide, national, and international level. For example, Coastal has won consecutive championships for three years at Florida's state-wide Orseck Criminal Law Competition in the spring of 2005, 2006, and 2007 as well as first place at the 2005 and 2007 Chicago Bar Association Constitutional Law Competitions. Notable Best Oralist Awards have been awarded at the Prince National Evidence Competition , Tulane Sports Law Competition, and the Vale Corporate Law Competition. In the 2007 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Southeast Regionals, Coastal advanced to the finals in Washington, D.C. and was ranked among the top 10 teams in the world.

Coastal's mock trial team has consistently placed in national competitions, such as the 2006 Buffalo/Niagara Mock Trial Invitational, the Regional Rounds of the 2006 National Trial Competition held in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2007 held in Orlando, Florida, and the 2007 AAJ Regional Mock Trial Competition in Atlanta, Georgia.

Points of Interest

The statewide Florida Bar average pass rate is 66.2% (2002-2007). Florida Coastal School of Law's pass rate is consistently above the statewide average. Florida Coastal had an 80.0% pass rate on the February 2008 Florida Bar Exam. Florida Coastal had a 70.1% pass rate on the February 2007 Florida Bar Exam Florida Coastal had a 77.6% pass rate on the February 2006 Bar Exam. Florida Coastal had an 81.9% pass rate on the July 2005 State Bar Examination. In July 2005 its pass rank was first in the State of Florida.

In the Fall 2006, Florida Coastal School of Law moved to a new location, a five-story, 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m²) facility which also includes a 1,400 space parking garage. The new campus is technologically advanced. Each classroom has internet access, DVD, and VHS from the podium, all of which can be displayed on multiple large screens. Advanced sound systems permit use of the internet, with its video and audio capability, during classes. Professors are able to use internet video archives as teaching tools and the interet to access legal research sources. Classrooms as also equipped with the Classroom Performance System (CPS)so that student knowledge can be measured during classes. Examsoft is available for test-takers who would rather type and edit their essays on a laptop computer, rather than write them by hand.

External links

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