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The Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center prides itself on its unique take on legal education. Students at the Shepard Broad Law Center do not just earn a degree, they learn the real spirit and practice of law. To accomplish this objective, the Shepard Broad Law Center features the Lawyering Skills and Values Program (LSV), a program that integrates legal theory with practice, professionalism, and technology right from the first day of law school. Each year of law school and each course a student takes integrates the LSV program. The first year of law school lays the foundation of basic principles of practicing law as well as ethical issues. Students are exposed to a variety of media: they use electronic textbooks in the classroom, perform legal research in both print and online materials, and develop case management skills, using the software programs favored by practitioners. It is in the second year that students then select the track of the LSV program that best suits their area of concentration. As students begin their education and legal career with the same courses and then finish in their area of expertise, graduates will go off into the world carrying essential lawyering skills and principles to practice law and mastery in their respective fields.
Clinical education is an important part of the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center experience. In fact, clinical education is deemed so important that each and every third year law student is guaranteed a place in a clinic. The clinics offered are the Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic, the Business Practice Clinic, the Criminal Justice Clinic, the Environmental and Land Use Clinic, and the Personal Injury Clinic. No student is left behind, so to speak. Even part-time students enjoy the benefits of the clinical experience, as the Law Center has developed a dynamic clinical program with students' demanding schedules in mind. The goal of the clinical semester is to help students make the transition from novice to professional easy and successful.
What makes the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center stand out is its law organizations and affiliations. The Inter-American Center for Human Rights is a response to the profound need in South Florida for an organization that is committed to furthering the civil and human rights of the diverse communities and people that have made South Florida their home. Located at the crossroads of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States - as well as the hub of unique Haitian, Cuban and other communities - South Florida provides a compelling location to integrate human rights with domestic civil rights and community action. The Florida Innocence Project was founded at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in 1999. The mission of the Florida Innocence Project is unique in that the Project provides free legal representation to incarcerated persons who maintain that they have been wrongfully convicted with the stipulation that DNA testing will exonerate them. The Project has been able to further its services via Florida's post-conviction DNA testing Law. A groundbreaking project implemented by the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in conjunction with the International Law Students Association spearheads the fields of international and comparative law. The International Citator and Research Project is a publication of two books: a Manual of International and Foreign Citation (The International Citator) and a Research Guide to Foreign and International Law (The IRG). The International Citator is the first comprehensive manual for international and foreign citation in the world. The book will provide abundant specific examples of appropriate citation to enable practitioners and academicians to easily follow the appropriate citation form in their work. The IRG provides information on how to get specific materials and how to properly cite such materials rather than follow the current trend whereby texts simply describe how to conceptualize international research. These two texts respond to the lack of comprehensiveness in these areas.
The Law Library and Technology Center has more than 358,000 volume/volume equivalents. The Library provides access to primary and secondary sources of U.S. law as well as case finding and updating tools. The Law Library and Technology Center is also designated as a United Nations depository. It is also a depository for U.S. and Florida government documents. The Law Library and Technology Center is equipped with the materials and staff to assist each student with their research needs.
Potential students who are concerned about the cost of law school and the inevitable debt that results will find "Cents and Sensibility," a PowerPoint Presentation linked to the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center website, appealing and informative. The presentation features slides on the total debt of attending the Law Center as well as how much a student can expect to earn after graduation. The slide show breaks down budgets and provides information on paying back loans. Also part of the presentation is a quick tutorial on credit reports and how to control your score. The presentation is informative as well as visually appealing. Students should appreciate the fact that the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center is sensitive to the cost of law school and does its best to help students in this regard.
The Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center takes into consideration the legal needs of the 21st century and responds with a legal education to meet those needs. Students will then have the skills and principles necessary to serve the community.
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