- Shepard Broad Law Center
-
Shepard Broad Law Center 
Established 1974 School type Private Parent endowment US$47.6 million Dean Athornia Steele Location Davie, Florida, USA Enrollment 927 Faculty 185[1] USNWR ranking Tier 4 Bar pass rate 86.1% (July 09)[2] Annual tuition $32,107 Website nsulaw.nova.edu/ Shepard Broad Law Center, founded in 1974, is the law school of Nova Southeastern University. It is also commonly referred to as Nova Southeastern Law School. The Law Center is housed in Leo Goodwin Sr. Hall, located on Nova Southeastern University's main campus in Davie, Florida and is named after Shepard Broad.The Law Center hosts over 1,000 students in both its day and evening programs. There is a full time faculty of 50, in addition to 65 adjuncts, many of whom are local judges[citation needed] . The Law Center is accredited by the American Bar Association.
Contents
Mission Statement and Values
[3] To ensure that students develop the knowledge, skills, and values that are at the heart of becoming trusted, highly adept, professional lawyers who are respected for serving clients, their communities, and justice.
We believe and model:
- respect for the law and the importance of lawyers in a free society
- equitable access to education
- diversity of background and viewpoint
- excellence in teaching that serves the students and their learning needs
- high standards of ethics and professionalism
- evolution of the competencies lawyers need in an ever-changing world
- support of successful entry and advancement in the bar and other professions
- assumption of leadership roles and service to the community
Admissions & Employment Statistics
Official data from the American Bar Association describes Shepard as a private school with a student/faculty ratio of 14.1:1, requiring 90 credit hours to graduate. The median LSAT score is 150 for full-time students.[4] The median GPA is 3.26 for full-time students and 3.03 for part-time students. J.D. Attrition for 1Ls is 22.7%.
[5] Nova's pass rate for first-time takers of the Bar exam is 86.2%, significantly higher than the statewide average of 74%. Nine months after graduation, 82.1% of students are employed, 14% are unemployed, and 3.7% are pursuing graduate degrees.[4]
Employment Profile 2008[6]
- Private Practice – 68%
- Government – 10%
- Business- 9.6%
- Public Interest – 7.2%
- Judicial Clerk- 3.4%
- Academic- 1.4%
About the program
Nova Southeastern Law School's full time tuition is currently $31,172. In addition, the school offers a part time program. Over 1,000 students were enrolled as of 2009.[7] The incoming class is typically around 330 students.
Diversity
The Law Center is ranked 16th most diverse school by US News & World Report, a Top Five Law School for Hispanic Students (by Hispanic Outlook for Higher Education), a Top Ten (by Hispanic Business), 8th in Hispanic JDs, and 43rd in African American JDs (by Black Issues in Higher Education).
Technology
All students are required to purchase a notebook computer for use in their legal education. Most exams taken by students are done so via their notebook computers.
Programs
Juris Doctor Program
The curriculum for a Juris Doctor degree not only includes traditional legal theories such as contracts, criminal law, torts, civil procedure, and property, but also provides an emphasis on clinical programs and practice. The Critical Skills Program was implemented in order to boost law school and bar exam taking skills. The Lawyering Skills and Values program was implemented in order to give students exposure to relevant skills lawyers use in the everyday practice of law.
Master's of Science in Education Law
The M.S.E.D.L Program is a two-year, master’s degree program meant for the non-lawyer. It is designed for education professionals. It involves teaching the skills necessary to effectively identify, understand and deal with the intricate set of legal issues that can arise in the education system today. It revolves around federal legislation such as FERPA, IDEA, HIPAA, and No Child Left Behind and the interrelationship between theory and practice.
Master's of Science in Health Law
The M.S.H.L program is meant for the non lawyer. The two-year master's degree program is catered toward health care practitioners, administrators, members of the insurance and managed care industries, public policy advocates, and others involved in health care. The program studies the issues, processes and concepts that determine the framework and function of American health care law. The program is taught by experts in the interrelationships of the practice of law and professional health care, and it is intensely focused on the significant role of the law in health care delivery, regulation, management and public policy.
Master's of Science in Employment Law
NSU Law’s two- year, 30 credit Master of Science in Employment Law program teaches non-lawyer business and human resource professionals skills necessary to effectively identify, understand and deal with the intricate set of legal issues that arise in their field. The employer-employee relationship has been regulated to varying degrees for the past several decades, but nothing has matched the amount of regulations that employers face in today’s market. With the establishment of laws regulating wages and benefits, mandating occupational safety, prohibiting discrimination and harassment, requiring time off for medical purposes, establishing bargaining units and unions, and defining workplace privacy, the human resource professional is constantly confronted with regulations that control many, if not most of the decisions made regarding employees. With the ever increasing use of technology in the workplace, and employees becoming increasingly more aware of their legal rights regarding employment, it is becoming essential that business and human resource professionals have some basic understanding of labor and employment law. The belief that business and human resources professionals need more exposure to and knowledge of, laws regulating the workplace has provided the impetus for the creation of a Master of Science in Employment Law program (M.S. Employment Law) at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. The program is intended to meet the needs of business and human resource professionals who are non-lawyers seeking a basic understanding of labor and employment law.
Joint Degree Programs
Through parnerships with other graduate schools at Nova Southeastern, multiple graduate degrees can be obtained in an accelerated amount of time. The following joint degrees are available through the Law Center:
- Business or Public Administration - J.D./MBA program
- Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences—J.D./M.S. in Computer and Information Science fields of study
- Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences— J.D./M.S. or Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning - J.D./M.U.R.P
International Programs
"The Shepard Broad Law Center has signed an agreement with Universita “Ca Foscari” di Venezia in Venice, Italy to create a dual degree program from which students will obtain degrees from NSU and the University of Venice. NSU law students will study for a semester in Venice after completing a year of study at NSU and then return to Italy after they graduate from NSU to spend another year to complete their Italian law degree."[8] The Law Center has also recently created a dual degree program with the University of Barcelona in Spain. This dual degree will enable practice anywhere within the European Union, Latin America, and the United States.
The American and Caribbean Law Initiative (“ACLI”) is a collaborative project of four Caribbean and four American law schools. In the Caribbean, the participating institutions are Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, Eugene Dupuch Law School in the Bahamas, Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and the Faculty of Law at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. In the United States, the participating law schools are Florida Coastal University School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida, Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall Law School in Houston, Texas.
Student organizations
The Law Center has an active student life. Traditional events include "Family and Friends Day", "Diversity Day" and the "Barristar's Ball." There is many honor organizations such as Law Review, the Moot Court Society, the ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law, the Jessup International Law Moot Court Team, and the International Citator and Research Project. In addition there are numerous clubs including American Constitution Society, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Caribbean Law Students Association, Celtic American Society, Christian Legal Society, Criminal Law Society, Environmental Law Society, Federal Bar Association, Federalist Society, Florida Association for Women Lawyers, Hispanic Law Student Association, Italian American Law Students Association, International Law Students Association, Jewish Law Students Association, National Security and Law Society, Public Interest Law Society Student Chapter, Sports and Entertainment Law Society, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the legal fraternity Phi Alpha Delta.
Goodwin Lecture Series
Shepard Broad hosts a yearly lecture series dealing with a plethora of topics in the law. Each lecture series focuses on one general topic, with the invited speakers choosing for themselves how their lecture will involve the series' general focus. Notable speakers include Anita Hill, Catherine McKinnon, Deanell Reece Tacha, Nadine Strossen, Timothy O'Brien, Drew Days, Nina Totenberg, Ira Glasser, Lisa Scottoline, Jean Bertrand Aristide, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Barrett Seaman, Gretchen Morgenson, Aulana Peters, and Issac Hunt. The series is named for university founder Leo Goodwin, Sr. and paid for by an endowment through The Goodwin Foundation.
List of Past and Presents SBLC Deans
Ovid Lewis, J.D.
Roger Abrams, J.D.
Joseph Harbaugh, J.D.
Athornia Steele, J.D. (2008–Present)
References
- ^ Faculty NSU SBLC.Nova.edu.retrieved 12-10-2009
- ^ Florida Bar Pass Rates Discourse.net.retrieved 12-10-2009
- ^ Mission Statement
- ^ a b Official ABA Data
- ^ http://nova.lawschoolnumbers.com/
- ^ 2008 Employment Report
- ^ Academic Programs
- ^ "[1] Shepard Broad International Program" November 2006
External links
Nova Southeastern University Based in Davie, Florida Colleges & schools Farquhar College of Arts & Sciences · Shepard Broad Law Center · H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business & Entrepreneurship
Oceanographic Center · Center for Psychological Studies · Graduate School of Computer & Information Sciences
Fischler School of Education · Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Health professions division Campus Athletics Miscellaneous Categories:- Nova Southeastern University
- Law schools in Florida
- Educational institutions established in 1974
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
