Certificate of Concentration in Criminal Law
Objective
To help prepare those students planning a career in criminal practice by ensuring that they take appropriate coursework and receive mentoring from members of the faculty or alumni with experience and interest in this field, and by rewarding students who demonstrate high degrees of ethics and competence in criminal law.
Learning Outcomes
The Criminal Law Certificate of Concentration Learning Outcomes can be found on PolicyTech.
Requirements
In order to receive at graduation the Certificate of Concentration in Criminal Law, students must make a timely application for inclusion in the program, be accepted into the program, and do the following:
- Complete at least 21 hours in the Approved Curriculum, including successful completion of the Mandatory Curriculum requirements, with an average GPA of at least 3.0 among all of those courses taken from the Approved Curriculum. Further, the student shall not have received a grade of less than 2.5 (or "S" in any course not graded on the 4.0 scale) in any of those courses taken in the Approved Curriculum.
- Students must have achieved at least a 2.5 in the following courses: Evidence, Criminal Law, R & W I and II, and Professional Responsibility. A student who has not completed any of these courses must be enrolled in the course at the time of acceptance into the concentration and must achieve the required grade in these courses or the student will be excluded from the concentration.
- Participate in the Required Mentoring.
- Fulfill the Criminal Law pro bono requirement; and
- Write a paper on a topic within criminal law approved by their faculty-mentor and that would fulfill the upper-level writing requirement.
Required Mentoring
Upon being selected into the Criminal Law Concentration, students will be assigned two mentors. They will be assigned a mentor who is a member of the Stetson Faculty Criminal Concentration Committee (Professors Podgor, Scully, Rozelle, or Flowers). The student will also be assigned a member of the bar who practices criminal law. The faculty mentor will assist in assigning an attorney that fits the student’s future career goals. Students will be expected to meet with their faculty-mentor once a semester for the purpose of discussing advancement toward completion of the Concentration requirements. They will meet with their attorney-mentor to discuss the realities of a practice in criminal law.
Criminal Law, Pro Bono
To receive the Certificate of Concentration in Criminal Law, students must perform at least 30 hours of graduation required pro bono work in service within Criminal Law (this can include legal and community service). A student cannot use the required clinic for pro bono hours unless the student continues to work at the agency after they have completed the clinic hours. This requirement is within the Stetson University College of Law's graduation requirement for pro bono work.
Mandatory Curriculum
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
LAW 3265 | CRIM PROCEDURE - ADJUDICATION | 3 credits |
LAW 3270 | CRIM PROCEDURE-INVESTIGATION | 3 credits |
LAW 3920 | TRIAL ADVOCACY | 3 credits |
TRIAL ADVOCACY* | ||
Select one from the following: | ||
LAW 3140C | APPELLATE PRAC & ADV: CRIMINAL | 3 credits |
LAW 3502 | FLORIDA CRIMINAL PROCEDURE | 3 credits |
LAW 3876 | SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY&THE LW | 3 credits |
LAW 3946 | WHITE COLLAR ADVOCACY | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3947 | WHITE COLLAR CRIME | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 4550 | PROSECUTION CLINIC | 4 credits |
Select one from the following: | ||
LAW 4560 | PUBLIC DEFENDER CLINIC | 4 credits |
LAW 4565 | TAMPA PROSECUTION CLINIC | 4 credits |
LAW 4570 | VETERAN'S ADVOCACY CLINIC | 4 credits |
** A student can petition the committee to substitute a criminal law related externship that is not on the list for a clinic. The petition must be approved by 2 committee members. |
Elective Curriculum
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
LAW 3075 | ADVANCED CRIMINAL TRIAL ADVOCACY | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3140C | APPELLATE PRAC & ADV: CRIMINAL | 3 credits |
LAW 3276 | CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY SEM | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3405 | EVIDENTIARY FOUNDAT&OBJECTIONS | 3 credits |
LAW 3454 | FEDERAL JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP | 1 to 4 credits |
LAW 3515 | FLORIDA JUDICIAL EXTERNSHP | 1 to 6 credits |
LAW 3502 | FLORIDA CRIMINAL PROCEDURE | 3 credits |
LAW 3544 | HUMAN TRAFFICKING | 3 credits |
LAW 3548 | IN-HOUSE COUNSEL EXTERNSHIP | 1 to 5 credits |
LAW 3575 | INT'L CRIMINAL LAW | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3592 | INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING | 2 credits |
LAW 3610 | JUVENILE LAW | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3788 | RACE AND THE LAW SEMINAR | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3876 | SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY&THE LW | 3 credits |
LAW 3892 | STRATEGIC AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HIGH PROFILE CRIMINAL CASES | 1 credit |
LAW 3946 | WHITE COLLAR ADVOCACY | 2 to 3 credits |
LAW 3947 | WHITE COLLAR CRIME | 2 to 3 credits |
The Criminal Law Concentration committee reserves the right to petition the Associate Dean to include other courses that are within the Criminal Law Area as electives, including but not limited to weekend courses. |