The University of Miami School of Law is located in one of the major global cities of the United States. As an international port of entry and center of international trade, Miami has often been referred to as the gateway to the Americas and the Caribbean. With a significant number of students and alumni of Latin and Caribbean origin, the Law School is uniquely situated to benefit from a center dedicated to Hispanic and Caribbean legal studies. In this respect, the Center is simply a natural outgrowth of and optimal means for coordinating many related projects and activities already underway at the Law School. The purpose of the Center is to promote a greater understanding of the way domestic and international systems of law, culture and political economy intersect in constructing and resolving the problems confronting Hispanic and Caribbean individuals and communities. Accordingly, the Center will coordinate a variety of activities, including:

1. outreach to and activities with members of Hispanic and Caribbean Bar Associations in order to better understand and address the legal problems confronting these communities and the lawyers who serve them. These activities will include Continuing Legal Education programs as well as student-oriented public interest workshops.
2. the organization of interdisciplinary speaker series and conferences that will help bridge existing gaps between recent developments in the study of culture, race, ethnicity and political economy, the teaching and practice of law and the advocacy of legal reform. These activities will include academic symposia, as well as coordinated research activities with non-governmental organizations engaged in law reform projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
3. suggesting initiatives regarding the Law School's curriculum, admissions and appointments policies that will increase student exposure to and understanding of the problems confronting different Hispanic and Caribbean communities.