New Initiatives

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University of Miami School of Law, on the move

It is not surprising Dean and Professor of Law Patricia D. White was named the most influential woman in legal education by the National Jurist as she has started an array of new initiatives during her leadership. Highlights include:

More Joint Degrees

She has greatly expanded collaborative efforts with other departments within the University with the newly created:

• J.D./M.A. - Arts Presenting & Live Entertainment Management
• J.D./M.S.Ed. -Science in Education in Law, Community and Social Change
• J.D./Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy
• J.D./Masters in Music Business and Entertainment Law
• J.D./Masters in Communications
• J.D./M.P.A. in Law and Public Administration
• J.D./M.D. program in law and medicine
• As well as a triple degree offering for undergraduate business majors – J.D./M.B.A./ LL.M. in Taxation or Real Property – three degrees which can be earned in just four years.

More Hands-On Training

Other programs with hands-on training that have been started include:

• Legal Corps, a postgraduate fellowship program unlike any in the country (click here to access the article about Legal Corps in the National Jurist)
• A greatly expanded externship program
• Legal Communication and Research Skills course is taught by full-time instructors who guide students in conducting sophisticated legal analysis, and drafting legal documents geared to the reality of practice, thereby becoming effective communicators on all levels.
• Litigation Specialization Certificate Program for students thinking seriously about becoming a litigator/trial lawyer.

Expanded Pro Bono & Advocacy Programs

For students interested in public service and pro bono advocacy Dean White has added clinics in Immigration, Human Rights, Health Rights, Innocence, Investor Rights and the Death Penalty

Increased International Exchange Offerings

If learning more about international law is of interest, Miami has added several new study abroad options in Versailles, France; Berlin and Hamburg, Germany (an exchange program already exists in Leipzig); Zurich, Switzerland; Haifa, Israel; Dublin, Ireland; Spain; China; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

More Innovative Programs

In terms of innovative courses, Miami Law boasts LawWithoutWalls™ and The Idea of the Hospital – offerings that provide a multidisciplinary perspective to complex issues. Further Dean White actively supports Miami's new specialization in international arbitration (headed by one of the world's most powerful international arbitrators, Jan Paulsson).

Expanded Commitment to Students' Well Being

No other school in the country offers:

• Miami's Student Development Initiative (another Dean White project) in which staff members (all of whom hold law degrees) connect with law students individually and work with them one-on-one to find greater success, satisfaction, and happiness during their law school years.
• The Student Service Fellow Program in which post-graduate fellows are available to answer student questions about Miami Law and to implement new programs, systems and services to better the law student experience.
• We are also the first law school in the country to establish a Mindfulness in Law Program as part of our commitment to preparing students at the highest levels of academic excellence and legal expertise while providing the tools to maintain a fulfilling work-life balance.

Additionally,

• Miami, while at the crossroads to Latin and South America and the Caribbean, has an international positioning that touches all areas of the globe.
• Miami offers a combination of strengths: an outstanding faculty engaged not only in teaching but also mentoring our accomplished, active and multidimensional student body (a majority of whom are bilingual); our location on the University's gorgeous main campus is only 6 miles south of Miami's vibrant legal and business communities, all the courts (federal, circuit, appellate, family, bankruptcy, criminal, immigration etc.) and governmental agencies.
• Miami provides exceptional curricular offerings (approximately 250 offered annually) from tax to environmental, entertainment and sports and ocean and coastal to estate planning and international law (which intersects with almost every area of law in the world we live in today).
• Miami's outstanding clinics, public interest options and externships provide a strong balance between legal theory, classroom learning and hands-on opportunities. Laurence Tribe, professor, at Harvard Law, renowned constitutional scholar and Senior Counselor for Access to Justice in the U.S. Department of Justice, recognized Miami's outstanding public interest programs and initiatives, stating in his 2010 commencement address, "Yours is among the finest array of law school clinics in the nation."
• Miami's Career Development Office has ten advisors with law degrees who specialize in specific career areas. They are all here to assist students in navigating the national and local job market. Further, our alumni base, near and far, are accomplished and supportive.

While law schools are similar in many ways, Miami offers a dynamic which is not easy to describe. Every day visitors who come here tell us the overall friendliness and excitement of the place, not to mention the beauty of the campus and Miami in general, are unique and refreshing.