Honors Certificate Programs

To receive the certificate, a student must apply for the program and complete five core courses: Family Law; Protections Children & the Law; Rights Children & the Law; an approved skills component; and an approved writing course. In addition, a student must complete two approved electives and must maintain a 2.5 average in the courses.

Upon completion of the program requirements, the student will receive an Honors Certificate in Children and Family Law, which will also be reflected on the student’s transcript. Students may apply for the program by contacting the Registrar’s office.

1. Introductory Children & Families Courses (A student must take all of these courses)
   1. Family Law (3 credits)
   2. Protections: Children & the Law (3 credits)
   3. Rights: Children & the Law (3 credits)
2. Approved Electives Courses (A student must complete two of these courses).
   1. Adoption Law (3 credits)
   2. Education Law (3 credits)
   3. Interviewing, Counseling and Problem Solving (2 credits)
   4. PRI: Collaborative Family Law (The training class for Collaborative Family Law Clinic can be used as a substitute for the PRI: Collaborative Family Law course)
3. Seminars or Upper-Level Writing Paper (A student must complete one seminar or complete their upper-level writing paper in the area of children or family law.)
4. Clinical Courses (A student must take one of these courses.)
   1. Juvenile Defense Clinic (6 credits)
   2. Collaborative Family Law Clinic (3 credits)
   3. Children & Family Externship (6 credits)
      (Department of Children & Families, Regional Counsel, Public Defender Juvenile Division, or Guardian Ad Litem Offices)
   4. Externship in Juvenile Court (2 credits)
5. Relevant Courses (Students are not required to take these courses, and these courses do not satisfy any requirement of the certificate program. However, these courses would be helpful to anyone planning to practice children and family law)
   1. Wills, Trusts & Estates (3 credits)
   2. Disabilities Law (3 credits)
   3. Psychology and the Law (3 credits)
   4. Administrative Law (3 credits)
   5. Federal Income Tax (3 credits)
   6. Mediation (3 credits)
   7. Mediation Externship (2 credits)
   8. Motions and Depositions (3 credits)
   9. Opinion and Scientific Evidence (3 credits)

Required – a student must complete all of (1), (2) and (3) (the number following course is number of credit hours):

1. Motions and Depositions (3)
2. A Law School Trial Advocacy course (3); OR received credit as an advocate (not a witness) in a Trial Team extramural competition (1). AND a clinical experience in a litigation placement in one of the following:
   1. Juvenile Defense Clinic (6)
   2. Civil Poverty Externship (5)
   3. Criminal Defense Externship (6)
   4. Environmental and Earth Law Clinic (6)
   5. Immigration Clinic (6)
   6. Prosecution Externship (6)
3. A student must take two additional courses from any combination of the following:
   1. Advanced Appellate Advocacy (3) OR Moot Court Advocate (1)
   2. Advanced Criminal Procedure (3)
   3. Advanced Legal Writing (3)
   4. Juvenile Defense Clinic/Advanced Juvenile Defense Clinic (6)
   5. Civil Poverty Externship (5)
   6. Criminal Defense Externship (6)
   7. Environmental and Earth Law Clinic/Advanced Environmental and Earth Law Clinic (6)
   8. Florida Evidence (3)
   9. Florida Criminal Procedure (3)
   10. Immigration Clinic (6)
   11. Judicial Externship (2)
   12. Mediation (3) ORMediation Externship (2)
   13. Prosecution Externship
   14. Trial Team – second extramural competition as an advocate (not witness) (1)
4. Minimum of seven hours of graded credits
5. GPA of 2.800 in the graded courses above to receive this Certificate
6. High Honors (Overall GPA of 3.750) in the graded courses above.

Certificate Requirements

The Honors Certificate Program in Environmental and Earth Law offers students a practical and visionary curriculum that includes a diverse array of environmental courses, skills and experiential experiences, and rigorous writing opportunities.

To receive an Honors Certificate in Environmental and Earth Law, a student must register in the Certificate Program and complete the following requirements:

• Three core courses;
• Three approved electives;
• A writing component through one of the following alternatives:
  • A paper satisfying the requirements of one of the approved electives;
  • Acceptance of an environmental article in The Barry Law Review or The Environmental and Earth Law Journal;
  • A Directed Research paper on an environmental topic; or
  • An Upper-Level Writing Requirement paper on an environmental topic;
• At least 12 credit hours of core and elective courses; and
• Maintain a 2.5 average for the courses.

Core Courses:

• Introduction to Environmental Law, Jurisprudence, and Justice (pass/fail) (1 credit)
• Environmental Law (3 credits)
• Skills/Experiential Component (at least 2 credits)

Approved Skills Component (minimum of 2 credits):

• Environmental and Earth Law Clinic (6)
• Environmental Dispute Resolution (2)
• Externship with governmental agencies, non-profits in environmental area (5)
• Mediation (3)
• Mediation Externship (2)
• Moot Court – competition (1)
• Motions and Depositions (3) Trial Advocacy (3)
• Trial Team – competition as an advocate (1)

Approved Electives:

• Administrative Law (3)
• *Admiralty Seminar (2)
• Advanced Environmental and Earth Law Clinic (4)
• *Advanced Ethics (2)
• *Animal Law (2)
• *+ Climate Change Law and Policy (2)
• *Directed Research on an environmental topic (1-2)
• *Earth Jurisprudence Seminar (2)
• *Earth Jurisprudence Survey Course (3)
• *Energy Law (2)
• Environmental Dispute Resolution (2)
• *+Environmental Ethics (3)
• +Florida Administrative Law and Environmental Regulation (3) Florida Constitutional Law (2)
• *+Hazardous Waste Law (2)
• *International Law of the Sea (2) Land Use Planning (2)
• +Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy (2)
• * Oil and Gas Law (2)
• *Toxic Torts, Superfund, Redevelopment (2) Water Pollution Law (3)

Notes:

1. Writing courses are identified by an asterisk*.
2. Courses that are provisionally approved are noted by a plus sign +.
3. Environmental Dispute Resolution may satisfy the Skills/Experiential requirement or serve as one of the Approved Electives.
4. For exam courses, students may discuss with professors the option of preparing papers that will satisfy the writing requirement.
5. To make sure that a paper is considered for compliance with the Certificate Program, a student should submit it to one of the Professors teaching in the Certificate Program (Professors Ahmad, Deming, Koons, or Leske). This should be done after completing the paper, submitting it to the professor for the course or the Directed Research project, and receiving a grade for the course or the Directed Research project. If the student is graduating the semester in which the paper is completed, please submit it for Certificate compliance review at the same time that it is submitted to the professor for the course or the Directed Research project.
6. Students should register for the Certificate Program prior to submitting their paper for Certificate compliance review.
7. Please note that the list of electives will be updated in the future. Please check with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or the Coordinator of the Certificate Program if you have any questions about the Certificate Program.