Florida Coastal School of Law is a for-profit law school in Jacksonville, Florida. Established in 1996, the school was founded upon three mission pillars: serving the underserved, providing an education that is student-outcome centered, and graduating students who are practice ready. The school is part of the InfiLaw System of for-profit law schools owned by Sterling Partners.
Accreditation
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The School was fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 2002. In October 2017, the school received a letter from the ABA stating that Florida Coastal was not in compliance with several ABA academic standards, and requiring the school to submit a report by November 1, 2017, regarding the school's efforts to return to compliance, in advance of an appearance before the ABA Accreditation Committee in March 2018. The school's dean sent a letter to the student body, responding to the ABA letter, in order to dispel what he deemed to be "misconceptions" about the ABA's letter.
Academics
In addition to its curriculum for a juris doctor, Coastal Law offers several certification programs in specialized areas of the law. Coastal Law currently offers an environmental law certificate, sports law certificate, international comparative law certificate, family law certificate, and an advanced legal research and writing certificate. Additionally, Coastal Law, offers accelerated dual degree programs, with Jacksonville University, that allow students to complete a juris doctor and a M.B.A. or a M.P.P. in four years.
Coastal Law also has an internship and externship clinical program. Criminal law externships in the United States Attorney's Office, the State Attorney's Office, and the Office of the Public Defender throughout Florida and the southeast United States are available to Coastal Law students. Internships in consumer law are available through Coastal Law's Consumer Law Clinic, and students can learn to offer general legal assistance through a clinical program with Jacksonville Legal Services, a pro bono organization.
Awards
- In 2010, Coastal Law was the recipient of the American Bar Association E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award.
- In 2011, the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) awarded Coastal Law the Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Award for its partnership with JALA and its commitment to pro bono legal aid to the Jacksonville community.
- In 2013, the National Jurist ranked Coastal Law among the top innovative law schools.
- In 2014, Coastal Law made the American Bar Association's "Top Ten List" of law schools teaching the technology of legal practice.
- In 2015, the National Jurist gave Coastal Law an "A+ or A" for being one of the best law schools that offer practical training.
LL.M. in Logistics and Transportation Law
Coastal Law offers the only LL.M. degree in Logistics and Transportation Law in the United States. The program concentrates in four key areas: maritime law, trucking and rail law, aviation law, and military logistics. In each of those areas, students obtain expertise in litigation, regulation, and contracting skills relating to international and domestic transportation.
The program is entirely on-line and can be completed in one year. Law school graduates are required to complete twenty-four credits in order to obtain a Master of Law (LL.M.). Non-lawyers and law students may enroll in the program and obtain a Certificate in Transportation Regulation after completing twelve credits.
Moot Court
In 2016, Florida Coastal's Moot Court team was listed by preLaw Magazine as the third best moot court team of the decade. Students are only eligible to try out for the Moot Court team after completing their second semester.
Each year, the University of Houston Law Center's Blakely Advocacy Institute ranks the top moot court programs in the United states by assessing the quality of the competition a school participated in, the size of the competitions, and the school's performance in those competitions. Florida Coastal has consistently ranked in the top 10 in those rankings:
Mock Trial
Coastal Law's Mock Trial team competes with law students across the state of Florida and the United States. The team members present their case before a judge and jury. Acceptance into the team is based upon a competitive meritocratic process that judges the student's ability and talent. Students are only eligible to try out for the Mock Trial team during their 1L year in law school.
Law Review
The Florida Coastal Law Review is a legal journal edited by second and third year law students under the guidance of law professors. The journals are retrievable by judges, attorneys, and scholars around the world through the legal databases LexisNexis and Westlaw. The journal is published three times a year. Students can join by being in the top 5% of their class or by submitting a high quality writing piece to law review.
Bar Passage
The Florida Bar passage rate of Coastal Law graduates compared to the average passing rate from other Florida law schools.
Florida Bar Passing Percentage
Post-graduation Employment and Debt
Student debt
According to U.S. News & World Report, the average indebtedness of 2016 graduates who incurred law school debt was $158,878 (not including undergraduate debt), and 70% of 2016 graduates took on debt.
Employment outcomes
Coastal Law's Law School Transparency score is 34.8%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2016 who obtained full-time long-term jobs practicing law within nine months of graduation, excluding solo practitioners.
Tuition and Cost
Tuition and fees for the Fall 2017 semester:
- $23,034 for Full-Time Students (13-16 credit hours)
- $18,681 for Part-Time Students (9-12 credit hours)
- $14,645 for Part-Time Evening Students (9-12 credit hours)
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Coastal Law for the 2017-2018 academic year is $69,293. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $256,939.
References
External links
- Official website
