American and Caribbean Law Initiative visits Stetson

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – The American and Caribbean Law Initiative visited Stetson in November. Stetson Law, one of ACLI’s newest members, hosted the Caribbean Law Clinic from Nov. 1-4 on the Gulfport and Tampa campuses. This is the first time the clinic met in Florida.

“This clinic was not a competition,” said Professor Dorothea Beane, who spear-headed Stetson hosting the Caribbean Law Clinic’s inaugural visit to Florida. “It was a unique opportunity for American and Caribbean law students to work together to solve legal problems.”

Participating students discussed their research and prepared for presentations together.

The founding mission, according to the ACLI web site, is to create programs to encourage cultural diversity and increase communication among countries in the Caribbean and “to advance the common interest of its members in the growth and development of the Caribbean Basin by facilitating collaborative relationships and by strengthening its legal development and institutions.”

ACLI is the brainchild of Professor John Knechtle, Florida Coastal School of Law.

Several schools across the Caribbean Basin and in the United States have joined the initiative.
The member schools to date are as follows:

  • Eugene Dupuch Law School, Nassau, Bahamas.
  • Florida Coastal School of Law, Jacksonville, Fla.
  • Howard University School of Law, Washington, D.C. (unable to attend this year)
  • Hugh Wooding Law School, Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago.
  • Norman Manley Law School, Kingston, Jamaica.
  • Nova Southeastern University Shepherd Broad Law Center, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
  • Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, Fla.
  • Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Houston, Texas.

The ACLI and Stetson College of Law thank the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division for its invaluable contribution to the Nov. 3, 2006 American Caribbean Law Initiative Clinic.

To learn more, please visit: http://www.fcsl.edu/acli/.