by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Except for a few signs, it looked to be a normal day at Florida Coastal School of Law. But those signs let students know that Florida’s First District Court of Appeal was holding hearings at the local law school Tuesday and Wednesday.
First District Court of Appeal Judges James Wolf, Charles Kahn and Peter Webster presided over two hearings each day in a courtroom that had plenty of seating for students to experience the practice of appellate law.
“It’s an extremely valuable experience for our students to be able to witness the First District Court of Appeal,” said Florida Coastal School of Law Dean Peter Goplerud. “It gives them a chance to witness in court what they are learning about in the classroom.”
Also, he said, “The court’s willingness to engage in dialogue with the students about the appellate process has also provided a great opportunity. Even the lawyers have been involved with talking to the students.”
The First DCA tries to maintain a schedule of involvement with Florida law schools. It visited the University of Florida Levin College of Law for two days in October to hear oral arguments.
The territorial jurisdiction encompasses 37 counties ranging from Escambia County in the northwest, to Nassau County in the northeast, to Volusia County in the southeast, and to Levy County in the southwest.
According to the First District Court of Appeal, its jurisdiction “extends to appeals from final judgments or orders of trial courts in cases that either are not directly appealable to the Supreme Court or are not taken from a county court to a circuit court; and to the review of certain non-final
orders.
“By general law, the district courts have been granted the power to review most actions taken by state agencies in carrying out the duties of the executive branch of government. Finally, the district courts have also been granted constitutional authority to issue the extraordinary writs of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto, and habeas corpus, as well as all other writs necessary to the complete exercise of their jurisdiction.”
Some of the students sitting in the audience have just begun to study some of those legal terms, and may not have been familiar with the processes and practices of the appellate court, but they were glad to have the opportunity to sit in and experience oral arguments.
“It was exhilarating to see an appellate court in action,” said Amber Hraha, a first-year law student at Florida Coastal from Des Moines, Iowa. “It shows even though you think you are prepared, sometimes you’re not.”
“It’s new to me, being a first-year law student,” said Jessica Baker, from Houston. “It helps to be able to see what we can expect.”
After oral arguments concluded, the judges made themselves available to students to answer questions about the appellate process, but not questions about the individual cases that they would be deliberating.
“It’s tough,” said Rebecca Creed, a Jacksonville attorney with Creed & Gowdy, who presented oral argument on Wednesday. “They might not have enough information or background to ask questions, but it’s a good experience for them to see.”
Judges notify lawyers in advance of plans to hold court at a law school and they haven’t experienced too much opposition to the relocation of the court from its headquarters in Tallahassee.
“Florida Coastal has great facilities and it’s convenient to have it in Jacksonville,” said Creed.
“It’s a little different from the regular court. Normally, there may be one or two people besides the attorneys in the court, so it’s interesting to see so many of the students in the audience.”
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