FIU Law graduates its 11th class and its first group of LL.M. candidates


U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen delivers keynote speech

For most of the 147 juris doctorate candidates, today’s commencement ceremony from the FIU College of Law signals the start of a new career in the legal profession.

For the last three years, they have worked alongside federal and state judges, interned at private law firms, worked cases through the FIU Law clinics, served on student boards, competition teams and the FIU Law Review – all while meeting the demands of a rigorous law school program.

For nine others, who make up the inaugural Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) class, however, graduation day takes on a new meaning: they can now add this title to their resume and launch a legal career in the United States.

“Graduating our first class of LL.M. students marks another milestone for FIU Law, which is now graduating its 11th class,” said Dean R. Alexander Acosta. “That, along with the impressive work our entire graduating class has done makes all of us at FIU Law very proud.

“This year, our students provided more than 50,000 hours of free legal assistance to the South Florida community, argued before a United States Court of Appeals, lead the National Conference of Law Reviews, won or placed in nearly a dozen national and international competitions and took home second place among all U.S. and Canadian law schools at the 2015 American Bar Association Negotiation Competition – it was a good year indeed!”

The LL.M. degree is an internationally recognized post graduate program in law available to individuals who hold their first law degree from universities outside the United States. The LL.M. program is FIU College of Law’s most recent step toward the globalization of its curriculum. This year’s class of foreign attorneys comes from Italy, Lithuania, France, Vietnam and several Latin American countries.

For Max Nemecek, earning an LL.M. degree means working in the United States is possible.

“One of the reasons I chose FIU Law is its reputation and its location in this international city,” Nemecek said “I love being an attorney and I love my native Brazil. But to be able to work in America, I needed the LL.M. degree – it will do tremendous things for me professionally.”

U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen delivered the keynote address at the ceremony held at the FIU Arena.