Academic Success

Welcome to St. Thomas University College of Law! STU Law is committed to student success both in law school and beyond. Using an interactive and cooperative approach to learning, our unique academic success programs assist students in developing the requisite skills for success in both the study and the practice of law. Meet your Academic Success team:

Click to make an appointment with one of our ASP Professors or ASP Fellows.

Academic Success

The Office of the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs works to insure that all J.D. students are provided academic advisement. Students, at their discretion, can meet with any of: the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, the Assistant Dean for Enrollment and Scholarships, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the Professors of Academic Success and the Assistant Directors of Academic Success to discuss course offerings, curricular planning, clinical experiences, satisfaction of the senior writing requirement and any other questions regarding completion of the J.D. program, preparation for the Bar examination and guidance with regard to career path options. If a J.D. student is unsure whom to meet with regarding these matters, the student can contact the office of the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs for assistance.

The Office of Student Affairs also maintains a referral list that enables students to be matched with Professors and Adjunct Professors who can provide specific information and guidance with regard to areas of practice and guidance on career path options.

LL.M. students and J.S.D. students should consult with the Director of the Graduate Program in Intercultural Human Rights or the Executive Director of the Graduate Program in Intercultural Human Rights for Academic Advisement and guidance.

First Year Programs

Two days in the 1L orientation are full day sessions led by a recognized expert in academic success that introduces students to the basic skills and processes they need to succeed in law school. Students are taught how to read and brief cases, take notes, create outlines and answer law school examinations.

During Orientation, each incoming first-year student is assigned to a small group led by a second- or third-year student mentor. Mentors facilitate the law school acclimation process during Orientation and beyond.

The study habits and skills that made students successful in undergraduate school may not be sufficient to bring them success in law school. Law school requires more than just simple reading of assignments, memorization and restating what students have memorized. Students must develop additional skills essential to excelling in law school including:

  • Enhanced Time management
  • Efficient and effective study techniques
  • Critical reading
  • Case briefing
  • Outlining
  • Effectively writing law school essay exams

Each student is assigned an ASP Fellow at the beginning of the 1L year. ASP Fellows are second- and third-year students who have been successful at STU Law. Each student’s ASP fellow is available for help with developing the above skills to succeed in first-year courses.

Legal Skills is a required first-year class. It consists of a workshop series designed to help students to develop the skills they need to succeed in first-year classes and beyond by actively practicing those skills, including critical thinking, legal analysis, and law school exam-taking skills. The class is graded pass/no-pass (P/NP).

Students will attend a series of mandatory Academic Success Workshops in the fall and again in the spring for one hour of academic credit.

In addition to the legal skills, required workshops, there are first-year optional workshops targeted to specific critical skills such as time management, outlining, issue spotting, matching facts to legal rules and elements, the IRAC essay writing format, essay writing skills, and multiple choice strategies. The Academic Success team schedules multiple presentations of each workshop to accommodate all first-year schedules. Dates and times of the sessions will be provided to all students at the beginning of each semester.

Second & Third Year Programs

The Upper-Level Workshop series is designed to assist students in refining analytical and writing skills through practical exercises.

In the second-year each student is required to take the Advanced Legal Skills class. This practical second-year four-credit course focuses on reinforcing understanding of key elements of Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, and Criminal Procedure through Expert Learning skills and strategies, developing students’ ability to apply that law to hypothetical factual scenarios and questions to choose the best of several potential multiple-choice answers, and developing and perfecting legal analytical and essay writing skills.

In the third-year, prior to graduating, each student is required to take a Bar Prep Skills class. This third-year four-credit course will begin to prepare students for the bar examination by providing in-depth skill instruction on reading comprehension, issue identification, rule mastery, critical thinking, legal analysis, and recognition of distractor facts and answer options. The course uses substantive topics from four subjects tested on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) including Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Evidence, and Real Property. This course will help students gain a strong conceptual understanding and knowledge of highly tested doctrines, and demonstrate how to develop, use, and apply a flexible but strong analytical framework to solve bar exam multiple choice and essay problems.

Bar Preparation Programs

  • Bar Application Information
  • Florida Board of Bar Examiners
  • National Conference of Bar Examiners
    • Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements
      • Standard 504 sets out a law school’s responsibility to assess an applicant’s character and fitness qualifications and to advise applicants that such qualifications exist for admittance to the school and for admission to the bar. Students should refer to Chart 2 of the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements for the character and fitness determinations in the state(s) in which they plan to sit for the bar examination.
      • Law school applications may be reviewed by the admissions agencies for consistency with the record at the time of seeking admission.
      • The Moral Character and Fitness section of the Code of Recommended Standards for Bar Examiners, which is included in the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements includes examples of issues that might be cause for further inquiry before the bar examining authority decides whether the applicant possesses the character and fitness to practice law.
    • Character and Fitness
  • Florida Lawyers Assistance and Law Students
  • American Bar Association
    • ABA Standard 504(a): In addition to a bar examination, there are character, fitness, and other qualifications for admission to the bar in every U.S. jurisdiction. Applicants are encouraged to determine the requirements for any jurisdiction in which they intend to seek admission by contacting the jurisdiction. Addresses for all relevant agencies are available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
    • Bar Admissions Information

Graduates studying for the Bar exam are assigned a Bar Mentor, a current faculty member. Mentors coach the graduate through the bar study cycle with periodic correspondence and feedback on progress.

A series of bar review sessions are conducted for the February and July Florida Bar exam. Sessions are designed to supplement, not replace, commercial courses. All graduates studying for the Bar exam are invited to attend.

Examination Date Apply With The Board By Register And Qualify With ExamSoft
February January 1 November 15 – January 15
July June 1 May 1 – June 15

System requirements for use of a laptop computer on the examination can be found on the ExamSoft® website.