Fall 2010 BUL 3310-03

Prof. Stauber Collateral Assignment – Court Visit

(50 points)

This assignment is designed to expose you to some "real life" action in the Florida Supreme
Court and the Florida District Court of Appeal (see map on reverse, showing court locations). Below
is a schedule of cases (oral arguments) for both courts. Summaries of the cases to be heard in the
Florida Supreme Court will soon be available at:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/index.shtml . Links to briefs and other
documents filed in those cases are also available at that site. There are no summaries available for
the cases heard by the Court of Appeal. However, information on the names of cases, judges, and
attorneys—as well as schedules for the Court of Appeal—may be found at http://calendar.1dca.org/
DIRECTIONS: Select one or two court sessions, attend the oral argument proceedings for one-
to-two hours, and type (and staple) a 3-4 page (double-spaced) report, in which you describe two of
the cases you observed (you may observe two cases at one court or one case at each court). Your
report should be organized into seven numbered sections for each case, with the following info
being provided for each of those two cases:
(1) Style (name) of case
(2) Date of court session
(3) Court visited
(4) Issue(s) in the cases
(5) A description of the proceedings you witnessed (i.e., what happened in
court)
(6) Your impressions of the attorneys and judges (i.e., your opinions)
(7) Additional comments or observations you wish to make

SCHEDULE

Florida Supreme Court, 500 S. Duval Street (directly west of the Capitol)
Wednesday, October 6 9:00 am – 11:15 am [3 cases]
Thursday, October 7 9:00 am – noon [4 cases]

Florida District Court of Appeal,
Tuesday, October 12
Tuesday, October 19
Wednesday, October 20
Wednesday, October 27
301 South M.L. King Blvd. (directly east of FSU Law School)
9:00 – 10:00 am [2 cases]; 2:00 – 3:15 pm [2 cases]
9:00 – 11:15 am [4 cases]; 2:00 – 3:00 pm [2 cases]
2:00 – 3:00 pm [2 cases]
9:00 – 9:45 am [1 case]; 2:00 – 2:30 pm [1 case]

NOTE: If additional cases are scheduled by the courts, you will be notified via e-mail of
the dates/times/location of the cases.

**Please check the courts’ websites prior to visiting to ensure that the session you are
going to observe has not been canceled or changed!**

All sessions are open to the public (unless otherwise indicated at the courtroom) and you are free to
enter and leave at your convenience, unless court personnel otherwise direct. Needless to say,
spectators are expected to conduct themselves with decorum (i.e., keep quiet) and are expected to
dress appropriately (i.e., no shorts, tank tops, flip flops, or sandals). NOTE: Do not take cell
phones, laptops, or tape recorders into the courtroom.

***DUE DATE*** This assignment is due on or before Thursday, November 18, 2010, at 3:35 p.m.
________________________

The grade on any Collateral Assignment submitted late will be lowered 5 points for each day or part
thereof that it is late (regardless of transportation troubles, printer/computer problems, etc.).
Messiness, poor grammar, misspellings, typos, failure to staple, or failure to follow directions will
lower your grade. Collaboration is prohibited. Papers that are not typed will not be accepted
(electronic submissions will not be accepted).