News Archive

From September 4 through 10, the law school was the site of the third annual Program in American Law for professors and students from the Faculdades Espirito Santenses Law School (FAESA), which is located in Vitoria, Brazil. Professor  Lloyd T. "Tom" Wilson founded the Program and is its director.

The program consists of classroom instruction each morning and field trips each afternoon. Classroom instruction is on a topic chosen each year by the FAESA professors. In 2011, the subject of the program was “The Common Law in Principle and Practice.” This topic allowed the participants to gain a better understanding of the common law and to compare it to the civil law system of their home country.

The program included visits to:

• the United States District Court, where the FAESA group met with judges Sarah Evans Barker and William T. Lawrence (IU-Indianapolis School of Law, Class of 1973), who spoke about the role of federal courts in a federalist system
• the Indiana Supreme Court, where Justice Frank Sullivan spoke to the group in the Supreme Court Courtroom about the state court system
• the Indiana Senate, where the group heard from Senator Phil Boots and Senator Brandt Hershman (IU-Indianapolis School of Law, Class of 2013) about matters ranging from state government finance to the top issues on the legislative agenda
• the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, where they met with Attorney General Greg Zoeller who spoke about his duties and his relationships with attorneys general of other states
• the Baker & Daniels law firm, where Brita A. Horvath (IU-Indianapolis School of Law, Class of 2002) spoke about the pro bono and civic engagement activities of lawyers in the state and about specific initiatives in which the firm’s lawyers are involved

In addition to the law school, the FAESA group also visited Wabash College, where they met with students enrolled in a course on the Culture and Social Issues of Brazil, and spoke with students and faculty at an open forum.

Professor Wilson will host another group of faculty and students from FAESA in September 2012.