When Timothy Arcaro, professor Shepard Broad Law Center, first came to NSU 20 years ago, there was a cow pasture where the Health Professions Division now stands.
Now, he is the associate dean of online programs, directing the law center’s online master’s programs in health law, education law and employment law. He also directs the Alternative Admissions Model Program for Legal Education, known as AAMPLE, which allows people who didn’t do well on the LSAT a performance-based alternative for admission to law school.
For 10 years, Arcaro was the director of the law center’s child advocacy clinic. Today, he still works with the clinic, now called the Children and Families Clinic, which offers free legal representation to indigent people Broward County on family law matters.
Arcaro was one of several lawyers who were hired to represent Florida’s Department of Children and Families when the Florida Supreme Court decided that the state’s case workers could no longer legally represent themselves in court. Arcaro became “sucked in” and found that he enjoyed the family dynamics of the job.
“Family law is uniquely personal to each person who walks in the door, so you have an opportunity as a lawyer to connect with an individual, to help them transition through what is frequently a very difficult position in their lives and transition to hopefully something better,” Arcaro said. “You help people transform their lives … So I find it rewarding in that sense.”
As a professor, Arcaro enjoys the challenges of having a new group of students each semester with new perspectives. He also enjoys teaching third-year law students at the clinic, who are allowed to practice law under the supervision of an attorney.
“I enjoy going to court with those students and helping them transition from the classroom to the courtroom. That can be an incredibly rewarding and cathartic experience for the student,” Arcaro said.
Arcaro describes his teaching style as “non-directive” as students need to be able to solve problems.
“You’ve got to help students put the tools together to be able to problem solve and to be able to navigate the practice when they’re out of this building because that’s exactly what they’ll be expected to do,” he said.
Arcaro also works on cases from the U.S. State Department through the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, representing parents whose children have been abducted by a parent from their home country and brought to the U.S. He’s helped children return to their families all around the world, including Switzerland, Italy, Columbia, Mexico, Canada, Israel and “every place in between.”
“The U.S. is sending the child to the other country so that that country can resolve the [custody] dispute. … Parents should not be incentivized to abduct their child and by not sending them back, you incentivize abduction so you should send them back to resolve the problem,” Arcaro said. “There’s a global sense that if you’re participating in righting a wrong that helps harmonize the way things are supposed to work.
Recently, he was recognized by the state department for his work in this field. It’s just one of the many accolades he has received for his rewarding work, including the Florida Children’s First Service Award, the Pro Bono Service Award from Legal Aid Service of Broward County and a Certificate of Merit from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“You get to help people who would never be able to access the U.S. justice system,” Arcaro said. “You get to feel good about returning children.”
