New York Law School Law School

New York Law School, New York Law School Law School History

New York Law School was established in 1891 is independent. The campus is in an urban area in the historic TriBeCa district of New York City (Manhatten). The primary mission of the law school is to deliver a sense of public service in law students, melding the theoretical and the practical to provide a strong foundation of legal knowledge as well as diverse perspectives. Students have access to federal, state, county, city, and local agencies, courts, correctional facilities, law firms, and legal aid organizations in the New York area. Facilities of special interest to law students include the Communications Media Center, which promotes learning about mass communications law; the Center for New York City Law, which focuses on urban governmental and legal processes; and the Center for International Law, which supports teaching and research in that field. Housing for students consists of an apartment building in the East Village with rooms for 99 students in shared two-and-three bedroom apartments located 20 minutes from the school by subway. All law school facilities are accessible to the physically disabled.

New York Law School, New York Law School Law School Academics

In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M. Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 10 credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration (in association with Baruch College).

The New York Law School offers concentrations in corporate law, criminal law, entertainment law, environmental law, family law, intellectual property law, international law, labor law, litigation, media law, securities law, tax law, torts and insurance, and business and commercial law, constitutional law, procedure and evidence, property and real estate, public interest law, administrative law and practice, and immigration law. In addition, Clinics are available in Criminal Law, Mediation, Elder Law, Securities Arbitration, and Urban Law. Students gain additional legal practice experience through workshop courses. These courses link a seminar in a specialized body of law to field placements in offices and agencies practicing in that area of the law. Externships and judicial internships provide opportunities to do actual legal work, in private or public law offices or in judges’ chambers, while being supervised by a practitioner at the placement site and meeting with a faculty member at the school. Special lecture series include the Steifel Symposium, Fall Executive Speakers Series, New York City Law Breakfasts, Solomon Lecture, Professional Development Seminar, Faculty Lecture Series, Dean’s Roundtable, Spotlight on Women, CV Starr Lecture, Otto Walter Lecture Series, and Faculty Presentation Day. Independent study programs are available. Students may participate in study abroad programs offered by other law schools. The Academic Support Program consists of a condensed introductory course in legal methods in the summer followed by weekly tutorial meetings with second- and third-year teaching fellows through the first academic year. The Admissions Office has an Associate Director with specific responsibility for minority recruitment and enrollment initiatives in conjunction with the Office of Student Life, Asian American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Latino Law Students Association, South Asian Law Students Association, and Stonewall Law Students Association. Special interest group programs include Media Law Project, Domestic Violence Project, New York Law School Civil Liberties Union, Public Interest Coalition, and Trial Lawyers Association. The most widely taken electives are Commercial Transactions; Corporations; and Wills, Trusts, and Future Interests.

To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 86 total credits, of which 38 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Lawyering, Legal Reasoning, Writing and Research, Legislation and Regulation, Property, Torts, and Written and Oral Advocacy. Required upper-level courses consist of advanced writing requirement, Constitutional Law I and II, Evidence, and The Legal Profession. Clinical programs are included in the Lawyering Skills program, where faculty-supervised students represent clients with current legal matters pending before various federal and state courts and administrative agencies.The required orientation program for first-year students is a week long and is designed to ease the anxieties of incoming students by having them meet informally with professors and fellow students at planned social events as well as introducing them to the rigors of law studies.

In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0 and have completed the upper-division writing requirement.

New York Law School, New York Law School Law School Unique Programs

Library

The law library contains 522,118 hard-copy volumes and 172,770 microform volume equivalents, and subscribes to 4216 serial publications. Such on-line databases and networks as CALI, DIALOG, LEXIS, NEXIS, OCLC First Search, WESTLAW, Legal-Trac, WILSON DISC, CIS Masterfile I and II and CD-ROM, OCLC, Wilsonline, Law Schools On-line, Index to UN documents, and 25 other CD-ROM databases are available to law students for research. Special library collections include the U.S. government documents depository and special collections in communications rights law, alternative dispute resolution, and labor law. Recently, the library added the INNOPAC On-Line Catalog, with dial-in access to the library’s holdings and electronic access to the Index of Legal Periodicals. A CD-ROM tower workstation is available. The ratio of library volumes to faculty is 6961 to 1 and to students is 332 to 1. The ratio of seats in the library to students is 1 to 3.

Special Consideration

The law school recruits minority and disadvantaged students through diversity recruitment efforts initiated by the minority recruitment coordinator in the Admissions Office. Requirements are not different for out-of-state students. Transfer students must have one year of credit, have attended an ABA-approved law school, and have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university.

New York Law School, New York Law School Law School Admissions

In the fall 2007 first-year class, 5448 applied, 2042 were accepted, and 545 enrolled. Sixteen transfers enrolled. The median LSAT percentile of the most recent first-year class was 72; the median GPA was 3.3 on a scale of 4.0.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. The Admissions Committee reviews the entire application. No specific undergraduate courses are required. Candidates are not interviewed.

The application deadline for fall entry is April 1. Applicants should submit an application form, LSAT results, a nonrefundable application fee of $65, and 1 to 3 letters of recommendation. Notification of the admissions decision is on a rolling basis. The latest acceptable LSAT test date for fall entry is February. The law school uses the LSDAS.

New York Law School, New York Law School Law School Financial Aid

About 90% of current law students receive some form of aid. The average annual amount of aid from all sources combined, including scholarships, loans, and work contracts, is $37,804; maximum, $62,000. Awards are based on need. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit. NYLS need-based grants are awarded on the basis of financial need. Required financial statement is the FAFSA. The aid application deadline for fall entry is April 15. Special funds for minority or disadvantaged students are a part of the regular scholarship and grant process. First-year students are notified about their financial aid application at contingent upon its completion.

New York Law School, New York Law School Law School Students

About 52% of the student body are women; 23%, minorities; 6%, African American; 9%, Asian American; 8%, Hispanic; and 4%, mixed race/ethnicity. The average age of entering students is 25; age range is 20 to 63. About 35% of students enter directly from undergraduate school, 9% have a graduate degree, and 65% have worked full-time prior to entering law school. About 8% drop out after the first year for academic or personal reasons; 87% remain to receive a law degree.

Students edit the New York Law School Law Review, , and the student newspaper De Novo , Students may participate in the Froessel Moot Court intramural competition. Students become members of the Moot Court Association by invitation and may represent the school in intramural competitions held at law schools nationwide. The Robert F. Wagner Labor Law Moot Court competition is hosted by the school each spring. Law student organizations include Business Law Society, International Law Society, Stonewall Law Students Association, Evening Students Association, Legal Association for Women, and Civil Liberties Union. There are local chapters of Phi Alpha Delta, Phi Delta Phi, and Amnesty International.

The law school operates on a traditional semester basis. Courses for full-time students are offered both day and evening and must be completed within 3 years. For part-time students, courses are offered both day and evening and must be completed within 4 years. New full- and part-time students are admitted in the fall. There is an 8-week summer session. Transferable summer courses are offered.