Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center

Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center History

Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center was established in 1980 and is a private institution. The 11.1-acre campus is in a suburban area approximately 40 miles east of New York City. The primary mission of the law school is to produce graduates ready for real-world practice. The student experience is characterized by extensive faculty-student interaction, innovative student support systems, and a commitment to a lawyer’s moral and ethical obligations. Students have access to federal, state, county, city, and local agencies, courts, correctional facilities, law firms, and legal aid organizations in the Huntington area. The school is planning to relocate to become part of the Central Islip court complex, with a state-of-the-art interactive facility. Facilities of special interest to law students include law firms, local and New York City attorneys’ offices, and public interest agencies and firms. Housing for students is available on-campus and off-campus. The school’s Housing Information Network and mailings identify available accommodations and students who wish to share housing. About 98% of the law school facilities are accessible to the physically disabled.

Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Academics

In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M. in U.S. legal studies for foreign law graduates, and the LL.M. in General Studies. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration (with Long), J.D./M.P.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Public Administration in health care), and J.D./M.S.W. (Juris Doctor/Master of Social Work (with State University of New York at Stony Brook).

The Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center offers concentrations in corporate law, criminal law, family law, international law, litigation, torts and insurance, public interest and civil rights, intellectual property, real estate, health law, and immigration law. In addition, clinical offerings include Family Law (6 credits), Criminal Law, (5 credits); and International Human Rights/ Immigration Litigation (4 credits). Seminars are open to all students who have satisfied the prerequisites: Law and Medicine: Selected Topics in Law, Medicine, and Ethics; Patent Practice Seminar; and Selected Topics in Corporate Law. Internships are arranged through the Career Planning Office for positions during the semester and in the summer. Externships are also available in-house, at the Law Center’s Domestic Violence Project and at the Housing Rights Project. Second- and third-year students may apply to be paid research assistants for a faculty member. Also, students may take Independent Research for 1 to 3 credits. Field work may be done through Career Planning externships, through the pro bono requirement, and through clinical offerings. Annually, the Law Center hosts the 3 lecture series: Distinguished Jurist in Residence; Distinguished Public Interest Lawyer in Residence; and the Bruce K. Gould Book Award. Any student in good academic standing may take up to 6 credits at an ABA-approved summer program. Such programs are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The Office of Student Affairs arranges summer placements abroad in London, Paris, Lisbon, Brussels, Cork, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Moscow. The Writing Resources Clinic provides writing specialists to assist students. The Professional Development Program, designed to help first-year students adapt to the rigors of law school, provides teaching assistants in most required courses, as well as TA mentors and TA tutors for writing skills. Minority students may take advantage of the Legal Education Access Program (LEAP), which offers an orientation program, a lecture series, discussion groups, mentor program, and individual counseling. Special interest groups include the Institute for Jewish Law and the Institute for Business Law and Technology. The most widely taken electives are New York Practice, Family Law, and Criminal Procedure.

To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 87 total credits, of which 51 to 52 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 I and II, Contracts I and II, Criminal Law I, Legal Methods I and II, Property I, and Torts I and II. Required upper-level courses consist of Advanced Writing Requirement, Business Organizations I, Constitutional Law I and II, Evidence, Perspective Requirement, Professional Responsibility, Property II, Public Interest Requirement, and Trusts and Estates. The required orientation program for first-year students is a 5-day program that deals mostly with legal methods and provides an introduction to law; case assignments are given in advance for students to read, brief, and discuss.

In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0, have completed the upper-division writing requirement, and have successfully completed 87 credits, including all the required courses and additional requirements (Perspective Requirement, Public Interest Requirement, and Advanced Writing Requirement).

Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Unique Programs

Library

The law library contains 429,683 hard-copy volumes and 225,964 microform volume equivalents, and subscribes to 1400 serial publications. Such on-line databases and networks as CALI, Legal-Trac, LEXIS, NEXIS, OCLC First Search, WESTLAW, and full Internet access are available to law students for research. Special library collections include official depository for selected U.S. government publications, a selective New York State depository, an extensive Judaica collection, and rare English, American, and foreign legal works. Recently, the library added titles and volumes. The ratio of library volumes to faculty is 13,860 to 1 and to students is 598 to 1. The ratio of seats in the library to students is 1 to 2.

Special Consideration

The law school recruits minority and disadvantaged students by means of visits to historically black colleges, as well as colleges and universities with significant minority populations; the use of Law Services’ Candidate Referral Service; Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO); the Legal Education Access Program; and other projects. Requirements are not different for out-of-state students. Transfer students must have one year of credit and be in good academic standing, and submit a copy of the LSDAS Report, an official transcript, and a letter of good standing from the law school currently attended.

Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Admissions

In the fall 2007 first-year class, 2075 applied, 711 were accepted, and 286 enrolled. Figures in the above capsule and in this profile are approximate. Thirteen transfers enrolled in a recent year. The median GPA of the most recent first-year class was 3.04. The lowest LSAT percentile accepted was 15; the highest was 88.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. The most important admission factors include academic achievement, LSAT results, and general background. No specific undergraduate courses are required. Candidates are not interviewed.

The application deadline for fall entry is rolling. Applicants should submit an application form, LSAT results, transcripts, a nonrefundable application fee, optional letters of recommendation, and a personal statement. Notification of the admissions decision is on a rolling basis. The law school uses the LSDAS. Check with the school for current application deadlines.

Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Financial Aid

In a recent year about 80% of current law students received some form of aid. The average annual amount of aid from all sources combined, including scholarships, loans, and work contracts, was $18,500; maximum, $45,111. Awards are based on need and merit. Required financial statement is the FAFSA. Check with the school for current application deadlines. Special funds for minority or disadvantaged students consist of the Touro Grant, awarded based on financial need; Perkins Loan and College Work Study, awarded based on need; and incentive awards, based on need and merit. First-year students are notified about their financial aid application after acceptance but before enrollment.

Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Students

About 45% of the student body are women; 23%, minorities; 11%, African American; 6%, Asian American; and 7%, Hispanic. The majority of students come from New York (79%). The average age of entering students is 26; age range is 20 to 63. About 60% of students enter directly from undergraduate school, 25% have a graduate degree, and 64% have worked full-time prior to entering law school. About 5% drop out after the first year for academic or personal reasons; 90% remain to receive a law degree.

Students edit the Touro Law Review, the newspaper The Restatement, and the yearbook Res Ipsa. Students compete in the Albany Law School Family Law Moot Court Competition, Benjamin N. Cardozo National Moot Court in Entertainment Law, and Brooklyn Law School’s Jerome Prince Invitational Evidence Competition. Other competitions include the New York State Bar Association Legal Ethics Writing Competition, the Nathan Burkan Copyright Law, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and ABA Negotiation and Counseling competitions. Law student organizations include the Student Bar Association, Delta Theta Phi International Law Fraternity, and Women’s Bar Association. There are local chapters of ABA-Law Student Division, National Jewish Students Network, and American Civil Liberties Union. Other organizations include BLSA, Jewish Law Students Association and PILOT (public interest student organization).

The law school operates on a traditional semester basis. Courses for full-time students are offered days only and must be completed within 6 years. For part-time students, courses are offered both day and evening and must be completed within 6 years. New full- and part-time students are admitted in the fall. There is a 4- and 7-week summer session. Transferable summer courses are offered.