School of Law

Law (JD)

Professional Doctorate : Boston
Master's : Boston
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The nation’s leader in experiential legal education since 1968, Northeastern University School of Law guarantees JD students a rigorous foundation in legal theory combined with an unparalleled full year of practical legal work.

Boston
Location
Full-Time
Commitment
3 Years
Duration
Classroom
Program Format
ABA
Accreditation
Overview

If you want to be a lawyer, you have to live it. At Northeastern, you’ll live it like nowhere else. As a result of our co-op program, you’ll graduate with almost a year of full-time legal work experience. You’ll spend your first year diving deeply into the fundamentals of the American legal system, taking required courses such as Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Property Law. Through the yearlong Legal Skills in Social Context course, you’ll develop essential skills — from legal research to client representation — and then put them into practice through a social justice community project. In your second and third years, you’ll have the chance to focus on the topics you find most intriguing and relevant to your future path, choosing from dozens of specialized courses, ranging from International Trade to Employment Discrimination. Every other quarter, you and your peers will delve into real legal challenges for actual clients through co-ops in every field of law and in every corner of the globe, improving your understanding of the law in action and providing valuable context for your academic pursuits. At Northeastern, we believe the best lawyers of tomorrow will be fluent not only in the language of the law, but also in the language of clients. These client languages include science, business, technology, empirical research, creative arts and pretty much every aspect of human endeavor for which lawyers are needed to smooth transactions and ensure the pre-eminence of fair play. Our law school is at the forefront of providing such training, not only through our Cooperative Legal Education Program, but also through our concentrations, which provide Northeastern law students with a competitive advantage in their specific fields of interest. Our eight concentrations:

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Unique Features

  • Graduate with a year of full-time work experience
  • One of the nation’s top schools in which to pursue a career in public interest
  • One of the most diverse law schools in the United States
  • Eight dual-degree programs available
  • NU School of Law ranked #1 for practical training

Accreditation Description

Northeastern University School of Law was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1969 and admitted to membership in the Association of American Law Schools in 1970. Since reopening in 1968, we have received wide recognition, both for the success of our innovative program and the leadership of our graduates.

For more information, please contact:

Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
American Bar Association
321 N. Clark Street, 21st Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 312.988.6738

Northeastern University does not condone discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, religious creed, genetics, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, veteran  or disability status. Moreover, the university will not ignore any form of discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment of any member of the Northeastern community. Nor will Northeastern condone any form of retaliatory activity against any person who brings a complaint of discrimination or harassment, or who cooperates in a complaint investigation.

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Admissions

Admissions Dates

The School of Law considers early action, regular and transfer applications. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Early Action deadline: November 15

Regular Admission deadline: March 1

Early Action Transfer deadline: March 1

Regular Admission Transfer deadline: July 1

Program Costs

$147.7K *
Tuition
How To Apply Learn more about the application process and requirements.
Finance Your Education We offer a variety of resources, including scholarships and assistantships.

Requirements

Are You an International Student?
Find out what additional documents are required to apply.
Global Engagement
Learn how our teaching and research benefit from a worldwide network of students, faculty and industry partners.
Curriculum

General Requirements

General Requirements

A rigorous curriculum, exceptional professors and unmatched experiential learning opportunities fuel Northeastern’s one-of-a-kind academic enterprise. You’ll synergistically learn complicated legal concepts, solve real legal problems and develop research, analysis, writing and debate expertise.

You’ll spend your first year diving deeply into the fundamentals of the American legal system, taking required courses such as Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Property Law. Through the yearlong Legal Skills in Social Context course, you’ll develop essential skills — from legal research to client representation — and then put them into practice through a social justice community project.

Through upper-level electives such as Intellectual Property, International Law and Public Health Law, you’ll build expertise in the areas you’re most passionate about. Along the way, you’ll be mentored and taught by exceptional faculty who publish in leading law journals and are hands-on pro bono practitioners.

In just three years, you’ll be ready to practice law — armed with unparalleled depth of knowledge and more legal experience than graduates of any other law school.


 

Experiential Learning

When it comes to giving students the opportunity to learn by doing, there’s simply no place like Northeastern. Our signature Cooperative Legal Education Program guarantees you a year of full-time work experience. No other law school program comes close — indeed, The National Jurist ranks Northeastern as the #1 law school for practical training.


While other law schools might give students the chance to work over the summer or experience a part-time internship or externship, only Northeastern integrates four quarters of full-time employment into its curriculum, giving you four opportunities to:

  • Collaborate full time with working lawyers, contributing to the resolution of actual cases for real clients
  • Make an impact in a professional setting just about anywhere in the world, from New York to South Africa
  • Try out a variety of work environments and explore diverse areas of the law in depth

The benefits of co-op extend far beyond graduating with an impressive resume. You and your peers will bring lessons learned on co-op into the classroom, creating a vibrant intellectual exchange that builds with each new experience. You may end up accepting a full-time position with one of your co-op employers, as a significant number of our graduates do. Most important, you’ll have the experience to know exactly where you want to go in your career and the confidence and credentials to get there. 

Faculty

Our Faculty

Our faculty represents a wide cross-section of professional practices and in fields ranging from finance to education to biomedical science to management to the U.S. military. They serve as mentors and advisors, and collaborate alongside students to solve the most pressing global challenges facing established and emerging markets.

James Hackney

Professor of Law and Associate Dean

Aziza Ahmed

Associate Professor of Law
Students

By enrolling in Northeastern, you gain access to a network of more than 230,000 alumni and 3,000 employer partners, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and global NGOs. Our current students and faculty across strategically located regional campuses further foster that lifelong global community of learning and mentoring.

Below is a look at where our Law & Criminology alumni work, the positions they hold, and the skills they bring to their organization.

 

  • Where They Work

    • Commonwealth of Massachusetts
    • City of Boston
    • Deloitte
    • US Army
    • U.S. Department of Justice

  • What They Do

    • Legal
    • Business Development
    • Education
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Community and Social Services

  • What They're Skilled At

    • Legal Research
    • Litigation
    • Legal Writing
    • Public Speaking
    • Research

 

Learn more about Northeastern Alumni on Linkedin.

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