Northeastern University School of Law is a law school in Boston, Massachusetts. From the time of its founding in 1898, the law school's mission has focused on addressing the needs of students and of society.

The law school flourished throughout the early 20th century, but limited resources forced the school to close in 1956. It reopened in 1968 organized around its revolutionary cooperative education program, which stressed practical experience in legal settings as the best way to learn the art and craft of lawyering. This pioneering experience-based approach to legal education is increasingly seen as the best way to educate lawyers.^[1]

The school has garnered a significant reputation for its graduates' ability to perform and handle significant legal work early in their career. Due in no small part to its practice-based approach to legal education, the school is able to select from a significant pool of highly qualified applicants. In 2007, the school received more than 3,000 applications for a class size of 200^[2] with median LSAT of 161 and a median GPA of 3.39. Women make up more than half of the student body and more than 25 percent are students of color.

Cooperative education program

The School of Law offers the nation's only ABA-accredited Cooperative Legal Education Program. This innovative approach provides all students with a full year of hands-on legal experience gained through four, three-month internships in law offices, judge?s chambers and other organizations throughout the world. More than 800 employers participate in the School of Law's program. By completing work placements with up to 4 different legal employers, students have an extraordinary opportunity to experience the actual practice of law and to integrate practical experience with an excellent theoretical foundation of in-depth classroom study. The Co-op Program also contributes to students' post-graduate success. Over the past three years, an average 96% of each class obtained employment within six months of graduation, and, on average, 40% of Northeastern law students accept post-graduate employment with one of their former co-op employers.

Other notable features

The School of Law is nationally recognized for its emphasis on public interest aspirations. On average, more than 80% of students complete a public interest co-op, and many students participate in the school's clinics and institutes, which are dedicated to challenging existing boundaries of law in pursuit of economic and social justice. Graduates of the School of Law enter public interest careers at a rate 3 to 5 times the national average for all law school graduates. Those who enter private practice also hold the school's social justice values in high esteem, and can be found performing a wide range of pro bono work.

The law school publishes an award-winning magazine, Northeastern Law Magazine.

Alumni

• Margot Botsford, Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
• Francis J. Quirico, Justice (deceased), Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
• Nonnie S. Burnes, Insurance Commissioner, Massachusetts
• Mary L. Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders; lead counsel in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
• Martín Espada, poet
• Dana Fabe, Justice, Alaska Supreme Court
• Janet Bond Arterton, Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Peter Franchot, Comptroller of Maryland
• Sharon McPhail, candidate for mayor of Detroit
• Delissa A. Ridgway, Judge, U.S. Court of International Trade
• Rishi Reddi, short story writer
• Dorothy Samuels, New York Times editorialist
• Judith A. Scott, General Counsel, Service Employees International Union SEIU
• Urvashi Vaid, LGBT rights activist
• Leslie Winner, North Carolina state senator and foundation head

References

External links

• Northeastern University School of Law