JD Program

For more than 100 years, New England Law | Boston has been a gateway for students in search of rewarding and meaningful careers in law. Founded in 1908 as the first law school in the nation exclusively for women, New England Law has been coeducational since 1938. Today, the law school is a vibrant community of students from all walks of life.

New England Law offers its diverse student body full-time and part-time programs that combine rigorous academics with a dynamic community. The law school's location in the heart of downtown Boston's vibrant legal marketplace provides access to real-life lawyering experiences of incomparable value.

In-Demand Legal Specializations

Students earning a JD from New England Law can pursue specialization through a legal certificate or a concentration.

New England Law Certificate Programs

Compliance and Risk Management
Criminal Practice and Procedure
Immigration Law
Intellectual Property Law
Tax Law

Each law certificate program has a required experiential learning component, which includes internships, clinics, moot court/mock trial competitions, and other options. Certificate candidates must complete a designated number of credits and earn a specified GPA in program courses as well. Completion of the certificate program is also noted on transcripts for employers.

New England Law Concentrations

To earn a concentration, students must simply complete a designated number of credits in given courses. Students may pursue concentrations in the following areas:

Business Law
Family Law
International Law
Litigation
Public Interest Law
Small Firm Practice
Trusts and Estates

New England Law | Boston is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

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Cocurricular Opportunities

Practical experience is a cornerstone of a New England Law education, and we offer many clinics and externships to help you develop your legal skills. We also guarantee at least one clinical or externship experience, and many students take more, given the myriad choices available, from international externships to judicial internships.

Two Distinct Judicial Internship Programs

The Honors Judicial Internship Program gives students the opportunity to work as part-time interns and receive academic credit for their work.
The Summer Legal Judicial Internship Program provides full-time summer internships to a group of students who receive stipends from the law school.

Summer Fellowship Program

New England Law's one-of-a-kind Summer Fellowship Program is a ten-week program for 1L full-time students and 2L evening students. Summer fellows gain hands-on experience in a wide range of settings and develop valuable connections while receiving a $3,500 stipend.

Centers

New England Law’s three centers—Center for Business Law, Center for International Law and Policy, and Center for Law and Social Responsibility—are academic and research hubs on campus. They address emerging needs across a broad spectrum of legal fields by hosting events, facilitating pro bono work, conducting a variety of exciting research projects, and more.

Portia Pipeline to Practice Program

The Portia Pipeline brings extraordinary students from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in legal practice together with law firms and organizations that are eager to help diversify the profession. Students work with mentors, attend events, and take part in internships.

Advocacy and Skills Competitions

New England Law fields strong advocacy and skills teams in an array of legal interest areas, and in recent years we've placed highly in national competitions, claimed first place in Oral Advocacy, and brought home major awards in the Best Advocate, Best Oralist, Top Speaker, and Legal Briefs categories. This program gives students the opportunity to sharpen skills that'll prove invaluable during the duration of their legal careers. Participants learn with and from fellow classmates while presenting arguments, testing approaches, taking risks, and discovering how to succeed in regional and national competitions.

Law Review

Since 1965, the student-run New England Law Review has published a law journal of cutting-edge legal scholarship by professional and student authors, enabling students to sharpen their legal writing and research skills. Over the years, Law Review articles have been cited in numerous statutes, federal regulations, cases, books, other law reviews, and journals.

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Student Life

Student Life and Activities

Law School Groups

The Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Honors Program at New England Law provides students with unique academic, mentorship, and extracurricular opportunities that can enrich their law school experience. Eligible honors students may also receive a full-tuition scholarship—worth more than $156,000 over the course of three years.

Charles Hamilton Houston Enrichment Program

New England Law is committed to a comfortable and supportive atmosphere for students of color to help ensure their success in law school. A cornerstone of that effort is the Charles Hamilton Houston Enrichment Program, which welcomes all students interested in issues of race and ethnicity.

First-Generation Students Program

In the fall of 2021, over 30% of New England Law’s incoming class identified as first-generation students. Year after year first-gen students make up a significant portion of the school’s student body. To support these trailblazers, New England Law continues to expand its First Generation Students Program. There are a number of unique challenges that first-gen students face in law school. This program was created to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, find a welcoming community and the tools to succeed in law school and beyond. Through monthly group meetings, opportunities to connect with first-gen alumni, one-on-one counseling, and other means of support, students learn skills in networking, finding internships and fellowships, the postgraduate job search, maintaining mental health and wellness, and more.

Student Groups

New England Law has more than 30 student organizations. Our wide range of student law groups provides many opportunities for students to gain relevant career experience and forge valuable networking ties, while serving the community, making new friends, and having fun. In addition to affinity and service groups, students also take part in interest area groups that run the gamut from entertainment to tax law.

Life in Boston

Consistently ranked one of the best locations in the country for attorney jobs, Massachusetts, and Boston in particular, offers a great quality of life, plentiful job opportunities, competitive salaries, a booming law industry, and much more.

And New England Law | Boston is in the heart of it all.

Our convenient downtown location in Boston’s vibrant Theater District offers a wealth of options for work and play.

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Career Placement and Bar Passage

Take your New England Law degree anywhere in the country or world. Our alumni live and work in all 50 states, five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and 29 countries. And they hold positions in virtually every legal niche you can think of including law firms, public interest, business and industry, and government.

The Class of 2020 employment breakdown:

50% work in law firms
19% government
14% business and industry
10% in public interest
5% judicial clerkships
3% in education.

New England Law | Boston’s 2021 ultimate bar passage is 83%.

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Admission Decisions: Beyond the Numbers

Applicants’ qualifications are assessed by the Admissions Committee, comprised of faculty and members of the Office of Admissions. The committee considers letters of recommendation, students’ achievements, and students’ motivation to study law, as well as undergraduate records, Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) or General Record Exam (GRE) scores, and work experience.

Learn more about admission at New England Law | Boston