JD Program

Introduction

What’s the true definition of “experiential learning?” Graduating with nearly a full year of legal experience under your belt. Clinics, simulation courses, moot court competitions and other experiential learning opportunities are all part of the mix at Northeastern—just as they are at virtually every other law school—but only Northeastern guarantees every student nearly a year of full-time work experience in diverse environments through our signature Cooperative Legal Education Program. That’s why we have been nationally recognized as a top law school for practical training.

Consistently recognized as one of the top public interest law schools in the nation, the school’s commitment to social justice extends through the curriculum, co-op program, clinics, institutes and student groups, frequently reaching beyond the doors of the law school into the communities of Boston and around the globe. Our talented students, graduates, and faculty understand what it is lawyers do, how they should do it, and the difference they can make in the lives of others.

Northeastern law students are people who believe that if you don’t agree with the system, change it. They’re risk takers who enjoy using the law—and their careers—in both traditional and nontraditional ways. They’re team players who thrive when learning together, as opposed to succeeding at the expense of others. They’re realists who believe practical experience is critical to legal education, but they’re also passionate idealists who truly believe they can change the world.

The School of Law is a national leader in education, research, and service initiatives addressing the most pressing challenges facing society. Through the clinics, institutes, centers, and special programs, faculty and students advocate together for those too often underrepresented in the justice system.

Putting Public Service into Practice

Nationally recognized as a leader in public interest law, Northeastern shares, supports, and encourages our students’ passion for justice. On average, 90 percent of students fulfill the school’s public interest law requirement through a public interest co-op. In addition, students take advantage of the school’s outstanding clinics and many student organizations are dedicated to improving people’s lives.

Financing Your Education

Last year, the School of Law awarded over $6.7 million in scholarships and grants to first-year students. A variety of merit-based scholarships are awarded to incoming first-year students. These merit-based scholarships are guaranteed for the upper-level years as long as the student remains in good standing. The law school also provides co-op stipends, endowed scholarships, faculty awards, and a Loan Deferral and Forgiveness Program for qualified graduates pursuing careers in public interest law.

Additional Degrees

On-Campus LLM students may choose the General Program, which offers maximum flexibility to let you take the courses you want and need — to qualify for a US bar exam or to do whatever you choose as a lawyer who wants to make a difference — or one of our concentrations, which provide a competitive advantage in specific fields of interest. Students in the 12 month On-Campus LLM program complete a full-time co-op.

The Online LLM offers a 100 percent online flexible learning format designed for working attorneys. Online LLM students have the opportunity to participate in an optional one-week immersion experience in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For nonlawyers, Northeastern offers a Master of Science in Media Advocacy, a Master of Legal Studies, and graduate certificates in several areas of law.

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Cooperative Legal Education Program

The school’s Cooperative Legal Education Program guarantees all students nearly a full year of full-time work experiences (co-ops) prior to graduation. While most law schools offer internships and externships at the fringe of their programs, Northeastern students alternate periods of rigorous academic study with equal periods of workplace experience during their second and third years of law school. By participating in full-time co-op placements with different legal employers, students are provided with an extraordinary opportunity to experience the actual practice of law and to determine their career paths based on personal experience and practical training.

The School of Law’s Center for Co-Op and Career Development supports students through every step of the co-op process and during postgraduate career development. Advisors help students create personalized career plans and aid students as they make choices about co-op and career opportunities. More than 1,000 employers worldwide currently participate in the co-op program, representing virtually every practice area, including law firms of all sizes, trial and appellate judges in federal and state courts, public defender and legal services organizations, corporate and union legal departments, and government agencies and international nongovernmental organizations, among many other additional advocacy groups. Students have worked with employers in 40 states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico), as well as in 71 countries on six continents.

Students may be paid on co-op, with salaries ranging from minimal compensation for public interest positions to more than $3,500 per week in large private firms. Some students may be eligible for the Federal Work-Study program, and there is other institutional money available to help fund co-op experiences.

It is no surprise that our students find their postgraduate employment prospects enhanced through the co-op program. Northeastern graduates are employed throughout the world in every practice area. They may be found teaching at distinguished law schools, sitting on the bench at both the state and federal levels, practicing as partners in prominent law firms and serving as directors of legal service organizations throughout the nation. Graduates of Northeastern enter public service careers at a rate far greater than the national average. Furthermore, graduates have been awarded prestigious postgraduate fellowships from organizations including the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, Equal Justice Works, the Soros Foundation, AmeriCorps, the Ford Foundation, Law Students for Reproductive Justice and Immigrant Justice Corps, as well as various federal and state government attorney honors programs.

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Clinics

Students who participate in the clinics dedicate time each week during the academic term to real cases while working alongside faculty experts with significant experience in their fields. Students supplement and enhance the skills they develop while on co-op, gain unique insight from faculty mentors, and experience firsthand the tremendous impact one can have as a lawyer by participating in the following clinics:

Civil Rights and Restorative Justice
Community Business
Domestic Violence
Housing Rights Advocacy
Immigrant Justice
IP CO-LAB
Poverty Law and Practice
Prisoners’ Rights
Public Health Advocacy

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Centers, Institutes and Programs

Students are welcome to join in the conversations, work, research, and activities of our centers, institutes, and programs:

Center for Health Policy and Law
Center for Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR)
Center for Law, Information and Creativity (CLIC)
Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration (CPIAC)
Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project
Criminal Justice Task Force
Domestic Violence Institute
Health in Justice Action Lab
Initiative for Energy Justice
NuLawLab
Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy
Program on the Corporation, Law and Global Society
Public Health Advocacy Institute
The Burnes Family Center for Social Change and Innovation

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Dual Degree Programs

Northeastern offers the following dual-degree programs:

Business Administration
Creative Practice Leadership
Criminal Justice (JD/MS and JD/PhD)
Environmental Law (with Vermont Law School)
Public Health (with Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences)
Public Health (with Tufts University School of Medicine)
Public Policy

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JDx Certificates

Northeastern offers interdiciplinary certificates that bring together the unique strengths on our law school and global university, allowing students to multiply their options and develop real expertise in the following fields:

Health Law and Policy
Human Rights Law
Poverty Law and Economic Justice
Privacy Law
Sustainability and Climate Change
Women, Gender, Sexuality and the Law

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Student Life

Student Life

Law schools have a reputation for being environments of ruthless competition; not Northeastern. We cultivate a collegial and supportive atmosphere that begins in the classroom and extends throughout campus. Students receive written evaluations from faculty and co-op employers. Without an onerous class rank, students are free to work together and take intellectual risks. Students regard one another as peers rather than rivals, teaming up for projects and study sessions, collaborating as members of student groups, and forging professional and personal bonds that endure long after graduation. Students also run a wide variety of more than 40 organizations, ranging from the Intellectual Property Society to the Queer Caucus to the Law Review.

Our law school community is one of the most diverse in the country. Approximately 75 percent of the students in the first-year class are women, 41 percent identify as people of color, and 19 percent identify as LGBTQ+. Our first-year students represent 133 different undergraduate institutions, where they majored in 56 different areas of study. Eighty percent of our first-year students have work or life experience before enrolling in law school, and 10 percent hold advanced degrees.

As part of the broader Northeastern University community, our students enjoy access to extensive facilities and resources that range from state-of-the-art fitness centers to a fully modernized library available to students 24/7. And thanks to our location in the heart of Boston, students are within walking distance of some of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods and exciting cultural attractions.

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Career Placement and Bar Passage

You'll receive one-on-one guidance from a professional development advisor in the Center for Co-op and Career Development throughout your three years of law school. With assistance, you'll design a professional development strategy that includes both co-op and post-graduate planning. We’ll help you think creatively about your career.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have had the opportunity to assess your skills and interests, refine your resume and fine-tune your interview and job search skills — and you’ll have tested those skills in three separate workplaces.

Class of 2020 Major Areas of Legal Practice*

Law Firms: 40.4%
Public Interest: 28.1%
Judicial: 12.3%
Business and Industry: 11.1%
Government: 8.2%

*Due to rounding, percentages may not always appear to add up to 100%.

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Admission Decisions: Beyond the Numbers

Northeastern seeks a student body with a broad set of interests, backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives. Such diversity is important in a law school which must train its graduates not only to analyze and interpret the law, but also to reflect on competing viewpoints, advance arguments persuasively in a variety of forums and develop policies affecting a broad range of people.

In making admission decisions, Northeastern University School of Law gives weight to the undergraduate GPA, LSAT score and other factors candidates bring to the process. For example, in making admissions decisions, the Admissions Committee considers letters of recommendation, essays, graduate training, special academic distinctions or honors, difficulty of the academic program completed, work experience and significant achievement in nonacademic activities or public service. If it appears that an applicant experienced disadvantages that adversely affected her or his past performance, this is considered in assessing the applicant’s potential to distinguish himself or herself in the study and practice of law.

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