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Revision as of 19:12, 29 May 2009
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New England Law | Boston (also known as New England Law or New England School of Law) is a professional graduate school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The academic program emphasizes extensive preparation in practical skills, including instruction in legal writing and clinical work.
Founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, the only law school established exclusively for the education of women. New England Law has been coeducational since 1938, being renamed to New England School of Law in 1969 and New England Law | Boston in 2008.
John O'Brien has been the Dean of New England Law since 1988.
New England Law is ABA (American Bar Association) accredited and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. With four other independent law schools, NESL is also a founding member of the Consortium for Innovative Legal Education.
Ranking
According to U.S. News and World Report, which complies annual rankings of the nation's "Best Law Schools," New England School of Law ranks in the "Fourth Tier" of law schools in the United States.[1]
Cost of attendance
Tuition for the 2009–2010 academic year is $38,500 for full-time students and $28,880 for part-time students.[2]
Student body profile
The Fall 2008 NESL/NELB admitted class was 55% female and had a 10% representation of minorities, down 4% from 2004. NESL/NELB reports that 3,167 individuals applied for admission, of which 384 were enrolled for admission, representing 37 states and 8 countries. The median LSAT score of admitted students was 152 for the full-time program and 150 for the part-time program. The student faculty ratio was 23:1.[3]
Career statistics
Based on employment statistics from 1997-2007, NESL/NELB reports that 84% of its 2007 graduating class had secured positions within nine months of graduation.[4] It was also reported that, of the 84% of graduates who had secured employment, 43.3% were characterized as being employed in Private Practice, 24.1% in Business/Corporations, 15.2% in Government, 12.5% in Judicial Clerkships, and 4.9% in Public Interest.
The 2009 Raw Data Law School Rankings compiled by the Internet Legal Research Group reported that 30.5% of New England School of Law students had secured employed at graduation, while 76.1% has secured employment within nine months of graduation.[5]. This reported statistic ranked New England at 178 out of the 185 law schools that reported such information.[6]
The bar exam passage rate for New England Law | Boston graduates was reported as 90.3% (for first time test-takers in July 2008).[7].
The median full-time starting salaries for New England graduates who had secured employment was $50,000 in the private sector, and $47,000 in the public sector.[8] That rate of pay is approximately 14% less than the average rate of pay for an entry level attorney in Massachusetts.[9]
Location and resources
The law school's five-story main building is located at 154 Stuart Street in Boston's theater district, within walking distance of courthouses, federal and state offices, and the Transportation Building. Clinic, administrative, and Law Review/Journal offices are in a nearby building in the Bay Village at 46 Church Street. NESL is easily accessible on the MBTA Green line via either the Arlington station or Boylston station, as well as the Orange line via the New England Medical Center station or the Chinatown station, and the Silver line via New England Medical Center, Chinatown, and Boylston.
The facility includes lecture halls, several of which are hardwired for Internet access and feature presentation technology; seminar rooms; faculty offices; a student lounge; a moot courtroom; and the law library, which was recently renovated in the summer of 2006. Wireless technology throughout the law school allows Internet access from anywhere in the building.
The library collection contains approximately 335,000 volumes and volume equivalents, an audio and video collection, microform materials, CD-ROM titles with multiple legal databases, and several online research services. Collaboration Room Seating is available for 364 students in carrels and study areas, some of which are private collaboration rooms suitable for student meetings and cooperative learning. More than 120 computer work stations and laptops are available for student use.
Offices for the school's administrative departments, clinical law office, and student publications are located in a two-story building in a residential neighborhood, about three blocks from the main building. The law school recently acquired an additional building adjacent to the main facility for future expansion.
Faculty
NESL faculty members have published more than 70 books and articles over the past five years, the international moot court team won the Richard R. Baxter Award for best brief in the 2001 Jessup moot court competition. NESL's 18 clinics in areas such as domestic violence, environmental law, family law, federal courts, health and hospital law, immigration law, and mediation offer opportunities for practical legal experience in varied fields, and each clinic has a required classroom component.
NESL's full-time faculty members are top graduates of law schools in the United States and abroad. Many hold advanced degrees either in law or other fields, in addition to their juris doctor degrees. Most have practiced law in the fields in which they now teach, and many have served as judicial clerks (including four as Federal Court of Appeals clerks) before beginning their teaching careers. The full-time faculty of 36 includes two African Americans, one Asian American, and 12 women. NESL also attracts excellent adjunct faculty members from the judiciary, law practice, and government to teach advanced courses in their areas of expertise. Adjunct faculty bring to the classroom their first-hand knowledge of how the law is being applied in the world of practice.
History
In 1908, two Boston women decided to sit for the Massachusetts bar examination. A lawyer named Arthur Winfield MacLean agreed to tutor them, and other students followed over the next few years. From that beginning, a school was established; MacLean's wife dubbed it Portia Law School, after the heroine of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." From 1908 to 1938, Portia Law School was the sister school to the all male, Suffolk University Law School, and MacLean was a law partner to Suffolk founder, Gleason Archer, Sr.. MacLean served as the school's first Dean.[10].
Enrollment grew, and the first commencement was held in 1911. Beginning in 1920, Portia graduates received the LL.B. degree. During the school's early years, most women who passed the Massachusetts bar examination were Portia alumnae. In 1922, when the school moved into its first permanent building in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, enrollment had reached 228, and the results from the December 1921 bar exam showed that all the women who had passed were graduates of the school.
The only law school in the nation founded exclusively for the education of women, Portia Law School became coeducational in 1938, one year after Suffolk Law School began admitting women. In 1969, the school's name was changed to New England Law and accreditation was granted by the American Bar Association. The 1980s began with the school's move to its current location in Boston's Park Square area. In January 1998, the law school was elected to membership in the Association of American Law Schools.
NESL has produced alumni who have made significant contributions to the legal communities of Boston and the Northeast region. Early alumnae broke barriers that had impeded the entry of women into the profession, and in doing so, they have paved the way for future generations of women lawyers.
Visitors
NESL has played host to many notable visitors, including Dr. Hans Blix, Chief Weapons Inspector to the UN; Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall; Prince Zeid Raad al Hussein, Ambassador of Jordan to the United Nations; U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno; former United States Congresswoman and vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro; U.S. Senator John F. Kerry; Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly; Judge Kenneth W. Starr, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz; and Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Harry Blackmun, Clarence Thomas, and Anthony Kennedy. In 2006, Justice Antonin Scalia was the keynote speaker at NESL's annual barrister's ball.
Law Review
The New England Law Review was established in 1965 as the Portia Law Journal. When Portia Law School changed its name to the New England Law in 1969, the Law Review became the New England Law Review.
NESL in the News
A Massachusetts federal judge recently ruled that Americans with Disabilities Act and related claims against New England Law | Boston can move forward in a lawsuit against the school for expelling a student with learning disabilities who failed two courses. [11]
At the 2009 commencement, a 100-year-old Quincy woman received an honorary degree from New England Law for her role as a pioneer for women in the world of law. [12]
Notable alumni
- Joseph R. Driscoll, Jr., (JD), Norfolk representative to the Massachusetts General Court (2003–present)
- Barry Feinstein (JD, 1977), personal injury attorney, television personality.
- Andrew H. Vachss, (JD magna cum laude, 1975), children's lawyer, author of the Burke series of novels.
- Leonard P. "Lenny" Zakim, (JD, 1978), religious and civil rights leader in Boston.
- Joseph A. Curtatone, (JD, 1994), mayor of Somerville, MA from November 2003-present.
- ^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/rankings/page+7
- ^ http://www.nesl.edu/admissions/tuition_fees.cfm
- ^ http://www.nesl.edu/engaged/ataglance.cfm
- ^ http://www.nesl.edu/engaged/ataglance.cfm
- ^ http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/view.php/58
- ^ http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/index.php/4/desc/Employ9Mos
- ^ http://www.nesl.edu/experiential/placement_stats.cfm
- ^ http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/view.php/58
- ^ http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Entry-Level_Attorney/Salary/by_State
- ^ Michael Rustad, "Book Reviews," Contemporary Sociology, January 1986, Vol. 15, Number 1, page 102. accessed through JSTOR
- ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202430442315
- ^ http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_05_23_Law_pioneer_still_feisty_at_100/
External links and references
Template:Law schools in Massachusetts