The New England School of Law, located in Boston, offers a comprehensive Juris Doctor (J.D.) program focused on practical legal education. Core courses form the foundation of legal training, ensuring students master essential doctrines and skills applicable across various legal fields.
- Contracts: Explores the formation, performance, and breach of contracts, including common law principles, UCC Article 2, and remedies for non-performance. Students analyze case law like Hadley v. Baxendale and engage in drafting exercises.
- Torts: Covers intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, and defenses. Key topics include duty, breach, causation, and damages, with emphasis on modern applications such as product liability and premises liability.
- Property: Examines real and personal property rights, including estates in land, conveyancing, landlord-tenant law, and intellectual property basics. Students learn about recording statutes and adverse possession through simulated transactions.
- Civil Procedure: Details the litigation process under federal rules, including jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, discovery, motions, and trial practices. Focuses on ethical considerations in adversarial proceedings.
- Constitutional Law: Studies the U.S. Constitution's structure, federalism, separation of powers, and individual rights under the Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment. Includes landmark cases like Marbury v. Madison and Roe v. Wade.
- Criminal Law and Procedure: Addresses elements of crimes, defenses, and constitutional protections in criminal investigations and trials, such as Miranda rights and Fourth Amendment searches.
- Evidence: Teaches rules of admissibility, hearsay exceptions, relevance, character evidence, and privileges, preparing students for courtroom advocacy.
Beyond core courses, the curriculum includes upper-level electives to specialize in areas like business law, environmental law, health law, intellectual property, international law, and family law. Experiential learning is emphasized through clinics, externships, and moot court competitions, where students represent real clients in immigration, elder law, and public interest cases. The school also offers joint degrees, such as J.D./M.B.A. with Suffolk University, integrating legal and business acumen. Faculty, many with judicial or practitioner experience, employ Socratic methods to foster critical thinking. This rigorous program, spanning three years full-time or four years part-time, equips graduates for bar passage and diverse careers in private practice, public service, corporate counsel, or academia. With a commitment to public interest, scholarships and pro bono requirements ensure ethical, socially conscious lawyers emerge from this urban campus hub.
