The City University of New York School of Law

As one of the first law schools to merge lawyering programs with conventional study, the school has served as a model for other progressive law schools. While most law schools provide clinical opportunities on a voluntary basis, CUNY School of Law requires the participation of all third-year students in either a clinic or a concentration for one or two semesters.

The law school's concentrations include the Equality Concentration, the Family Law Concentration, and the Health Law Concentration and are offered through external placements.


The law school's clinical programs are offered through the on-campus law firm, Main Street Legal Services, Inc. and include the Community and Economic Development Clinic, the Criminal Defense Clinic, the Economic Justice Project, the Elder Law Clinic, the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic, the International Women's Human Rights Clinic, and the Mediation Clinic.

The CUNY School of Law motto is, ''Law in the Service of Human Needs'' so it is fitting that it boasts a 93 percent job placement rate, with two-thirds of its graduates entering public service or a public service practice directly.

In addition to its curriculum, the law school also supports a variety of student organizations and other activities that encourage social, political, and educational advancement. Among these offerings are the Mississippi Project, Moot Court, study-abroad programs, and the student-run New York Law Review. The Mississippi Project was initiated by CUNY School of Law students who decided to look into more than 50 suspicious hangings of African American males in a Mississippi jail. Students associated with the project now travel to Mississippi and Louisiana every year to assist minority groups in dealing with issues of injustice.

In 1992, the law school earned ABA accreditation and in 2008 it became a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

CUNY School of Law grants student and alumni access to career planning and job search assistance through the resources and staff members at the Career Planning Office.

The law school also provides on-site childcare for law students with children between the ages of three months and two years old. In fact, CUNY School of Law was the first law school to establish an on-site childcare center for student use, an offering which is still a rarity among legal education institutions.

The CUNY School of Law is scheduled to move from its current location to Long Island City by the fall of 2012. The new location is conveniently close to seven subway lines, seven bus lines, and the Long Island Railroad, making it more accessible to students. With the move, the law school also plans to establish a part-time program.

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Michelle Anderson has served as the Dean of CUNY School of Law since 2006. She holds a JD from Yale Law School and a LLM in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center.

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