The school is excited to share academic plans for the year ahead, building on a strong fall 2017 semester.
BOSTON – January 17, 2018 – New England Law | Boston today announced it will formalize its technology and innovation offerings in 2018, creating new options within the Pathways to the Profession of Law program. These will include courses, lectures, and experiential learning opportunities on cyber law, compliance, national security, and the bitcoin and shared economies. Details will be finalized in the first half of 2018.
“With the legal profession constantly evolving, New England Law is committed to offering students all the tools and expertise they need to succeed after graduation,” said Associate Dean Judith Greenberg. “Knowing that technology and innovation are shifting the way the legal system works, and with students expressing interest in learning more about these changes, it only makes sense to offer a formal curriculum that will help suit their needs.”
The Pathways to the Profession program is designed to help law students understand many legal areas so they can devise a program and curriculum that works best for them and their career goals. In addition to a focus on technology and innovation, students can study traditional and emerging fields including business law, international law and human rights, commercial law, elder law, and criminal law. The school also offers two official concentrations in immigration law and intellectual property law.
New England Law enters 2018 following a busy fall semester filled with accomplishments from many members of its community.
“There’s a clear sense of excitement at the law school since our community returned from a well-deserved holiday break,” said Dean John O’Brien. “As always, I’m impressed by the accomplishments of our esteemed faculty and exceptional student body, and look forward to an equally successful spring semester.”
Key highlights from the fall 2017 semester include:
- The Boston opening of The Uncondemned, a film about the young international lawyers and activists who fought to make rape a crime of war, and the Rwandan women who, despite overwhelming obstacles, came forward to testify and win justice where there had been none. The screening, hosted by the school’s Center for International Law and Policy (CILP), concluded with a private Q&A session with the film’s director, Michele Mitchell.
- A new elective course focused on the current state of marijuana regulation in the United States, including both law and policy. Led by Professor Kent D. Schenkel, the course examined whether states can legalize the drug while federal law forbids it, as well as the ethical obligations of lawyers who work in this field.
- Two New England Law Review Symposia featuring acclaimed authors; in September, the staff welcomed crime novelist and Hofstra Law Professor Alafair Burke, who discussed her best-selling book The Ex alongside fellow novelists Hon. Michael Ponsor and New England Law Professor Peter Manus. In November, Georgetown Law Professor Laura Donohue joined New England Law Professor Lawrence Friedman on the Symposium stage to discuss the future of foreign intelligence in the digital age.
- Recognition for multiple students on their law school achievements, including 25 who were named this past fall to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll for 2016, and Alison Shea, a 4L evening student, and Rachael Bandeira, a 3L student, who worked alongside New England Law adjunct professor and sexual violence expert Wendy Murphy to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education stemming from its new guidance on investigating campus sexual assaults.
- Acknowledgement by the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association of two esteemed faculty members, Professor Caryn Mitchell-Munevar and the Honorable Barbara Dortch-Okara, at a November reception.
- The 34th Annual Minority Alumni Reception, which welcomed members of New England Law’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Latin American Law Students Association, and Minority Students Association. At the October event, Professors Caryn Mitchell-Munevar and Hon. Barbara Dortch-Okara presented the Charles Hamilton Houston Enrichment Program Scholarly Achievement Awards to 19 New England Law students.