For general information on curricular planning, see this helpful document.
At times students find themselves interested in particular areas of law, and eager to learn more about the curricular opportunities available to them in that field. There are various ways to learn about these. First of all, the School of Law offers Certificates or Areas of Concentration in the following:
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The John P. Gismondi Civil Litigation Concentration Program Complete your law school education while developing a set of skills which better prepares you to do courtroom work than traditional law school graduates making you more attractive to law firms seeking to hire young and enthusiastic litigation associates. |
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Health Law Program One of the oldest in the country, is intended to give students interested in health law a basic grounding in the field, complemented by clinical experience and more in-depth study of advanced topics and closely related areas of law. |
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International and Comparative Law Learn about the substantive and procedural law in the area of international and comparative law. Gain expertise in international and comparative law in experiential settings such as clinics and externships. |
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Intellectual Property and Innovation Law Obtain a focused introduction to these bodies of law and practice while simultaneously getting a broad grounding in modern law practice generally. |
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Environmental or Energy Law Set your goal to be an energy and environmental lawyer that protects the law around development, sale, use and preservation of natural resources. |
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Public Policy Concentration Students not only learn how to apply their research, analysis, and writing skills in a policy context, but also improve their proficiency in policy skills, such as stakeholder mapping, preparing for and summarizing Congressional hearings, or designing advocacy campaigns. |
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Tax Law Program Set a solid foundation in tax law that can be used either to enter a career in tax law, as a basis for pursuing further study in tax law, or as an adjunct to a career in another area of law. |
Students can of course sign up for an applicable program and receive the requisite recognition. (More information on that here). Even those who do not pursue this path, however, might find the certificate or concentration requirements useful to them as they seek to deepen their substantive knowledge in a given field.
Moreover, faculty in areas of law where we have no standing certificate program have developed curricular pathways to guide students on classes they might take to broaden their expertise. Specifically, we have developed the following “pathways”: