Hofstra University School of Law, located in Hempstead, N.Y., 20 miles outside of New York City, has been a pioneer in integrating clinical education into a law school curriculum.
“Our number one goal is to get our students practice-ready from the day of graduation,” said Dean Gail Prudenti, who was a judge for 24 years before joining the school. “Legal education is in transition, as is the practice of law. We need different areas of expertise.
One of these areas is health law. The law school is working with the university’s medical school to provide medical legal partnerships.
The school also has a Center for Legal Innovation and Technology that is focused on the latest in technology for lawyers, including e-filing and e-discovery.
The law school is also working with the engineering school on cybersecurity, another legal growth area.
Hofstra’s greatest accomplishment, however, may be its success in placing students in jobs. With an 81.4 percent placement rate, it has improved more than any school in the nation in recent years.
“We have 5,000 alums in Long Island,” Prudenti said. “We have brought in opportunities from the court system, and from lawyers in the local community. Today, you need to be part of the community. And that’s how you get jobs.”
Hofstra’s clinics have become well known in legal circles. As students represent individuals facing real legal challenges, they gain hands-on experience: They advocate in court, counsel clients, conduct fact investigations, and mediate disputes.
Now, with the legal market demanding more skills-based training, the school has developed new required skills modules to introduce second-year students to core lawyering skills essential to effective practice. With the school’s more than 200 upper-level courses, students can explore almost any area of law and choose a concentration in alternative dispute resolution, business law, criminal law and procedure, energy and environmental law, family law, health law, intellectual property law, or international law.
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