collageUMass Law is Massachusetts’ first and only public law school. The law school is fully approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) and offers three flexible programs of study: full-time day, part-time day, and part-time evening/weekend. Our program of legal education is distinguished by its small class sizes and individualized attention from faculty and staff. Approximately half of UMass Law students come from outside Massachusetts.
UMass Law is committed to increasing access to an excellent and affordable legal education and to improving the quality and reach of justice. UMass Law is a leader in preparing students for legal practice; all UMass students engage in the real-world practice of law through for-credit internships or law clinic participation and complete pro bono service under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
We are reshaping legal education with a focus on the pursuit of justice by expanding the academic, experiential, and career opportunities for our students. Our graduates are creative, competent, confident, and committed lawyers.
We have a dedicated faculty of scholar-practitioners who are passionate about teaching and genuinely interested in mentoring the next generation of legal professionals. There is a true sense of community at UMass Law that promotes and supports diversity in people and ideas, and the development of our students’ professional identities.
The law school campus in Dartmouth, MA, sits on 8.5 wooded acres in the heart of the state’s Southcoast, approximately 30 miles from Providence, RI, and 60 miles from Boston. The location offers opportunities to explore the beautiful Dartmouth seacoast, the beaches of Cape Cod, and the arts hub and busy fishing port of New Bedford, all with a low cost of living. The law school is approximately two miles from the main campus of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and is a technology-rich, contemporary facility. It boasts a welcoming lobby and a moot courtroom that is a central gathering space not only for our students but also for the bench and bar. The collegial atmosphere extends into the library, with its well-lit, comfortable workspaces, ample hard-copy collection, and extensive online databases and technology.
Faculty
The UMass Law faculty are experienced practitioners, gifted teachers, supportive mentors, and respected scholars. They are highly accessible and committed to student success, and they research and publish on a broad spectrum of legal issues, precedents, and outcomes to make a difference in peoples’ lives and the quality of justice received.
Our faculty members are experts in many areas, including immigration, constitutional, criminal, corporate, commercial, bankruptcy, privacy, media, art, family, intellectual property, and international law.
Curriculum
UMass Law’s curriculum is comprehensive, ensuring that students learn the principles of the law and the complex theoretical frameworks that comprise the core of legal knowledge. Our courses provide a solid foundation in all areas of the law, in addition to offering opportunities for specialization.
Our first-year courses set the groundwork, teaching the foundations of the legal system. During the first year, comprehensive support is available, beginning at orientation. One-on-one support is available through peer tutors, academic success professionals, and professors who care about students’ success.
In the second and third years, along with the core requirements, students can choose from a wide variety of elective courses that will further their interests. In addition to a solid foundation in traditional doctrinal areas, the UMass program requires simulated and real-life lawyering experiences to prepare students for the profession.
The law school is committed to student success from orientation through the bar exam. During the final semester, students take a for-credit bar success course, receiving extensive support throughout bar preparation.
The law school offers two joint-degree programs: JD/MBA and JD/MPP. Applicants interested in a joint degree must apply to each school separately.
Clinics, Internships, and Pro Bono Service
Our commitment to preparing students for the profession is evidenced in our clinics—Immigration, Community Development (Business Law), Human Rights, Criminal, and Tribal Law—as well as our career services, pro bono program, and rich internship opportunities.
The law school has three on-site clinics, the Immigration Law Clinic, the Community Development (Business Law) Clinic, and the Human Rights Clinic. We also have several hybrid clinics that are the result of partnerships with other legal organizations, such as South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Mashpee Wampanoag Legal Services Clinic, and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. Clinic participation is intended to help students develop skills, values, and habits that will enable them to effectively assist and creatively solve problems for clients.
Our Field Placement Program (internships and externships) affords students the opportunity to work under the supervision of a judge or practicing attorney in virtually any field of law. Students participating in a field placement attend weekly seminars to discuss their experiences and focus on various ethical issues encountered in practice.
Admission and Financial Aid
Admission decisions are made on the basis of the student’s academic record, LSAT score and writing sample, personal statement, letters of recommendation, résumé, extracurricular activities, and other information provided. Additionally, the Admissions Committee looks beyond traditional academic indicators and evaluates candidates on the basis of civic engagement, commitment to the study of law, professionalism, and diversity, both seen and unseen. The committee is looking for qualities that will enrich the educational environment of the law school community. In addition to the application, two letters of recommendation are required. For applicants coming directly from an undergraduate experience, one of the letters must be from a professor. The law school functions on a semester basis, offering three flexible programs of study: full-time day, part-time day, and part-time evening/weekends.
UMass Law is committed to helping students successfully and responsibly finance their legal education. Our affordable tuition provides students the opportunity to attend law school without amassing large debt. To help offset the cost of tuition, the law school offers scholarships based on academic merit and need.
Career Services
Our Career Services Office helps students leverage experience and connections developed through pro bono service, field placements, and internships through a rich array of panels and networking and mentoring opportunities. All students receive intensive, individualized career counseling, enabling them to take maximum advantage of both on-site interviews and a rich database of job opportunities.
Public Interest Law Fellowship
Each year, the law school awards approximately 20 incoming students with fellowships based on their past experiences working on behalf of the public and their continued commitment to public service. Fellows receive a 50-percent scholarship for both tuition and fees in exchange for a commitment to work in an area of public service law for at least four years post-graduation.
Typical PILF placements have included positions in District Attorney and Public Defender Offices; Legislative and Executive Offices; Public Interest Organizations; Justice Bridge (UMass Law’s solo practice incubator serving modest means clients); and as Judicial Law Clerks.
Student Life and Professional Development
The rich diversity of the UMass Law student body is reflected in the co-curricular life of the law school. Student organizations include the Student Bar Association, Black Law Students Association, International Law Society, the Federalist Society, OUTLaw, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Latino/a American Law Student Association, Legal Association of Women, Parents Attending Law School, Delta Theta Pi, the Law Review, Mock Trial, and Moot Court. Our student organizations, our faculty, the PILF program, and our Career Services Office present various symposiums and panels throughout the year. Our students participate in Moot Court and Trial Practice competitions regionally and throughout the country.
Part Time Law Schools In Massachusetts
Part-time day program
- Designed for students who cannot study full time, but who would find the evening/weekend program inconvenient
- This program takes about 4.5 years to complete.
Evening/weekend program
- Designed for students who want a legal education but cannot attend a full-time, day program.
- Offered in the evening, Monday through Thursday, and during the day on Saturday
- This program takes about 4.5 years to complete.
Summer sessions accelerate your studies
By taking advantage of summer sessions, part-time students can complete their degree in 4 years.
Your law degree
To earn your UMass Law Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, you must:
- Complete 90 course credits
- Successfully complete all curricular requirements
- Satisfy all probationary requirements
- Fulfill all financial obligations to the university
UMass Law seeks students with varied backgrounds and experiences. We do not favor any particular pre-law course of study.
During the admissions process, we evaluate each applicant as an individual to assure that your abilities and potential are truly recognized. Since we believe that our future students are more than a set of numbers, we admit students based upon a thorough evaluation of all factors in your file. We give careful consideration to your:
- professional experience
- unusual achievements
- special circumstances
- honors
- economic hardship
- undergraduate degree
- undergraduate school
- graduate degree
- graduate school
- grade trends
Who we accept
Applicants selected for admission bring many attributes to UMass Law, such as:
- good academic credentials
- personal and professional experience
- strong analytical and problem solving abilities
- strong writing skills
- oral communication and listening abilities
- general research skills
- the desire to promote justice and serve others
Massachusetts Accredited Law Schools
1. Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School was founded in 1929. It fosters a unique spirit of community among its students, faculty, and staff. The curriculum is designed to help students develop the skills and knowledge to adapt to changes in society and the legal profession, successfully. It is fully accredited by the ABA
2. Boston University School of Law
Boston University School of Law offers one of the finest legal educations in the nation. The school was founded in 1872. The school is established on the principles that legal education should be open to all men and women of ability without regard to background or beliefs. The school’s innovative curriculum combines theoretical courses, clinical training, and specialized offerings. The full-time faculty consists of distinguished scholars and teachers.
Boston University School of Law
3. Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is the world’s premier center for legal education and research. It has educational settings designed to enrich individual and interactive learning. Harvard Law School offers students a curriculum of more than 400 courses, seminars, and reading groups. It has a remarkable range of faculty with expertise and interests. In the law school, law students have broad opportunities for intellectual engagement with faculty and classmates. Harvard has extensive resources and collaborative approach that help to create unmatched opportunities to prepare for leadership in public service, private practice, the judiciary, or government. The faculty includes more than 100 full-time professors and more than 150 visiting professors. Most HLS students pursue a J.D. (Juris Doctor) degree, while many others earn an LL.M. (Master of Laws) or the S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science). Harvard Law School also offers many joint degree programs, coordinated programs, and concurrent degree opportunities with other schools within Harvard University.
4. New England Law | Boston
New England Law | Boston offers an exceptional academic program. It was founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, the first law school in the nation exclusively for women. During centennial celebrations in September 2008, the law school officially shortened its name from New England School of Law to New England Law | Boston. The law school is accredited by the ABA. It is a member of the AALS.
5. Northeastern University School of Law
Northeastern University School of Law offers the nation’s premier Cooperative Legal Education Program. Northeastern law students graduate with one full year of hands-on legal employment gained in law offices around the world. The curriculum is rigorous, with students receiving detailed narrative evaluations of their work in each academic course. Moreover, co-op employers submit written appraisals of each student’s professional performance. These evaluations comprise the student’s permanent record that indicates the quality of a student’s performance. The Absence of grades and class ranking helps to avoid the adversarial attitude that often characterizes legal education.
Northeastern University School of Law
6. Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School has a curriculum that combines a strong academic foundation with expertise in an array of specialty areas. A nationally known faculty provides superior preparation for practice. Students earn credit while experiencing practice of law in the real world through clinical, internship, and public service opportunities.
7. Western New England College School of Law
Western New England College School of Law is fully accredited by the ABA. It is a member of the AALS. The alumni of the law school include judges, attorneys practicing in small and large firms, and lawyers for corporations, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and all levels of government. Western New England College School of Law offers both full-time and part-time programs with a well-rounded curriculum. The school has a personalized, student-centered approach to legal education and professional development. The first-year section size, is one among the smallest in the country. It promotes effective learning in a challenging, collegial and supportive atmosphere. The faculty is accessible and dedicated, creating a learning environment that helps every student to reach his/ her full potential.
Western New England College School of Law
8. Massachusetts School of Law
Massachusetts School of Law provides a high quality, practical, and affordable legal education to deserving persons. It serves persons from working class backgrounds, minorities, middle class people and immigrants. It gives a rigorous, useful, affordable legal education. The Massachusetts School of Law is not accredited by the ABA. It is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). The law school administers its own rigorous examination (MSLAT) similar to the LSAT. Graduates from the law school are eligible to take the Massachusetts, and Connecticut Bar Examinations immediately upon graduation. Thereafter, graduates are eligible to take the bar exam in NH, WI, VT, ME, CA, DC, MD, WV.
Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney in Massachusetts
Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:
- Get my Massachusetts Undergraduate Pre-Law Education
- Take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test)
- Go to Law School in Massachusetts
- Take the Massachusetts State Bar Exam
- Now that You’ve Been Admitted to the Bar
Law Career in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is quite important in the history of the development of the United States and in the history of its laws. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the nation’s first legal code and was established by the colonists in 1641. One of the earliest tools to protect the rights of Americans, the Body of Liberties was a precursor to the Bill of Rights. It is appropriate that the motto of Massachusetts is “By the sword we seek peace, but only peace under liberty.”
Important lawyers over the years who came from Massachusetts include our second President John Adams, our sixth President John Quincy Adams, American statesman Samuel Adams, politicians Edward “Ted” Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and attorney F. Lee Bailey.
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