Albany Law School - Albany Law School

Albany Law School is a private, independent, American Bar Association-accredited law school founded in 1851 in Albany, New York making it the oldest law school in New York. It has an affiliation agreement with University at Albany that includes shared programs. The school is located near New York's highest court, federal courts, the executive branch and the state legislature.

History

Albany Law School is the oldest independent law school in the United States. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean (its dean until 1868), Amasa J. Parker, Ira Harris, and others.

Beginning in 1878, the Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Law School, Albany Medical College, Dudley Observatory, Graduate College of Union University, and Union College created the loose association today known as Union University. Each member institution has its own governing board, is fiscally independent, and is responsible for its own programs.

Albany Law School has a historically close relationship with the New York Court of Appeals. One of the original members of the court, Greene C. Bronson, helped to found the law school. Since that time, Albany Law School alumni have been members of the court nine times with two serving as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. In addition, the school hosts the Fund for Modern Courts' Hugh R. Jones Memorial Lecture, which is typically given by a current or former member of the court.

The law school inducted its first permanent female President & Dean, Penelope Andrews, on July 1, 2012. On July 1, 2015, Alicia Ouellette became President & Dean.

Location

Albany Law is the only law school located within New York's Capital District. It is within three miles of the New York State Legislature, New York Court of Appeals, The Appellate Division 3rd Department, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York, the New York State Bar Association, several state agencies, and a number of private law firms.

Programs and centers

Albany Law School offers 14 concentrations for J.D. candidates, as well as an L.L.M program, and joint J.D./M.B.A, J.D./M.P.A., J.D./M.R.P., J.D./M.S., and J.D./M.S.W. programs.

Albany Law School is home to several centers of legal study: The Government Law Center, The Center for Excellence in Law Teaching, The Institute of Legal Studies, The Institute for Financial Market Regulation, and The Center for Judicial Process.

In addition, under the auspices of its Law Clinic and Justice Center, Albany Law School operates several public interest clinics. Some of the clinics available include the Health Law, Introduction to Litigation, Low Income Taxpayer, Civil Rights and Disabilities Law, Domestic Violence Prosecution, and Family Violence Litigation.

Albany Law School's Schaffer Law Library holds a collection of more than 730,000 volumes and equivalents, including videotapes of oral arguments before the New York State Court of Appeals dating back to 1989.

Albany Law School is ranked 129th in U.S. News and World Report 2017 ranking of law schools.

Albany Law School was named first in the country for preparing students for careers in government in the Winter 2016 preLaw magazine.

Albany law was named 6th in the country for prosecution and public defense in the Winter 2016 preLaw magazine.

Albany Law School is top 50 in the country, and 5th in N.Y. state, for job placement rates.

Degrees Offered

Albany Law School offers courses and concentrations for the following degree programs: J.D. Three-year program, J.D. Two-year accelerated program, LL.M. (Master of Laws), LL.M. for International Law Graduates, M.S. in Legal Studies with Concentrations in: Cyber-security & Data Privacy (online only), Government Affairs & Advocacy, Health Law & Health Law Compliance, and Social Entrepreneurship.

Joint degrees: J.D./ Master of Business Administration with The College of Saint Rose, Union Graduate College, The Sage Colleges or University at Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, J.D./ Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management with Union Graduate College, J.D./ Master of Science in Bioethics with Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College; or Union Graduate College and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, J.D./ Master of Public Administration & Policy with University at Albany, J.D./ Master of Social Work with University at Albany, J.D./ Master of Regional Planning with University at Albany, J.D./ Master of Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Albany Law School has an affiliation agreement with University at Albany that includes shared programs, and access for students and faculty to learn from one another.

Law journals

In 1875, Albany Law published the nation's first student-edited legal periodical, the Albany Law School Journal, which existed for only one academic year before being discontinued. Currently, the school publishes three journals, which are listed in order of their founding and combined national ranking:

• Albany Law Review
• Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology
• Albany Government Law Review

Notable faculty

Full Time faculty:

• Alicia Ouellette, President and Dean
• Ira Mark Bloom, Trusts, Estates, and Property lawyer
• Vincent M. Bonventre, Judicial and Constitutional Law lawyer and commentator
• Raymond H. Brescia, Public Interest Law lawyer and commentator
• Patrick M. Connors, New York Civil Practice and Legal Ethics lawyer
• Anthony Farley, James Campbell Matthews Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence: International Organizations, International Child Rights

Adjunct faculty:

• Mae D'Agostino, United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York
• Lawrence E. Kahn, Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York
• Eleanor Stein, Administrative Law Judge, former member of Weather Underground and Students for a Democratic Society
• Matthew Tully, columnist

Former faculty:

• Penelope Andrews, Dean of the faculty of law at the University of Cape Town
• Learned Hand, United States Judge and legal philosopher
• Patricia Salkin, Dean of Touro Law Center
• David D. Siegel, commentator on New York Civil Practice

Notable alumni

Albany Law School has numerous notable alumni. It is one of only twelve law schools in the United States to have graduated two or more justices of the United States Supreme Court: Robert H. Jackson and David Josiah Brewer. Nine judges of the New York State Court of Appeals, United States President William McKinley, current New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, and over a dozen members of the United States Congress can also call Albany Law School their alma mater. The first woman admitted to the New York State Bar, Kate Stoneman, and the first African American man to graduate from law school in New York State, James Campbell Matthews, also both attended Albany Law School.

Other notable alumni include: Richard D. Parsons '71, Former Chairman, Citigroup, Lawrence H. Cooke '39, Former Chief Judge of New York State, Victoria A. Graffeo '77, Former Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, Leslie Stein '81, Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, Thomas J. Vilsack '75, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; Former Governor of Iowa, David Miranda '88, President-elect, New York State Bar Association; Partner, Heslin Rothenberg Farley and Mesiti, Stephen P. Younger '82, Former New York State Bar Association President; Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Controversy

Albany Law School was one of more than a dozen law schools sued by some of their alumni (three Albany Law graduates filed the suit) in 2011 and 2012. On February 1, 2012, it was named as a defendant in a class action alleging fraudulent misrepresentation of its published employment statistics relating to past graduates. The case was dismissed in January 2013.

Employment

According to Albany Law School's 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 65.6% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment ten months after graduation. 150 of 159 graduates obtained full-time, long-term work and 9 graduates obtained either part-time short-term, part-time long-term or full-time short-term positions. Albany Law School's 2015 Law School Transparency under-employment score is 18%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2015 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

preLaw magazine ranked Albany Law number 1 for government careers, citing its "A" grades in curriculum and employment, and ranked the school number 6 for public defender and prosecutor jobs, in its winter 2016 issue.

Employment Summary for 2015 Graduates

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Albany Law School for the 2014-2015 academic year is $59,728. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $234,466. Tuition is $43,248. Last year the school awarded $7 million in financial aid, and over 60% of first-year students received merit scholarships.