Suffolk Law Student Handbook

1. Focus of school resources and faculty effort in areas of the law likely to benefit students, the reputation of the Law School and the outside legal community. 2. Guidance in course selection and career development for students interested in pursuing a particular area of law practice. 3. An opportunity for students to distinguish themselves in a competitive job market. 4. Enhanced quality to the entire JD program. C. Components of an Academic Concentration An academic concentration shall consist of the following requirements: 1. An introductory academic course or sequence of academic courses. 2. Additional academic courses (including Base Menu courses) such that the total number of academic credits under (1) and (2) in each participating student’s program equals a minimum set for the academic concentration, which shall not be less than 14 credits, as determined by the faculty proposing the concentration and approved by the Law faculty. 3. A Skills course or externship in an agency or law firm that has been designated by a concentration Faculty Director as providing practical experience related to the concentration. 4. Successful completion of either a concentration thesis of publishable quality or the Law School’s legal writing requirement in a concentration course. A concentration Faculty Director must approve, in writing, the topic and supervisory arrangements for all students writing a thesis. All these must be written under the supervision of a full time faculty member. If a student wishes to have an adjunct faculty member supervise a paper written in satisfaction of a concentration’s legal writing requirement, the student must obtain prior approval by a concentration faculty director and an Associate Dean. [as amended 11/30/00] In order to qualify for completion of the concentration requirements, a student must (i) attain upon graduation a minimum cumulative average of 3.250 in concentration courses and must not have received a grade less than 2.000 in any such course; (ii) attain upon graduation a minimum cumulative average of 3.000 for the entire JD program; (iii) satisfy the concentration writing requirement; and (iv) in the case of the civil litigation concentration, complete an externship or clinical program approved by the concentration Faculty Director. D. Procedure for Student Enrollment in a Concentration Any student who is in good academic standing and has successfully completed the first year of the Day program or of the Evening program may file with the Law School Assistant Dean for Academic Services a Notice of Enrollment in a particular academic concentration. A student may

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