From adding practical training opportunities to “personalizing the admissions process,” law schools across the country are finding ways to stand out in today’s tough recruitment environment. Brooklyn Law School is taking it a step further, establishing a tuition repayment program that offers students who have not found a full-time job nine months after graduation 15 percent of their total tuition back.

The 15 percent figure only applies to out-of-pocket tuition expenses, including loans; scholarships and grants do not apply. “This builds on the overall approach that we’ve taken to be very student-centric, to listen to what students need,” Brooklyn Law School Dean Nicholas W. Allard told The New York Times. The program, dubbed “Bridge to Success” and made possible by a $133 million endowment in May, was established to give students the time and resources to land the job they want and not settle for the first offer they receive, said Allard.

To qualify for a repayment, graduates must take the bar exam, although they do not need to pass it. In addition, students must demonstrate that they have actively searched for employment and exhausted the law school’s career resources.

The program is part of Brooklyn Law School’s efforts to remain competitive by lowering tuition costs. In April 2014 the school also decided to reduce yearly tuition by 15 percent to an average of $43,237 per student, which is still higher than the average private tuition of $41,985.

Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistic show that the legal sector lost 60,000 jobs during the recession, only 20,000 of which have been added back. In particular, lawyers with two to three years of experience were hit hard, according to New York Bar Association President David P. Miranda. Consequently, he pointed out that recent law school graduates find themselves in a legal job market in which they have to compete with seasoned lawyers.

Brooklyn Law School is ranked the 78^th best law school in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report. Brian Leiter of the University of Chicago Law School, told the Washington Post that he expects as many as 10 schools to close over the coming decade, and about half to three-quarters of schools to reduce class size, faculty, and staff. We will see if Brooklyn Law School’s latest initiatives will help the school avoid this fate.

Hyunjae Ham

Hyunjae Ham is a member of the University of Maryland Class of 2015 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Hyunjae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Brooklyn Law School Lends a Financial Hand to Unemployed Grads appeared first on Law Street.

It’s no secret that college costs have gone up. Way up. Bloomberg estimated that the cost of college had gone up 1,120 percent since 1978. While inflation over time is obviously normal, that’s a huge jump. Compare it to the fact that over the same time period, the price of food has only risen 244 percent. Going to college now requires that many students take out loans, and then struggle to pay those loans off for years to come. President Obama and other politicians have been saying that something needs to be done for a while, and he recently floated a plan to help ease college costs for some students: two years of free community college for students who are willing to work for it.

Obama gave a speech at Pellissippi State Community College in Tennessee about his new plan. At its core, it’s a simple enough idea. Students who maintain a GPA over 2.5, attend at least half time, and make steady progress toward completing their degree will be eligible for the tuition elimination. The schools are going to be held to high standards as well:

Community colleges will be expected to offer programs that either (1) are academic programs that fully transfer to local public four-year colleges and universities, giving students a chance to earn half of the credit they need for a four-year degree, or (2) are occupational training programs with high graduation rates and that lead to degrees and certificates that are in demand among employers.

The reasoning behind providing those first two years free is to train students for more high-skilled jobs. While our unemployment numbers are looking better than they have in years–under six percent as of December 2014–there are still plenty of Americans who are unemployed and underemployed. Despite this nearly five million jobs remain unfilled in areas that require specialized training, such as healthcare work or technology. This plan will attempt to fill that gap by providing workers with skills that can be used in those jobs. As jobs that require a college degree increase–by 2020 it’s estimated that 33 percent of all job openings will require post-high school education–it makes sense to make it as easy as possible for people to get those degrees.

It’s estimated that this will cost about $3,800 per student, and that nine million students will take advantage of the program. That all adds up to a pretty hefty price tag, roughly $60 billion over ten years, which begs the question: how is the Federal government going to pay for this all? The details don’t appear to be fully formed yet, but advocates argue that it’s an investment in the economy. Until our work force is at its most productive, we’re not going to be able to get much done.

Despite the fact that this plan is more bipartisan than most undertaken by the government these days–Republican Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker attended the speech in Tennessee–there are plenty of lawmakers who disagree with the plan. Detractors point to the high price tag as an unnecessary expense. There are also concerns that community colleges aren’t necessarily that successful–only 30 percent of students entering community college graduate within three years.

While there are both positives and negatives to the plan, it’s an early step of what needs to be a much larger solution to the huge problem of college costs and student debt as a whole.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post College Tuition Elimination Plan Aims to Fill Skilled Jobs Mismatch appeared first on Law Street.

In an effort to boost enrollment and make tuition more affordable, Wayne State University’s Law School, located in Detroit, Michigan, will freeze their tuition and offer every incoming student a scholarship. In total, the tuition freeze and the additional scholarships will create about a 14 percent tuition cut for all incoming students. The tuition cut will keep the price tag at about $28,138 through at least the 2015-2016 school year.

Law school Dean Jocelyn Benson told the Free Press in an exclusive interview:

For us, it is really important to ensure that everyone has access to quality legal education. Not only do we want to make sure everyone has access to legal education, but also help with the rising student debt.

In addition to the tuition freeze, the school will offer about $1 million a year in new scholarships for current students, as well as a minimum scholarship of $4,000 a year to all incoming students. These scholarships will be awarded both by merit and by need. According to Benson, the scholarships are being funded by private donations from alumni and other supporters.

Along with increasing affordability, this tuition cut is also in response to Wayne State Law’s declining enrollment, a fate that many law schools are facing these days. This year, they saw their enrollment drop from 484 students down to 419. Hopefully this strategy will work in the way it has for law schools such as the University of Arizona Law and Penn State Law. These institutions were set to boost their first-year class sizes by 22% to 52% this fall compared with 2013 according to an analysis done by The Wall Street Journal.

Benson has also shared that the goals for lowering tuition go beyond simply increasing enrollment and affordability. She said:

Creating value for students goes beyond affordability. Our location in the heart of Detroit during such a transformative time offers students access to hands-on legal experience in areas ranging from corporate law and entrepreneurship to public interest and civil rights that you cannot get at any other law school.

The goal is that with prices lower, students will not need to work full time while completing law school. This will give them the opportunity to do more internships and gain valuable hands-on experience in the legal field without the worry of a huge debt they need to pay off. Benson has stated: “we want them to make these decisions (about where to work after graduation) without concerns about how much they have to pay back”.

Eric Lloyd, a current junior in Wayne State’s undergraduate business program, likes the idea of a tuition freeze. While studying on campus last week, he said, “It’s so expensive to go to law school and if you go, you almost have to get a corporate job to pay off all that debt anything to hold down cost is good.” He is considering going to Wayne State Law after he graduates.

If this drastic change in cost is successful, Wayne State Law will likely see major enrollment increases in the coming years.

Brittany Alzfan

Brittany Alzfan is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Wayne State Law Freezes Tuition and Offers New Scholarships appeared first on Law Street.

On Thursday, October 23, 2014, NBCUniversal agreed to pay $6.4 million to settle claims that it violated labor laws over its unpaid internship program.  NBCUniversal’s decision to settle is pivotal because it marks a huge step toward eliminating unpaid internship programs completely.

The lawsuit against NBCUniversal began when Monet Eliastam, the lead plaintiff of the lawsuit, interned at Saturday Night Live for 25 hours per week or more and did not receive compensation. She and other unpaid interns filed a class-action lawsuit and sued NBCUniversal. Elisastam claimed, according to the Hollywood Reporter, that NBCUniversal “misclassified its workers as unpaid interns and thus denied them benefits like a minimum wage salary, overtime pay, social security contributions, and unemployment insurance.”

The Hollywood Reporter further reports that a United States District Court will have to approve the settlement, but if it stands, $1.18 million of the total $6.4 million will go to plaintiffs’ attorneys, Elliastam will receive a $10,000 service payment, and five other plaintiffs will receive service payments of $5,000 and $2,000 rewards. The rest will go to NBCUniversal interns, and the average settlement payment to interns will be $505 for those who interned in New York since July 3, 2007, in California since February 4, 2010, and in other states since February 4, 2011.

Unpaid interns have filed cases against Fox, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Viacom, and companies like Conde Nast have also settled unpaid internship cases. Unpaid internship cases are thus becoming the norm, which it should be.

As a law student, I have had my fair share of unpaid internships. One summer, I worked 35-40 hours per week at an entertainment company and did not receive a dime. Instead, I received credit and had to take an externship class. On the surface, that may not seem terrible because I got to apply three more credits to my total needed to graduate. However, I had to pay a few thousand dollars to take the externship class because the minimum amount of credits that my loan would pay for was six, and my externship class was only three.

It doesn’t take much to realize how unfair that is. Not only did I give the company free labor, but I was out a few thousand dollars in order to get that free labor. Where is the logic in that? There is none.  The unpaid internship system is designed to take total advantage of students just so the student can put that company’s name on his or her resume. The school makes money, and the company gets free labor.

Even for students who take internships or externships during the school year and do not have the student loans issue that I did, no one wants to take a class in addition to interning.  Especially in law school, students are so busy that externship classes take a back seat to a student’s more substantive school work, internships, law journals, and/or moot court.

Moreover, the entertainment companies exist in, not surprisingly, the most expensive cities in the country. Students can’t live on unpaid internships — not when your average lunch in New York City, for example, is around $10 or more. It’s simply not feasible. Yes, you can argue that students can live on student loans, but that misses the point.  Students want to be compensated for their work and be valued as integral employees. It’s as simple as that.

Fortunately, companies are starting to pay interns because companies do not want to be victims, which has been echoed to me in several legal internship interviews.

Hopefully interns will finally begin to get paid for their work across the board, and students will not have to experience what I and millions of other students have.

—

Joseph Perry (@jperry325) is a 3L at St. John’s University whose goal is to become a publishing and media law attorney. He has interned at William Morris Endeavor, Rodale, Inc., Columbia University Press, and is currently interning at Hachette Book Group and volunteering at the Media Law Resource Center, which has given him insight into the legal aspects of the publishing and media industries.

Featured image courtesy of [Knot via Flickr]

Joseph Perry

Joseph Perry is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law whose goal is to become a publishing and media law attorney. He has interned at William Morris Endeavor, Rodale, Inc., Columbia University Press, and is currently interning at Hachette Book Group and volunteering at the Media Law Resource Center, which has given him insight into the legal aspects of the publishing and media industries. Contact Joe at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post NBCUniversal Settles With Unpaid Interns for $6.4 Million appeared first on Law Street.

Elon University School of Law, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, announced recently that it is revamping its legal program. In keeping with the school’s original vision to be a pioneering “law school with a difference,” the new program will be highly experimental, personalized, and professionally connected. These major changes to the program include a drastic tuition cut, reduced time needed to graduate, and a curriculum change that will provide students with more of a real-life legal experience. These changes are all designed to adapt to the fast-changing legal profession and will go into effect in the fall of 2015.

The first of these changes is a tuition cut. Elon Law is reducing tuition by $14,000, meaning that students will pay about $100,000 overall to attend law school. This is significantly less than the roughly $180,000 it costs to attend most top-tier law schools these days. In addition, Elon Law will also guarantee a fixed-tuition for each entering class, so you will never have to pay more even if tuition is increased while you’re a student.

The next component of the revamp is the adoption of a 7-trimester schedule. This means that instead of graduating after three years, students will be able to graduate in just 2.5. While this might not seem significant, graduating a half of a year early will save students money and allow them a head-start in the job market. Students who enter Elon Law next fall will graduate in December 2017 and will be able to take the bar exam in February.

In addition, there will also be major curricular changes designed to prepare students for real-world legal practice. According to Elon Law, they are the first law school in the country to require students to serve a full-time faculty-supervised residency during the academic year as opposed to during the summer. This gives Elon Law students an advantage because they do not need to fight for job placement during the highly-competitive summer months.

The first year will consist of an introductory program “focused on legal analysis, writing and communication, and leadership and professionalism.” The first year program also includes case-simulations run by skilled practicing attorneys. This is in addition to their nationally-competitive moot court and mock trial programs. Elon Law will also be incorporating experimental learning into their curriculum, which will account for over 20 percent of the program. This far exceeds the requirements that the ABA has set out for experimental learning.

Each student that attends Elon Law will also be assigned a four-person professional advising team, consisting of a faculty advisor, a working attorney mentor, an executive coach, and a career consultant. This four-person team is designed to make students as prepared and as knowledgeable as possible before they graduate. In particular, the career consultant will play a vital role in helping students secure post-graduation employment.

Many aspiring-lawyers today are choosing not to attend law school due to the extensive time and financial commitments. These major changes to Elon’s program are addressing these concerns and are adapting to the current needs of students. Hopefully their new program will be successful, and we will see more law schools following in Elon’s footsteps.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article cited total tuition as $115,000. Total tuition is roughly $100,000.

Brittany Alzfan

Brittany Alzfan is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Elon Law Revamps Curriculum and Cuts Tuition appeared first on Law Street.

On Wednesday, Drexel University announced that it will be renaming its law school after receiving the largest donation in the school’s history. The school will now be known as the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, after Kline made a generous $50 million donation to the university.

Drexel Law School was founded just eight years ago in 2006, and was originally named after Earle Mack after he pledged $15 million to the school. However, he was dropped when University officials decided that the school needed a stronger foundation.

Kline, the new benefactor, is a trustee of Drexel University, and has spent most of his thirty-year long career as a Philadelphia trial attorney focused on medical malpractice, personal injury, and whistleblower cases. Kline made this donation in hopes that the school can work its way to the top ranks of legal education.

In addition to his work as a trial attorney, Klein is chairman of the law school board. He stated that the idea for the trial advocacy center came from a conversation with the law school dean, Roger Dennis. Kline shared:

It is our collective vision to create a law school with national stature, the foundation is there. What we now have is an opportunity to not only build programmatic changes, but we also have a magnificent magnet that is a true gem of the City of Philadelphia.

The large donation includes the former Beneficial Savings Fund Society building in downtown Philadelphia, which will be home to a new trial advocacy center. Drexel President John. A Fry has stated that “This is a major, major moment for the law school”. He believes that this donation gives Drexel “the opportunity to put this relatively new law school on a firm financial footing and, in particular, establish it as a force for the practice of trial advocacy.”

With the new downtown building, which is projected to open in 2017, the law school will have two sites: the main campus in University City and the new campus in Center City surrounded by city and federal courts as well as many law firms. This new location is sure to give students even more opportunities to find jobs and internships while at law school.

In addition to providing a new trial advocacy center in a prime location, the donation will also give Drexel Law the means to increase scholarships and financial aid for students. This comes at a crucial time, when many top law schools are reducing tuition and increasing financial aid to entice more students due to a drop in overall law school applicants. According to recent statistics, enrollment in the nation’s top law schools has dropped 24 percent overall in the last three years. It is the hope that with this donation, more scholarships and financial aid will entice more students to enroll in Drexel Law. Currently, tuition is about $40,000 a year. These new scholarships and aid packages will relieve some of that burden and ultimately increase Drexel’s competitive edge amongst the top law schools in the nation.

Brittany Alzfan

Brittany Alzfan is a student at the George Washington University majoring in Criminal Justice. She was a member of Law Street’s founding Law School Rankings team during the summer of 2014. Contact Brittany at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Drexel Law Receives $50 Million Donation and New Trial Advocacy Building appeared first on Law Street.

Here at Law Street, we’ve written a lot about the steps that some law schools are taking to the buck the trend of lower enrollment that is taking a widespread toll on almost all law schools. One really great way to attract students, especially for schools that aren’t as highly ranked as others, is to offer unique programs. That’s exactly what the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii is doing, and it seems like they’re seeing great success.

Hawaii Law is the only law school in the state, and it has been able to draw on its unique history when creating its programs. One of the most unique offerings it has is a specific focus on indigenous law. The school, which is home to the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, offers a Native Hawaiian Law Certificate that can be earned along with a Juris Doctorate. According to the Center, the focus on Native Hawaiian law allows them to connect with the community; Director Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie explains how the center is able to incorporate students’ studies into the law school environment, stating that it “provides our students with the legal principles to advance the rights of indigenous and Pacific peoples, and it also increases knowledge and protection of customary practices and values.” 

The Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law’s ability to offer such a unique joint degree program can definitely be considered a draw for their students. Allowing them the opportunity to study such a unique facet of law makes Hawaii Law stand out. The center goes beyond just offering classes and the joint-degree program, to hosting a number of events and symposia. Given that Hawaii Law is the only law school located in the state, and that 20 percent of Hawaii’s population is made up of people who are at least part Native Hawaiian ancestry, it’s obvious that the Ka Huli Ao Center is a great resource.

According to recent news coming out of the school it seems like offering such a unique program is working, among other things, to increase Hawaii Law’s enrollment. Last week, Hawaii Law had the most students in its history, with 145. The school also saw more applications (639) last year. Hawaii Law was hit by the same drop in applications that many law schools saw a few years ago, but they’re well on their way to recovery now. The fact that they have such a large class this year is certainly an indication of that.

Cost is also an incredibly important facet of the conversation about law school enrollment. Hawaii Law has been able to keep its cost fairly low — just south of $10,000 per semester for in-state students. This pairs well with the Native Hawaiian Law focus. It seems like Hawaii Law has found its appeal — creating a program that allows its students to focus on issues that are important for their community while still remaining a part of that community.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Unique Program Creates a Home for Native Hawaiian Law appeared first on Law Street.

It’s pretty well known at this point that the law school industry is struggling. With overall enrollment down, many schools are taking drastic measures to make sure that they keep their numbers up. Some schools are doing this by lowering prices, and others are creating innovative new programs to attract students. And then you have the American University Washington College of Law, which is offering students a scholarship…and then making them pay if they don’t follow through on the terms of the scholarship.

American Law offers a scholarship called the Public Interest/Public Service Scholarship. The students who receive it are colloquially referred to as PIPS Scholars. The PIPS scholarship covers the full price of tuition and requires certain involvement in public service-based events and activities in order to remain in the program. For example, PIPS Scholars participate in the school’s Pro Bono Honors Pledge Program, and organize a Public Service Day for younger students. There are also academic standards that must be maintained. Overall, the program seems pretty rigorous, but also valuable, given that full-cost law school scholarships are pretty hard to come by.

But there’s apparently a catch, and that’s this stipulation:

Scholars will be expected to maintain matriculation at the Washington College of Law until graduation. Absent compelling circumstances, a scholar who chooses to withdraw or transfer from the law school will be required to pay back the full amount of tuition within 30 days of the end of the last semester of enrollment plus any other WCL grants or scholarships. As a condition of receiving the scholarship, incoming PIPS Scholars will be asked to sign a form indicating their understanding and acceptance of the foregoing terms and conditions of the award.

So if a PIPS Scholar doesn’t stay at American for all three years of legal education, she owes American Law repayment of that free tuition? American Law puts its current full-time tuition at $49,542.

As Paul Campos points out, this policy has undergone some changes over the years. Originally when the program was created in 2001, there did not appear to be any sort of repayment requirements. Between 2006 – 2014, PIPS Scholars who dropped out or transferred could convert their debt to American Law into a loan and pay it back that way. Now, it appears that students who don’t complete the requisite three years must pay back the full amount in 30 days.

It’s a pretty tough bargain that American Law is driving with this scholarship. To be fair, the students who enter this program do accept the terms and conditions, and apparently sign some sort of contract. I hope that those students are giving that document a good read-over, but given that they are entering law school on a full ride, it’s probably pretty safe to assume they are indeed being thorough. Obviously, a student who thinks he might want to transfer, or a student who isn’t 100 percent sure that law school is the right path should not accept this scholarship.

I do worry, though, about students who have to drop out of school for unforeseen reasons — health, family emergency, personal crises, and the like. Sometimes those things just happen, and the fact that American Law will penalize students for those reasons is pretty tough. Although the scholarship does say that the price will be charged “absent compelling circumstances,” there doesn’t appear to be a definition in the scholarship requirements of what compelling circumstances might be. Is it decided on an ad-hoc basis, or does American Law list some examples of what is a good enough reason to drop out? The potentially arbitrary nature of this sentence is deeply concerning.

I think it’s also important to note that American Law must know that if a student drops out, he’s probably not going to do a great job of paying the school back. Any attempts to reclaim the money, especially as much money as American Law charges a year, is probably going to drive that student into bankruptcy. Instead, this serves as more of an insurance policy than anything else — the threat of America Law’s possible actions are pretty much enough to keep students from transferring or otherwise leaving.

It’s an interesting move, American Law. In a environment where law schools are trying new strategies to stay ahead of the pack, let’s see how hostage-taking in the form of a “scholarship” works for you.

—-

Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Truthout.org via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post American University College of Law and Its Hostage Scholarship appeared first on Law Street.

Columbia Law is taking big steps toward strengthening its Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets, and it’s doing so with the help of a very good friend. On June 4, the school received a three-year grant from the NASDAQ OMX Educational Foundation, which will fund the advancement of the program by supporting the production of a seminal treatise on capital markets regulation and the development a more comprehensive website.

So what’s the big deal? The average tuition for one year of law school is $41,985, according to lawschooltransparency.com. This inflated tuition has contributed to a downward trend in law school enrollment nationwide. But if innovative cross-disciplinary programs like Columbia’s capital markets regulation course are introduced, students might be compelled to pay more now to earn more in the future.

My colleague Matt DeWilde wrote about the University of Arizona’s tuition decrease and how the cut incentivizes students to attend three-year programs at cheaper tuition rates; however, three years with a smaller price tag still costs more than two. But there’s more that law schools could do than just slash prices. If law schools across the nation were to lower tuition and continue offering versatile courses like Columbia Law is doing, we could end up with better educated lawyers. The most valuable aspect of programs like this one is a student body that actually cares about the subject. Legal grads could become more proficient legal advocates with the help of partnerships like Columbia Business and Law and NASDAQ.

The Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets is jointly based in the Columbia Law School and the Columbia Business School. The first of its kind, it focuses on three main goals:

1. To further develop the Capital Markets Regulation course and its materials in order to allow other institutions to take advantage of them.
2. To draft a seminal treatise on capital markets regulation.
3. To unite professionals through the Fellow Workshops to promote discussion of legal regulation of capital markets and economic forces that drive regulation.

The grant allows Columbia Law to continue providing courses in the up-and-coming field where business and law collide, without augmenting tuition. The program is directed by three seasoned scholars, Professors Merritt B. Fox, Lawrence R. Glosten, and Edward F. Greene. In my interview with Professor Fox, he said that anywhere from 50 to 80 students enroll in the main course. By 2016 he and Professor Glosten hope to complete the seminal treatise, which will be the first text on capital markets to be used as a professional reference and teaching material for legal practitioners, market participants, and scholars.

Publishing the seminal treatise means facilitating the course at other institutions, which is just what this nation needs. Fox said the University of South Carolina School of Law will implement a capital markets regulation course in the upcoming school year, and that readily available materials of a hard text would stimulate other universities to adopt courses in the subject.

Another resource the grant will support is the NASDAQ OMX Fellow Workshops program. The workshops connect students with “experts from the legal and business academy, government, industry and legal practice for high-level discussions to the legal regulation of capital markets and the economic forces that shape markets and the regulatory environment.”

Most of the workshops are recorded and published on the program’s website. Students can use the workshops to network with the professionals in the field. “If someone became interested we would be able to connect them with one of the speakers in the program,” Fox said. Networking is a key aspect for aspiring lawyers in a time when the legal job market is rocky.

Due to low employment rates for legal post-grads, Columbia Law’s capital markets program will give participating students a new edge. And who doesn’t love being a little ahead? The combination of easily accessible materials and networking opportunities provide students with the upper hand in the post-graduation job hunt. With the support from NASDAQ, the program is sure to continue breaking ground in the blossoming field.

Congratulations, Columbia Law! Your capital markets program is sure to kick butt in a new era of legal studies.

—

Natasha Paulmeno (@natashapaulmeno)

Featured image courtesy of [Luis Villa del Campo via Flickr]

Natasha Paulmeno

Natasha Paulmeno is an aspiring PR professional studying at the University of Maryland. She is learning to speak Spanish fluently through travel, music, and school. In her spare time she enjoys Bachata music, playing with her dog, and exploring social media trends. Contact Natasha at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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