Albany Law School


Albany Law School is a private, independent, American Bar Association-accredited law school founded in 1851 in Albany, 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, 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 90 miles of New York's Capital District. It is within two 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.

Entrance statistics

For the 2019 class, 52.53% of applicants were accepted with 27.65% of those accepted enrolling, the
50th Percentile LSAT score of enrollees being 153 and the 50th Percentile GPA being 3.37.

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 Clinic, Community Development Clinic, 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.

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., LL.M. for International Law Graduates, M.S. in Legal Studies with Concentrations in: Cyber-security & Data Privacy, 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:
Full Time faculty:
Adjunct faculty:
Former faculty:
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, former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, and over a dozen members of the United States Congress also attended Albany Law School. 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, and Thomas J. Vilsack '75, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa.

Controversy

Albany Law School was one of more than a dozen law schools sued by some of their alumni 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 and Rankings

Albany Law School is ranked 106th in U.S. News and World Report 2018 ranking of law schools. Albany Law School is top 50 in the country, and 5th in N.Y. state, for job placement rates. The Winter 2016 issue of preLaw magazine ranked Albany Law number 1 for government careers, citing its "A" grades in curriculum and employment, and number 6 for public defender and prosecutor jobs.
According to Albany Law School's 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 81% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment ten months after graduation. 126 of 151 graduates obtained full-time, long-term work and 4 graduates obtained either part-time short-term, part-time long-term or full-time short-term positions.
Albany Law School's 2016 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.
StatusFull Time Long TermFull Time Short TermPart Time Long TermPart Time Short TermNumber
Employed Bar Passage Required106010107
Employed J.D. Advantage1772127
Employed Professional Position10001
Employed Non-Professional Position10001
Employed Law School/University Funded10001
Employed Indeterminable00000
Graduate Degree Full Time2
Unemployed Start Date Deferred0
Unemployed Not Seeking0
Unemployed Seeking12
Employment Status Unknown0
Total Graduates151

Employment Summary for 2016 Graduates

Costs

The total cost of attendance 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. In 2015, the school awarded $7 million in financial aid, and over 60% of first-year students received merit scholarships.