| Pace Law School | |
| Established | 1976 |
|---|---|
| School type | Private |
| Dean | Michelle S. Simon |
| Location | White Plains, New York, US |
| Enrollment | 765[1] |
| Faculty | 160[1] |
| Bar pass rate | 87%[2] |
| Annual tuition | $38,394[1] |
| Website | www.law.pace.edu |
| ABA profile | Pace Law School Profile |
Pace University School of Law, known colloquially as "Pace Law School", is the law school of Pace University, a comprehensive, independent, and diversified university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County. Located approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of New York City proper, Pace Law School is situated on its own 13-acre (53,000 m2) landscaped campus of historic and modern buildings in White Plains, New York.
Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is accredited by the American Bar Association, and is the only law school located between New York City and the state capital of Albany, New York, 136 miles (219 km) north. The Law School ranks among the top three environmental law programs in the nation.[3]
According to NALP, The Association for Legal Career Professionals, 6 law firms are slated to attend On-Campus Recruiting (OCI) during the 2011-2012 academic year (also the New York City Law Department, the New York County District Attorney's Office and the Bronx County District Attorney's Office). [4] Out of the 223 graduates of the 2010 class, 161 graduates were employed in total, with 140 of those graduates employed in a position that "prefers a JD or requires bar passage." Out of the 161 employed graduates, 118 graduates are employed in full-time positions and 41 in part-time positions. There were 8 graduates pursing advanced degrees, and 19 graduates with unknown employment status. [5]
In Fall 2010, the American Bar Association published an article commenting on the job prospects of recent Pace Law School alumni entitled, "Jobless Pace Law Grads Live at Home, Go Back to School, Hang Own Shingle."[6] In 2011, two law firms, Law Offices of David Anziska and Strauss Law PLLC, announced their intention to jointly file a class action lawsuit against Pace Law School for tortiously misrepresenting job placement statistics and violating state consumer protection laws. [7]
Pace Law School's campus is home to the New York State Judicial Institute, which was featured in American School & University (AS&U) Magazine's Educational Interiors Showcase,[8] serves as a statewide center for the education, training, and research facility for all judges and justices of the New York State Unified Court System[9]
On the Law School's campus is the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic where Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, and alumnus of Pace, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. serves as co-director.[10]
The Women's Justice Center, located on the campus, is dedicated to eradicating domestic violence and furthering the legal rights of women, children and the elderly through the skillful and innovative use of the law.[11] Pace Law School's Women's Justice Center is the oldest college-based domestic violence training and litigation resource in the United States.[12] In 2001, the Women's Justice Center opened a second site at the Westchester County Family Court in Yonkers, New York. The Westchester County Family Court in Yonkers is one of three family courts in Westchester County.[13] The Yonkers office of the Women's Justice Center is located at the Westchester Family Court, 53 South Broadway in Yonkers.[14]
Contents |
The majority of classes have less than 85 students, which enables close faculty-student relationships. Deans, administrators, and faculty members maintain an open-door policy for students some of the time. The majority of faculty members have had careers in legal practice prior to becoming legal educators. Their experience in law firms, as corporate counsel, and as federal and state regulators adds important perspectives to the theoretical principles of law.
The Law School also participates in national competitions including the Trial Advocacy competitions sponsored by the American Association for Justice (AAJ, formerly ATLA), the National Trial Competition (NTC), but has won few awards.
Pace Law School publishes three law reviews, the Pace Law Review, the Pace Environmental Law Review, and the Pace International Law Review. Pace Law School is also a founding member, and participates, in the Journal of Court Innovation.
Pace Law School offers programs of study leading to the Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), and Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degrees. The LL.M. in comparative legal studies is available for graduates of law schools outside the United States and is intended for those seeking to return home after a year of study and for those who wish to sit the New York State bar exam. Pace also offers an LL.M. in Environmental Law as well as two tracks of concentration within those programs, one in Climate Change Law and the other in Sustainable Development and Land Use. Pace offered an LL.M. in Real Estate Law for the 2008/09 through 2010/11 academic years.
Students who wish to obtain the J.D. degree may choose to receive a certificate of specialization in either of the programs Pace is best known for: environmental law and international law. Other curricular concentrations include constitutional law, commercial law, corporate law, civil litigation and dispute resolution, criminal law and criminal procedure, evidence, family law, intellectual property law, real estate law, women’s justice/domestic violence, and land use.
There are also joint degree and certificate program options. The joint program options allow students to work toward a degree in law and improve job prospects by earning an M.P.A. degree from Pace University's Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, or an M.B.A. degree from Pace University's Lubin School of Business. Students also have the option of enrolling in a joint J.D./M.E.M. with the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, a J.D./M.A. degree with Sarah Lawrence College in women’s studies, or a J.D./M.S. degree with Bard College Center for Environmental Policy.
The Environmental Law Program at Pace consistently ranks among the top three environmental law programs in the nation.[3] Students may obtain the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in environmental law or the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in environmental law. Pace Law School hosts the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC). The school's Environmental Litigation Clinic offers experiential learning guided by Robert F. Kennedy Jr in state and federal court, primarily representing Riverkeeper. Other experiential opportunities exist in the Energy and Climate Center, the Brazil-American Institute for Law and Environment, the Land Use Law Center, the Science, Technology and Policy Center, and the Kheel Center for the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes.[15]
Pace announced a new Climate Change Track beginning in the 2009/10 academic year, which culminates in an Environmental Law LL.M. in Climate Change. This program makes Pace "the first law school in the nation to offer a tailored, specially developed curriculum for climate change, one of today's most important and emerging areas of law".[16] Pace began offering a Sustainable Development and Land Use Track to its Environmental Law LL.M. in the 2010/11 academic year.
Beginning in the 2010/11 academic year, GreenLaw, Pace's environmental law magazine, was converted into the blog for the environmental law program.
Pace Law students who wish to gain international experience may also participate in the London Law Program and live, study, and work abroad as part of their degree requirements. Other opportunities include, comparative legal studies with Brazil and Singapore that include study abroad components; and the U.N. Environmental Diplomacy Practicum, where students intern with a U.N mission. Pace participates in 4 international moot court competitions, one of which it sponsors: The Willem C. Vis International Moot Court Competition is held each year in Vienna, Austria and attracts more than 250 law schools from over 60 countries. Team members are selected by professors and chosen based on writing ability and oral presentation skills.
Pace Law school also has one of the most comprehensive Immigration programs in the country. While most immigration clinics only handle asylum cases, with perhaps a few VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) cases, students enrolled in the Immigration Justice Clinic handle family-based petitions, employment-based petitions, religious-based petitions, Special Immigrant Juvenile, J-1 waiver and HIV waivers, TPS (Temporary Protected Status), reopening of final removal orders, U-visa (crime victim), and most of all, the crime-based removal cases that frequently take our student attorneys into the Second, Third, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal. Students have also prepared a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. In short, students represent the immigrants most in need of free, competent, ethical representation. In addition, students conduct community education programs at local community organizations, and participate in legislative advocacy at the federal level in conjunction with the American Immigration Lawyer's Association (AILA), and independently at the local level.
The campus is located on a portion of a the American Revolutionary War Battle of White Plains. The campus was originally the College of White Plains, originally Good Counsel College, for women founded by the Sisters of the Divine Compassion. Evan Oppenheimer's film Alchemy (film) was filmed on Pace Law School's campus.