The University at Buffalo School of Law (also known as State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, or SUNY Buffalo Law School) is a graduate

professional school Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensiv ...

at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1 ...

. Founded in 1887 and affiliate with Niagara University until 1891, it is the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

(SUNY) system's only law school. '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranks the University at Buffalo School of Law 94th (tied) in the nation for 2022. The University at Buffalo School of Law is No. 1 in Thomson Reuter's "Super Lawyers" ranking of law graduates practicing in Upstate New York, which includes 54 of the 62 counties in New York State. This is in addition to the UB Law School's 2010 national ranking, where it placed 48th out of the 180 law schools in the country that produced Super Lawyers, a measure which examines "twelve indicators of professional achievement". Also, Malcolm Gladwell, in the ''New Yorker'' Magazine, devised a formula that ranks UB within the top 50 whereas Reuters ranks UB Law as 48th overall in the nation. According to the University at Buffalo School of Law's 2018 ABA-required disclosures, 69.2% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.

Background

The University at Buffalo School of Law has a favorable student-faculty ratio of 5.5:1. Currently, more than 75 percent of its upper division courses comprise fewer than 40 students. In addition, many of the 81 faculty members hold advanced degrees in the social sciences and other disciplines in conjunction with their law degrees. The first-year program includes traditional legal courses in

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what ki ...

torts A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishabl ...

contracts A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

, criminal law,

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fed ...

, and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...

. In the second and third years students choose from a dozen curricular concentrations that allow for in-depth study. Each student has the opportunity to craft a custom-made curriculum, beyond the selected concentrations to build a personalized sequence of courses and experiences. Under the Law School's Legal Analysis, Writing and Research (LAWR) program, all students complete a 10-credit, three-semester LAWR curriculum, with two semesters in their first year and a third semester during their second or third years. All three semesters are taught by full-time LAWR faculty. Throughout the LAWR program, students learn legal analysis and writing through immersion in the practice of writing, and through cycles of trial and error, feedback, and reflection. Because the courses are taught in small sections with an excellent instructor-to-student ratio, students are inspired to think critically and approach legal questions in a newly disciplined way. Most students are part of the

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

(J.D.) program.

Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

dual degree programs permit J.D. students to seek other graduate degrees along with their J.D., including

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

or doctoral degrees from the School of Management, School of Social Work, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, or School of Architecture and Planning. UB Law also has the only post-professional

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(LL.M.) program in criminal law in the United States, and a general

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

program designed exclusively for

international student International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

s. The Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce is a joint program of UB Law with UB's

business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

. Named after

Neil David Levin Neil David Levin (September 16, 1954 – September 11, 2001) was an American businessman and political figure who was executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from April 2001 until his death during the September 11 a ...

, the

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, thoug ...

of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

who was killed in the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, the Levin Institute conducts an annual spring semester program in New York City for about 20 students, divided into five teams to work on projects sponsored by

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

s and

financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial inst ...

s. For example, in 2006 the teams were sponsored by CLSA, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, UBS, Credit Suisse, and M&T Bank. The general law journal is the '' Buffalo Law Review'', a student-run publication managed by 3L J.D. candidates. Founded in 1951, the Law Review currently publishes five issues per year (January, April, May, July and December), featuring full length articles by practitioners, professors and students in all areas of law. Each issue contains approximately four such articles and one student-authored comment. Two other specialist journals are also based at the Law School: ''Buffalo Environmental Law Journal'' and ''Buffalo Human Rights Law Review.'' The student newspaper, ''The Opinion'', has been in publication since November 29, 1949. UB's Clinical Legal Education program operate the school's legal clinics, which involve client service,

impact litigation Strategic litigation, also known as impact litigation, is the practice of bringing lawsuits intended to effect societal change. Impact litigation cases may be class action lawsuits or individual claims with broader significance, and may rely on s ...

, transactional practice, and

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

development. Students participate in clinics throughout the school year and are given classroom credit for their work. The ten clinics are the Animal Law Clinic, Civil Rights and Transparency Clinic, Community Justice Clinic, Environmental Advocacy Clinic, Entrepreneurship Clinic, Family Violence and Women's Rights Clinic, Health Justice Clinic, Mediation Clinic, Puerto Rico Recovery Assistance Legal Clinic, and the U.S.-Mexico Border Clinic. The Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy is an institute that supports the interdisciplinary study of law, legal institutions, and social policy. Over 200 UB faculty members from various academic departments as well as graduate students participate in Baldy Center research and teaching activities. The Center maintains cooperative ties to other interdisciplinary research centers and co-sponsors a regional network of sociolegal scholars in New York and Canada. The Baldy Center hosts distinguished scholars from around the world as visitors, consultants, and conference participants. The

Charles B. Sears Charles Brown Sears (October 16, 1870 Brooklyn, Kings County, New York – December 17, 1950 Buffalo, Erie County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life He graduated from Adelphia Academy in Brooklyn in 1888, and ...

Law Library is UB's law library. It is named for Charles Brown Sears and occupies six floors in the center of the Law School. The Law Library contains 300,000 bound volumes and over 221,000 volumes in

microform Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. F ...

. Included within the Federal, New York, and State Core Collections are basic legal research tools: court reporters and digests, session laws and codes, rules and regulations, attorney general reports, jurisdictional encyclopedias and citators. The Law Library's special collection includes the Howard R. Berman Collection,

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Books of

Marilyn L. Haas Marilyn may refer to: * Marilyn (given name) * Marilyn (singer) (born 1962), English singer * Marilyn (hill), a type of mountain or hill in the British Isles with a prominence above 150 m * 1486 Marilyn, a Main-belt asteroid * ''Marilyn'' (1953 ...

, John Lord O'Brian Papers, Law Library Archives, Law School Archives,

Morris L. Cohen Morris Leo Cohen (November 2, 1927 – December 18, 2010) was an American attorney who left the practice of law to become a law librarian and professor of law at the University at Buffalo, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Law School and Yale L ...

Rare Book Collection,

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capi ...

Nation Land Claims Records, Seneca Land Claims Records, Tibetan Legal Manuscripts, and Watergate Collection. The University at Buffalo School of Law is located on the university's North Campus in O'Brian Hall, which was named after notable alumnus John Lord O'Brian.

Admissions

The class of 2021 had a median LSAT of 154. The median GPA was 3.49. Out of 859 applications, 402 were accepted for a 46.8% acceptance rate, with 137 enrolled. 11% were from out of state.

Employment

According to the University at Buffalo School of Law's official 2018 ABA-required disclosures, 69.2% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. The University at Buffalo School of Law's

Law School Transparency Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy and education organization concerning the legal profession in the United States. LST was founded by Vanderbilt Law School graduates Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch. LST describes its ...

under-employment score is 17.8%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2018 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Costs

Tuition and fees for the 2019-20 academic year will be $25,410 for in-state residents with a $2,069 comprehensive fee and a $393 "academic excellence fee." Total for New York State residents is $46,746 with an additional $4,090 for out-of-state residents. 80% of the student body received grants and scholarships. The school does not award scholarships that may be reduced or eliminated based on law school academic performance other than failure to maintain good academic standing.

Notable people

Notable faculty

* Thomas Buergenthal – judge,

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

– professor 1962–1975 * William R. Greiner – former President of

, 1991–2004; former professor, provost, and dean of the University at Buffalo Law School * Jacob D. Hyman – former dean *

Muhammad Kenyatta Muhammad I. Kenyatta, (born Donald Brooks Jackson; March 3, 1944 – January 3, 1992), was an American professor, civil rights leader, and international human rights advocate. Jackson changed his name in the early 1970s to Muhammad Kenyatta.

- visiting professor, 1988-1992 * David Riesman – sociologist, author of '' The Lonely Crowd'', professor 1937–1941 * Clyde Summers (1918-2010) - labor lawyer and law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Notable alumni

* Wallace Thayer New York State Assemblyman (1914) * Michael A. Battle (1984) – director, Executive Office for United States Attorneys (2005–2007); United States Attorney for the Western District of New York (2002–2005) * Harry Bronson – New York State Assemblyman *

Ronald Castorina Jr. Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse '' Rögnvaldr'', Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English '' Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised form ...

- Former New York State Assemblyman (2016-2018); Former Commissioner NYC Board of Elections (2013-2015) * Sara Horowitz – Founder of Freelancers Union and Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York *

Eugene M. Fahey Eugene M. Fahey (born September 1, 1951) is an American judge who served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 2015 to 2021. Education and early career Born in Buffalo, New York, Fahey attended St. Joseph's Collegiate ...

- Associate judge of New York State Court of Appeals *

Julio M. Fuentes Julio M. Fuentes (born February 16, 1946) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Fuentes is the first Hispanic judge to serve on the Third Circuit. Early life and education Born o ...

(1975) – United States Circuit Judge,

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * E ...

(

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

duty station) * Paul L. Friedman (1968) – United States District Judge,

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States Dist ...

Cynthia M. Rufe Cynthia Marie Rufe (née Favata; born October 30, 1948) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Early life and education Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rufe grad ...

(1977) – United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania * Benjamin Kallos – lawyer and politician *

Nicole Lee Nicole Lee is a human rights lawyer. She is an expert and activist in human rights issues. She is a former president of TransAfrica and is the first female president of the organisation. Prior to this role, she has worked as a human rights lawyer ...

, Executive Director of TransAfrica. * Henry J. Nowak – U.S. Representative (1975–1993) * John Lord O'Brian - United States Attorney for the Western District of New York (1909-1914), Special U.S. Assistant Attorney General, War Emergency Division (1917-1919), U.S. Assistant Attorney General,

Antitrust Division The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice that enforces U.S. antitrust law. It has exclusive jurisdiction over U.S. federal criminal antitrust prosecutions. It also has jurisdic ...

(1929-1933), General Counsel of the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the S ...

(1941-1944) *

Denise O'Donnell Denise O'Donnell is an attorney who served as director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, as New York State commissioner of criminal justice services, and assistant secretary to the Governor for Criminal Justice in the Cabinet (government), C ...

– Former United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, New York State Attorney General Candidate, and Senior Adviser to New York Governor David Paterson and

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was born in New York City, attended Pr ...

. *

Eugene F. Pigott Jr. Eugene F. Pigott Jr. (born September 1946) is an American jurist who served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 2006 until 2016. He was appointed by Republican List of Governors of New York, Governor George Pataki, and his ...

- associate judge, New York Court of Appeals (2006-2016) *

William J. Hochul Jr. William J. Hochul Jr. (born April 1, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as United States attorney for the Western District of New York from 2010 to 2016. Hochul has been the first gentleman of New York since August 2021, when his wife, Kat ...

(1984) – United States Attorney for the Western District of New York (2010–2016) *

Jack Quinn III John Francis "Jack" Quinn III is a former Republican New York State Assembly Member, representing Erie County.New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

Member (2004–2010) *

Hugh B. Scott Hugh B. Scott (1949 – February 19, 2021) was a magistrate judge of United States District Court for the Western District of New York. He was appointed on June 1, 1995, and he retired on July 1, 2015. Scott was the first African American to be ...

– Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of New York; first African-American federal prosecutor *

Virginia A. Seitz Virginia Anne Seitz (born August 1, 1956) is an American attorney who specializes in constitutional law, labor law, employment law and administrative law. She served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counse ...

– prominent attorney, former law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan Jr., U.S. Supreme Court *

Michael A. Telesca Michael Anthony Telesca (November 25, 1929 – March 5, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York from 1982 to 2020 and its Chief Judge from 1989 to 1995. Education and ca ...

– United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of New York * Dennis Vacco – New York State Attorney General (1994–1998) *

Dale Volker Dale M. Volker (born August 2, 1940) is a former New York State Senator who represented the 59th district, which then covered Wyoming County, as well as portions of Erie, Livingston and Ontario counties. Volker is a Republican. Biography D ...

– New York State Senator * Raymond Walter – New York State Assemblyman *

Jeffrey White Jeffrey Steven White (born September 2, 1945) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Early life, education, and career Born in New York City, New York, White receiv ...

– Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California *Joseph S. Forma – Judge, New York Supreme Court

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:SUNY Buffalo Law School Buffalo

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Educational institutions established in 1887 1887 establishments in New York (state)