Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University

We designed our 2-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers for highly qualified international applicants interested in obtaining a U.S. Juris Doctor and having the ability to take the New York State Bar exam.

Students in the 2-Year Program are admitted with advanced standing, receiving up to one year of elective credit for already earning a foreign law degree. Students have the opportunity to participate in:

Applying to the 2-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers is similar to applying to our traditional J.D. Program as an international student, except that Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is not required.... [-]

We designed our 2-Year Accelerated J.D. Program for seasoned professionals and highly qualified applicants seeking to enter the legal profession in less time than the traditional 3-year J.D. model.

Students in the 2-Year Program take classes year-round in four sessions (summer, fall, winter, spring) while having the opportunity to participate in:

Applying to the 2-Year Accelerated J.D. Program is similar to applying to our traditional J.D. Program.

No application will be considered complete for submission to the Admissions Committee until the following materials have been received and processed:... [-]

The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University prepares passionate students to have an impact in the legal community and beyond.

Since 1970, Hofstra Law has provided an education rich in both the theory and skills needed to produce outstanding lawyers, business executives, and community leaders.

Located on the 240-acre campus of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, Hofstra Law is 20 miles outside New York City in suburban Long Island. Few, if any, law schools can match the combination of our green campus and easy access to New York City, the hub of the nation's legal profession.

Hofstra Law is widely recognized as a pioneer in fully integrating clinical education into a traditional law school curriculum. By the late 1970s, the school had one of the largest clinical programs in the nation. Over the years, our clinics have become well known in legal circles in the metropolitan area. As students represent individuals facing real legal challenges, they gain valuable hands-on experience: they advocate in court, counsel clients, conduct fact investigations, and mediate disputes.... [-]

Students enrolled in the ADR Concentration will receive instruction and training intended to expand their understanding of the role of the lawyer outside of the traditional adversarial litigation setting and expose them to lawyering skills essential to current legal practice.

Professor Baruch Bush will serve as the faculty concentration advisor for this Concentration. Concentration faculty advisors may modify the Concentration requirements in exceptional circumstances upon notice to the Dean.

Guidance from a students concentration faculty advisor is an important element of successful completion of the Concentration. A concentration faculty advisor must approve a students enrollment in the Concentration. Students should meet with their advisor as soon as they find themselves interested in the Concentration, but in no event later than the course selection deadline for their fourth semester of study (or fifth semester of study for part-time students). An advisor may permit a student to enroll in the Concentration at a later date, but only after determining that the student can realistically meet the requirements of the Concentration prior to graduation.... [-]

Students enrolled in the Business Law Honors Concentration will receive instruction and training in those subject areas fundamental to the practice of transactional attorneys and/or corporate litigators, in addition to instruction in specialized, related subject areas of their choosing.

Professors Miriam Albert, J. Scott Colesanti and Ronald J. Colombo serve as faculty concentration advisors for this Concentration. Concentration faculty advisors may modify the Concentration requirements in exceptional circumstances upon notice to the Dean.

Guidance from a student’s concentration faculty advisor is an important element of successful completion of the Concentration. A concentration faculty advisor must approve a student’s enrollment in the Concentration. Students should meet with their advisor as soon as they find themselves interested in the Concentration, but in no event later than the course selection deadline for their fourth semester of study (or fifth semester of study for part-time students). An advisor may permit a student to enroll in the Concentration at a later date, but only after determining that the student can realistically meet the requirements of the Concentration prior to graduation.... [-]

Students enrolled in the Corporate Compliance Concentration will receive instruction and training to prepare them for practices that focus on or involve compliance work. Although the Concentration focuses on financial industry compliance, it encompasses other areas of compliance that are commonly encountered by corporate lawyers/lawyers representing corporate clients.

Professors Juliana Campagna, J. Scott Colesanti, and Ronald J. Colombo serve as faculty concentration advisors for this Concentration.

Guidance from a student’s concentration faculty advisor is an important element of successful completion of the Concentration. A concentration faculty advisor must approve a student’s enrollment in the Concentration. Students should meet with their advisor as soon as they find themselves interested in the Concentration, but in no event later than the course selection deadline for their fourth semester of study (or fifth semester of study for part-time students). An advisor may permit a student to enroll in the Concentration at a later date, but only after determining that the student can realistically meet the requirements of the Concentration prior to graduation.... [-]

Students enrolled in the Criminal Law and Procedure Concentration will receive instruction and training in those subjects and skills that are fundamental to the real-world practice of criminal law.

Professors Barbara S. Barron, Alafair S. Burke, Robin Charlow, Lawrence W. Kessler, and Fred Klein will serve as faculty concentration advisors for this Concentration. Concentration faculty advisors may modify the Concentration requirements in exceptional circumstances upon notice to the Dean.

Guidance from a student’s concentration faculty advisor is an important element of successful completion of the Concentration. A concentration faculty advisor must approve a student’s enrollment in the Concentration. Students should meet with their advisor as soon as they find themselves interested in the Concentration, but in no event later than the course selection deadline for their fourth semester of study (or fifth semester of study for part-time students). An advisor may permit a student to enroll in the Concentration at a later date, but only after determining that the student can realistically meet the requirements of the Concentration prior to graduation.... [-]

In a world facing heightened environmental and economic challenges, energy and environmental law have taken on a renewed importance. Students enrolled in the Energy and Environmental Law Concentration (the Concentration) will receive instruction and training in subject areas fundamental to the practice of energy and environmental law and in specialized courses related to their individualized career goals. The Concentration provides a robust framework to guide students seeking to acquire the substantive legal knowledge, skills, work experiences, and professional contacts important for embarking on a career in the energy and/or environmental field(s).

Students enrolled in the Family Law Concentration will receive instruction and training in those subject areas fundamental to family law practice, in addition to instruction in specialized, related subject areas of their choosing. The Concentration will take advantage of the law school’s robust family law curriculum, provide students interested in family law with a chance to receive intensive guidance on their course of study, and formally recognize students who decide to pursue specialized knowledge and skills in the field of family law.

Professors Barbara S. Barron, Barbara Stark, J. Herbie DiFonzo, and Theo Liebmann will serve as Faculty Concentration Advisors for this concentration. Students must meet with their concentration faculty advisor prior to applying to the concentration in order to discuss their suitability for the concentration.... [-]

Health Law is now a complicated, heterogeneous domain of law. Practicing Health Law may call for special skills in corporate law, bioethics, family law, Internet and technology law, and tort law, as well as in other areas of law.

The Health Law concentration program thus recognizes that to prepare students for the careers in Health Law, they must have significant flexibility to design programs of study that allow them to take advantage of the Law School's broad curriculum while offering the opportunity for greater specialization.

Accordingly, students may select between a general Concentration in Health Law and more specialized programs of study in Health Law and Bioethics and Health Law: Institutional Structures and Financing.... [-]

Students enrolled in the Intellectual Property Law Honors Concentration will receive instruction and training in those subject areas fundamental to the practice of intellectual property attorneys, in addition to instruction in specialized, related subject areas of their choosing.

Professors Akilah N. Folami, Leon Friedman, and Irina D. Manta serve as faculty concentration advisors for this Concentration. Concentration faculty advisors may modify the Concentration requirements in exceptional circumstances upon notice to the Dean.

Guidance from a student’s concentration faculty advisor is an important element of successful completion of the Concentration. A Concentration faculty advisor must approve a student’s enrollment in the Concentration. Students should meet with their advisor as soon as they find themselves interested in the Concentration, but in no event later than the course selection deadline for their fourth semester of study (or fifth semester of study for part-time students). An advisor may permit a student to enroll in the Concentration at a later date, but only after determining that the student can realistically meet the requirements of the Concentration prior to graduation.... [-]

In an increasingly globalized world, the study of international law subjects is increasingly vital to legal education and practice. The faculty has already recognized this reality by requiring Transnational Law in the first year. Students enrolled in the International Law Honors Concentration (the Concentration) will receive additional instruction and training in subject areas fundamental to the development of a transnational legal practice and in specialized courses related to their individualized career goals.

The Concentration provides a robust framework to guide students seeking to acquire the substantive legal knowledge, skills, work experiences, and professional contacts important for embarking on legal practice informed by international law subjects.... [-]

The J.D./M.B.A. program is a joint degree program of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and the Hofstra University Frank G. Zarb School of Business. The program is typically completed in four years, although students can complete the program in less time by taking summer session and/or winter intersession courses and by seeking credit for certain business courses taken as an undergraduate.

The J.D./M.B.A. program provides students with:

The American Legal Studies program should appeal to foreign law graduates who are encouraged to obtain legal training in U.S. law and practice in order to compete more effectively with U.S. law firms operating in foreign countries.

The program helps to qualify a candidate for eligibility to sit for the New York State Bar Examination and to be admitted to practice law in New York. Foreign law graduates who seek U.S. law training in order to make themselves more attractive to U.S. law firms and corporations will also benefit from this degree program. The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University has a package of courses in American Litigation and Advocacy that are of particular interest to foreign law graduates who want comprehensive exposure to American approaches to litigation theory and techniques in a variety of lecture, simulation, and practice settings. Hofstra Law is the Northeast region's base for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and the Hofstra faculty has extensive expertise in American litigation and advocacy.... [-]

Law and policy directly impact the multitrillion-dollar health care industry and the people it serves. Learn how to deliver expert legal counsel to clients confronting complex matters – from the Affordable Care Act and Medicare to insurance battles and biotechnology. If you’re planning to specialize your legal practice, no other area of law offers more opportunity. Graduate from our online LL.M. program in about 18 months. Command. Communicate. Innovate. Define the future of health law and policy.

The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University established the LL.M. Program in Family Law in response to contemporary family law practice's increased demand for specialization and need for an interdisciplinary focus for resolving family issues. The only program of its kind in the eastern United States, and one of only three programs in the country, Hofstra Law's LL.M. Program in Family Law furthers Hofstra Law's commitment to developing skilled and compassionate family lawyers who have a thorough grounding in the issues central to the field - divorce, family violence, child custody, abuse, neglect, and support - as well as knowledge in related areas such as tax, contracts, real estate and partnership law, child psychology and treatment options.... [-]