Two White Street
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.228.9217; Fax: 603.229.0425
E-mail: admissions@law.unh.edu; Website: www.law.unh.edu
The University of New Hampshire School of Law is known throughout the world as an innovative leader in legal education, providing its students with the skills to lead and serve, and to meet the emerging needs of a global society. UNH Law emphasizes individually tailored legal programs and a broad range of learning settings, including lectures and seminars, real-client clinics, independent study, and externships in law firms, courts, and private and public agencies. In addition, we promote a community spirit of caring and compassion, with a close working relationship between students and faculty. Self-reliant students who know their own strengths and objectives thrive at UNH Law and find the focus on personal pride and responsibility more motivating than fear or competition.
UNH Law, formerly known as Franklin Pierce Law Center, is one of the smallest law schools in the United States. This intimate, hands-on education is complemented by its affiliation with the University of New Hampshire, which provides the resources of a major research university. Each entering class numbers approximately 140 students, allowing for a 14:1 student-to-teacher ratio. Classes are small, especially after the first year; the majority of courses enroll 35 or fewer students.
Located in New Hampshire's capital city of Concord (45,000 population), UNH Law is ideally situated one hour from Boston, the Atlantic seacoast, the state's Lakes Region, and the White Mountains. Our excellent facilities, enhanced by the recent opening of the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property, are a short walk from the center of New Hampshire's state government.
The Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program is a comprehensive, practice-based program focused on making law students client-ready. Admission to the program is competitive; application is made at the end of the 1L year. Second- and third-year students complete a range of courses, demonstrate their developing professional skills and judgment, and compile a portfolio of work. Students who successfully complete the program will be certified as having passed the New Hampshire Bar examination, subject to passing character and fitness requirements.
The UNH Law Externship Program exchanges a full-credit semester in the classroom for a real-life experience working in an active legal position. Externs work with experienced attorneys and judges while under the close supervision of a faculty member.
UNH Law offers three joint-degree programs: JD/Master of Laws (LLM) in Intellectual Property, JD/LLM in Commerce and Technology, and JD/LLM in International Criminal Law and Justice. Summer programs enable students to earn additional credits needed to complete joint-degree programs in three years. The three LLM degrees are designed for law graduates who wish to examine the legally sophisticated intellectual property issues that often arise in policy making and teaching.
Through the affiliation with the University of New Hampshire, UNH Law offers a dual JD/MBA degree. By spending their second year at UNH's Whittemore School of Business and Economics, students are able to earn both degrees in 3.5 years.
Students prepare notes and comments for IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review and for the UNH Law Review. Students organize and participate in a wide variety of formal organizations and informal activities and events throughout the year, including two dozen officially recognized student groups.
The Career Services Office works with students and alumni to find the best match to meet their skills and interests in changing legal markets. The office provides extensive individual counseling and guidance; brings attorneys to campus to provide firsthand information about the practice of law; advises students of all resources through weekly publications and job boards; coordinates the efforts of faculty, staff, and student groups to provide information about opportunities to gain experience; and conducts outreach to employers. More than 70 percent of our graduates secure positions outside New Hampshire.
UNH Law's faculty is the key to our pioneering, practice-ready legal education. Coming from a wide variety of backgrounds, including as patent attorneys, civil liberties lawyers, federal law clerks, and corporate attorneys, they enliven the classroom with their firsthand knowledge of what lawyers need to know, and what employers are looking for. The UNH Law faculty is known for producing scholarship that addresses real-world issues, from legal ethics to intellectual property valuation.
As a pioneer in practice-ready legal education, UNH Law has always offered a wide range of clinical opportunities for students:
While LSAT scores and grade-point average are factors that must be considered in the decision-making process, neither alone determines admission. Every application receives a thorough and thoughtful review. The candidate's personal statement, letters of recommendation, and résumé are evaluated along with the numbers. Community service, employment during college, and other nonacademic accomplishments are given weight to the extent that they reflect initiative, social responsibility, focus, and maturity.
The University of New Hampshire School of Law seeks to admit students who will make a contribution to the law school community, to the legal profession, and to society. Admission is based on a whole-person review of each application, including academic ability and aptitude, demonstration of academic success, relevant experience that addresses the school's mission or areas of excellence, leadership, diversity, moral character, community service, and other qualitative personal attributes. UNH Law values diverse opinions, backgrounds, and perspectives; this enrichment within the classroom and community is core to the educational experience.