University at Buffalo School of Law, The State University of New York
The information on this page was provided by the law school.
Official Guide to ABA-Approved JD Programs
New York State’s Public Law School
The University at Buffalo School of Law—the only law school in the State University of New York system—is situated on the flagship campus of a premier public university. Located in Buffalo, New York, just 20 minutes from Canada, the University at Buffalo is recognized as a top public research university and is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). University at Buffalo is known as one of the top large schools in the Northeast. Students choose from more than 150 undergraduate degree programs, over 85 combined degree programs and over 350 graduate programs—the widest range of any public institution in New York or New England. The University enrolls over 30,000 students each year, approximately one third at the graduate and professional levels including more than 410 law students.
UB School of Law is one of the oldest law schools in the state of New York, drawing on over 135 years of experience and innovation in legal education. Our curriculum is constantly evolving, recognizing the need to prepare students for the rapidly changing, global nature of legal practice. Each year, we graduate more than 130 lawyers who are ready to practice law in a diverse range of fields including corporate law, public service, criminal law, intellectual property, and cross-border practice.
UB School of Law has a long history of pro bono service and social justice initiatives. Our students view the world with compassion, knowing that regardless of where they ultimately choose to work, they have a moral responsibility, as lawyers and as leaders, to use their skills and knowledge to ensure justice and give back.
Library and Physical Facilities
UB School of Law is housed in John Lord O’Brian Hall, a seven-story building that includes a state-of-the-art courtroom, which provides students with an opportunity to watch judges and lawyers in action. The library is located at the core of the law school, occupying six of the seven floors, including law-student-only sections on the fifth and seventh floors.
Like the law school, the law library is committed to providing students with exceptional research and writing instructors. This enables first-year law students to gain one-on-one instruction in various research methods.
UB School of Law has also added state-of-the-art technology to enhance faculty teaching and student learning throughout O’Brian Hall. Recent renovations include the addition of dedicated conference space for student organizations, and a wellness room where students, faculty and staff can meditate, participate in a yoga class, or simply relax and recharge in a calm and quiet space.
The JD Program
JD Program
UB School of Law provides a flexible JD curriculum that affords students a broad range of curricular options, practical coursework, and special programs. Our curriculum emphasizes the study of law as well as the practical application of law to prepare our students to practice their profession upon graduation. We offer a large number of interdisciplinary courses in a variety of concentrations that include Criminal Law, Cross-Border Legal Studies, Intellectual Property and Privacy Law, International Law, Family Law, Sports Law, and Advocacy.
Instruction is offered in two semesters from late Augsut to May, including a January short term and a summer session from mid-May to mid-July. Six full-time semesters or five full-time semesters plus two summer sessions are required for graduation. Students who plan ahead are able to graduate a semester early.
Beyond the first year, students are required to complete 58 semester credit hours, including a select number of specifically required credits and courses. The upper-division program is otherwise elective.
Dual-Degree Programs
The University at Buffalo is the State University of New York’s largest and most comprehensive campus. The campus includes nationally recognized schools of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Engineering and Applied Sciences. Access to these and many other graduate and professional schools within the campus offers unparalleled access to dual-degree programs that permit students to earn credit toward a master’s or PhD degree jointly with the JD. In recent years, the most active dual-degree programs have been with the Schools of Management and Social Work.
Advanced-Standing Two-Year JD Program
The Advanced Standing Two-Year JD for Internationally Trained Lawyers allows professionals who already have a first degree in law from outside the United States to earn a JD in two years rather than three. It provides a more thorough immersion experience in US law and legal education than a traditional one-year LLM program. Highly qualified students who are proficient in English and who wish to sit for the New York State Bar exam are our ideal candidates.
Exceedingly important, New York law is practiced all over the world. New York City is a common venue for the lawful settlement of disputes, both in courts and through arbitration, from across the globe. As the State of New York’s law school—the only law school in the SUNY system—UB School of Law is uniquely positioned to offer experiences, both in and out of the classroom, that capitalize on the role New York law plays in global affairs.
Advanced Standing Two-Year JD students take the first-year curriculum and are part of the incoming JD class. In the second year, students take mostly electives in research, classroom instruction, and experiential learning with an opportunity to participate in our New York City Program in Business and Law.
LLM Programs
UB School of Law offers three LLM programs for students who already hold a first degree in law, including the General LLM, the Criminal Law LLM, and the Cross-Border Legal Studies LLM. These programs offer special courses designed to introduce international students to American law and to prepare them for the New York State Bar exam. All students benefit from our small-group, personalized approach that allows them to design their own curriculum.
The General LLM provides professionals with the flexibility to create a highly specialized course of study that draws on our excellence in research, classroom instruction, and experiential learning. LLM students have access to nearly all of the courses offered at the law school and can spend their time focusing primarily on the wide range of subjects offered each semester (including those students who need an LLM to become eligible to sit for the New York Bar Exam). Students can also engage in research, working closely with a member of our faculty on a master’s thesis or an independent study. And they can take advantage of the many opportunities to learn law and the legal profession through our pioneering clinical programs, externships, and judicial clerkships. Admitted students receive one-on-one academic advisement in the selection of their courses to help them navigate through our substantial range of course offerings and practical learning opportunities.
The Criminal Law LLM builds on the University at Buffalo School of Law’s strength in the interdisciplinary study of criminal law and the work of the Buffalo Criminal Law Center. Our Criminal Law LLM was the first of its kind in the United States and continues to be one of the only such programs. This program has attracted lawyers and professors from all over the world who intend to teach, do policy work, or serve as prosecutors or judges in their home jurisdictions.
Our innovative Cross-Border Legal Studies LLM Program recognizes the increasingly global nature of legal practice and the need for skilled attorneys to guide clients through cross-border interactions. Located just 20 minutes from Canada, the US’s largest trading partner, the School of Law is uniquely situated to provide students with exposure to cross-border legal issues both inside and outside the classroom. A strong network of alumni based in Buffalo, New York and Ontario, Canada engage in a wide range of cross-border legal practice including trade, tax, immigration, real estate, and corporate and transactional work. These practitioners serve as community partners in the program and informal mentors to LLM students throughout the course of their studies. In addition, each student is assigned an academic advisor to provide one-on-one guidance throughout the program.
JSD Program
The Doctor of Juridical Science is the law school’s most advanced degree. It makes full use of our creative and interdisciplinary faculty to prepare students for careers as law professors, in judicial and other public offices, or as high-level policymakers in international organizations.
Our program trains legal scholars to employ interdisciplinary tools to observe, analyze and assess legal doctrines, policies and institutions. It is designed to enable students to:
- explore law in its social context and from a comparative perspective in an American setting;
- understand different schools of legal theory and bring them into dialogue with their previous legal training;
- apply such theoretical approaches to the analysis of legal problems and institutions;
- understand and critically assess the full range of research methods used in legal scholarship; and
- identify and master those methods most appropriate to their proposed project.
The JSD draws on the strengths of our research centers and our welcoming and interdisciplinary faculty. Students are encouraged to address legal issues and institutions theoretically and comparatively, topically and from an interdisciplinary policy perspective. The program inculcates the research skills most relevant to each student's research agenda and culminates in the preparation of a substantial work of original legal scholarship.
Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research (LAWR) Program
UB School of Law’s Experiential Learning Program is one of the cornerstones of the school’s curriculum. We have been recognized as one of the top law schools in the nation for practical training given our focus on developing and producing practice-ready lawyers able to meet the challenges of the legal profession.
Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research (LAWR) Program: It starts with our Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research (LAWR) program. We understand that strong skills in analysis, writing, and research are essential to your future success as a lawyer. All JD students complete a 7-credit, two-semester LAWR curriculum. Upper-division students are required to take a third semester advanced writing course.
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.
Our Advocacy Institute
Another integral component of the Experiential Learning Program is our Advocacy Institute, which gives law students the opportunity to develop and practice their advocacy skills through the guidance of distinguished members of the bench and bar.
The Institute serves as host to programs in Trial Advocacy, Appellate Advocacy, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Students may earn a Certificate of Concentration in Advocacy or may compete in national and global advocacy competitions The School of Law runs three national moot court competitions—the Buffalo Niagara Mock Trial Competition, one of the largest in the nation; the Herbert J. Wechsler National Criminal Moot Court Competition; and the Albert R. Mugel National Tax Moot Court Competition—as well as the intramural Charles S. Desmond Moot Court Competition. Students also compete in Alternative Dispute Resolution competitions, in the increasingly important areas of mediation and arbitration, as well as on teams that compete in national mediation competitions, and in an annual in-house mediation competition.
The law school’s Innocence and Justice Project provides second- and third-year students the opportunity to identify cases in which there is a strong evidence of miscarriage of justice and press the case for redress.
Clinical Legal Education Program
Our Clinical Legal Education program offers diverse and sophisticated practice opportunities to upper-class and LL.M. students working closely with skilled supervising attorneys. Students work on cutting-edge issues and complex matters in which creativity and innovation play key roles in serving clients effectively.
Skills training in the clinical program is coordinated with substantive law courses to give students a theoretical understanding of practical issues. Students serve clients and conduct research and fieldwork in areas such as access to justice, , civil rights and housing, criminal justice advocacy, environmental advocacy, entrepreneurship law, family violence and women’s rights, sports law, and mediation.
Practicums
Our Practicums provide service learning experiences for UB School of Law students. These four-credit courses are based on 120 hours of in-field work assisting and observing practicing attorneys. They also require weekly classroom work in conjunction with a full-time professor, exploring substantive law in depth and reflecting on the process of becoming an attorney.
Externships and Judicial Clerkships
Each semester over 50 UB School of Law students are placed in supervised externships and another 20 or more students are placed in judicial clerkships. Externships and judicial clerkships provide law students with unique legal and public service experience as they work in a variety of government and nonprofit organizations and earn academic credit for doing so. Our students help judges, attorneys, and legislators with pressing legal questions that arise in ongoing cases, in the development of public policy or legislation, and in response to citizen inquiries or problems. Students learn how to work with a client and address the client’s specific needs and goals, a skill that’s difficult to teach in a classroom.
New York City Program in Business and Law
Our New York City Program in Business and Law provides law students with an introduction to New York City’s financial markets and a gateway to its highly competitive financial-sector job market. The Program is built around immersive conversations with practitioners, guided by UB School of Law professors, that explore and explain leading-edge practices and employment possibilities. Students visit law firms, investment banks, corporate offices, and other institutions, and have the option to complete externships to sharpen their practical skills. Social events and mentorships provide students with opportunities to network with the professional community and advance their career building skills. Each year, approximately 15 students are selected to participate in this unique program, based in Manhattan. Accepted students can apply for early placement to the New York City Program.
Pro Bono Scholars Program
The School of Law’s Pro Bono Scholars Program gives third-year law students the opportunity to take the February New York State Bar before they graduate, then work full-time in a pro bono placement while taking one course for their final semester of law school. The course explores access to justice issues and lawyering skills and includes a short paper and presentation at a local conference. Pro Bono Scholars have served in a variety of placements throughout the Buffalo and Rochester area including Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc., the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer’s Project, the Center for Elder Law and Justice, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc., Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Legal Aid of Rochester and JustCause (Rochester).
Study Abroad
As the practice of law becomes increasingly globalized, our study abroad options provide students with the opportunity to pursue areas of legal study which will complement their Buffalo coursework; improve their understanding of a foreign legal system and cultural practices; and enhance their ability to work across cultures and borders in their future legal careers.
In addition, students gain valuable skills navigating their way around a new school, legal system and country, while building relationships and friendships that will endure long past law school. The law school offers study abroad opportunities in Australia, Scotland and Spain.
Student Life
Living and Learning in Buffalo
Located in Amherst, New York—a suburb of Buffalo—UB School of Law has a small-school feel with all the advantages of a large university, including access to other professional and graduate departments, Division I sports, a fine arts center, a concert hall, and numerous other academic, social, and cultural opportunities.
The greater Buffalo area offers a wide variety of social and cultural activities such as downhill skiing, water sports, professional sports, a world-class symphony orchestra, professional theaters, nightlife, and proximity to Toronto, all a short distance from the law school. Buffalo is known as the City of Good Neighbors, and as well as one of the most affordable cities in the United States. The second largest city in New York State, Buffalo’s recent economic boom has caught national attention, touting Buffalo as a great place to live.
A variety of housing opportunities are available when you’re attending the School of Law.
University-owned housing is located both on and off campus, and privately owned housing is available near UB as well as in the City of Buffalo.
Student Bar Association & Law Journals
At the law school, students experience a relaxed, friendly, and collaborative atmosphere and access to a broad range of extracurricular opportunities. The Student Bar Association, an elected representative body, oversees all law school student organizations which include affinity groups, special interest and social groups, moot court boards, and student-run law journals. The Buffalo Law Review, published since 1951, is the law school’s premier professional journal, edited by students. Other student journals as are include the Buffalo Environmental Law Journal, and the Buffalo Human Rights Law Review.
Career Placement and Bar Passage
Tuition and Aid
Buffalo is able to offer state-subsidized tuition to New York residents and a very affordable non-resident tuition rate:
- in-state tuition—$26,430 plus fees
- non-resident tuition—$32,100 plus fees
UB School of Law’s overall educational expenses are less than half the cost of many other law schools. Merit scholarships are available to students demonstrating high academic achievement, and state aid is offered on a need basis to qualified students. Additional alumni-sponsored scholarships are offered to second- and third-year students.
Admission Decisions: Beyond the Numbers
Our admission process is selective and based on both quantitative and qualitative criteria. In addition to your LSAT score and your undergraduate grade point average (GPA), the Admissions Committee considers other non-numerical factors in reaching decisions. These factors include:
- Achievement or activities that indicate a high level of probability of scholastic excellence and intellectual contributions while in law school;
- Achievements or activities emanating from work, life experience or community service that indicate a potential for contributing to the enrichment of the law school;
- Special factors in your academic background that may have affected your academic career, including discrimination based on race, creed, gender, disability or national origin, and economic or social impediments.
The School of Law is committed to a nondiscriminatory admission policy and philosophy. We welcome applications from all people without regard to race, age, gender, disability, religion, national origin, family status or sexual orientation.
Admitted Applicant Profile
