ACADEMIC CONCENTRATIONS

Several academic concentrations enhance the curriculum at Suffolk University Law School offering law students an opportunity to obtain advanced training in a substantive field. The Law School currently offers concentrations in Civil Litigation, Financial Services, Health and Biomedical Law, Intellectual Property Law and International Law. The Law School was one of the first schools in the country to develop academic concentrations and it continues to be innovative in its commitment to inclusion of the concentrations in its legal education program. Suffolk's academic concentrations were created and approved by the faculty to complement and build upon the Law School's broad and basic legal curriculum. Students enrolled in the concentrations sharpen their legal reasoning skills by pursuing a cumulative program of specialized courses. The concentrations provide students planning to enter a particular area of the law with the opportunity to focus their academic preparation and potentially enhance their legal careers.

All concentrations at Suffolk have an open admissions policy. Any interested students are welcome and encouraged to enroll.  Students who wish to enroll in a concentration should file an Academic Concentration Notice of Enrollment form with the Registrar.  While students typically enroll in the concentrations after the completion of their first year of law school, any student in good standing may enroll in a concentration at any time prior to graduation. It is possible to switch concentrations, but students may only enroll in one concentration at a time. Once enrolled, students are informed of events and opportunities of interest to their particular concentration, and are urged to avail themselves of the opportunity to review their progress in meeting their concentration's graduation requirements.

Students should be aware that there is no downside to enrolling in a concentration. Participation in a concentration is only noted on a student's Law School transcript if the student is able to satisfy the concentration's requirements by the time of graduation. No adverse notation is made on a graduating student's Law School transcript if the student opts not to complete the concentration or does not meet the concentration's requirements.

Each concentration at Suffolk has its own number of required academic courses and credits for successful completion. Some concentrations also require completion of an internship, clinical program or practicum course as part of the concentration program. The individual requirements of each concentration are noted in detail on their web sites, which are easily accessed above.

Successful completion of all concentration programs requires that a student attain a 3.25 cumulative grade point average in concentration courses, and a minimum 3.0 grade point average for the entire J.D. program. Students must also receive a grade of 2.0 or better in each concentration course for successful completion of the concentration.

Students who opt to concentrate must demonstrate legal writing competency in their area of concentration. Concentrators may either choose to write a Thesis on a concentration-related topic, under the supervision of a full-time faculty member, or to satisfy the Law School's legal writing requirement in connection with an approved concentration course. Those students who opt to write a Thesis should file an Academic Concentration Thesis Registration form with the Registrar once they have determined their topic and faculty advisor.  Concentration students who opt to fulfill their Concentration's legal writing requirement in an approved Concentration course must file a Academic Concentration Writing Requirement Form with the Registrar's Office. 

Once a concentrator has met all applicable requirements for his/her concentration the student should file a Notice of Concentration Completion form with the Registrar's office. This form lists all applicable concentration courses, credits and grades, and indicates how the student satisfied the legal writing requirement.

All students who successfully complete a concentration will receive a Concentration Certificate at graduation, in addition to their Law School diploma. Completion of the concentration will also be noted on the student's Law School transcript.

Concentrators who either complete a Thesis or who attain a 3.50 cumulative grade point average in their concentration courses will receive a Concentration Certificate with Distinction at graduation. Receipt of the Concentration Certificate with distinction will also be noted on the student's Law School transcript.