Albany Law School

Welcome to Albany Law. We are a forward-thinking, innovative and student-centered school with a 167 year tradition of excellence preparing students to be great lawyers and leaders. As a graduate of the law school, a long-time faculty member.

Located in the heart of the powerful capital of New York state, we are the only school within 90 miles of a vast laboratory for studying law. We offer every student multiple opportunities for hands-on learning.The Legislature, health care agencies, state and federal courts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, public interest organizations, state agencies of all types, criminal prosecution and defense offices, and a vibrant private sector provide internships, summer positions and full-time employment.

With 10,000 working alumni practicing in nearly every state in the country, our network is strong and committed to helping you launch and advance your career.Current students and graduates will tell you that Albany Law School is a true community. We are a faculty and staff dedicated to student success. Our professors are more than extraordinary classroom teachers: they will advise you, mentor you, and work to connect you with their professional networks.

We are here to support you and ensure a rich experience. You will have the opportunity to choose an alumni mentor, join a peer affiliation group, play a sport, engage in pro-bono projects, and become a part of one of our award winning centers of excellence.

Preparing for your legal career starts on day one at Albany Law School. You will participate in career education programs, resume writing workshops, mock interviews, on-campus interview programs, job fairs, and more. We will expose you to career pathways available with your law degree, and help you chart your course. decades.

Albany Law School is a small, intimate environment. Students who visit the campus for the first time often feel this immediately. The close-knit quality makes it easy for students to connect with and support each other.

There are countless opportunities to connect with dozens of groups.Students get involved in one or several student organizations on campus. While several groups are designed to give students a hard-earned break from the intensity of their academics, many groups are focused on law—like the Black Law Students Association or the Animal Rights Movement.These organizations host events throughout the year, such as guest speakers, conferences, symposia and informal sessions on a range of legal topics. These groups can change from year to year and students often create new groups based on their own interests.

There are countless opportunities to connect with dozens of groups. Students get involved in one or several student organizations on campus. While several groups are designed to give students a hard-earned break from the intensity of their academics, many groups are focused on law. These organizations host events throughout the year, such as guest speakers, conferences, symposia and informal sessions on a range of legal topics. These groups can change from year to year and students often create new groups based on their own interests.

Albany Law School welcomes students from a wide variety of backgrounds into its rich intellectual community. To meet the needs of all students, the law school offer special services for nontraditional students, students with disabilities, veterans, multicultural students and students of all faiths.Albany Law School's students can range in age from 20 years to 60 years in any given year. The law school often has dozens of parents in law school full time, and they often find one another to form informal support groups.

Albany Law School is the nation's oldest independent school of law. Founded in 1851, Albany Law has played an important role in the development of legal education in the United States. In mid-19th century America, the standard preparation for the bar was a legal clerkship. The school's founders—Amos Dean, Ira Harris and Amasa Parker, all successful lawyers active in public affairs—felt that this approach fell short in preparing new lawyers. The trio set out to replace it with a structured educational program that encompassed both thorough knowledge of the principles of law, and experience in applying them. Their philosophy of legal education caught hold and Albany Law School flourished. This combination of theory and practice continues to be a hallmark of an Albany Law education today.

In 1875, Albany Law published the nation's first student-edited law review, the Albany Law School Journal. An innovative lecture series on legal ethics began just after the turn of the century.Throughout the 20th century, Albany Law School expanded and diversified the faculty, curriculum and student body. It added important programs such as theAlbany Law School Clinic & Justice Center, in which students and faculty provide legal support for low-income citizens, and the Government Law Center, a highly respected resource for law- and policymakers in Albany and elsewhere around the country. Most recently it added a Center for Excellence in Law Teaching.

These additions were among many steps the school took to ensure that the curriculum and related experiences offered the best of a modern legal education.