Brooklyn Law creates first two-year J.D. program

First in the NYC Metro area

May 8, 2013 From Brooklyn Law School

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The board of trustees of Brooklyn Law School (“BLS”) on Tuesday night approved an accelerated two-year J.D. program beginning in summer 2014.

With the creation of the program, BLS will be able to offer a range of flexible 2-, 2.5-, 3-, 3.5-or 4-year options—called “Brooklyn 2-3-4”—to adapt to prospective students’ needs. Brooklyn Law School is the first in the New York metropolitan area to enable students to earn a J.D. in two years.

The new two-year offering is designed for select students seeking a rigorous legal education in an abbreviated timeframe. Candidates interested in this type of program might be, for example: 1) mid-life or mid-career professionals, including CPAs, MBA graduates, or those from academia desiring legal credentials and a new start; 2) foreign-trained lawyers with strong English-language proficiency;
3) individuals with established career plans following law school; or, 4) adults who seek to re-enter the workforce.

Highly qualified students with a demonstrated ability to handle a challenging workload will also be encouraged to apply for this opportunity. The accelerated J.D. involves the same amount of work as the current part-time or full-time program, but in 24 months.

“We have listened to and carefully considered the concerns about the legal education system,” said Dean Nick Allard. “The Brooklyn 2-3-4 program is one of several sound and deliberate new measures underway at BLS to make certain that law school education is meaningful and serves our students well.”

“Our institution has always been an agent of change,” said Stuart Subotnick, chair of the Brooklyn Law School Board of Trustees. “We were among the first in the nation to welcome women and minorities, our clinical education program began long before other law schools saw the value in experiential learning, and our Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program initiated public interest opportunities more than 25 years ago, before it was fashionable to do so.”

The decision follows a careful, yearlong planning and review process about how best to address the changing legal education landscape. In Dean Allard’s first meeting with the BLS Board, he was charged with finding ways to provide a first-rate education that better met the needs of students, including determining whether a two-year alternative was feasible, desirable and advisable.

A task force of faculty and deans was immediately established, including Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid Henry W. Haverstick III, a leader at BLS for 40 years. Following the plan’s consideration and approval by the Faculty Curriculum Committee, the full faculty voted unanimously in April to approve an accelerated J.D. program.

The board’s subsequent and unanimous approval allows the two-year program to begin in summer 2014, and students who enroll in the existing full-time or part-time programs in the fall of 2013 will be able to take advantage of the Law School’s flexible options after completing their first year.