Western New England College School of Law

Western New England College School of Law is a private, American Bar Association-accredited law school in Springfield, Massachusetts, the only ABA-accredited law school in Massachusetts outside the greater Boston area. It is one of the four schools of Western New England College.

The law school offers both full- and part-time programs. The full-time program is divided into three sections during the first year, with approximately 50 students in each section; the part-time evening program consists of a single section with approximately 40 students.

History

Western New England College was established in 1919 as a branch of Northeastern University. It began offering evening law classes to residents of western Massachusetts. In 1923 the first seven law graduates were recognized. In 1951, Western New England College incorporated as its own institution. The full-time law program began in 1973.The law school is accredited by the American Bar Association meaning graduates can sit for the bar in all 50 states.

Curriculum

The school offers two law programs, a JD and an LLM. Three joint-degree programs are also available: JD/MBA with the School of Business; JD/MSW with Springfield College; and a JD/MRP with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Western New England College School of Law also offers two Bachelor/JD programs to the college's undergraduate students. The 3+3 Law Program allows students in most majors to complete a Bachelor's program and a JD in six years. The six-year Biomedical Engineering/Law program provides students with the opportunity to earn an undergraduate biomedical engineering degree and a JD in six years. The Six-year Biomedical Engineering/Law program began accepting undergraduate students in the fall of 2007. [http://www1.law.wnec.edu/prospective/index.cfm?selection=doc.228]

LL.M. Program in Estate Planning and Elder Law

The LL.M. Program in Estate Planning and Elder Law is a part-time program designed to accommodate attorneys who wish to obtain the LL.M. This is the only such program in the Northeast and one of only a few in the nation. [http://www1.law.wnec.edu/llm/]

Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship

The Western New England College Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship was established to offer graduate business and law students an opportunity to provide practical consultation to entrepreneurs starting new and building existing small businesses.

The Small Business Clinic, one of five clinics associated with the School of Law, is the cornerstone program of the Center. The Clinic pairs students from the Schools of Law and Business to offer legal and business consultation to small businesses in the area. Areas of expertise include legal advice in corporate and commercial law as well as business advice on marketing, human resources, and competitive analysis. [http://www1.law.wnec.edu/lawandbusiness/]

Moot Court Teams

Western New England College School of Law has also been very competitive in National Moot Court competitions. Western New England College School of Law currently sponsors the following national and international moot court competitions:
* ABA Negotiations Moot Court Team
* American Association for Justice Moot Court Team
* First Amendment Moot Court Team
* Fredrick Douglas Moot Court Team
* Jessup International Law Moot Court Team
* National Moot Court Team
* National Trial Team
* Products Liability Moot Court Team
* ABA Law Student Tax Challenge Team [2008 Western New England College School of Law Bulletin]

Western New England College School of Law has won four national championships since 2001.

* First place, ABA Law Student Tax Challenge, 2008
* Best Oralist, First Amendment Moot Court Competition, 2005
* First place, National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, 2004
* First place, ABA Negotiations Moot Court Competition, 2001 [2008 Western New England College School of Law Experiential Learning brochure]

"Western New England Law Review"

The "Western New England Law Review" is published semi-annually. The editorial board consists of members of the School of Law who rank at or near the top 10 percent of their first year class. The "Law Review" also permits a certain number of "write-on" candidates who are put onto the law review based on the recommendation of their Legal Research and Writing professor (LRW) after the end of their first year.

. Prestley Blake Law Center

History

In the early 1970s, the Western New England College Board of Trustees set up the Law School Study Committee to investigate the viability of a full time day program for the School of Law. This program opened in the fall of 1973. Since no proper facility was available on the Western New England College campus the School of Law was housed at the former Our Lady of Lourdes School on Tinkham Road in Springfield. Students referred to this building as "Our Lady of the Law School."

In May 1974, a Building Committee was formed. Blueprints were drawn up in the spring of 1976 and groundbreaking on the facility began on May 2, 1977. The Law Center was opened on August 19, 1978, at a cost of $3.4 million. The building is named after S. Prestley Blake, President and Cofounder of Friendly's Ice Cream after he made a gift of $250,000 to the project. [http://assets.wnec.edu/23/Perspectives-FALL04.pdf]

Law Center Expansion

On September 19, 2006, Western New England College announced a $20 million fundraising campaign titled "Transformations: The Campaign for Western New England College". The S. Prestley Blake Law Center was one of the major projects funded through this campaign as a $5.5 million expansion and renovation was added to the building. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on June 5, 2007. The expanded Law Center includes a new 10,500-square-foot wing and entrance that provides a gateway to the rest of the campus. The entrance, with its soaring marble pillars, leads to a two-story lobby that serves as a primary gathering space for students and the hosting of Law Center events. The Law Library was restructured and the School will experiment with a new policy of allowing students and patrons to take books from the Law Library to nay part of the Law Center. Western New England College School of Law is one of only a few schools in the country to try this cutting edge approach to access. Materials must still be checked out to leave the building, with sensors at the exits to the building monitoring the library's collection. The project also saw the reconfiguration of several classrooms, creating smaller, more intimate learning environments. While many law schools feature classes of 80, 90, or even 120 students, Western New England College School of Law has grouped first-year students into sections of 50 students. In addition, the College also dedicated the J. Gerard Pellegrini Moot Court Room in honor of the 1957 graduate of the School of Law and longtime adjunct professor. Pellegrini, an accomplished trial lawyer, is a former president of the Hampden County Bar Association and founded the Springfield-based firm of Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley, P.C.

Funds from an $800,000 Challenge Grant from The Kresge Foundation were used for this expansion. [http://www1.wnec.edu/assets/cfm/dci_popup.cfm?id=10307&site=undefined&type=news]

The new main lobby and administration offices in the expansion opened in February 2008. [http://www1.wnec.edu/assets/cfm/dci_popup.cfm?id=10315&site=undefined&type=news]

A ribbon cutting ceremony for the expansion took place on September 16 2008. [http://www1.wnec.edu/assets/cfm/dci_popup.cfm?id=11389&site=undefined&type=news]

Notable alumni

* Stephen Buoniconti '95 - member of the Massachusetts Senate (served 2005 - present) and former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (served 2001 - 2004).
* Lawrence F. Cafero '81 - member of Connecticut House of Representatives and Republican House Leader.
* Gale D. Candaras '82 - member of the Massachusetts Senate (served 2007 - present) and former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (served 1996 - 2006).
* Michael A. Christ '02 - Deputy Majority Leader of Connecticut House of Representatives.
* Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera '95, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (served 1998 - present).
* John Kissel '84 - member of the Connecticut State Senate.
* Michael Mori '94 - U.S. Marine Corps lawyer.
* Tim Murray '94 - current Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and former Mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts.
* Larry O'Brien '42 - Former National Basketball Association Commissioner and former U.S. Postmaster General.
* Angelo Puppolo '01 - member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (served 2007 - present) and former City Councilor in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts.
* John E. Sweeney '91 - Former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from upstate New York and noted conservative legislator.

External links

* [http://www1.law.wnec.edu/ Western New England College School of Law]
* [http://www1.law.wnec.edu/prospective/index.cfm?selection=doc.301 Western New England College School of Law Admissions]
* [http://www.princetonreview.com/law/research/profiles/generalinfo.asp?listing=1035923&LTID=5 Princeton Review]
* [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/directory/dir-law/brief/glanc_03078_brief.php U.S. News and World Report]

ee also

*Western New England College