First-years at NYU Law get the best possible foundation in both legal theory and practice.
NYU Law’s renowned Lawyering Program, pioneered by University Professor Anthony Amsterdam, teaches real-world skills that every lawyer needs to practice effectively. Lawyering class size averages 30 students. The first semester is designed to develop essential skills in legal research and writing, to examine the functions and techniques of several forms of legal writing, and to explore the interplay of law and fact in legal analysis. The second semester concentrates on activities basic to legal practice: interviewing, counseling, case analysis and problem handling, negotiation, informal advocacy, and trial advocacy. Working collaboratively in small teams, the students role-play, then critically review their experiences in each activity. These skills will be indispensable when students take one of NYU’s clinics as a 2L or 3L—and in the future, when they begin their careers as lawyers.
Legislation and the Regulatory State (LRS), specially designed by the Law School, introduces the materials, concepts, and tools that lawyers must have in a world of statutes and regulations. It is taught by faculty who are leaders in their fields, such Samuel Estreicher, Sally Katzen, Deborah Malamud, Samuel Rascoff, and Adam Samaha. Each professor approaches the topic from his or her vantage point, but the goals of the course are the same: to introduce the tools that lawyers need in a world of statutes and regulations. The course also helps students better absorb the ideas and issues covered in Contracts, Criminal Law, Procedure, and Torts, all required first-year courses. (Property and Constitutional Law are mandatory too, but don’t need to be taken in the first year.)
1L Electives were first offered in 2006 in response to student interest. They had asked for one, but the dean and the faculty liked the idea so much that there are now five:
