Curriculum

What can I study

Curriculum

Seven concentrations, nineteen areas of focus, and every course running this year. Suffolk publishes these one at a time, and the page that would list them together returns an error.

Requirements are read from each concentration's own page and reconciled against the live 2026-27 catalog. Verify anything you plan around with Academic Services before you rely on it.

The Academic Rules put completion tracking on you. Students are responsible for ensuring they have satisfied their concentration's requirements, and the Assistant Dean's stated obligation runs only to verifying the form you eventually submit.

Verified 2026-08-27 · reconciled against 411 live 2026–27 sections

The smallest concentration by credits, at seventeen. Its externship requirement is the most flexible in the school. It takes a credit externship, a non-credit summer placement, either LIT clinic, or a waiver if you are part-time and already working in the field. You take three of the four core courses, and two of those four run in spring only, so plan the order early.

25 courses count19 run this year11 spring only

Eighteen credits, and the only concentration with its own patent bar guidance. The course list is long and about half of it runs in any given year.

39 courses count22 run this year8 spring only

Eighteen credits built on two core courses. Study abroad and the International Internship Program both feed it, and clinic credits count toward the electives.

34 courses count18 run this year8 spring only

Twenty credits, five of them core. The Health Law Clinic and the Journal of Health and Biomedical Law both sit under it.

37 courses count24 run this year10 spring only

Twenty-one credits, with four required core courses covering thirteen to fourteen of them and an externship or practicum on top.

51 courses count31 run this year14 spring only

The largest concentration at twenty-three credits, and the most structured. It takes an evidence course, a pretrial course, an appellate course, an ADR course, and a clinic or trial team.

55 courses count32 run this year11 spring only

Labor & Employment Law

—not published

Three core courses, two skills courses, a three-credit externship and two electives. It publishes no total credit figure, and it does not appear in the Academic Rules alongside the other six, so confirm its status before you enroll.

28 courses count13 run this year4 spring only

Rules that apply to all of them

Eligibility
after completing 1L in good standing
How many
One at a time. You may switch, but you graduate with one.
Credit floor
The faculty minimum is 14 credits. Every concentration sets its own higher.
Grades
Cumulative 3.250 across concentration courses, and nothing below 2.000 in any of them.
Writing
A concentration thesis of publishable quality, or the legal writing requirement satisfied inside a concentration course.
Experience
An experiential course or externship approved by the concentration Faculty Director.
Enrol by
October 1 for January graduates, February 1 for May graduates.
Completion form
November 1 (January graduates) / March 1 (May graduates)
With distinction
concentration thesis, or 3.50 cumulative in concentration courses

Academic Rules & Regulations

Areas of focus

Lighter than a concentration and not certified, but the registrar tags every course with them, which makes them the fastest way to find what to take next.

BankruptcyCivil LitigationCorporate Finance and BusinessCriminalDispute ResolutionDiversity and Social JusticeEnvironmental and EnergyHealth and BiomedicalHuman RightsImmigrationIntellectual PropertyInternationalJuvenile and FamilyLabor and EmploymentPatent LawPersonal InjuryPublic ServiceReal Estate and Land UseTaxation

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