J.D. Concentration Family Law

Students enrolled in the Family Law Concentration will receive instruction and training in those subject areas fundamental to family law practice, in addition to instruction in specialized, related subject areas of their choosing. The Concentration will take advantage of the law school’s robust family law curriculum, provide students interested in family law with a chance to receive intensive guidance on their course of study, and formally recognize students who decide to pursue specialized knowledge and skills in the field of family law.

Faculty Concentration Advisors and Advisement

Professors Barbara S. Barron, Barbara Stark, J. Herbie DiFonzo, and Theo Liebmann will serve as Faculty Concentration Advisors for this concentration. Students must meet with their concentration faculty advisor prior to applying to the concentration in order to discuss their suitability for the concentration.

Students should meet with their advisor as soon as they find themselves interested in the Concentration, but in no event later than the course selection deadline in their fourth semester of study. An advisor may permit a student to enroll in the Concentration at a later date, but only after determining that the student can realistically meet the requirements of the Concentration prior to graduation.

Once enrolled in the Concentration, students must meet with their faculty advisor at least once per semester, prior to that semester’s course selection deadline, in order to plan their course selection and review their progress in fulfilling the concentration’s requirements.

Content and Requirements

Required Core Courses

Students must take one of the following two courses:

• Family Law (3)
• Family Law (with Skills Component) (4)

Required Skills Courses

Students must take at least one of the following courses:

• Introduction to Child and Family Advocacy (2-3)
• Matrimonial Skills (2)
• Legal Decision Making for Children and Incompetent Adults (3)
• Nassau County District Attorney Youth Court Externship (3)
• Modern Divorce Advocacy (1)
• Matrimonial Law Externship (3)
• Mediation Externship (3)

Elective Courses

Students must take at least two additional elective courses from the following list:

• Children and the Law (2-3)
• LGBT Lawyering (2)
• Aging and the Law Seminar (2)
• International Family Law (2-3)
• Rights of LGBT Youth: A Comparative Approach (1)
• Special Education Law (2)
• Collaborative Family Law Seminar (2)
• Advanced Topics in Family Law (2)
• Alternatives to Litigation (2)
• Child Abuse and Neglect (2-3)
• Family Law Policy Seminar (2)
• Mediation Principles and Practice (2)
• Advanced Mediation Seminar (2-3)

Any other course, such as an independent study or journal note that is approved by the student’s concentration advisor.

Capstone/Clinical Courses

Students must take at least one of the following Capstone/Clinical Courses:

• Youth Advocacy Clinic (6)
• Domestic Violence Seminar (with Skills) (4)
• Juvenile Justice Clinic Practicum (2)

Writing Requirement

At least one of the student’s Concentration courses must satisfy either the Writing Requirement I or Writing II requirement. The student’s Concentration Advisor must approve the paper topic. With the approval of the Concentration Advisor, student notes for the Family Court Review, or for other law reviews, may also be used to satisfy the requirement. The writing used to satisfy this requirement may be the same writing used by the student to satisfy another Law School requirement.