Law School Courses
Our curriculum is highly interdisciplinary and considers issues from ethical, legal, social and public policy perspectives:
- Antitrust law
- Bioethics and Law
- Discrimination in Employment
- ERISA
- Food Administrative Law
- Drug Law
- Genetics and the Law
- Governance, Risk Management and Compliance
- Health Care Controversies
- Health Care Finance and Regulation
- Health Care & Human Rights
- Health Law
- Health Law and Policy Lab
- Health Matrix Seminar
- HIPAA
- Hospital Risk Management
- Information Privacy Law
- Nonprofit Organizations Law
- Pretrial Practice: Medical Malpractice
- Psychiatry & Law
- Public Health Law
- Reproductive Rights Lab/Seminar
- Workers Compensation
Health Law Clinic
Students have the opportunity to participate in the Health Law Clinic, an offering of the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center. The clinic operates like a law firm within the school, allowing students to apply skills they have developed in their course work to cases for real clients. Students in the Health Law Clinic have primary responsibility for their caseload, serving as first chair at all hearings, trials and negotiations. On any given day of the week in the clinic, you may find students conducting an examination of a medical expert in a social security disability claim, drafting an advanced health care directive for an ailing client, or seeking to obtain insurance coverage for a client from an HMO.
Courses Outside the Law School
Students are also encouraged to take advantage of the outstanding resources of the university community by taking courses in other schools and programs, such as:
- Health Disparities (School of Medicine)
- Health Finance (Weatherhead School of Management)
- Health Policy and Management Decisions (Political Science)
- Death, Dying, & Euthanasia: Netherlands and the USA (Philosophy)
- Health Management and Policy (School of Medicine)
- Issues in Health Policy and Service Delivery (Anthropology)
The Health Law Concentration
Students who are prepared to devote substantial effort to the study of health law can receive recognition through our concentration program. This program provides coherence and guidance in course selection and encourages and recognizes academic achievement in health law. Students who make a commitment to the concentration take two core courses (Health Law I and Health Care Finance and Regulation) and at least three electives from the health law curriculum and they must complete a research paper and an experiential capstone in health law.
Dual-Degree Programs
We offer several dual degree programs that allow full-time students to combine their legal education, leading to a JD degree, with other studies, leading to a second graduate degree in a health-related field. Applicants apply separately to both the law school and the second degree-granting school. Most dual degree programs are completed in four years.
LLM Program
Foreign lawyers pursuing a Master of Laws degree through the LLM program in U.S. and Global Legal Studies may also pursue a concentration certificate in health law.
SJD Program
The law school offers a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Health Law degree. This is the most advanced law degree in the health field. More information can be found here. In the alternative, foreign students may choose our SJD program for foreign students and specialize in the health law field. Please see the SJD program webpage.
Master of Law Degree
Our 30-credit Master of Law Degree is designed for U.S. or foreign-trained undergraduate or graduate students who do not have an initial law degree and are seeking U.S. legal training but not a full JD at this time. This degree is helpful for students planning to work in related fields but who do not need a full JD degree, students who are looking for relevant legal training as part of a dual graduate degree but do not plan to practice law, and those who are looking to bolster their credentials before applying to JD programs. Master of Law students can specialize in health law. More information is found here.