CERTIFICATE
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
MEMORANDUM
PDF
Format
TO:
Students Enrolled in or Interested in the Certificate Program in Labor and Employment Law
FROM:
Professor Martin Malin, Program Director
Mary Rose Strubbe, Assistant Director
Francine Soliunas, Executive Director
DATE: April 27, 2009
This memo details the requirements for the Certificate in Labor and Employment Law. Because we cannot promise which courses will be taught each semester, and because you may wonder whether a particular course fulfills the elective or seminar requirement, please feel free to e-mail us, to stop by our offices, or to make an appointment to talk about any questions you have.
We urge you to view the certificate program as value added. It is not a substitute for a broad-based legal education. You should plan to take a number of basic courses, such as Business Organizations, Evidence, Personal Income Tax, Commercial Law, and Estates and Trusts. Each member of the faculty has his or her personal list of the "essentials" or "what every lawyer should know." Consider the viewpoints of several faculty members, and the recommended list of courses, in deciding what to include in your plans.
We are excited to report that Cesar Rosado joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Law in fall 2008. Professor Rosado practiced with the labor law firm Levy Rattner in New York City. He holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton. He brings expertise in international labor and employment law to the faculty.
A. Requirements for the Certificate
To earn the Certificate in Labor and Employment Law, you must take a total of seven courses. Two of the seven — Legal Writing IV and a seminar — satisfy parts of your upper class writing requirement.
There are four basic courses that every student in the certificate program must take: Labor Law, Employment Relationships, Employment Discrimination, and Legal Writing IV—Labor/Employment Law. Students who take the Legal Writing IV Equivalency are not required to take Legal Writing IV – Labor/Employment Law, but must contact Professor Strubbe, because students taking the Legal Writing IV Equivalency are required to audit certain classes in Legal Writing IV – Labor/Employment Law to qualify for the certificate.
Students must also satisfy a Practicum requirement by taking either the four credit-hour Employment Law Clinic, a Labor/Employment Law Externship, or Employment Litigation. The practicum requirement should not be satisfied until your final year of law school. (You may be interested in taking Employment Law Clinic during your second year of law school. While you are certainly permitted to do so, and will likely learn much from the experience, Clinic will not fulfill the Practicum requirement unless you take it for four credit-hours during your last year of law school.)
Each student must take an additional labor/employment law elective. If you have any questions about whether a particular course offering satisfies the elective requirement, please contact Professor Malin or Professor Strubbe. Finally, each student must take a labor/employment-related seminar. Seminars are taken in your final year of law school. Therefore, do not register for a seminar until your final year in law school. (You are permitted to take a seminar during your second year of law school, but neither the school nor the Certificate program will count it as the seminar required for graduation.)
Note: You may not take the certificate requirements on a pass/fail basis except for courses that are only offered pass/fail (such as Labor/Employment Law Externship).
Note: Personal Income Tax should be taken prior to or concurrently with Employee Benefits Law.
In fall 2009, Labor Law will be offered in the day and evening. Employment Discrimination will be offered in the day and Employment Relationships will be offered in the evening Workers Compensation (which satisfies the elective requirement) will be offered at 4:00p.m. Two seminars will be offered: Privacy in Employment Law and Public Sector Employees.
In spring 2010, Employment Relationships will be offered in the day and Employment Discrimination will be offered in the evening. Legal Writing IV will be offered day and evening. Employee Benefits Law will be offered in the evening and we may offer one additional elective. Disability Law will be offered with the option to take it as a course (satisfying the elective) or a seminar. We will also offer a seminar on Work and Family.
B. Information about Practicum Options
Labor/Employment Law Externship: is offered only in the fall. The externship involves a commitment of 15 hours per week to your externship placement and a one hour classroom component. Fortunately, the demand for our externs exceeds the supply and we are usually able to place students in the type of externship they desire, such as a management, union or employee-plaintiff law firm; in-house with a union or employer, or a government agency. Because students find it very difficult to work part-time while externing, we have a pool of scholarship money available, based on financial need, for students in the externship program. Contact Professor Soliunas for more information.
Employment Litigation class: will be offered only in the fall, in the evening. Employment Litigation is designed to simulate working with a client in an employment discrimination suit.
Employment Law Clinic: is offered fall, spring and summer. The certificate program has four slots per semester reserved in the Clinic, with Professors Richard Gonzalez and Laurie Leader. You must take Employment Law Clinic for four credits to use it to fulfill the practicum requirement.
C. Guidance for Registration Depending on Where You Are in Your Law School Career
Current First Year Day Students:
If you are a day student entering your second year of law school, we encourage you to take Labor Law, Employment Relationships, Employment Discrimination and Legal Writing IV- Labor/Employment Law during your second year of law school. This will position you well for your practicum in your third year.
Current First Year Evening Students: If you are an evening student entering your second year of law school, the courses you are required to take in the fall will not allow you to take Labor Law. We encourage you to take Employment Relationships in the fall and to plan to take either Legal Writing IV- Labor/Employment Law or Employment Discrimination in the spring.
Current Second Year Evening Students: If you are an evening student entering your third year of law school, you should take those core courses that you did not take in your second year so that you will be in a good position for your practicum in your final year.
Current Second Year Day and Third Year Evening Students: You should take your practicum next year. If you wish to take Labor/Employment Externship or Employment Litigation, you must take it in the fall. Neither is offered in the spring. You should also take a seminar in the labor/employment field. Finally, you should plan to complete any other certificate requirements, such as your elective, that you have outstanding.
Questions or Additional Information
Please contact the Program Director,
Professor Martin Malin, Assistant Director,
Professor Mary Rose Strubbe or Executive Director,
Francine Soliunas
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