Fordham University School of Law
The information on this page was provided by the law school.
Official Guide to ABA-Approved JD Programs
Fordham Law has been dedicated to preparing great leaders in the legal profession for over a century. The school is proud of its unique and compelling mission: to provide a complete legal education that stresses equally academic excellence, the craft of lawyering, a focus on ethics, and a spirit of public service. The unwavering commitment to these values—combined with the school’s dynamic New York City location—offers Fordham Law graduates an unparalleled opportunity to pursue a broad spectrum of careers. The school’s signature public service and human rights programs encourage lawyers to pursue lives of responsible and noble legal practice. A faculty distinguished by its commitment both to teaching and to scholarship creates an atmosphere in which students learn creatively and think critically.
Fordham Law’s prime location in Manhattan provides convenient access to all New York City has to offer, enabling students to begin their careers at the center of the world’s legal, financial, and cultural capital. The school’s campus is adjacent to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a mere two blocks from Central Park, and steps away from the transportation and shopping hub of Columbus Circle. Fordham Law puts a strong focus on the importance of experiential education, and the school’s location puts students close to a broad range of professional opportunities at some of the largest law firms in the world, the busiest federal and state courts, the US Attorney General’s Offices, the United Nations, Wall Street, and a myriad of state and federal agencies. Fordham lawyers practice in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 91 nations around the world. Among our more than 22,000 alumni are partners and associates of leading law firms, CEOs of major corporations, academics, and individuals engaged in public service.
The JD Program
Fordham’s innovative and challenging curriculum balances substantive theory with ample hands-on lawyering opportunities. The school offers a remarkable depth of courses in fundamental areas such as contracts, criminal law, legal ethics, and civil procedure. Additionally, traditional and emerging areas of legal practice—including intellectual property, international human rights, and corporate and finance law—are well represented by professors who are specialists in their fields. Most importantly, these professors are passionate teachers who recognize the significance of welcoming students and being accessible.
Fordham also promotes the art and science of legal analysis and the cultivation of a vigorous ongoing dialogue between students and professors through the following nationally renowned academic centers:
- Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center fosters the teaching and study of lawyers as advocates, with special emphasis on client representation at the trial level.
- Center for Judicial Events & Clerkships has two intertwined mandates: Judicial Events to develop innovative ways to engage members of the judiciary in the life of the School and Clerkship Support to strengthen and build upon our clerkship successes by enhancing the existing clerkship support for our students and alumni.
- Center on European Union Law provides a teaching and resource facility devoted to European Union law, as well as European Union and international antitrust.
- Center on National Security engages in research, policy work, and public programming on cutting-edge national and global security issues, including cybersecurity.
- Center on Race, Law and Justice was established to engage both domestic and global issues of race, law, and equity. It considers the role of law in structuring racial inequality and disadvantage, intervenes in current debates about race and democracy, and seeks to directly influence legal pedagogy and praxis concerning race as well as matters of diversity, access, and opportunity in legal institutions and programs. The center’s broad interdisciplinary inquiry into race and law focuses on generating the critical insights and solutions necessary to achieve real and positive change.
- Competition Law Institute provides internationally recognized, top-rated programs on antitrust law and policy.
- Conflict Resolution and ADR Program offers a curriculum that balances theory and casework with real-world practice, reflecting the breadth and span of alternative dispute resolution practices within the legal and business communities.
- Corporate Law Center serves as the focal point for the school’s business law programs and includes roundtable discussions with business leaders, corporate law practitioners, and state and federal regulators.
- Fashion Law Institute, the first at any US law school, provides legal assistance to design students and designers and offers assistance on issues facing the fashion industry.
- Feerick Center for Social Justice works with students, alumni, lawyers, and community volunteers to connect low-income New Yorkers to the legal resources they need and cannot afford.
- Fordham Center on Law and Information Policy (CLIP) supports and conducts research, organizes workshops and conferences, and hosts and facilitates high-level public discourse on topics such as data privacy and security, peer-to-peer technologies and intellectual property protection of information assets, and the liability of Internet intermediaries.
- Institute on Religion, Law and Lawyer’s Work is the culmination of Fordham's efforts to serve the increasing number of attorneys, judges, scholars and students who desire to integrate faith values and perspectives in the context of the challenges of legal practice.
- Intellectual Property Institute fosters awareness of and encourages interest in cutting-edge issues in US, European, and Asian IP law as well as in multinational treaties and intergovernmental organizations.
- Leitner Center for International Law and Justice contributes to the promotion of social justice by encouraging knowledge of, and respect for, international law and human rights standards. The center oversees an annual fact-finding mission, providing law students the opportunity to participate in human rights work overseas.
- Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics promotes the integration of ethical perspectives in legal practice, legal institutions, and the development of the law generally. The center also oversees the Stein Scholars Program, a program for students who demonstrate commitment to public service and who undertake specialized academic work in legal ethics.
- National Center for Access to Justice uses data, research, policy analysis, and advocacy to expose how the justice system fails to stand up for equal justice and, all too often, functions as a source of oppression.
- Neuroscience and Law Center explores how advances in neuroscience have prompted the legal profession to question long-held notions about criminal culpability, free will, thought, behavior, and pain.
- Public Interest Resource Center educates attorneys to work in the service of others. Public service has long been a tradition at Fordham Law School and is expressed today through the activities of nearly 500 Fordham Law students who participate annually in the public service work of the Public Interest Resource Center.
- Urban Law Center is dedicated to advancing the scholarship, pedagogy, and practice of urban law and affecting the most pressing issues facing America’s metropolitan areas.
Student Life
House System
The Fordham Law School House System fosters community and inclusion and optimizes the 1L experience by assigning all incoming students to a House, or close-knit sub-community within the Law School, with which they will affiliate throughout their law school careers. Each House is led by a faculty house leader and supported by designated upper-year student advisors, alumni mentors, house faculty, and administrative liaisons from all corners of the institution—all of whom are committed to helping the students in their House adjust to law school and take advantage of the broad array of resources and opportunities that Fordham has to offer. The House curriculum also incorporates sessions on a variety of professionalism and wellness topics – such as self-care, growth mindset, and professional etiquette. These programs afford students the opportunity to begin cultivating the social, emotional, and professional competencies required for success in the legal profession, as well as the tools and insights necessary to chart satisfying career paths.
Public Service
Fordham believes that the development of a lifelong commitment to public service is an integral part of a legal education. In 2021, Fordham law students volunteered over 135,000 hours of public service. More than half of the graduating class devoted 50 or more hours of their time through the school’s nationally recognized Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC). The PIRC’s 20 student-run organizations address issues concerning the environment, housing for the poor, domestic violence, unemployment, police brutality, the death penalty, immigration, and community service. Fordham also has a Loan Repayment Assistance Program to assist those who pursue public service careers. Today, Fordham continues to set the standard for law schools nationwide by assisting and inspiring those students who, regardless of their ultimate career choice, are committed to the spirit of pro bono publico—work for the public good.
Global Perspective
Fordham Law cultivates in its students a critical global perspective through an array of international programs, including
- the nation’s preeminent Center on European Union Law;
- an International Antitrust Law and Policy Conference, now in its 48th year;
- an annual International Intellectual Property Law Conference, now in its 28th year;
- the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice;
- a Belfast/Dublin summer program, which offers two weeks of study in each city with a special emphasis on international alternative dispute resolution;
- a summer program in Seoul, South Korea, at Sungkyunkwan University College of Law (SKKU) that offers courses in international and comparative law as well as internships at local law firms, companies, and governmental offices;
- a Ghana summer law program, building on our long and successful history of partnership with Ghanaian legal institutions, that offers students the opportunity to study international and comparative law, as well as internships in Ghana;
- semester study-abroad programs offered in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China, India, and Israel; and
- three graduate degree programs, an Master of Laws (LLM), a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) and a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD). We offer nine concentrations in the LLM degree: Banking, Corporate, and Finance Law; Corporate Compliance (also offered online); Fashion Law; Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law; International Business and Trade Law; International Dispute Resolution; International Law and Justice; Real Estate Law; and US Law. We also offer an MSL in Corporate Compliance (also available online) and in Fashion Law. These degree programs have created a network of Fordham alumni in more than 93 countries.
Career Placement and Bar Passage
Learn more about career placement at
Fordham University School of Law
Tuition and Aid
As either a prospective, admitted or returning law student, our office will provide you with all the information you need to navigate the financial aid and financing opportunities available at Fordham Law. Our professional staff is dedicated to serving the needs of our students and aims at simplifying what can sometimes be considered an overwhelming process. We provide guidance in the areas of planning for law school, obtaining financing, managing your debt and repaying your education loans.
A legal education is an investment in your future and is a serious financial investment as well. As with any investment, it is important to consider the pros and cons of entering into such a large expenditure of effort, time, and money. A realistic assessment of why you are seeking a legal education and how you will pay for it is critical.
Fordham's institutional aid is awarded to admitted JD students on the basis of either academic merit or demonstrated need. All JD applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships, and awards are based on an applicant’s academic credentials. JD applicants who wish to be considered for need-based grants and named scholarships must complete a separate Fordham Financial Aid Application (available on the Admitted Students website). Today, a large majority of law school students also will rely on education loans as their primary, but not exclusive, source of financial aid for law school and will need to consider federal and private loan programs.
If you still have questions after reading our webpages and guidebook, please feel free to contact our office.
Admission Decisions: Beyond the Numbers
We look beyond numbers.
We consider your personal statement, letters of recommendation, professional experience, LSAT score, GPA, and your complete application. We are committed to the practice of equity through diversity and inclusion, and we select applicants who are bright, innovative, and passionate about the law. Learn more about our selection criteria.
Fordham Law School's Admissions Committee — composed of full-time faculty members, Assistant Deans, and the Director of Admissions — evaluates each completed application received. For the 2020-2021 admissions cycle, we evaluated 7,905 applications.
In evaluating the academic record, attention is paid to the grade trend over the course of study, course selection, grades in the major, choice of major, school attended, and the time frame within which the degree was earned. Academic work completed at the graduate and professional school level is also carefully considered. While the best available evidence suggests that the LSAT score and GPA should be accorded significant weight in evaluating most applicants, the Admissions Committee believes that securing the most diverse, interesting, and able entering class involves the consideration of qualitative factors—including prior employment, student activities, service to the community, leadership ability, propensity for public service, and communication skills—which also suggest an applicant's potential to make extraordinary contributions to the success of the entering class specifically and to the legal profession.
Applicants who have been educationally, socially, and economically disadvantaged are afforded a particularly careful review, as are applicants who have had to overcome significant obstacles in their lives.
Finally, efforts are made to ensure that the entire selection process is fair and the Admissions Committee goes to great lengths to ensure that all applicants are accorded equal treatment, respect, and consideration.