Albany Law School Named One of Ten Finalists in Bloomberg Law’s Third Annual Law School Innovation Program
Albany Law School’s Flex Juris Doctor Program has been named a finalist in Bloomberg Law’s third annual Law School Innovation Program. Albany Law School is one of 10 finalists recognized for implementing and leading innovative programs that advance new methodologies and approaches to student instruction, technology implementation and usage, experiential learning, and other facets of legal education, according to Bloomberg.
Delivered primarily through online classes, Albany Law’s Flex Juris Doctor program provides all the benefits students can expect from the oldest independent law school in the nation, but with the flexibility that allows students to advance their professional passions when and where it works for them.
The Flex Juris Doctor degree is also the only one of its kind to offer specializations in:
- Business Law
- Health Law
- Government Law and Public Service
- Social Justice and Public Interest
The Flex JD, which was just launched in August 2024, has already seen success—it received 587 applications for just 30 available seats—highlighting the innovation and uniqueness of the flex JD program.
Albany Law School’s Flex JD program welcomed the inaugural class in Fall 2024. Of the 31 students in the first cohort:
- 75% are first-generation law students
- 66% identify as female, 34% identify as male
- 50% identify as diverse
They live in 15 states including NY, CA, FL, and international locations such as China, Hong Kong, and Mexico.
“At Albany Law School we believe in inclusion and excellence in the pursuit of justice. Our goal at Albany Law School is to continuously seek to make high quality legal education as accessible as possible. This program exemplifies and advances our commitment to making sure that legal education is accessible,” said Albany Law School President and Dean Cinnamon P. Carlarne. “Our Flex JD program harnesses not only the deep breadth of legal scholarship and knowledge of our faculty but also the critical experiential learning opportunities that we offer all of our students.”
The focus of the 2024-2025 Law School Innovation Program is career resilience. Bloomberg Law asked law schools what they are doing to counteract burnout and build resilience for a fulfilling long-term legal career. Applications from across the country were evaluated by a panel of experts, including Bloomberg Law analysts and industry authorities. Program evaluators reviewed innovations that address at least one root cause of career burn out and that are working to eradicate that pitfall either by better preparing students on their career path or by fostering change in the legal community.
Related: Bloomberg Law Ranks Innovation Intensive Program One of Best in Nation
