BU Law Academics | School of Law

The coursework at BU Law is undoubtedly demanding. But the rewards are equally impactful. With celebrated, accomplished faculty members as guides, challenge yourself by selecting from more than 200 courses and seminars that may prepare you for a variety of areas of practice—one of the deepest law school curriculums in the nation. U.S. News & World Report has ranked several of our programs among the best in the country, including Health Law (#5) and Intellectual Property (#11). You can also keep sharpening your expertise in one of four LLM programs, 16 dual degree offerings, or several certificate programs. Or gain international exposure in one of 20 study abroad programs in 18 locations around the world. In other words, BU Law offers no shortage of opportunities for you to grow—as a lawyer and a person.

Explore Degrees & Programs

Prepare for your legal career with rigorous academics and professional training.

Areas of Practice

With more than 200 courses to choose from—one of the most extensive course offerings of any law school—you can pursue a career in a broad range of practice areas.

Civil Litigation & Alternative Dispute Resolution

Lawyers increasingly need skills in alternative dispute resolution. BU Law offers students a wide array of courses designed to prepare them for proceedings inside and outside the courtroom.

Family Law, Gender & Sexuality

Foundational courses provide an overview of the case law, statutes, and constitutional underpinnings that shape the government’s role in regulating family life as well as the laws surrounding estate planning and inheritance.

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law

Civil Rights & Constitutional Law courses cover both traditional legal topics, such as constitutional history and theory, federalism, and judicial review, as well as those that examine legal frameworks through the lens of social identity and social movements.

International & Comparative Law

At BU Law, students can choose from dozens of courses in public international law, which covers the relations between countries; private international law, which deals with cross-border business transactions; and comparative law, which focuses on the laws of other countries.

Tax Law

BU Law’s top-ranked tax law program offers a broad curriculum that balances tax law theory and its practical application, with plenty of opportunities to specialize in particular areas such as business organizations and transactions, estate planning, wealth management, and international tax.

Housing, Real Estate & Land Use

The BU Law curriculum offers courses on nearly every facet of housing, real estate, and land use, including landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities, environmental and tax implications, and affordable housing development.

Administrative, Regulatory & Public Law

Administrative and Regulatory Law courses consider government regulation of private activity and affects regulated industries, such as banking, insurance, and health care. Public Law concerns the structure of government.

Immigration & Human Rights Law

The curriculum at BU Law covers deportation, asylum, naturalization, and citizenship questions and has vast experiential courses, including the International Human Rights Clinic and the Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program.

Employment & Labor Law

The foundational employment and labor law curriculum covers a wide range of issues including affirmative action, religious discrimination, constitutional protections for public-sector workers, and anti-retaliation and whistleblower laws.

Banking & Financial Law

Courses range from foundational offerings that cover the banking and financial services industries in the United States and across the world to more in-depth classes that focus on specific topics such as hedge funds or charitable organizations.

Intellectual Property

BU Law offers several foundational courses covering the major components of intellectual property law, and is also the only law school in the country to offer two clinics focused on intellectual property and the related field of privacy and technology law.

Health Law

BU Law offers a unique program addressing the critical legal issues in health today. Located in one of the world’s life sciences epicenters, BU Law’s health law program is consistently among the top of US News & World Report rankings.

Privacy and Technology Law

BU Law also offers two privacy and technology law clinics: the Technology Law Clinic and the Startup Law Clinic. The curriculum also offers introductory and advanced courses on privacy and technology law, including many taught by preeminent practitioners in the field.

Environmental Law

Massachusetts has long been at the forefront of environmental issues, including through litigation brought by the Attorney General’s Office where BU Law students regularly work as interns or externs.

Entertainment & Sports Law

At BU Law, courses on entertainment and sports law delve into subjects ranging from publicity rights and defamation to invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, antitrust principles, and labor law.

Legal History & Jurisprudence

Since its founding in 1872, BU Law has offered courses on legal history and jurisprudence, allowing students to grapple with some of the fundamental questions at the heart of legal systems, including the definition of law, its underlying authority, and judicial powers.

Criminal Law

The criminal law program at BU Law encompasses not only foundational criminal procedure and evidence courses but also a wide range of clinical offerings in which students handle actual cases in court.

Race, Racism, and the Law

Race and the Law courses are broken down into those that take an anti-racist approach to lawyering, exploring ways to produce or sustain racial equity; and courses that examine opinions, statutes, and other legal materials that address issues of race or racism, including civil rights laws.