The Delaware Law curriculum, combined with experiential learning, builds a solid foundation for legal practice.
Academic Options
JD degrees include the juris doctor as well as three dual degrees that combine the JD with business administration (JD/MBA), public health (JD/MPH), or marine policy (JD/MMP).
Certificates enable you to develop expertise in specific areas of law while earning your JD. Certificates are offered in environmental law, business organizations, family health law and policy, trial advocacy, and criminal law.
Study abroad programs include Switzerland, Italy, China, France, and Spain.
Added Value
In addition to your coursework, you may hone your trial skills through moot court or contribute to a legal journal—including the highly ranked Delaware Journal of Corporate Law and the Widener Law Review. You may provide pro bono public service or gain a different perspective by study abroad. Options abound, and participation in campus organizations and off-campus opportunities will greatly enhance your law school experience.
Signature Programs
These programs offer intense, specialized legal training and certificates in the study area, and they leverage the extensive expertise of the faculty to enrich student learning.
Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law provides training in law governing publicly traded businesses, business organizations, and business advising.
Taishoff Advocacy, Technology, and Public Service Institute offers training in the fundamental skills essential to becoming a competent, professionally responsible advocate. It also focuses on criminal law and the use of technology in the judicial systems.
Global Environmental and Natural Resources Law Institute provides ample opportunities for hands-on learning and focuses on protection of water, land, and endangered species.
Family Health Law and Policy Institute empowers students with the legal knowledge, skills, and experience to improve health outcomes for families.
Flexible Scheduling
Delaware Law offers a three-year, full-time JD program and a four-year, part-time program with day and evening classes, enabling you to choose the schedule that best balances your life and work commitments. You may begin your studies in either the summer or fall, and online elective courses may expand your scheduling choices.
1. Clinic students practice advocacy skills in preparation for their court appearances
2. Faculty accessibility is consistently cited by students as one of the law school’s strengths.
3. A law student conducts an intake interview for the Medical-Legal Partnership.
4. Study abroad sites include beautiful Venice, Italy.
5. Students represent clients in a variety of cases, including family health law issues.
Practical learning placements provide opportunities to work with leaders outside the classroom.
Building Legal Skills You will have opportunities to apply classroom knowledge to real cases, working under the supervision of practicing attorneys in our outstanding law clinics and with other practitioners in a variety of externships, including judicial and public service placements. Our students routinely represent domestic violence victims, veterans, and environmental nonprofit organizations.
You will have countless opportunities to learn by serving. You may find your passion in a pro bono placement through the Public Interest Resource Center. Or, you may choose to participate in Youth Court, training middle school students to hear cases involving their peers. The program focuses on restorative justice and helps rule-breakers avoid the detrimental consequences of the school disciplinary system. You may work with the Medical-Legal Partnership examining the ways in which unmet legal needs are affecting the health of vulnerable populations. You may serve first responders in the Wills for Heroes program, helping draft basic wills, durable powers of attorney, and advance health care directives.
When you graduate from Delaware Law, you will carry with you legal knowledge from direct experience.
At Delaware Law, you will learn not only from distinguished professors but also from your intellectually curious, dedicated, fellow law students.
Law Clinics
Our robust clinical program provides students —under the supervision of full-time faculty members who are skilled, licensed attorneys— with opportunities to represent clients in criminal and civil cases. There is no better way to prepare for legal practice.
The Delaware Civil Law Clinic has provided pro bono legal representation, advice, and referrals for more than 30 years. Since 1988, law students have assisted 7,892 clients at an estimated value of $5,179,388.
Since 1989, the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic has involved 340 interns in projects to protect water, air, soil, and endangered species. Law students have litigated more than 250 cases in 20 federal and state judicial and administrative courts, including 9 federal district courts and 4 federal circuit courts of appeal.
In the Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Clinic, students are certified to represent defendants in criminal trials. Since its opening in 1995, the clinic’s work has also included post-conviction representation of death-row inmates in both state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Veterans Law Clinic, which was recognized in National Jurist’s coverage of “innovative clinics,” was the first of its kind to champion compensation for disabled veterans. It was honored in 2014 with the Delaware Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Award for community service and recognized by the ABA as a model for veterans law clinics.
Externships
Clinical, judicial, and health law externships provide opportunities for second- and thirdyear students to work with judges, state and local prosecuting attorneys, public defenders, legal service lawyers, and government officials. Judicial externs experience the court system firsthand while conducting legal research and drafting documents for judges. Valuable family health law experience is gained from positions available in hospitals and schools throughout the region.
Josiah Oliver Wolcott Fellowships offer five law students each year a prestigious opportunity to clerk for a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court or with the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Our vibrant campus is ideally located.
Delaware Law boasts an expansive, 32-acre campus that combines the best of a natural setting that is easily accessible to local amenities— restaurants, shopping malls, and movie theaters. Comfortable on-campus housing is close to many social, cultural, and recreational attractions in the Brandywine River Valley.
Four major cities—Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, and Washington, D.C.—are within a two-hour drive. If you prefer a walk on the beach, the New Jersey and Delaware shores are nearby as well.
The campus itself is lively, with 25 student-led organizations and opportunities to engage in a variety of intellectual and recreational pursuits. You may choose to write for a law journal, sharpen your dispute-resolution skills, volunteer for a community service project, participate in an oral advocacy competition— or play a vigorous game of rugby. With a diverse, interesting mix of law students, you will have opportunites to debate the issues of the day.
Career support and alumni mentors help ensure your success.
A Delaware Law counselor will support your professional goals, guiding you to positions that match your legal interests and assisting with all aspects of the search, including salary negotiation. Workshops, training programs, and networking sessions strengthen job-search skills, and employers regularly visit our campus to recruit. Our students also rely on a strong network of alumni mentors who provide valuable insight about, and knowledge of, career opportunities. In addition, Delaware Law consistently outpaces the national average in coveted clerkships—23 percent of the employed graduates from the Class of 2014 obtained judicial clerkship positions.
Alumni Network (11,000+)
Judges 169
Externship placement has led to permanent employment at the Office of Conflicts Counsel. Delaware Law alumni mentors also serve a major role in career development.
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Admission to Delaware Law
Our holistic admissions process considers not only your undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores, but also your work and life experiences, extracurricular activities, community involvement, and graduate study. We require a personal statement and suggest letters of recommendation. We welcome diversity and encourage women and ethnic minority members to apply.
Flexible scheduling enables you to apply for full- or part-time programs with day or evening classes. Transfer and visiting applicants are considered for admission after having first completed one full year of law school. All applicants are considered for the Trial Admissions Program (TAP), which recognizes potential for success in law school despite an uncompetitive GPA or LSAT score. Visit delawarelaw. widener.edu/admissions for additional admissions information.
Apply Now
The application process is paperless —and free if you apply on or before February 1. You will submit your application and all supporting materials electronically on our website at delawarelaw.widener.edu/ apply or through the Law School
Admission Council (LSAC) at LSAC.org.
Admissions Office
Widener University
Delaware Law School
4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803-0406
302-477-2703
1-888-WIDENER
Website: delawarelaw.widener.edu
Email: delawarelaw@widener.edu
20 delawarelaw.widener.edu
Financial Aid
Delaware Law strives to make each student’s investment in the study of law manageable. Along with competitive tuition and fees, we offer scholarships that reward academic talent and achievement. To learn about the array of financial aid resources, we encourage you to visit our website at delawarelaw.widener.edu/fa.
Delaware Law is accredited by the American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar of the American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark Street, 21st Floor, Chicago IL 60654. Phone: 312-988-6738. Delaware Law is also a member of the Association of American Law Schools and the International Association of Law Schools.
