Northeastern Law Ranked No. 1 for Public Interest

08.30.21 —In recognition of its national leadership in preparing students for public interest lawyering, Northeastern University School of Law has been ranked No. 1 for public interest in the 2021 “back to school” issue of preLaw magazine.

Northeastern Law’s public interest focus permeates virtually every class, where students and faculty regularly debate the ethical and societal implications of legal issues and decisions. The law school’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration (CPIAC) takes the lead in infusing the law school’s public interest mission into all facets of the student experience. Northeastern was also one of the first law schools to institute a public interest requirement — the majority of students eagerly fulfill this obligation through working with public interest co-op employers.

The rankings are conducted every two years, with data from the American Bar Association and individual schools.

preLaw/The National Jurist notes that Northeastern is No. 1 for public interest because “the importance of service — regardless of career goals — permeates the law school’s atmosphere.”

In its rankings article, the magazine extensively quotes Shannon Al-Wakeel, managing director of Northeastern Law’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration (CPIAC); Renay Frankel ’06, director for public interest and government at the law school’s Center for Co-op and Career Development; Emily Massel ’23, a second-year law student who was attracted to Northeastern Law because of its strong emphasis on social justice; Moriah Wilkins ’23, a Skadden Public Interest fellow at the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, Virginia; and Professor Lucy Williams, faculty director of CPIAC.

“The school teaches students to evaluate legal issues through a social justice lens,” said Williams. “We infuse this goal into all our courses and initiatives; it is simply part of our DNA.”

In addition to recognizing Northeastern Law as the top school in the nation for public interest law, preLaw/The National Jurist also ranks Northeastern as the No. 1 law school for practical training and has awarded the school an “A+” in health law, human rights and intellectual property law.