Academic Specializations

Accelerator-to-Practice Program

[Approved by Law Faculty on 12/12/13]

The Accelerator Program is a specialized track of instruction within the law school designed to prepare students to create or enter solo or small private practices capable of profitably providing competent and affordable legal services to average income individuals and families upon graduation. The goal of the program is to introduce students to the theory, practice, business and technology skills needed to do satisfying legal work and contribute to meeting the needs of potential clients in the justice gap- those who do not qualify for free legal services but cannot afford to engage lawyers in a high priced legal market. The core components of this program include specialized professional development and law practice management instruction combined with successive practical training experiences, including training in an embedded fee generating law practice within the law school (the “Accelerator Practice”).

1. Accelerator-to-Practice Course Curriculum

Students enrolled in the Accelerator Program will be required to meet all current requirements for graduation. In addition to these requirements, students will be required to take a menu of required upper level courses equivalent to a minimum of 29 course credits in their second and third years. They will also be required to complete any requirements necessary to obtain SJC Rule 3:03 certification. Students in the Accelerator Program will be required to maintain a GPA of at least 2.67, as students on Academic Warning could not meet the course requirements of the program. Specific course and credit requirements for the Accelerator Program are available on the Accelerator-to-Practice web page.

2. Accelerator-to-Practice Experiential Training

Students will engage in a cumulative series of supervised work experiences to prepare them to be competent practitioners upon graduation. One or more of these will be in an embedded income generating law practice, to provide legal services to average income individuals and families, while teaching students how to engage in the skilled, ethical, reflective and sustainable practice of law.

The Accelerator Practice is a fee-for-services practice, replicating existing successful business models focused on alternate fee structures and cases providing for recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs. Student learning will include critical practice management tools in accounting and billing, marketing, external controls (financial auditing and effectiveness assessments) and other business competencies. The goal is that through the Accelerator Practice, students will learn a replicable model for building a sustainable and profitable practice.

In the summer between their first and second year, students will complete a residency at a solo or small private practice with a required pedagogical component similar to an externship seminar designed to contextualize the student experience. In the summer between their second and third year, students will be employed in the Accelerator Practice or in a solo or small practice engaged in succession planning with the goal of the student entering the practice after graduation with the likelihood of succession. In their third year, students will practice in the Accelerator Practice through mandatory enrollment in a full year eight credit clinical-type course.