Graduate Programs - New York Law School - Overview
Nation's First Online Mental Disability Law Program
New York Law School created the nation's first online mental disability law program -- the most diverse such program offered at any law school or university in the world -- to provide, both nationally and internationally, a wide audience of psychologists, psychiatrists, other mental health professionals, criminologists, criminal justice specialists, advocates, activists, human rights workers, social workers, and attorneys with advanced training in this important and continually growing field.
It is the only program of its kind offered by an American Bar Association-approved law school delivered directly through the convenience of distance learning. Students advance their professional status and legal literacy by learning about the complexities of the law and how court decisions affect the way they handle cases, conduct research, or advocate on behalf of persons with mental disabilities.
Along the way, students develop the skills they need to have, either as an expert witness, an administrator, a clinician, a researcher, an advocate, or an attorney, to bring about meaningful change in the lives and treatment of persons with mental disabilities.
Online Program Offers Resources, Flexibility, and Communication
Designed and taught by renowned Professor Michael L. Perlin, the online mental disability law program provides the most up-to-date information and interpretation of civil, criminal, constitutional, and international human rights law by means of quality instruction and academic guidance through a multi-dimensional distance learning environment.
Students who are currently engaged in professional careers can further their education while maintaining current employment, as all classes meet at night and on weekends. The program utilizes the latest and most effective online learning technologies to easily distribute legal-based education to professionals and advanced learners who may otherwise be unable to gain access to this training.
Crafted to meet the needs of the dedicated professional and active graduate students, the program is affordable, convenient, flexible, high-quality, and supportive. Students gain valuable credentials at a reasonable cost while completing the majority of their studies at their convenience, from the comfort of their homes.
New York Law School is the only ABA-approved law school offering courses in mental disability law in an online learning format. Students in the online program have access to the same resources that the school's J.D. students do. In addition, the online program allows students to engage with a virtual community of learners through small-group chat sessions, message board postings, and e-mail, and have opportunities to meet and network with fellow students and professors during in-person weekend seminars.
Mental Disability Law Program Curriculum
The master's degree program leading to a Master of Arts in Mental Disability Law Studies is a 30-credit program that students can complete in 18 months or up to 5 years, depending on whether they are full- or part-time students.
Students also have the opportunity to pursue graduate studies with the program leading to a Certificate in Advanced Mental Disability Law Studies. This shorter 15-credit certificate program can be completed in 10 months or up to 1.5 years, depending on whether students attend full time or part time.
Students may take courses on an individual basis and may apply a maximum of 9 credits (3 courses) that have been successfully completed in the program toward the Master of Arts or Certificate.
Courses include: Advocacy Skills in Cases Involving Persons with Mental Disabilities: the Role of Lawyers and Expert Witnesses; the Americans with Disabilities Act: Law, Policy, and Practice; Custody Evaluations, Juvenile and Family Law, and Mental Disability; Forensic Reports, the Role of Experts, and Forensic Ethics; International Human Rights and Mental Disability Law; Mental Disability and Criminal Law; Mental Health Issues in Jails and Prisons; Mental Illness, Dangerousness, the Police Power, and Risk Assessment; Race, Gender, Class, and Mental Disability; Sex Offenders; Survey of Mental Disability Law; Therapeutic Jurisprudence; and Trauma and Mental Disability.
Mental Disability Law Program Format
Designed to provide students with a convenient, flexible, and supportive learning environment, the program is delivered in a distinct, user-friendly distance learning format. The majority of course content is completed online, where students have access to a virtual community of fellow students.
Taught by experienced, distinguished scholars and practitioners, each 14-week course includes weekly recorded lectures, reading assignments, synchronous classes in a virtual classroom via chat sessions where students and faculty meet in real time, and asynchronous threaded question-and-answer discussions through message boards.
Each course also requires students to attend 2 daylong weekend seminars, held live at New York Law School, where students meet with professors to discuss topics addressed during the course and to emphasize skills training. There is typically a short take-home midterm and a take-home final exam in each course. In addition, students have personalized e-mail access to the program's faculty and staff throughout each course.