CUNY School of Law’s Part-Time Evening J.D. program is designed for students who are balancing work, family, or other daytime commitments. This four-year program offers the same rigorous legal education and commitment to public interest law as the full-time program, with a curriculum specifically structured to meet the needs of evening students. 

Classes are held in the evenings, typically Monday through Thursday, to accommodate the schedules of working professionals and caregivers. The program includes: 

  • Core First-Year Courses offered exclusively in the evening, including Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Legal Writing, and Lawyering Seminars. 
  • A carefully sequenced curriculum that allows students to fulfill all required doctrinal and skills-based courses in the evening. 
  • Experiential Learning Opportunities, including clinics and practice-based programs in the upper years, with flexible scheduling options. 
  • Upper-Level Electives in areas such as constitutional law, public interest lawyering, immigration, and human rights. 
  • A minimum of 89 credits, along with completion of CUNY Law’s Pro Bono and New York State Bar admission requirements. 

The Part-Time Evening program is committed to making legal education accessible without compromising academic rigor or CUNY Law’s social justice mission. 

Major Requirements Overall

Type: Completion requirement

Earn a minimum GPA of 2.5

Earn at least 86 credits

Successful participation in a clinic

Passing grades in all required courses

Required First-Year Courses

Required Courses 

1L Fall Semester  1L Spring Semester  
Criminal Law  Contracts 
Lawyering Seminar I  Lawyering Seminar IIA 
Liberty, Equality, and Due Process  Legal Research 

 

1L Summer Session 
Lawyering Seminar IIB 
Torts 

 

Required Second-Year Courses

Required Courses

2L Fall Semester  2L Spring Semester  
Critical Race Theory  Lawyering Seminar III 
Civil Procedure  Constitutional Structures 
Evidence (LAPI)  Property  

Required Third-Year Courses, Clinic & Upper-Level Elective Courses

Required 3L Courses 

Clinic 

  • LAW 738 – Professional Responsibility 
  • LAW 7251 – Public Institutions 

 

Upper-Level Elective Courses  

Students must complete at least 4 of the following courses* 

  • LAW 723 – Real Estate Transactions 
  • LAW 745 – First Amendment 
  • LAW 751 – Wills and Trusts 
  • LAW 780 – Criminal Procedure: Investigation 
  • LAW 811 – Criminal Procedure: Adjudication 
  • LAW 7161 – Law and Family Relations 
  • LAW 7261 – Federal Courts 
  • LAW 7531 – New York Practice 
  • LAW 7554 – UCC: Survey 
  • LAW 7572 – Business Associations 
  • LAW 7893 – New York Domestic Relations Law 
  • LAW 72923 – Advanced Evidence 

Students must also complete LAW 779: The Mastery and Application of Core Doctrine* 

* Part-time students with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher by the end of their fourth semester may opt out of the bar elective requirement and take a sufficient number of additional elective credits to satisfy graduation requirements.  Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher at the end of their penultimate semester may opt out of The Mastery and Application of Core Doctrine requirement. CUNY School of Law does not round GPAs up or down for this opt-out.  

Bar Electives

Type: Completion requirement

Earn at least 8 credits from the following:

Earn at least 8 credits
All students must take at least four courses that the Academic Dean deems “Bar Elective” courses.

Additional Comments:
Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher at the end of their third semester (fourth semester for part-time students) may opt out of this requirement. Currently, the following courses are considered bar electives: Advanced Evidence, Applied Legal Analysis, Core Doctrine, Business Associations, Criminal Procedure I, Criminal Procedure II, New York Domestic Relations Law, Federal Courts, First Amendment, New York Practice, (for students matriculating before Fall 2015), Real Estate Transactions, UCC Survey, and Wills and Trusts.