NortheastUniversity Schoolof Law
http://www.northeastern.edu/law/about/history.html
NortheasternUniversity Schoolof Law set the precedent for experiential learning. But we didn’t do it overnight. It took some mavericks and innovators to get the ball rolling. From there, it just took off.
In the latter part of the 19th century, Boston was in need of an evening law program. So we gave it one. It certainly isn’t a concept that would turn heads today. But back when Professor Robert Gray Dodge delivered the school’s first lecture in Property on the evening of October 3, 1898, the idea was revolutionary. That wasn’t the only one. The school was founded on the notion that a law school could and should respond to the needs of local community — a maverick educational idea at the time.
Despite having an enrollment of more than 2,400 in the mid-1920s and anchoring the formation of Northeastern University, by 1956, resources were scarce and we were forced to close our doors. But our graduates fought for a revival. In the 1968-1969 school year, their efforts paid off and the School of Law reopened. In keeping with the tradition of innovation, we made cooperative legal education the cornerstone of our program — a unique approach to educating lawyers that recognizes the interdependency of theory and practice.
Flash forward another 40 years or so and our mission — to fuse theory and practice with ethical and social justice ideals so students understand what lawyers do, how they should do it and the difference they can make in the lives of others — still rings true, louder than ever.
MissionStatement
At Northeastern University School of Law, our mission is to fuse theory and practice with ethical and social justice ideals so that students understand what it is lawyers do, how they should do it and the difference they can make in the lives of others. We strive to produce lawyers who see the practice of law as a way to realize their goals, to find meaning and purpose in life, and to be of service to others in ways that are intellectually satisfying and personally rewarding. We are committed to engaging with the world outside the university, to harnessing our individual and institutional energy to address societal challenges, and to expanding knowledge that advances our ideals through research and scholarship.