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DISABILITY LAW AND POLICY PROGRAM
College of Law | Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-1030
Arlene S. Kanter, Director - kantera@law.syr.edu

The Program

The College of Law Disability Law and Policy Program offers students the opportunity to gain experience and expertise in the practice of disability law while still in law school. The Program sponsors courses, clinics and externships, student research opportunities, and co-curricular activities.

The Disability Law and Policy Program is part of the new Syracuse University Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies, which is an expansion of the Center on Human Policy. As such, the new Center a network of academic programs, centers, student organizations, and affiliated faculty whose research, teaching, and advocacy seeks to promote the rights of people with disabilities locally, nationally, and globally, and to facilitate a critical examination of disability as an aspect of diversity in society.

Students come to Syracuse University’s College of Law with a variety of backgrounds, careers, and interests. One of the unique features of the Disability Law and Policy Program is the opportunity for students with interdisciplinary interests take courses and conduct research in other graduate programs of Syracuse University including the highly respected Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the School of Education, the School of Social Work, and the College for Human Development.

Courses, Clinics and Externships: 

  • Joint Degree Programs
    • J.D./M.S.Ed. with a concentration in Disability Studies 
    • J.D./M.S.Ed. 
    • J.D./M.S.W.
  • Certificate Program in Disability Law and Policy
  • Courses in Disability Law and Policy
  • The Disability Rights Advocacy Law Clinic (formerly Public Interest Law Firm) represents clients and client groups in disability-related cases. This clinic also collaborates with the other academic programs on disability-related projects. 
  • Academic year and summer Externship Programs provides students with experience in the area of disability law and policy.
  • Opportunities for students to publish articles relating to disability law and policy in legal and publications in other fields.

Research and Advocacy Initiatives: 

  • Research projects that examine the impact of laws and policies on the full participation of people with disabilities in their local communities and the larger society, nationally and internationally. 
  • Preparation of materials for judges, lawyers, and legislators on laws and policies that address the rights of people with disabilities in the U.S. and abroad. 
  • Address requests for research and legislative analyses from foreign, federal, and state government agencies, legislative committees, and organizations within the U.S. and abroad. 
  • Sponsor conferences for U.S. and international lawyers and policy makers on domestic and international developments in disability laws and policies.

Co-Curricular Activities: 

  • Co-sponsor speakers on disability related topics.
  • Co-sponsor monthly brown bag lunch series. 
  • Co-sponsor students to attend and present at conferences related to legal and educational issues that affect people with disabilities. 
  • Encourage and sponsor students to work in pro bono positions related to disability law and policy. 
  • Co-sponsor annual job information sessions for students interested in disability-related employment with the Office of Career Services. 
  • Developing an international exchange program for law students and legal scholars and policymakers.

Certificate Program in Disability Law and Policy

The Disability Law and Policy Certificate Program recognizes students who have taken a concentration of courses in the new and expanding field of disability law and policy. This certificate program attracts students interested in a career in disability law as well as students with experience or interest in disability and related areas of law such as civil rights law, children’s rights, labor and employment law, and international human rights.

Obtaining the Certificate 

Students interested in obtaining the Certificate in Disability Law and Policy should apply at the beginning of the applicant’s last semester of law school. Students must complete the application form and attach an unofficial transcript as well as a copy of their paper satisfying the writing requirement. Students who have met all the requirements and are in good academic standing at the College of Law will be granted the Certificate.

Program Requirements 

Students must complete the three required courses:

  1. Disability Law (3 credits) 
  2. Advanced Applied Disability Law (3 credits)
  3. Disability Rights Advocacy Law Clinic (12 credits) or Externship (at a placement that provides experience in disability law; 4 credits for the summer externship and 8 to 10 credits for the academic year externship)

Students must also take one disability-related graduate course (3 credits) outside of the College of Law, subject to approval.

Students must take three COL courses from the list of elective courses (described below).

Students must also complete the College of Law writing requirement on a topic related to disability law (for information on the College of Law writing requirement, see Academic Rule 11.A.3 (B) in the Handbook of Academic Rules). Some of the required and elective courses meet the College of Law writing requirement. 

Disability Law and Policy Courses Offered by the College of Law

Recent courses in Disability Law and Policy at the College of Law at Syracuse University include:

LAW763 Disability Law
This class deals with federal laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities, with particular emphasis on the American Disabilities Act of 1990. The goal of this course is to provide a legal, conceptual, and practical understanding of people with disabilities, forms of discrimination that occur on the basis of disability, and the protections against such discrimination that currently exist.

LAW809 Advanced Disability Law & Policy
This is an applied research course. Students select a topic of interest to them and prepare a class presentation and paper on the topic. The topic may pertain to domestic, international, or comparative disability law and policy. The course is open to all students, including those whom have not taken Disability Law. However, some background in disability studies or a related field (e.g. education, social policy) is suggested. This course is open to law students and graduate students, with permission of the instructor. This course meets the COL writing requirement.

LAW896 Education Law Seminar
This seminar will introduce students to legal and policy issues that arise in the provision of public and private elementary, secondary, and higher education. The seminar seeks to provide students with an understanding of the role of education in society, and the role of law in the provision of education. The course will cover such topics as gender equality, affirmative action and diversity, special education and inclusion, public school desegregation, federal and state roles in public education, the use of public funds for private/parochial education, public school choice and school vouchers, the right and responsibilities of students, and the rights and responsibilities of teachers and administrators. Guest speakers from the field of education will join the class and some students will have the opportunity to work on administrative hearings for clients as part of a class assignment. This course is open to law students and graduate students, with permission of the instructor. This course meets the COL writing requirement.

LAW923 Disability Rights Advocacy Law Clinic 
The Disability Rights Advocacy Law Clinic is dedicated to providing representation to individuals and groups in our community who are unable to secure representation elsewhere. One reason DRC clients are unable to find other lawyers to represent them, is because of their lack of financial resources. In our community, as elsewhere, the vast majority of lawyers provide legal assistance only to those who can afford to pay for their services. Furthermore, in recent years federal funding, the major source of funding for legal services for people with low or no income, has been reduced dramatically. A second reason DRC clients are unable to find lawyers elsewhere relates to the types of cases they may have which may involve controversial issues or conflicts of interest for other lawyers. DRC student attorneys practice in federal and state courts, and before administrative agencies in a broad range of civil rights matters, including race, gender, age and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, prisoners rights, immigration, accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and employment matters.

LAW917 Public Interest Externship (Disability Related)
The Public Interest Externship Program provides law students the opportunity to assist public interest lawyers in our local offices of Legal Services of Central New York, Hiscock Legal Aid, and the Legal Aid Society of Rochester, and, most recently, the Office of the Public Defender. The Public Interest Externship is unique in offering students the opportunity to work with experienced public interest lawyers on a range of civil and criminal cases while also providing much-needed legal assistance to members of our local low-income community.

Proposed College of Law Courses

There are many Disability Studies courses under consideration at the College of Law. They include:

  • Education Law 
  • International Human Rights and Comparative Disability Law (for 2006-2007) 
  • Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies Research Course

Elective Courses
 
As indicated previously, students are required to take at least three courses from this list. Courses are included on this list because they cover disability-related topics within the subject areas (e.g., Bioethics, General Counsel, International Human Rights), because students may satisfy their writing requirement by writing a paper on a disability-related topic in the class (e.g. Capital Punishment, Advanced Family Issues, Regulatory Law and Policy) or because the course provides training in skills relevant to the practice of disability law (e.g. Lawyer as Negotiator, Professional Writing).

LAW702 Administrative Law
Nature and function of the administrative process; procedural constraints on administrative investigation, adjudication, and rule making; judicial review of agency action.

LAW705 Comparative Law
Comparative approach to the law, stressing purposes and methods of comparative study; classification of legal systems, a historical introduction to civil law, and selected topics in civil law.

LAW707 Health Law
Law as it affects the professionals and institutions that deliver health care in the United States. Primarily will address four major concerns: quality of health care, cost of health care, equitable access to health care, and respect for the patient.

LAW709 Poverty Law
Surveys significant issues in poverty law and policy. Looks at poverty, poverty programs, and access to the civil justice system. Against the background of historic change in law and policy, students examine issues from differing legal, political, and social philosophies. Students examine the changing nature of poverty law practice. Specific areas of study include the nature of poverty, the history of access to justice, the constitution in the welfare state, and substantive topics such as access to a subsistence income, shelter, health care, nutrition, safety, and a prosperous future.

LAW715 Decedent’s Estates and Trusts
Law governing interstate succession; execution and revocation of wills; inter vivos will substitutes; the creation, nature, and revocation of trusts; fiduciary administration.

LAW721 Federal Courts
Essential functions of federal courts; relationships between federal courts and the other branches of the federal government, the states, and the individual.

LAW724 Bioethics/Genetics and the Law
This is an interdisciplinary analysis of ethical and legal problems that arise at the intersection of the medical and legal professions. Topics include the history of the American medical profession, ethical theory, procreative autonomy, distribution and allocation of medical services, death and dying, organ transplants, and the values and interests that inform the decision-making process on these matters. In alternating years this course will be co-taught by professors from the medical school and law school and additional topics of study may include assisted reproductive technologies, genetic discrimination and enhancement, and cloning.

LAW728 International Law
Provides an introduction to public international law, the system of norms, rules, institutions and procedures that regulates the interaction between states and between states and individuals, including the UN Charter. Besides studying the basic building blocks of the system and the forces that are leading either to its breakdown or its transformation (or both), students engage in a seven-week simulation in group negotiation, research and drafting of multilateral treaties to resolve some contemporary transnational problems. Use of the World Wide Web is integrated into the course.

LAW734 Mediation in Family Law
This course is an intensive theoretical and practical introduction to mediation in family law. Focusing on the law and jurisprudence of mediation, and the roles of attorneys in mediation, as both mediators and counselors, the syllabus also draws upon interdisciplinary insights from the fields of anthropology, sociology, linguistics, psychology, and conflict resolution. It is intended to be a theoretical and analytical class with a strong skills component, consisting of three simulations.

LAW730 Labor Law
Organization and representation of employees; union collective action; collective bargaining, including the administration and enforcement of collective agreements.

LAW733 Law and Market Economy
A basic introduction to understanding the form and structure of legal argument in a market context. The course will explore the basic terms and methods of economics that are relevant to understanding the ideas of competition, exchange, and transfer in a market context. Discussion of the relationship between law and markets will focus on the formulation of public policy. Students will study the practical implications, for law and legal institutions, of economic assumptions and conceptions. The course will explore the relationship between efficiency, externalities, the tragedy of the commons, the Coase theorem, transaction costs, public choice, game theory, cost/benefit analysis, and path dependency, among others, to create patterns of argument capable of strategically advancing particular substantive objectives.

LAW744 Lawyering Skills: Family Law
This skills course will take students through a complex family law case. Students will draft pleadings, prepare interrogatories, prepare experts for trial, etc. The skills emphasized will be pretrial preparation and settlement strategies rather than trial advocacy. Family Law is a prerequisite.

LAW756 Lawyering Skills: Basic
Attorney-client relationship, including interviewing, counseling and negotiation; preparation of pleadings and other legal papers; and local practice and discovery procedures.

LAW770 Family Law
State regulation of family relations; family autonomy; marital and non-marital contracts; adoption. Issues in divorce, separation agreements, spousal and child support, property division, and child custody.

LAW772 Alternate Dispute Resolution
An introduction to the spectrum of processes other than courtroom litigation that are available for resolving disputes. This includes such "pure" processes as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration and such "hybrid" processes as the Mini-Trial and the Summary Jury Trial.

LAW777 Elder Law
This course will address ethical issues related to the competency assessment of elder clients. Income maintenance, including Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and other public and private pensions as well as Medicare and Medicaid, will be considered. Guardianship, long-term care, and estate planning will be considered as well. Additional topics may include employment discrimination, housing, health care decision making, and elder abuse.

LAW778 International Human Rights Law
Provides an apparatus for analyzing the major social, legal and political changes occurring everywhere from St. Petersburg to Soweto and from Managua to Manila, for critiquing governmental policies that precipitate and respond to them, for understanding the conceptual underpinnings of the human rights system, and for acquiring the tools to conduct legal and political advocacy of human rights. A major research paper and oral presentation are required.

LAW782 Jurisprudence of Human Rights
Conflicting views of the legal decision-making process and the role of rights in that process, impact of judicial decisions, views of social scientists, and human rights in the international sphere.

LAW784 Employment Discrimination Law
Discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, age, and disability; consideration of constitutional, statutory, and other remedies; and safety and health in the workplace.

LAW786 Lawyer as Negotiator
A study of negotiation and the lawyer's role in the negotiating process, ethical problems in negotiation, negotiation skills taught through simulated negotiations.

LAW787 Children and the Law
Parent-child, child-state relationships. Education, health, welfare, child abuse, juvenile delinquency, and representation of children will be covered in this course.

LAW788 Immigration Law
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, exclusion and deportation, and nonimmigrant status.

LAW789 Race and the Law
This course explores the historical foundations of selected current issues where race has legal significance. It is not a comprehensive civil rights course. Half of the course will consist of a historical survey of the intersection of race and law in what has become the United States, from 1600 to 1954. The course will focus primarily on the legal condition of African Americans, first in the slave societies that prevailed until 1865, then in the condition of servitude that followed for another century. The course will also briefly consider the legal experience of Spanish-speaking peoples in what was successively colonial Mexico and then Texas and the rest of the southwestern United States, will note problems faced by Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the United States, will look briefly at the racial implications of American empire, and will consider the constitutional status of the Native American peoples. The emphasis in this part of the course will be on a survey designed to familiarize students with historical experiences seldom taught, and never integrated, in high school and college. The second half of the course focuses on problems that arose after 1954. These include the incidence of the death penalty; affirmative action; the desegregation, integration, and resegregation of American schools; voting rights; law-enforcement issues; and others. The course will also concern, almost exclusively, the legal opportunities and challenges facing African Americans. The focus of our work will be on answers to these questions: Is Brown v. Board of Education (1954) still the law of the land? To the extent that it isn't, what has supplanted it, and what resemblance (if any) does that post-Brown society bear to the nation surveyed in the first half of the course?

LAW794 Regulatory Law and Policy
An advanced exploration of regulatory decision making, focusing on the reasons for and methods used in implementing regulation; how policy and politics impact on regulatory decisions and relate to the legal authority of agencies; case studies of regulatory programs, their successes, and failures. Course requirements include one or more research papers that will meet the College of Law writing requirement. Administrative Law or Public Administration and Law are prerequisites for this course. This one-semester course is a J.D./M.P.A. program requirement.

LAW805 Advanced Family Issues
This is a one-semester advanced family law course that provides applied learning opportunities for students. Students will study topics in greater depth and with more skills training than is possible in the survey Family Law course. Typically, the course includes interdisciplinary and ethical issues. Topics have included the use of experts in child custody evaluations, domestic violence, the evaluation of professional practice goodwill and licenses for equitable distribution and taxation. Skills that are emphasized are family law research and writing, client interviewing, and negotiation. This course will meet the writing requirement.

LAW811 General Counsel
This applied learning course is designed to expose students to a number of areas of practice that are common for house counsel. Students will work individually and in teams and undertake simulations in litigation management, agreement negotiation and drafting, employment problems, and intellectual property practice. Students will learn how lawyers handle complex problems in such diverse areas and may conduct research, draft agreements and file memoranda, conduct interviews, and negotiate to resolve the issues found in practical exercises that will be the backbone of the course. This course will meet the College of Law writing requirement.

LAW890 Advanced Constitutional Law
The course surveys the development of the First Amendment in the twentieth century. Roughly a third of the course is devoted to the religion clauses, which prohibit establishment and guarantee free exercise. The remainder considers the free speech clause, with some notice of press and assembly issues as well.

LAW959 Advanced Legal Research
Advanced Legal Research expands upon the foundation of research skills acquired in the first year. The course addresses effective research methods and strategies, examines the structural and theoretical underpinnings of traditional and automated research systems, and explores specialized areas of research such as legislative history, administrative law and non-legal resources. Students will have ample opportunities to refine research techniques through "hands on" practice sessions in the law library

LAW972 International, Foreign, and Comparative Law Research Topics
The purpose of this course is to offer students a working knowledge of legal bibliography and research methods, both in traditional print sources and in electronic formats, for conducting research in the laws of foreign countries, international law and comparative law.

Joint Degrees

In Spring 2003, Syracuse University introduced the nation’s first joint degree in law and disability studies. The J.D./M.S.Ed. with a concentration in Disability Studies from the Cultural Foundations of Education program at the School of Education is a unique program that offers students the opportunity to obtain both a law degree and a masters in education in just three years. Similarly, the J.D./M.S.W., from the School of Social Work of the College of Human Services and Health Professions, allows students to obtain a law degree and a masters degree in social work in three years.

Why Choose the SU COL Disability Law Program?--Interviews with Disability Law and Policy Program Students

Having run the gauntlet of the legal and educational systems as a lay person/parent of a disabled child, I knew that I wanted work within the two systems and advocate for change, where change was needed. As a dual degree student in these areas I get the training of both sides to the equation- the legal side and the educational side. I will graduate with two degrees and the knowledge of how both systems work. Not only will I enter a career in the legal field, but I’ll be able to be a part of a fairly new and ground-breaking field: Disability Law. The allure of being an integral part of this history and helping to build the future is an opportunity that only exists in Syracuse.

Lesley Owens-Pelton
J.D./M.S. Ed in Disability Studies Candidate, 2006


I am pursuing a joint degree in Law/CFE to deepen my understanding of the challenges people with disabilities face in law, public policy, and society. The joint degree will allow me to fight for social equality and promote progress in our communities for people with disabilities. Peaceful communities can only be achieved if equality and opportunity is available to everyone.

Nate Kuzma
J.D./M.S.Ed in Disability Studies Candidate, 2006

The law/disability studies joint degree program assists in preparing me for a career in disability rights and advocacy. The experience of taking classes with many of the experts in these fields is invaluable.

Crystal Doody, J.D.
J.D./M.S.Ed. in Disability Studies, 2005

I chose Syracuse University because it is the only university in the country that offers a joint degree in law and disability studies. I believe it is fundamental to the practice of working with people with disabilities to understand the issues and ideologies surrounding the disability rights movement such as the inclusion of people with disabilities in all levels of society as well as the barriers to inclusion that people with disabilities face. My goal is that my dual degree will allow me to advocate for people with disabilities, as well as empower people with disabilities to be their own advocates, through legal, political and social means.

Julie Morse, J.D.
J.D./M.S.Ed. in Disability Studies, 2005

Career Advising and Future Roles

Law students who graduate with a J.D./M.S.Ed. joint degree or a Certificate in Disability Law and Policy are prepared to play leadership roles in such settings as: 

  • Civil rights and children’s rights organizations
  • Community service agencies 
  • Federal, state and local government agencies 
  • International human rights and non-governmental organizations 
  • Labor organizations 
  • Law firms and public interest law offices 
  • National policy or advocacy organizations 
  • School districts

The Disability Law and Policy Program offers career advising to all students interested in pursuing careers in disability law and policy and maintains A Guide to Disability Rights Legal Jobs which contains information about government agencies and non-profit organizations, fellowship opportunities, internships and a listing of many attorneys who specialize in disability rights law. The Guide is available through the Disability Law and Policy Program as well as Career Services. It is updated continuously as new information in this fast-growing field becomes available. For more information on the Guide, contact Rebecca Russo.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The College of Law is committed to the inclusion of students with disabilities in all aspects of law school life and is committed to providing accommodations to these students.

The College of Law believes that the promise of diversity within the law school community requires the inclusion of students with disabilities. The "multiplicity of voices" exchanging intellectual ideas from various backgrounds, perspectives and experiences enables students to develop valuable insights about themselves and others.

Over the last decade, the number of students with disabilities attending universities or colleges has increased significantly. As a postsecondary institution, the College of Law is committed to ensuring equal access to its programs and facilities.

Services for students with disabilities at Syracuse University are provided through the Office of Disability Services. It is the responsibility of the student to initiate the process of accessing services from the appropriate sources as early as possible, preferably prior to the beginning of the academic term.

Once the student has contacted the Office of Disability Services, the student should then make an appointment with Keith Sealing, Associate Dean of Student Services at the College of Law, to discuss the procedures for implementing the appropriate accommodations within the College of Law.

For students who wish to visit the College of Law and need accommodations, please contact the Admissions Office. 

Quick Links for Potential Students

Resources on Disability Studies and Disability Law and Policy at Syracuse University

This is a listing of resources available on Disability Studies and Disability Law and Policy, including publications and SU organizations, programs & centers affiliated with the Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies. 


© 2006 Syracuse University
http://disabilitystudies.syr.edu