The University of New Mexico School of Law could offer courses in Santa Fe as early as next summer as part of a pilot program.
Courses will be open to current law students as well as non-lawyers who are interested in legal education and hold at least a bachelor's degree. Continuing legal education (CLE) courses offerings will also increase.
Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia formed an ad-hoc committee to explore a law school presence in Santa Fe after receiving a request from a group of attorneys that included former governor Toney Anaya, president of Highlands University Board of Regents, Santa Fe attorney Michael Sutin, and retired attorney Fred Rowe, active in the Santa Fe community. Professor of Law Leo Romero chaired the committee.
“A demand for law courses seems to exist in Santa Fe and northern New Mexico, especially to serve the many civil servants working for state, county and local governments,” Scarnecchia said.
Santa Fe Community College may be willing to provide classroom space, she said.
For non-lawyers, a series of courses or curriculum will be developed pertaining to subjects such as public lands law, Indian law, art law or legal history.
Students currently enrolled on the Albuquerque main campus, New Mexico's only law school, could earn up to 15 credit hours in Santa Fe.
Expanding service to the state is a strategic plan goal, Scarnecchia said.
“A pilot program will test the demand and demonstrate our genuine interest in reaching out to the state,” she said. “Now that the faculty has approved the pilot, we still need to investigate the financial viability of the project before we move forward.”
First-year curriculum will be offered only on main campus. Courses taken for non-degree credit cannot be applied to the J.D. degree if the student is later admitted to the law school, in accordance with an American Bar Association requirement.
Contact: Laurie Mellas Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
Posted by scarr at January 12, 2005 03:53 PM