Dean, New England Law/Boston - Association of American Law Schools : Job Details

New England Law/Boston ( an ABA-approved, AALS-member, free-standing law school, seeks a new Dean, who also serves as the school's chief executive officer, reporting to the Board of Trustees. NELB, the only independent law school in Massachusetts, has attracted a national student body, with over 70 percent of its students hailing from outside the Commonwealth.

NELB has long been a pioneer in affording access to premium, practice-ready legal education. Founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, it began as the nation's only law school for women at a time when other schools admitted only men. In 1969, the school changed its name to New England School of Law to coincide with its accreditation by the American Bar Association. NELB joined the Association of American Law Schools in 1998.

Today, it awards the JD and LLM, offering full-time, part-time day, part-time evening, and flexible part-time instruction to 1082 students, with 32 full-time faculty members and more than 100 adjuncts who are leading practitioners, industry leaders, and members of the state and federal bench.

NELB has no debt. With a productive endowment approaching $100 million and outright ownership of four buildings in Boston's Theatre District and Bay Village, NELB enjoys a strong financial posture and an enviable location. The city's top attractions and legal institutions are a short walk away. Faculty and students describe the campus culture as “passionate and compassionate.” NELB is a nimble institution with the flexibility to respond to emerging needs in the legal profession with innovative solutions that support faculty initiative and access to the profession.

The school sponsors The New England Law Review and three Academic Centers (in Business Law, Law and Social Responsibility, and International Law and Policy). NELB graduates can demonstrate their expertise in high-demand law practice specialties by earning a Certificate concurrently with their JD. Current Certificates include Compliance and Risk, Criminal Practice, Immigration Law, Intellectual Property, and Tax.

NELB seeks for its new Dean a prominent, charismatic leader from the legal academy, the legal profession, or the business world, who possesses a big-picture vision of how accessible, practice-ready legal education can better meet the needs of the profession and the communities it serves.

Candidates should demonstrate the ability to promote the strength of NELB's faculty as scholars and teachers and the readiness to sustain and publicize the supportive campus culture they have nurtured. The new Dean will have the opportunity to articulate a market-differentiating identity derived from NELB's heritage, instructional quality, and clinical distinction.

Fluency in budgeting and finance and administrative experience are essential. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to strengthen financial sustainability, facilitate program innovation, and build NELB's capacity to serve a diverse student population. Candidates should have fundraising aptitude and ideas for cultivating high student and alumni institutional affinity.

Search committee review of candidate materials will begin immediately and continue until the appointment. A complete application will include a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, and contact information for five professional references who can speak about the candidate's qualifications for this appointment. Named references will not be contacted without the candidate's prior consent.

Expressions of interest, applications, nominations, and inquiries should be directed to NELB's search consultant, Mr. Chuck O'Boyle of C. V. O'Boyle, LLC, at [email protected].