Health Law Curriculum

The health law curriculum is highly interdisciplinary and considers issues from ethical, legal, social, and public policy perspectives. Students can begin their coursework in the health law curriculum during their first year by choosing Perspectives in Law & Biomedicine as a spring semester elective. Second and third-year students can choose from a variety of specialized health law courses:

• Bioethics & the Law
• Bioethics Research and Writing Seminar 
• Biotechnology Law & Policy
• Civil Law & Psychiatry
• Civil Rights Litigation: Reproductive Rights & the 1st Amendment
• Criminal Law & Psychiatry
• Disability Law
• Employment Discrimination
• Food, Drug & Biotechnology Law 
• Genetics and the Law
• Health Care Advanced Research Seminar
• Health Care & Human Rights 
• Health Care Controversies
• Health Care Organizations & Finance 
• Health Care Professions
• Health Care Transactions
• Health Law
• Health Law Advanced Research Seminar
• Health Law Clinic
• Health Matrix Notes Seminar
• Medical Malpractice Seminar
• Perspectives on Law & Biomedicine
• Public Health Law Seminar
• Reproductive Law & Ethics Seminar
• Research Law & Ethics
• Scientific Evidence

Students can also draw from a number of related courses within the broader law school curriculum:

• Administrative Law                                
• Torts Theory 
• Antitrust Law
• Business Associations
• Constitutional Law II
• Evidence
• Insurance
• Intellectual Property
• Legislation
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Patent Law
• Products Liability
• Science Seminar
• Social Science and Law
• Pretrial Practice-Medical Malpractice
• Trial Tactics
• Worker's Compensation

Students are also encouraged to take advantage of the outstanding resources of the university community by taking courses taught by the faculties of medicine, management, and social sciences, and by professionals from Cleveland's nationally ranked health care organizations:

• Aging in American Society (Sociology)
• Aging Policy and Service Delivery (Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences-MSASS)
• Altruism in Bioethics (School of Med)
• Anthropology of Health & Illness (Anthropology)
• Bioethics in the Netherlands & the U.S. (School of Med)
• Child and Family Policy and Service Delivery (MSASS)
• Comparative Medical Systems (Anthropology)
• Consumerism in Medicine (School of Med)
• Death and Dying (Anthropology)
• Diversity, Discrimination and Oppression (MSASS)
• Ethics and Professionalism for Nonprofit Leaders (Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations)
• Ethical Issues in Genetics/Genomics (School of Med)
• Ethical Issues in Social Work Practice (MSASS)
• Ethics, Law and Epidemiology (School of Med)
• Health Care Information Systems (Weatherhead School of Management)
• Health Care Marketing (Weatherhead)
• Health Disparities (School of Med)
• Health Economics & Strategy (Weatherhead)
• Health Finance (Weatherhead)
• Health Policy and Management Decisions (Weatherhead)
• Health Policy and Service Delivery (MSASS)
• Human Development over the Life Span (MSASS)
• Innovations, Markets, and Organizaion in Pharmaceutical Industry (Weatherhead)
• International Health Research Ethics (School of Med)
• Introduction to International Health (Anthropology)
• Introduction to Public Health Ethics (School of Med)
• Issues in Health Systems Management (Weatherhead)
• Philosophical Issues in Genetics (Philosophy)
• Political and Social Philosophy (Philosophy)
• Social Policy (MSASS)
• Special Topics in Bioethics (School of Med)

Our program can accommodate the interests of students who wish to focus on health law, or even a subspecialty within health law. Subspecialties include corporate health law, medical malpractice, health care regulation, health care law and policy, and law and bioethics.

Students can fulfill their law school writing requirement by participating in supervised health law research. Working closely with one of our faculty, second- and third-year students earn credit for a research project, which must meet certain standards of scholarship.

The Health Law Concentration
Students who are prepared to devote substantial effort to the study of health law can receive recognition through our concentration program. This program provides coherence and guidance in course selection and encourages and recognizes academic achievement in health law. Students who make a commitment to the concentration take a core course (Business Associations, Evidence, or Administrative Law), Health Law, and at least nine credit hours from designated eligible courses in the health law curriculum. In order to assure that the health law concentration is a meaningful credential, students must maintain at least a B average in all courses defined by the concentration and earn a B+ on a supervised research project. Students receive Honors for a B+ or better average in all courses defined by the concentration.

LL.M. Students
Foreign lawyers pursuing a Master of Laws degree at Case School of Law through the LL.M. program in U.S. and Global Legal Studies may also pursue a Concentration Certificate in Health Law.

Dual Degree Programs
We offer several dual degree programs that allow full-time students to combine their legal education, leading to a J.D. degree, with other studies, leading to a second graduate degree. Applicants apply separately to both the law school and the second degree-granting school. Most dual degree programs are completed in four years.

JD/MA (Bioethics)
The Department of Bioethics at the Case School of Medicine offers an M.A. in Bioethics, which focuses on the ethical, cultural, and policy dimensions of health care, technology, and the life sciences. The M.A. program emphasizes the interdisciplinary and interprofessional nature of the field, and includes a significant clinical component.

JD/MPH (Public Health)
Offered by the Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies at Case, the M.P.H. degree provides students with the broad base of knowledge and skills necessary for the field of public health. Students have opportunities to apply what they learn to community health problems.

JD/MD (Medicine)
This six-year program allows students to study at Case School of Medicine, one of the finest in the country. Participants may begin their studies at the law or medical school, and complete two years at the host school before continuing study at the other school.

JD/MS (Biochemistry)
The School of Medicine offers an M.S. program in biochemistry designed to provide students with knowledge of the latest advancements in biochemistry and related fields.

JD/MSSA (Social Work)
Consistently ranked as one of the top ten schools of social work in the country, the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences offers a combination of extensive field education and academic study at a major university. Students may choose from a variety of curricular concentrations, including a Health Concentration and a Mental Health Concentration.

JD/MBA (Management)
Students may pursue either a concentration or a Certificate in Health Systems Management (CHSM). The CHSM program consists of a 15-credit hour sequence of courses and executive seminars, of which nine credit hours may be counted toward the M.B.A. degree from Weatherhead School of Management. A student in the M.B.A. program who takes two courses above and beyond what is required of the HSM concentration (9 hours) will have both a certificate and an M.B.A. upon graduation.

JD/MNO (Nonprofit Management)
The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations is a university-wide academic center sponsored by four graduate schools: the School of Law, the Weatherhead School of Management, the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and the College of Arts and Sciences. The M.N.O. is a rigorous professional degree, designed for managers and leaders in health and human services, fine and performing arts, cultural, educational, community development, religious, environmental, and other nonprofit organizations. The M.N.O. curriculum covers financial, human resource, and marketing management, entrepreneurship, and research and analysis methods with a focus on nonprofit organizations. In addition, the M.N.O. curriculum includes special areas of study such as nonprofit law, ethics, and the historical and social science context of the nonprofit sector.

JD/CNM (Certificate of Nonprofit Management)
Designed for law students who intend to represent nonprofit organizations or work as executives of human or health service organizations, the C.N.M. offers knowledge of management methods and operations in nonprofit organizations. Students must take the Law of Nonprofit Organizations towards fulfillment of the 15 Mandel Center credit hours necessary for the certificate.