New England School of Law
| New England Law | |
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| Motto | Jus et Auctoritas |
| Established | 1908 |
| School type | Private |
| Endowment | US$40.5 million |
| Dean | John F. O'Brien |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Enrollment | 1,077 |
| Faculty | 157 |
| Bar pass rate | 77.03% |
| Website | www.nesl.edu |
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New England Law | Boston (also known as NESL or New England Law and formerly known as the New England School of Law) is a private law school located in the Boston Theater District of Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1908 as a law school for women.
According to NESL's 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 40.6% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.
The Portia School of Law started informally in 1908 when Arthur W. MacLean (1880-1943), a graduate of the Boston University School of Law and a professor at Suffolk University Law School, agreed to tutor two young women who were studying for the Massachusetts bar examination. At the time, few options were available to women seeking a legal education in New England. Soon afterwards, MacLean rented space at 88 Tremont Street, began admitting students, and took on a second faculty member, A. Chesley York. MacLean's wife, Bertha, named the school after the character Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In the play, Portia disguises herself as a male lawyer and eloquently pleads her client's case in the famous "quality of mercy" speech. The Portia School of Law was the only law school in the country exclusively for women.
The school was incorporated in 1918. By this time it had 91 students. The following year, the Massachusetts legislature granted the school the power to confer the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), and the school was reincorporated as the Portia Law School. In 1920 the school awarded its first LL.B degrees to 39 women. The school was one of the few that offered part-time enrollment, enabling working-class women to pursue their studies while supporting themselves.
In 1920, the school outgrew its space on Tremont Street and moved to a townhouse at 45 Mt. Vernon Street on Beacon Hill. The Portia Law School was granted the authority to confer the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in 1926; five graduates were awarded the LL.M. the following year.
The Portia Law School was integrated from its earliest days. Blanche E. Braxton, who graduated in 1921, became the first African-American woman admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1923. Another Portia graduate, Dorothy Crockett, became the first African-American woman admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1932. The former site of the Portia Law School at 45 Mount Vernon Street is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
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