As a comprehensive and mindful redesign of the law school’s current evening programming, the Three-Year Evening JD program emerged from years of listening to the experiences of part-time evening students and asking how Quinnipiac Law could better support their goals, said Dean Brian Gallini.  

“What makes Quinnipiac uniquely positioned to offer this program is that we are large enough to innovate yet personal enough to know our students well,” Gallini said. “One of the clearest messages we heard from part-time students was not that law school was too demanding. Rather, students told us that balancing law school with careers, families, military service and other responsibilities became especially challenging when they could not confidently plan what came next. They wanted greater predictability, clearer sequencing and a more intentional path from enrollment to graduation.”

The Three-Year Evening JD Program responds directly to that feedback, he said.

“It provides a structured academic roadmap, enhanced advising, dedicated program leadership and integrated bar preparation. The result is a program designed not simply to deliver legal education, but to help students navigate the entire journey from law school admission through bar licensure and professional success,” Gallini said.

Providing a predictable sequence of courses, a thoughtful mix of evening in-person and online instruction, dedicated faculty leadership, experiential opportunities and integrated bar preparation, evening students earn the same accredited Juris Doctor degree as full-time students, learn from experienced faculty and have access to the full range of academic, career and student-support resources available throughout the law school.

“One of the things I am most proud of is that this redesign grew directly from conversations with students, alumni, faculty, staff, admissions professionals and university leadership,” Gallini said. “The central question was not, ‘How do we help students finish law school faster?’ The central question was, ‘How do we create a clearer and more supported path to becoming a lawyer?’ The Three-Year Evening JD Program is our answer to that question.”

Law professor and Three-Year Evening JD Program Director Jenny Levine is dedicated to building community and connecting students with key resources and opportunities for success, including academic support, career development, course selection advice and targeted student programming.

Together with Kevin Barry, associate dean for student success, Levine said the Three-Year Evening JD Program is uniquely designed for students balancing law school with professional and personal commitments, providing them with a clear and supported pathway from enrollment to graduation and licensure.

Current evening student Maria Volonte JD ’27 worked with her peers to provide feedback which helped shape the Three-Year Evening JD Program. She said adding built-in bar prep support is a critical element of the new program’s design, together with its bolstered support across curriculum, advising and professional development.

By providing proactive resources during the final year of the program to strengthen students’ readiness for the exam, Volonte said initiating early structured bar prep for evening students could make the definitive difference between passing and needing a retake. The Connecticut bar exam is held twice a year on the last consecutive Tuesday and Wednesday of February and July.

“Although it is possible to pass the exam while also working full-time, this type of study experience greatly disadvantages students. Many are left without the possibility to leave their jobs during the summer and have no choice but to take on both tasks at once,” Volonte said.

Joan Metzler, associate dean of admissions and financial aid, said traditionally, part-time students have had to step away from their jobs or other commitments during bar study, often losing income or upending their lives at the exact moment they're trying to finish what they started.

“By integrating bar preparation into the program itself, we're able to alleviate that stressor and give students a realistic, structured path to licensure without asking them to sacrifice their livelihood right at the finish line,” said Metzler.

The Three-Year Evening JD Program is expected to attract a wide range of applicants who can’t commit to a traditional law school program, she said.  

“We expect this program to resonate with anyone who has always wanted to pursue a law degree but hasn't been able to step away from significant daytime commitments to do so, as well as those who simply don't want their legal education to take four years,” Metzler said.

Prospective candidates may include working professionals such as paralegals and legal support staff looking to advance into practicing attorneys, career-changers in fields like compliance, human resources, law enforcement and insurance and military service members and veterans. It will also attract parents and caregivers managing family responsibilities and anyone else whose day-to-day obligations, or simply their timeline, have made a traditional evening program feel less appealing, Metzler said.

“What unites these candidates isn’t a single career path. It’s a shared desire for a program that gets them to the bar and into practice without putting their life on hold or asking them to wait longer than necessary to get there,” said Metzler. “Ultimately, this program reflects our belief that a rigorous, high-quality legal education should be accessible to talented students, regardless of their day-to-day.”

In that sense, the redesign is deeply consistent with Quinnipiac Law’s strategic focus on student outcomes, innovation and preparation for the profession, said Gallini.

“At its core, the Three-Year Evening JD Program recognizes that today’s law students are looking for more than flexibility. They are looking for a clear and supported pathway to a legal career. We believe this redesigned program will expand access to legal education while providing students with a stronger connection between law school, bar licensure and professional opportunity,” Gallini said.