Weekend wonder

Celebrating 10 years, Loyola’s innovative part-time JD program, Weekend JD, institutes a format refresh that will make a law education even more accessible

Alyaman Amer (JD ’19) had a demanding position as a patent agent—a job he wanted to continue as he attended law school part time. Everything pointed him toward an evening program at another law school: Some of his colleagues taught or were students there, and his firm had a strong connection to the school. But Amer thought a weekend program would fit his lifestyle better, so he chose Loyola University Chicago School of Law and in 2016 became part of the first cohort of students in Loyola’s Weekend JD program.

He’s glad he did.

“I think very highly of my Weekend JD experience,” says Amer, now a patent attorney who was recently elected a principal in the Dallas office of Fish & Richardson PC. At Loyola, he was an intellectual property fellow for Professor Cynthia Ho, took advantage of externships and other extracurricular opportunities, and made lifelong friends across the country.

For a decade, the Weekend JD program has helped students like Amer reach their educational goals while they continue their commitments to jobs, families, or both. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall, the Weekend JD is consistently ranked among the best part-time law programs in the U.S. This fall, the program begins a major format change designed to keep a Loyola law education accessible to a wide variety of students—an important part of the law school’s mission since it began offering part-time evening courses in 1908.

Shift to a primarily online program

Loyola’s groundbreaking Weekend JD program, one of the first weekend part-time law programs in the nation, was built on the School of Law’s proven expertise in online learning. Blending two-thirds face-to-face learning on alternate weekends with one-third online study completed on students’ own schedules, the program attracts students from all over the country (and a few from overseas) in their 20s to their 60s. Most students earn their degree in four years, though finishing in 3.5 years is possible with a heightened course load.

In its first 10 years, the program has evolved to meet changing student needs, with many improvements based on student suggestions. For example, “We’ve increased the flexibility in course options,” says Maya Crim, assistant dean for JD admission and scholarships. “Once students have completed their required coursework, they can take elective or specialized synchronous classes in the evenings.”

That tradition of constant innovation continues. Beginning this fall, incoming classes will visit campus four weekends a semester instead of twice a month and will complete approximately 70 percent of their studies online, a change recently approved by the American Bar Association. (Students already in the program will continue in the current format.)

“The Weekend JD program has always connected to our founding, to our history of innovating and making law education more accessible,” says Dean of the School of Law Michèle Alexandre. “Loyola Chicago Law is constantly reviewing and transforming our programs to deepen the educational experience for our students. Our Jesuit founding mandates forward progress, and the new Weekend JD format continues that tradition.”

Samuel D. Brunson is the law school’s associate dean for academic affairs and a professor who has taught in the weekend program for most of its first decade. “Our biggest reason for making the change, which was strongly supported by our faculty, is equity,” he says. “If you’re not a local student, flying to Chicago seven times a semester, getting accommodations, and buying food is expensive. If you have small children or other obligations, it helps to be able to do more from home.

“We could have gone completely online, but our faculty and current students like the sense of community that some in-person interaction creates,” Brunson says. “So we’re balancing the cost savings to students with strong pedagogy and the ability to form an in-person community.”

The law school’s team of instructional designers, who are experienced in a range of teaching modes, will help the Weekend JD faculty smoothly navigate the change to more online content. “There will be a learning curve for us as a law school, but we’re up for catching that curve, seeing where the program excels, and making adjustments where needed,” Brunson says.

Continuing emphasis on supporting students

From the beginning, administrators and faculty have been proactive in ensuring that Weekend JD students are offered extensive resources, academic support, and extracurricular opportunities, just as full-time students receive. Many faculty members offer evening office hours. The ready-to-help team of Mary Daniels, assistant director of the program; T. Jerome Overbeck, S.J., law school chaplain; and Kirsten Salchow, dedicated Weekend JD reference librarian, is available during on-campus weekends, as are career services resources and peer tutoring. Students were always able to join the full-time students’ moot court team, but now there’s one specifically for weekend students, with a Weekend JD mock trial program currently in formation.

Donelly Matus, a pricing manager at parts manufacturer McMaster-Carr, just finished her second year in the Weekend JD program. “The program felt perfect because I was able to get a few years of work experience before law school and didn’t have to compromise my career while I’m a student,” she says. A member of the moot court team, Matus says she appreciates that the team is tailored to a Weekend JD schedule. “We have great coaches and guest judges who accommodate that most of us work and have really odd schedules,” she says.

The school continually rolls out new opportunities for Weekend JD students. For instance, Daniels and the career services office are piloting an optional Friday afternoon initiative that takes Weekend JD students off campus to network and explore career options. “Many Weekend JD students are the first in their families to go to law school,” Daniels says, “and we thought it would be a great idea to connect them to Loyola law alums and friends who are willing to open their offices and provide a bird’s-eye view of their law specialties.” She describes the first program, recently hosted by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, as “a phenomenal success.”

Alumni help power the program

Loyola alumni are invaluable to the program’s strength. “It’s been great to see the alumni who come back and want to specifically support the weekend program,” says Gina Gerardi, assistant dean for student services and Weekend JD. “They love the program and want to do what they can for it.”

Some alumni serve as guest speakers, host students as part of the new career exploration initiative, coach the moot court team, or work as adjunct professors.

Perhaps the most important way alumni support the program is through positive word of mouth. “I’ve made it a point to become an advocate for the Weekend JD,” says Amer. “It’s fairly common for people in the patent world to do law school part time, and whenever I hear someone is interested in getting a law degree, I always encourage them to think about doing it at Loyola.

“There are a lot of copycat programs that followed Loyola’s, and that’s great—having options is a good thing,” he says. “But my pitch for Loyola is that we’ve been doing it the longest and we’re doing it in a great city.”  –Gail Mansfield (July 2026)