Notre Dame Law School

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Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame coat of arms.png
Parent school University of Notre Dame
Established 1869
School type Private
Parent endowment $9.8 billion
Dean Nell J. Newton
Location Notre Dame, IN, U.S.
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Enrollment 520 (2014) [1]
Faculty 97[2]
USNWR ranking 22 (2015)[2]
Bar pass rate 88.11% (2013)[3]
Website law.nd.edu

The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869,[4] [5] NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News & World Report.[2] NDLS is ranked 16th by Business Insider's Best Law Schools in America.[6] Ranked 8 in federal judicial clerkships by US News.[7] Notre Dame Law ranks 17th in graduates attaining Supreme Court clerkships in recent years.[8]

According to Notre Dame's 2014 ABA-required disclosures, 78.7% of the Class of 2014 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[9]

It offers the only American Bar Association-approved year-long study abroad program, which is based in London.[10]

History

Beginnings

The Notre Dame Law School opened in February 1869 and was the first Catholic institution of its kind. Despite its humble beginning, right from the start the Law School required law students to have completed previous education in a thorough course in the liberal arts. This was not common at the time, when Law School applicants only had to be 18. The first faculty consisted of only four professors, with the most prominent being Lucius Tong and Timothy Howard. The first class graduated in 1871 and consisted of three students.

The reading room of the Kresge Law Library, in Biolchini Hall

"Colonel" Hoynes Era

One of the most important names in the history of the school was "Colonel" William Hoynes. He was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1847 and emigrated with his parents at age 7. He fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, was a student at Notre Dame from 1867 to 1872, and later he went to Brunswick, New Jersey where he was editor of the Daily TImes, and later attended the University of Michigan Law School and obtained hi LL.B . In 1882, Rev Walsh, the then president of the University, invited him to take control of the Law School, who was in demise, which he did in 1883. He taught classes in the Main Administration Building (University of Notre Dame) and in Sorin Hall where a large room permitted him to set up a "Moot Court". The course was extended from two to three years. He was assisted in various subjects by John Ewing and Lucius Hubbard of South Bend. Under his tenure, the enrollment in the law school began to rise immediately. Hoynes Hall, named in honor of Dean William Hoynes, was built in 1920 for the exclusive use of the law students who had been using Sorin Hall. In 1925 John Whitman was appointed by Dean Thomas Konop the first law librarian, as the collection grew up to 7,000 volumes.

File:Law Arch 2.JPG
The Arch connecting Eck (on the left) and Biolchini (on thr right) Halls

20th century

On October 7th 1930 the Law School was transferred to the new building located on Notre Dame Avenue. The beautiful Gothic building, that still stands today, has a large reading room. The second librarian, Lora Lashbrook, and the third, Marie Lawrence, gre the library's collection up to 20,000 volumes by 1952, and 55,000 volumes in 1960. The increase in size of both the library collection and the number of students greatly reduced the available space, but this was balanced by the expansion of the law school funded by a donation by S. S. Kresge, the namesake of the Kresge Law Library. In 1986 a further expansion adds to the East Reading Room and creates the reference librarian offices. In 1990 alumnus John F. Sandner donated the funding for the acquisition of the entire 120,000 volume collection of the Chicago Bar Association Library.

21st century expansions

In 2004, the Kresge Law Library became one of the few academic law libraries to own more than 600,000 volumes. This was accomplished mainly under the tenure of the fifth law librarian, Roger Jacobs, who also served as head librarian of the Library of the United States Supreme Court. Between 2007 and 2008, a major expansion was added as the Eck Hall of Law, with 85.000 square feet of surface. In 2010 Robert Biolchini, alumnus, funded the renovation of the Kresge Law Library, that was renamed Biolchini Hall of Law. The renovated Biolchini Hall has surface of 106,500 square feet (for a total of 192,500 with Eck Hall of Law), two 50-seat class, a seminar room, 29 group study rooms, and hosts 300,000 book volumes and more than 300,000 volumes in microfilm. The total cost of renovations and expansions was approximately 58 million dollars.

Admissions and Rankings

Biolchini Hall in winter

Admission to NDLS is highly selective. For the class entering in the fall of 2015, 200 first-year students matriculated. The median LSAT score for the class entering in 2015 was 164 and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.66.

Notre Dame Law School is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News & World Report.[2] In addition, NDLS is ranked 17th in Above the Law's "Top 50 Law School Rankings" in 2014.[11] The law School is a top 10 runner up for Elite Litigation boutique hiring.[12]

The Law School grants the professional Juris Doctor, Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees. Also the law school's dual-degree programs include 3-year and 4-year J.D./M.B.A. programs[13]

Job Placement

The class of 2014 reported employment in 29 states and the District of Columbia, with 141 out of 179 graduates (78.7%) securing full-time, long-term employment requiring passage of the bar exam within nine months of graduation.[9] The top 3 most popular destinations for graduates in the class of 2014 were Illinois (26), New York (19), and Michigan (14). Furthermore 30.2% of graduates in the class of 2014 found employment in large law firms (100+ attorneys) and 8.0% pursued federal clerkships.[14]

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Notre Dame Law School for the 2015-2016 academic year is $72,322.[15]

Facilities

Notre Dame Law School is centrally located in the heart of Notre Dame's campus. Eck and Biochini Halls, two buildings connected by a suspended walkway, house the Law School. The conjoined buildings were designed by famous American architect Charles Donagh Maginnis and the buildings serve as a prominent example of collegiate Gothic architecture. The Kresge Law Library, is located Biochini Hall, while most of the Class Rooms are in Eck Hall. Funding for the law library was provided by American businessman S.S. Kresge, the founder of what is now Sears Holding Corporation. The two buildings were effectively doubled in a recent, historically-sensitive expansion project (there was no corresponding increase in enrollment). The Law School also hosts a Legal Aid Clinic in South Bend.[16]

File:NDLS Exterior 2.jpg
Former main entrance to Notre Dame Law School; the new Eck Hall of Law opened in 2009.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Law journals

Notre Dame Law School publishes five student-run journals:

References

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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ http://abovethelaw.com/schools/university-of-notre-dame-law/
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ http://www.leiterrankings.com/new/2012_Boutiques.shtml
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ [1][dead link]
  17. ↑ Lucille Davy, Office of the Governor of New Jersey[dead link]. Accessed December 6, 2007.

External links

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