| Gonzaga University School of Law | |
| Motto | Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam |
|---|---|
| Established | 1912 |
| School type | Private |
| Dean | Jane B. Korn, Effective July 1, 2011 |
| Location | Spokane, Washington, USA |
| Enrollment | 557[1] |
| Faculty | 69[1] |
| USNWR ranking | 121 |
| Bar pass rate | 79.89%[1] |
| Annual tuition | $29,397[1] |
| Website | www.law.gonzaga.edu |
| ABA profile | Gonzaga University School of Law Profile |
The Gonzaga University School of Law (also known as Gonzaga Law or GU Law) is one of the professional graduate schools of Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, USA. Established in 1912, the law school is viewed as a strong institution in the Pacific Northwest, and is the only law school in the State of Washington outside of the Seattle metropolitan area. The school is a private, Jesuit institution, fully accredited by the American Bar Association, and a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Gonzaga Law has also received national recognition as supporting one of the most innovative law school curricula in the U.S.[2] Gonzaga Law was ranked the 58th best law school in the U.S., according to the U.S. News & World Report 2011 survey of highly regarded American law firms, included in U.S. News' 2012 edition of the book "Best Graduate Schools."[3]
The current Gonzaga University School of Law building was completed in May 2000, and is situated on the Spokane River on the southern edge of the Gonzaga University campus, and also contains the large Chastek Law Library. The school's location in Spokane, the largest city in the Inland Northwest, allows students to take advantage of internships with private firms, and government and not-for-profit agencies, along with opportunities with both federal and state judges, as Spokane is home to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
Contents |
Gonzaga University was established in 1887, and by 1912, the leadership of the University desired the creation of a law school program. Founded on the motto “A First Class Law School, or None at All,” Gonzaga University School of Law opened its doors on October 1, 1912. Two classrooms on the third floor of the Administration Building were provided for the law school. The school’s first dean was Edward J. Cannon. In June 1915, Gonzaga University School of Law graduated its first law class of 13 students.[4]
During the first half of the 20th century, the law school continued to expand its enrollment and curriculum, and by the 1960s, the school had outgrown its facilities. Gonzaga University President Father John Leary, S.J., acquired a nearby vacant grade school in July 1962 for the law school. The former Webster School was originally built in 1901, was the victim of a fire in 1945, and was subsequently restored as a trade school. The former Webster School would house the law school for the next thirty-eight years.[4]
In the 1970s, the law school experienced explosive growth, and the law school building underwent several renovations. By the 1990s, the law school occupied the old Webster school along with several adjacent buildings. Under Dean John Clute, fundraising was begun to build a new law school building. The class of 2000 was the last to graduate from the old law building. In late May 2000, the new Gonzaga University School of Law building, located on the banks of the Spokane River, opened its doors.[4] The new building is 104,000 square feet (9,700 m2), and was completed at a cost of $18.5 million.
In 2010, the school received 1,924 applications, enrolling 183 students in the 1L class.[5] The median GPA was 3.36 and the median LSAT score was 155 (67th percentile).[6]
Students from outside of the state of Washington comprised 58 percent of the entering class, and 1L students hailed from 28 states, two Canadian provinces, and 99 undergraduate colleges and universities.[7] Underrepresented ethnic minorities comprised 14 percent of the 1L class.[8]
The U.S. News & World Report law school rankings placed Gonzaga Law in the top 100 law schools in the U.S. in 2009, in the third tier of schools in 2010, and 121st in 2011, with the legal research and writing program ranked 12th nationally.[9][10]
Gonzaga Law is ranked the 58th best law school in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s new survey of highly regarded law firms nationwide.[11] The rankings, “When Lawyers Do The Grading,” was developed to indicate where top law firms like to recruit. The report reflects the opinions of recruiters and hiring partners at 750 law firms surveyed, and is based solely on the results of a fall 2010 reputation survey asking respondents to rate the academic quality of each law school on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5); strong (4); good (3); adequate (2); and marginal (1). Anyone unfamiliar with a school was asked to select “don’t know.” To be included, a law school had to be fully accredited by the American Bar Association and have received a minimum number of responses.[12]
In 2009, the National Jurist ranked Gonzaga Law among the 65 best value law schools in the U.S.[13]
46.9% of the Class of 2009 were known to be working for law firms in the private sector nine months after graduation. [14] 9.3% of the Class of 2009 were either unemployed or had an unknown employment status nine months after graduation. [15]. These employment statistics are self-reported and not audited by an independent third party. [16]
The average Class of 2009 graduate had $100,092 of student loan debt. [17]
The law school offers the traditional Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree along with joint J.D./MBA, J.D./Master of Accountancy, and J.D./Master of Social Work degrees.
J.D. students are able to select from three concentrations during their second and third years of study or continue a generalized course of study. These concentrations include Public Interest Law, Business Law, and Environmental/Natural Resources Law.
An optional program in the law school is the International Law study abroad program in Florence, Italy, known as the Florence Summer Law Program. This program affords students the ability to live in Italy on Gonzaga University's Florence campus for a summer, participate in a legal course of study, and travel to various sites in Europe.
Students are also permitted to attend other ABA-approved law schools for a semester or longer if an area of legal study is not available at Gonzaga University.
Under the new curriculum, the first-year program contains six separate doctrinal courses totaling 22 credit hours, including four credit hours of Legal Research & Writing, and four credit hours split evenly between two new Skills and Professionalism Labs.
The six doctrinal courses include Civil Procedure, Contracts, Property, Torts, Criminal Law, and a new course titled Perspectives on the Law. The latter has been added to the fall semester, while the three-credit Criminal Law course has been moved from its traditional place in the fall semester to spring.
The most significant change in the first-year program is the addition of two new Skills and Professionalism Labs. These labs are bundled with two doctrinal courses each semester, and focus on skill sets needed in two broad areas of practice, and emphasize the professional values and habits that provide a foundation for the ethical practice of law.
During fall semester of the first year, students take a two-credit Skills and Professionalism Lab that uses the rules of Civil Procedure and the substantive law of Torts to teach them the skills they will need to be litigators.
During spring semester, students take a two-credit Skills and Professionalism Lab that uses the substantive law of Contracts and Property to teach them the skills they will need to be transactional lawyers.
The most significant change in the second-year curriculum is the expansion and revision of the two Legal Research & Writing classes. LR&W III and IV are reconstituted to build upon not only what students learned in their first-year LR&W classes (which has always been the practice), but also upon what they have covered in their two Skills and Professionalism Labs.
Following on the first-year fall semester Skills and Professionalism Lab, LR&W III focuses on the research and writing skills lawyers need for a litigation practice. In the spring semester of the second year, LR&W IV follows the transactional Skills and Professionalism Lab by taking students through assignments that require the production of a variety of transactional documents (e.g., letters of intent, contracts, wills or trusts, etc.).
The only change in the third-year curriculum is a new requirement that all students earn at least three credits in either the school's clinic or its externship program. The impetus behind this change is to assure that each student graduates with some experience in applying their classroom knowledge and simulated skill set in an actual law practice setting.[18]
The law school is recognized in the Pacific Northwest for the Gonzaga Center for Law and Justice, a not-for-profit University Legal Assistance clinical program. Clinic students represent clients who are residents of the Spokane area, require legal representation, and who are without the means to hire a traditional lawyer. The structure of the Clinic is modeled after a large law firm, and the Clinic specializes in family law, elder law, civil rights, disability rights, and criminal defense. Students control their own case loads, and represent clients in court under the supervision of law school faculty, and with limited licenses to practice law.
The clinical programs available include:
The law school currently publishes two legal journals:
The law school has produced prominent alumni, including three of the nine current Washington Supreme Court justices, both U.S. Attorneys for Washington's two U.S. district courts, and the Governor of Washington Christine Gregoire (current as of 2009). Alumni also include former congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives, a number of U.S. federal judges, and state attorneys general and state supreme court justices in several states. Michael R. Addams is currently a student.
|
||||||||||||||