David A. Clarke School of Law

David A. Clarke School of Law
Motto Practice Law. Promote Justice. Change Lives.
Parent school University of the District of Columbia
Established 1986[1]
School type Public
Dean Katherine S. Broderick[2]
Location Washington, D.C., U.S.
Enrollment 366[3]
Faculty 47[3]
USNWR ranking Rank Not Published[4]
Bar pass rate 55.6% [3]
Website http://www.law.udc.edu/

The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (also known as UDC-DCSL and UDC Law) is the District of Columbia's public law school. Located near the Van Ness – UDC Metro station in Washington, D.C., 366 students were enrolled at the school for the 2012-2013 academic year[3]

According to UDC Law's 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 57.5% of the Class of 2013 obtained JD-required or advantage employment nine months after graduation.[5]

History

UDC Law was established as the District of Columbia School of Law after Antioch University decided to close its law school.[1] The Antioch School of Law was a Washington, D.C. school established in 1972 by Jean Camper Cahn and Edgar S. Cahn, a married inter-racial couple dedicated to improving legal services for poor people.[6]

Eager to retain the Antioch School of Law's mission, curriculum, clinical programs, and personnel for the benefit of the city, in 1986 Antioch School of Law students, alumni and local legal and civic leaders mounted a successful grassroots campaign to persuade the Council of the District of Columbia to pass legislation that re-established the school as the District of Columbia School of Law (DCSL).[7] The Council of the District of Columbia later passed legislation merging the School of Law with the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.[1] In 1998 President Clinton signed legislation renaming the School after former D.C. Council Chair David A. Clarke, a civil rights leader, former Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia and long-time advocate for the law school and its mission.[1]

The District of Columbia School of Law was awarded provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1991, while the David A. Clarke School of Law was awarded provisional accreditation shortly after its renaming in 1998.[1] It was awarded full accreditation by a unanimous vote of the ABA House of Delegates on August 8, 2005.[1]

Mission

The David A. Clarke School of Law has carried on the original mission of The Antioch School of Law. DCSL's original mission was:

  1. To recruit and enroll students from groups underrepresented at the bar,
  2. Provide a well-rounded theoretical and practical legal education that will enable students to be effective and ethical advocates, and
  3. To represent the legal needs of low-income residents through the school's legal clinics.[1]

Academics

Curriculum

UDC Law requires more hands-on work in a clinical setting - on real cases on behalf of low-income people and the public interest - than any other U.S. law school. The school requires full-time first year students to take courses on Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Law & Justice, Lawyering Process, and Torts.[8] Upper-division full-time students are required to take clinical courses and courses on Constitutional Law, Evidence, Moot Court, Professional Responsibility, and Property.[8]

Degrees offered

UDC Law students can earn their J.D. in three years as full-time students or in four years as part-time students.[9] The school also offers a two-year LL.M. program with concentrations in Clinical Education, Social Justice, and Systems Change.[10]

Faculty

The school had 18 full-time faculty as of Fall 2013 and a student-faculty ratio of 13.27 to 1.[3]

Experiential learning

Each first-year UDC Law student provides a minimum of 40 hours of community service with a DC non-profit or government agency as part of the Law and Justice course. After completion of the first year, all UDC Law students are eligible for a paid Summer Public Interest Fellowship. UDC Law also has an Externshihp Program, allowing students to earn academic credit for closely supervised law-related work done in conjunction with the School of Law's Externship Course. In addition, UDC Law has a service-learning program that facilitates law student, staff and faculty service at family detention centers in Texas and elsewhere.

However, the heart of UDC Law's experiential program are its legal clinics, and all upper-division students to take two clinical classes.[11]

The school offers the following clinics:[11]

U.S. News & World Report ranked UDC Law 6th for clinical training in its 2017 ranking of ABA-accredited law schools.[4][12]

Student life

UDC Law enrolled 366 students for the 2012-2013 academic year including 330 students pursuing a J.D.[3] 57.3% of UDC Law's JD student were enrolled full-time.[3] 51.8% of J.D. students were racial minorities and 57.9% were female.[3]

UDC Law students can participate in more than 20 groups.[13]

Admissions

UDC Law had a 34.8% acceptance rate in 2013 with the school receiving 983 applications.[3] The school's matriculation rate was 29% with 99 of the 342 admits enrolling.[3]

The median LSAT score for students enrolling in UDC in 2013 was 149 (40th percentile)[14] and the median GPA was 3.07.[3]

Employment

ABA Employment Summary for 2013 Graduates[15]
Employment Status Percentage
Employed - Bar Passage Required
  
 32.5%
Employed - J.D. Advantage
  
 25%
Employed - Professional Position
  
 10%
Employed - Non-Professional Position
  
 5%
Employed - Undeterminable
  
 0.0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time
  
 1.25%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred
  
 0.0%
Unemployed - Not Seeking
  
 1.25%
Unemployed - Seeking
  
 15%
Employment Status Unknown
  
 10%
Total of 80 Graduates

According to the school's official 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 78.3% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-advantage employment nine months after graduation. 13 of the 97 were employed as judicial clerks. An equal number were either unemployed or their status was unknown.

Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland were the top employment locations for 2016 graduates.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at UDC Law for the 2017-2018 academic year is estimated to be $44,306 for full-time students who are D.C. residents and $56,320 for full-time students who are non-residents.[16]

The average annual increase in tuition and fees for DC residents at UDC Law for the past five years has been 9%.[17]

The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $159,633.[17]

Ranking

UDC Law's rank was not published in the 2014 edition of U.S. News & World Report's annual law school rankings,[4] indicating that the school ranked below the publication's cutoff.[18]

Notable alumni

Federal government

State government

Judiciary

Academia

Arts

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "School of Law History". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Welcome from the Dean". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "University of the District of Columbia - 2013 Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "University of the District of Columbia (Clarke)". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Employment Summary for 2013 Graduates" (PDF). University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Fowler, Glenn. "Jean Camper Cahn Is Dead at 55; Early Backer of Legal Aid to Poor". New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Antioch Law School Gains". New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Full-time J.D. Program Curriculum". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Part-time J.D. Program Curriculum". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Master of Laws (LL.M.) Program". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Introduction to the Clinical Program". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "UDC Law 2016 Graduate Employment Statistics" (PDF).
  13. ↑ "Student Organizations". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "LSAT Percentiles Table". Cambridge LSAT. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "Employment Summary for 2013 Graduates" (PDF).
  16. ↑ "Cost of Attendance and Student Need". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  17. 1 2 "University of The District of Columbia Profile: Costs". Law School Transparency. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions: 2015 Best Graduate Schools Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Jon B. Wellinghoff". Stoel Rives. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "Thelma Buchholdt". Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  21. ↑ "Keiffer Jackson Mitchell, Jr.". Maryland House of Delegates. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  22. ↑ "Penfield Tate III's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  23. ↑ "Thomas L. Kilbride, Supreme Court Justice Third District". Illinois Courts. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  24. ↑ "Michael D. Wilson, '79 Nominated for Hawaii Supreme Court". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  25. ↑ "Andrea Lyon, '76 Appointed Dean of Valparaiso Law". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  26. ↑ "Joyce E. McConnell". West Virginia University. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Aviva Kempner - Biography". San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 14 July 2014.


Coordinates: 38°56′37″N 77°03′48″W / 38.9435°N 77.0633°W / 38.9435; -77.0633

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