William & Mary Law School

Marshall–Wythe School of Law

Seal of the school
Parent school College of William & Mary
Established 1779
School type Public
Dean Davison M. Douglas
Location Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
37°15′55″N 76°42′18″W / 37.26528°N 76.70500°W / 37.26528; -76.70500Coordinates: 37°15′55″N 76°42′18″W / 37.26528°N 76.70500°W / 37.26528; -76.70500
Enrollment 625
Website www.law.wm.edu
ABA profile ABA Profile

The Marshall–Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary, commonly referred to as William & Mary Law School, is the oldest law school in the United States. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, it is a part of the College of William & Mary, the second oldest college and first university in the United States.[1] The Law School maintains an enrollment of about 650 students seeking the juris doctor, the fundamental legal degree in the United States today.

History

William & Mary Law School was founded in 1779 at the impetus of the governor of Virginia Thomas Jefferson, an alumnus of the College, during the reorganization of the originally royal institution, transforming the college of William and Mary into the first University in the United States. At Jefferson's urging, the governing board of visitors of the College established a chair of law and appointed George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, and Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, its first holder. (In the English-speaking world, older law professorships include the chair at Oxford University, first held by William Blackstone, the chair at Edinburgh University's School of Law (1709), and the Regius Chair of Law at Glasgow University).

Statue of Marshall and Wythe at the entrance of the Law School

Before filling the chair of law at William & Mary, Wythe tutored numerous students in the subject, Henry Clay, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe among them. John Marshall, who became Chief Justice of the United States in 1801, received his only formal legal education when he attended Wythe's lectures at the College in 1780. St. George Tucker, who succeeded Wythe as Professor of Law and edited the seminal early American edition of Blackstone's Commentaries, also was one of Wythe's students.

The growth of the Law School was halted abruptly by the beginning of the American Civil War. The start of military campaigns on the Virginia Peninsula compelled the College to close its doors. It would be another sixty years before the historical priority in law could be revived in a modern program that is now nearly ninety years old.

After William & Mary Law School was reopened early in the twentieth century, it was moved around the main campus of the College to several different buildings in succession. In 1980, the School was moved to its current location on the outskirts of Colonial Williamsburg, a short distance from the main campus. The building has been renovated several times since 1980, with the addition of a new wing of classrooms and renovation of older classrooms in 2000, the overhaul of the Henry C. Wolf Law Library, and the construction of a new admission suite.

W. Taylor Reveley III, formerly managing partner of the law firm of Hunton & Williams, was dean of the Law School until he was promoted to President of the College itself in the spring of 2009. Davison Douglas (J.D., Ph.D., M.Phil., M.A., M.A.R.), a nationally renowned legal historian, is the current dean.[2]

The former chancellor of William & Mary, Sandra Day O'Connor, delivered commencement remarks to the graduating class of the Law School in 2006, 2008 and 2010.[3]

Cost of Attendance

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at William & Mary for the 2016-17 academic year is $50,250 for Virginia residents and $59,250 for non-residents.[4] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years, based on data from the 2013-2014 academic year, is $181,746 for residents; the estimated cost for non-residents is $210,696.[5]

Employment

According to William & Mary's official 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 66.3% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required, non-school funded employment nine months after graduation.[6]

William & Mary's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 14.6%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2015 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation, and an additional 4.5% of the class was in school-funded jobs.[7]

Ranking

U.S. News ranked W&M Law as the 33rd overall (14th among publics) in their latest 2016 rankings of the nation's law schools.[8] For the Class of 2019, the median undergraduate GPA was 3.75 and the median LSAT score was 162.[9]

Programs

Notable alumni

Notable faculty members

Law journals

See also

References

  1. "William & Mary - About". Wm.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  2. Whitson, Brian (2009-03-20). "William & Mary - Davison M. Douglas named Dean of William & Mary Law School". Wm.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  3. Peebles, Katie (2010-04-16). "William & Mary Law - O'Connor to Deliver Commencement Address; Will Also Receive Marshall-Wythe Medallion". Law.wm.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  4. "Cost of Law School".
  5. "William and Mary Profile".
  6. "Employment Summary for 2015 Graduates" (PDF).
  7. "William and Mary Profile".
  8. "Best Law School Rankings | Law Program Rankings | US News". Grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  9. "William & Mary Law School - Class of 2019 Profile". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  10. Daniel June (14 May 2013). "June, Daniel, "VA Disability Claims Back Log Could be Alleviated with Law School Pro Bono Clinics "". JD Journal. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  11. "Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck (DLB)". United States District Court. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  12. "John L. Brownlee Partner". Holland & Knight. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  13. "William H. Cabell". National Governors Association. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  14. "Eric Cantor". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  15. "Kilgore, Jerry W.". Our Campaigns. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  16. Virginia Lawyers Weekly, "FELA record of $12M Set In Portsmouth", March 17, 1997.
  17. The Daily Record, Injured Railroad Wins $750,000, case in Railroad-Friendly Western Md. May Set Record, October 27, 1997
  18. Richmond Times Dispatch, from trials to trial lawyer, tenacity helped him persevere, July 24, 2001
  19. "James Murray Mason". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  20. "Haldane Robert Mayer". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  21. "John Thomas Miller Jr.". Troutman Sanders. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  22. "William & Mary Law - Lewis B. Puller, Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic". Law.wm.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  23. "Robert E. Scott". the University of Virginia. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  24. "Henry St. George Tucker". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  25. "WEDDINGS; Jennifer Tosini, Andrew Wexton - New York Times". Nytimes.com. May 27, 2001. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  26. "Susan D. Wigenton". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  27. "Henry C. Wolf '64, J.D. '66 elected Rector of W&M". The College of William & MaryWilliamsburg, VA. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
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