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Duke University School of Law

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Duke University School of Law
File:Dukelawshield.gif
TypePrivate
Established1868 as Trinity College School of Law, 1930 as Duke University School of Law[1]
Postgraduates640
Location
Durham
,
North Carolina
,
USA
Websitewww.law.duke.edu
Built in 1929, the Languages Building was the home of Duke Law from 1930 to 1962

The Duke University School of Law is the law school and a constituent academic unit of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law began as the Trinity College School of Law in 1868. In 1930, following the renaming of Trinity College to Duke University in 1924, the school was renamed the Duke University School of Law. The School features programs in Business, Comparative and International Law, Environmental Law, and Intellectual Property, among others.

The School has approximately 640 J.D. students and 75 students in the LL.M. and S.J.D. programs. Admission to Duke Law is highly selective, with fewer than 21% of applicants accepted. In 2006, the incoming class posted a median LSAT score of 168 and a median GPA of 3.78. On average, 95% of students are employed at graduation, with a median salary of $125,000. Over 400 law firms annually offer positions to Duke Law students.

The current Dean of the School of Law is David F. Levi, immediate past Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Dean Levi assumed the deanship from outgoing Dean Katharine T. Bartlett on on July 1, 2007.[2][3]

The School offers joint-degree programs with the Duke University Graduate School, the Duke Divinity School, Fuqua School of Business, the Medical School, the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, and the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. Approximately 25% of students are enrolled in joint-degree programs.

Currently, U.S. News & World Report ranks Duke Law as the 10th most prestigious law school in the United States (2008 ranking).

History

In 1855 Trinity College, the precursor to Duke University, began offering lectures on Constitutional and International Law. In 1865, the law department was officially founded, and in 1868, the School of Law was officially chartered. After a ten year hiatus from 1894 to 1904, James B. Duke and Benjamin Newton Duke provided the endowment to reopen the school, with Samuel Fox Mordecai as its senior professor. When Trinity College became part of the newly-created Duke University with the establishment of the Duke Endowment in 1924, the School of Law continued under the auspices of the Duke University School of Law. In 1930, the School moved from the Carr Building on East Campus to its location on the main quad of West Campus. During the three years preceding this move, the size of the law library tripled in size. Among other well-known alumni, President Richard Nixon graduated from the school in 1937. In 1963, the school moved to its present location on Science Drive.

Facilities

The present location of the Duke University School of Law, on Science Drive

The Law School was originally housed in what is now the Languages Building, built in 1929 on Duke's west campus quad. It is presently located at the corner of Science Drive and Towerview Road and was constructed in the mid-1960s.

The first addition to the Law School was completed in 1994, and a polished granite facade was added to the rear exterior of the building, enclosing an interior courtyard.

In 2004, Duke Law School broke ground on a building construction project that, once complete, will offer larger and more technologically advanced classrooms, expanded community areas and eating facilities, and more study options.

The Trinity College School of Law was located in the Carr Building prior to its renaming in 1930

Law Journals at Duke

Duke Law School publishes eight academic journals or law reviews. They include the Duke Law Journal, Law & Contemporary Problems, the Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum, the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law, the Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, the Duke Law & Technology Review, the Alaska Law Review, and the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy. Law & Contemporary Problems is the oldest of Duke's law journals.

The Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy is the newest law journal at the School, and was founded by members of the Class of 2006. Professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Christopher H. Schroeder serve as the constitutional law journal's faculty advisors, positioning it as one of the most preeminent journals at the school and in the field of constitutional law. Duke publishes the Alaska Law Review in a special agreement with the state of Alaska, which has no law school.

The Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy (DJGLP) is the preeminent journal for its subject matter in the world. In January 2007, DJGLP published "Makeup, Identity Performance & Discrimination," the largest issue ever published by any journal at the Law School. In May 2007, DJGLP published "Gender, Sexuality & the Military," the second largest issue ever published by the Law School.

The Law School provides free online access to all of its academic journals, including the complete text of each journal issue dating back to January 1996 in a fully searchable HTML format and in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF). New issues are posted on the web simultaneously with print publication.

In 2005, the Law School was featured in the June 6th unveiling of the Open Access Law Program, an initiative of Creative Commons, for its work in pioneering open access to legal scholarship.

Template:Duke University campus

Notable faculty


Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ [1], Timeline of Duke Law. Acecssed November 12th, 2007.
  2. ^ James Andrew Courter, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Acecssed September 6, 2007.
File:Dukelawmag fall2006.jpg
Duke Law Magazine, Fall 2006
File:Dukelawmag spring2006.jpg
Duke Law Magazine, Spring 2006

Official Website

Centers

Programs

Publications

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