University of Chicago Law School facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The University of Chicago Law School
Parent school	University of Chicago
Established	1902; 123 years ago (1902)
School type	Private law school
Parent endowment	$11.6 billion
Dean	Thomas J. Miles
Location	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Enrollment	626 (2021)
Faculty	183 (2021)
USNWR ranking	3rd (2023)
Bar pass rate	97.9% (2020)

The University of Chicago Law School is a famous law school that is part of the University of Chicago. It is a private research university located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has over 180 full-time and part-time teachers. More than 600 students study there to become lawyers. They can earn different types of law degrees, like the Juris Doctor (J.D.). The school also offers advanced degrees for those who want to study law even more deeply.

The law school first started in Stuart Hall, a beautiful old building. Since 1959, it has been in a modern building designed by Eero Saarinen. This building has been made bigger and updated several times. It was last renovated in 2008, keeping its original design.

Many important people have taught at the law school. These include Cass Sunstein and Richard Epstein, who are very famous legal thinkers. Even U.S. President Barack Obama taught there. Several U.S. Supreme Court justices, like Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, and Elena Kagan, were also teachers at the school.

Discovering the Law School's Story

How the Law School Began

View of the University of Chicago from the Midway Plaisance

When the University of Chicago was founded in 1892, its president, William Rainey Harper, wanted to create a law school. He hoped it would help make the government better. Harper believed that democracy needed strong leaders.

He asked for advice from many experts. One professor suggested the school should train students to be "leaders of the bar" and "wise reformers." Another thought the school should focus on how law affects society. A legal scholar named Ernst Freund suggested teaching law with other subjects, like history and political science. Harper agreed that law should be studied with a broad view of human society.

In 1901, Harper announced the law school would open the next year. He got help from Harvard Law School. Its dean allowed Professor Joseph Henry Beale to be the first dean in Chicago. Harvard wanted Chicago to have similar high standards. Harper hired Freund, bringing in his idea of mixing law with other subjects.

Opening and Early Years

On October 1, 1902, the law school opened its doors. It was in the University Press Building. John D. Rockefeller paid for the building. President Theodore Roosevelt even helped lay the first stone in 1903.

When it opened, there were 78 students, including two women. The school offered courses in basic law topics like contracts and criminal law. It also had elective courses in areas like international law. The University of Chicago Law School was one of the first to offer the J.D. degree. It was also one of only five law schools that required students to have a college degree before applying. Its library quickly grew to 18,000 law books.

President Theodore Roosevelt laying the cornerstone for the law school on April 2, 1903.

The law school quickly became successful. It connected with experts in other fields like economics and psychology. It also worked with lawyers from Chicago, who taught practical courses. The school's academic quality was seen as equal to Harvard's.

In 1904, the law school moved to Stuart Hall. That same year, Sophonisba Breckinridge became the first woman to graduate from the law school. This was a big step, as other top law schools had not yet had a female graduate. She noted that the law school treated men and women equally.

The school saw changes before and after World War I. Enrollment dropped during the war. In 1920, Earl B. Dickerson became the first African-American to graduate. The school's Black Law Students Association is named after him. By 1926, student numbers reached 500. The longest-serving dean, James Parker Hall, passed away in 1928.

Growing with New Ideas and Edward Levi's Leadership

The law school, depicted on a postcard from the 1910s

In the 1930s, new dean Harry A. Bigelow continued the idea of mixing law with other subjects. He added classes in accounting, economics, and psychology. The school's teaching was shaped by the growing "law and economics" movement. This idea looks at how economic principles apply to law.

The first issue of the University of Chicago Law Review was published in 1933. The school also started a legal writing program in 1938. Like during World War I, student numbers went down during World War II.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the law school grew a lot under Dean Edward Hirsch Levi. In 1951, Karl Llewellyn and Soia Mentschikoff joined the faculty. Mentschikoff was the first woman to teach at the school. Other important scholars like Walter J. Blum and Bernard D. Meltzer also taught there.

From 1953 to 1955, Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens taught at the school. In 1959, the law school moved to its current building. This building was designed by Eero Saarinen. Levi later became the president of the University of Chicago. He then became the United States Attorney General for President Gerald Ford.

The Late 20th Century: Famous Scholars and New Programs

By the 1970s and 1980s, the "law and economics" movement brought many smart scholars to the school. These included Nobel Prize winners Ronald Coase and Gary Becker. Other famous scholars like Richard A. Posner and William M. Landes also joined.

Nobel laureate Ronald Coase taught at the law school from 1964 to 2013

The law school also created programs where students could earn two degrees at once. For example, they could combine law with public policy or economics. In 1982, the Federalist Society was started by students from this law school, along with students from Harvard and Yale.

Many scholars who later became leaders in their fields started their careers here. Richard A. Epstein, a very influential legal thinker, joined in 1973. Geoffrey R. Stone, a top expert on the First Amendment, also joined that year. Cass Sunstein, known as one of the most cited legal scholars, taught here for 27 years.

Former U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia was a professor from 1977 to 1982. His future colleague, Elena Kagan, also began her career at the law school. The 44th President of the U.S., Barack Obama, taught constitutional law at the school from 1992 to 2004.

Learning at the Law School

The law school has over 200 full-time and part-time teachers. About 600 students are working towards their J.D. degree. The school also offers advanced law degrees like the Master of Laws (LL.M.). Students can even combine their law degree with other subjects, like business or public policy.

Professors at the law school often use the Socratic Method to teach. This means they ask students questions without warning. They present made-up situations and keep asking questions. This helps students think deeply and understand the material better. The school has a low number of students per teacher, which helps with this teaching style.

The D'Angelo Law Library

Laird Bell Quadrangle fountain in front of the D'Angelo Law Library

The D'Angelo Law Library is a big part of the University of Chicago's library system. It was updated in 2006. The library has a large reading room and is open many hours a week. It has study spaces for about 500 people. There is also a wireless network and computers for students.

The library holds over 700,000 books and other materials. About 6,000 new items are added every year. It has materials in over 25 languages. It also contains laws from many different countries and international groups.

Getting In and What It Costs

Getting into the J.D. program is very competitive. In 2021, 6,514 people applied, but only 175 students were accepted. This means only about 12% of applicants got in. Students who got in for the class of 2024 had very high test scores (LSAT) and grades (GPA).

Admission to the LL.M. program is also competitive. In 2020, about 1,000 people applied for only 80 spots.

The total cost to attend the law school for the 2017–18 school year was about $93,414. This includes tuition, fees, and living expenses.

How Grades Work

The law school uses a special grading system. Grades are given on a scale from 155 to 186. For classes with more than 10 students, the average grade is set at 177. This system helps keep grades fair.

Students can graduate "with honors" if their average is 179. "With high honors" means an average of 180.5. "With highest honors" is for an average of 182, which is very rare. Usually, only one student every few years achieves this. The top 10% of students in their class are also honored.

Life After Graduation: Jobs and Careers

The law school is known for its excellent job outcomes. In 2018, it was ranked first in the U.S. for overall employment. It was also ranked second for best career prospects by Forbes.

Most graduates find full-time, long-term jobs within ten months of finishing school. For the class of 2019, 98.5% found such jobs. The average starting salary for graduates in 2019 was $190,000. Many graduates (50.2%) got jobs at large law firms. The school also has a very high pass rate for the Bar exam, which lawyers must pass to practice.

Working for Judges: Judicial Clerkships

Many University of Chicago Law School graduates work as clerks for federal judges. In 2023, the school had the third-highest percentage of recent graduates doing this. It is also one of the top schools for placing alumni in Supreme Court of the United States clerkships. These are highly sought-after positions.

Between 1992 and 2017, 88 alumni worked as clerks for the Supreme Court. In the 2021-2022 term, nine different Chicago alumni clerked for nine different Supreme Court justices.

Top Rankings

The law school is always ranked among the top law schools in the U.S. and the world. It is part of the "T14," a group of consistently high-ranking U.S. law schools. Here are some recent rankings:

• Third best law school in the world (third in the U.S.) in 2020 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
• Fourth in the world (second in the U.S.) in 2021 by Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
• Third in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report in 2022 and 2023.
• First in the U.S. for best professors and best for federal clerkships by the Princeton Review in 2023.
• Third in the U.S. for best classroom experience by the Princeton Review in 2023.

Publications and Student Groups

Academic Papers

The law school publishes several series of academic papers. These papers share new research and ideas in law. Some series focus on housing law, law and economics, and public law.

Student Organizations

There are about 60 student-run groups at the law school. These groups are part of the Law Students Association. The school is home to one of the three founding chapters of the Federalist Society. This group promotes conservative legal ideas. It also has a large chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, which promotes progressive legal ideas.

The Law School's Buildings

The Laird Bell Quadrangle. Eero Saarinen designed the present law school building, opened 1959.

The law school first started in Stuart Hall, a Gothic-style building. In 1959, it moved to its current building. This modern building was designed by Eero Saarinen. It has classrooms, the D'Angelo Law Library, and faculty offices. These are all arranged around a central fountain, like the older buildings on campus.

The new building's opening was a big event. Important people like Chief Justice Earl Warren and the Secretary-General of the United Nations visited.

The building was expanded in 1987 to add more office and library space. In 1998, a special area for the law school's clinics was built. The library, classrooms, and offices were renovated in 2008. This renovation carefully kept most of Saarinen's original design.

Leaders of the Law School: Deans

Famous Teachers

The law school has had many famous teachers. These include:

• The 44th U.S. President Barack Obama.
• Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, and Elena Kagan.
• Leading thinkers in law like Karl Llewellyn and Cass Sunstein.
• Kyoto Prize winner Martha Nussbaum.
• Federal judges like Frank H. Easterbrook and Diane P. Wood.
• Highly cited legal scholars like Richard A. Posner and Richard A. Epstein.

Notable Graduates

The law school has many distinguished graduates. They have become leaders in many fields. These include judges, government officials, business leaders, and academics. Some have even won major awards like the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Pulitzer Prize.

In the legal world, graduates include:

• Lord Thomas, a top judge in England and Wales.
• Shimon Agranat, a former President of the Supreme Court of Israel.
• Many federal appellate judges in the U.S., like Douglas H. Ginsburg and Frank H. Easterbrook.

In government and politics, notable alumni include:

• Former Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Edward H. Levi.
• James Comey, a former director of the FBI.
• Harold L. Ickes, a key figure in the New Deal era.
• Current U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar.
• Liz Cheney, a U.S. Representative.

In higher education, graduates have become:

• The current president of Princeton University, Christopher L. Eisgruber.
• Deans of other major law schools, like Larry Kramer at Stanford.

In business, famous alumni include:

• David Rubenstein, a billionaire and founder of the Carlyle Group.
• Adam Silver, the current commissioner of the NBA.
• Katherine L. Adams, the general counsel of Apple Inc..

Other notable alumni include:

• Carol Moseley Braun, the first female African-American U.S. senator.
• Earl B. Dickerson, a civil rights attorney.
• Sophonisba Breckinridge, the first woman to graduate from the law school.