University of St. Thomas School of Law

University of St. Thomas School of Law
Motto	Faith, Reason, Community
Established	1999
School type	Private
Dean	Dean Thomas Mengler
Location	Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Enrollment	457
Faculty	103
USNWR ranking	135
Bar pass rate	89.7%
Annual tuition	$34,756
Website	http://www.stthomas.edu/law/

The University of St. Thomas School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) and is one of four law schools in the Twin Cities. It currently enrolls 457 students.

History

After being founded in 1923, the Great Depression and decline after World War I forced its closure in 1933. The School of Law was re-opened in 1999 after a 66-year hiatus, accepting its "first class" of 120 students in fall 2001. David T. Link, dean of Notre Dame Law School for 24 years, was credited as the founding dean in July, 2001. Since 2001, the law school has built a brand new facility, hired new faculty and created mentoring program with Minnesota lawyers and alumni. UST Law has managed a number of achievements in a relatively short life, including:

• Ten different faculty (more than one third of full-time faculty) have published in a Top 25 law review (22 articles) from 2004 to 2009.^{[citation needed]}
• Faculty members consistently win writing awards, including the Warren E. Burger Award, the Law and Society Article Prize, and the John Courtney Murray Award.^{[citation needed]}
• The school was ranked from #1 to #4 for the “Best Quality of Life for Students” by the Princeton Review for five straight years from 2004 to 2009, although it has seen a pattern of decline.^{[citation needed]}
• The School of Law as featured as one of the nation’s top law schools for externships in National Jurist’s October 2010 issue. Because the school requires its students to participate in externships every year, it ranked #1 in the country for having the most externship placements per full-time student based on 2010 ABA data. However, students' feedback indicates that this requirement is a burden on them, especially since they do not choose their mentors.^{[citation needed]}
• The school ranked seventh nationally for the percent of students going into public interest law by National Jurist Magazine in March 2008.
• Attorney mentors provided 3,170 mentor experiences to UST Law students in the 2009-2010 school year, engaging every student and over 450 mentors in one to one mentoring relationships.^{[citation needed]}
• In 2009-2010, students dedicated 15,075 hours to public service as part of the Public Service Requirement.^{[citation needed]}
• UST Law achieved the #1 spot for the percentage of living alumni contributing to annual giving campaigns in the nation for five straight years.^{[citation needed]}
• UST Law has reached the $90 million mark for a fundraising total, allowing them to establish professorships and chairs and provide financial aid for our students.^{[citation needed]}
• UST Law became the second highest ranked law school in Minnesota, behind the University of Minnesota School of Law.^{[citation needed]}

Campus

In July 2003, UST Law moved into their new building in downtown Minneapolis. This new building includes 158,000-square-foot (14,700 m²) building at the corner of 11th Street and Harmon Place. The $34.8 million building includes 11 classrooms, a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m²) law library, a two-story chapel, and a classically designed moot court room.

The School of Law building

Mentor Externship Program

Law students at UST Law participate in a mentor externship program where students are partnered with Minnesota attorneys to experience the law in practice. In 2005, the School of Law’s Mentor Externship Program was awarded the prestigious E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism.

Clinics

• Community Justice Project
• Elder Law Practice Group
• Immigration Law Practice Group
• The Patron Saint of the Legal Services Clinic

Rankings

• St. Thomas Law is ranked 135th overall by U.S. News and World Report.
• Princeton Review's 2009 publication of The Best 174 Law Schools ranked the University of St. Thomas School of Law No. 2 in the nation for "Best Quality of Life" among students. In 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, the law school was ranked No. 1 in this category.
• The March 2008 issue National Jurist Magazine listed the University of St. Thomas School of Law seventh nationally for the percent of students going into public interest law.

Student body profile

The 450-member student body at the UST School of Law represents a wide range of experiences and beliefs. Many students are just a few years removed from undergraduate life, while others have been employed for years prior to beginning their legal careers. Students from across the political spectrum are drawn by the school's unique mission and lively debate is common. The school boasts a 14:1 student to faculty ratio and the atmosphere remains collegial and affirming.

The class of 2011 is made up of 151 students. 44% are female and 56% are male. 11% of the class represented minority students, and 15% of the class held advanced degrees. The median GPA was a 3.39 and the median LSAT score was a 157.

Curriculum

The school is perhaps best known for its emphasis on real world practice and influence. The school offers degrees in the 3 year JD, as well as combined degrees in the JD/MBA, the JD/MA in Catholic studies, public policy, professional psychology, and social work, as well as the JD/MSW. Some of the most popular programs of study include courses in the areas of family and community law, public policy, civil procedure, advocacy, environmental law, international law, as well as human rights law. UST law students are placed at the top firms and companies in the Midwest through the On Campus Interview program and through the extensive mentorship program.

Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy

The Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy is a partnership between the Center for Catholic Studies and the School of Law at the University of St. Thomas. The institute draws from the resources of its two elements, other academic disciplines and other faith traditions.

In the fall semester 2008, the Institute sponsored two public forums, "When Health-Care Providers Say No: The Conflicts Over Conscience" and "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Dialogue on Voting." In the spring semester 2008, the Institute sponsored forums on "The Call to Faithful Citizenship & the 2008 Primary" and "Conversion and Conflict: An Interreligious Discussion of Evangelization."

Holloran Center

The Holloran Center unites leaders from a range of professions who work together to pursue practical solutions and create effective tools in confronting the challenge of creating ethical leaders.

Among other activities, the center hosts an annual national professionals conference, business and law round tables on ethical governance, and Trusted Adviser Seminars, in which servant leaders from the Twin Cities discuss issues with students in the professional schools. The center also has developed two School of Law courses on ethical leadership: Ethical Leadership in Corporate Practice and Ethical Leadership in Litigation, with a further course, Ethical Leadership in Social Justice, to come in the future.

Notable faculty

Downtown Minneapolis Campus

• Robert Delahunty, author of controversial memos under the Bush Administration related to the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the War on Terror
• Thomas Mengler, former dean of the University of Illinois College of Law