Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located near Palo Alto, California in Silicon Valley. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law. It employs about 50 faculty and deans, and hosts over 500 students who are working towards their Juris Doctor.
Kathleen Sullivan, the former Dean, remarked at her appointment, "Who could resist a world class law school in paradise?" With beautiful surroundings, a small student body, and a very low student to faculty ratio, the school has an intimate and collegial environment. The academic program is flexible and includes a diverse array of courses and clinics. Students also publish top legal journals, such as the Stanford Law Review.
Stanford Law School is considered one of the most prestigious law schools in the United States. For seven of the last nine years, including the most recent ranking in 2006, US News & World Report has ranked Stanford Law School second in its annual rankings of law schools. In 2005, Stanford Law School's acceptance rate was 7.8%, higher only than that of Yale Law School. Along with Harvard and Yale, Stanford typically places among the top three law schools in the prestige attributed to it by law professors and by lawyers and judges. [1] [2]
Academics and Admissions
As many as 5,000 students apply for admission each year. Selection is intense: most students are ranked in the top 5% of their graduating class, scored in the top 5% on the LSAT, and have considerable additional other accomplishments. Stanford may place more weight on experience beyond academic numbers than almost any other law school.
The Law School has a distinguished history of producing leaders in the judiciary and academia, in addition to corporate law, government, and the public interest. Upon graduation, about 60% of students join law firms and 30% accept clerkships, most with federal judges. [3] Despite its small size, recently, Stanford has produced the third most professors of law in the country and the fourth most clerks to the Supreme Court. [4] [5]
The late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and former Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor are both Stanford alumni, as is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California Ronald M. George.
Notable alumni
- Max Baucus (1967), U.S. Senator (1979–present)
- Jeff Bingaman (1968), U.S. Senator (1983–present)
- Joshua B. Bolten (1980), Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (2003-2006)White House Chief of Staff(Present)
- Warren Christopher (1949), U.S. Secretary of State (1993–1997)
- Frank Church (1950), U.S. Senator (1957–1981)
- Ronald M. George (1964), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California (1996–present)
- William Neukom (1967), first General Counsel at Microsoft
- Sandra Day O'Connor (1952), first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1981–2006; retired)
- William Rehnquist (1952), Chief Justice of the United States (1986–2005); died while serving.
Notable faculty
- Paul Brest]
- Gerhard Casper
- Paul Goldstein
- Thomas C. Goldstein
- Robert Weisberg
- Pamela S. Karlan
- Lawrence Lessig
- Jennifer Martinez
- Kathleen Sullivan
- Lawrence Friedman
- Robert Rabin
- Deborah Rhode
- Marc Franklin
- Larry Kramer -- Current Dean
- Barbara Babcock
- Allen Weiner