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Duke University School of Law

Coordinates: 36°00′05″N 78°56′41″W / 36.0013°N 78.9447°W / 36.0013; -78.9447
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Duke University School of Law
Logo of Duke University
Parent schoolDuke University
Established1868
School typePrivate
Parent endowment$7.9 billion
DeanKerry Abrams
LocationDurham, North Carolina, U.S.
Enrollment715
USNWR ranking10th
Websitewww.law.duke.edu

Duke University School of Law (also known as Duke Law School or Duke 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 1924, following the renaming of Trinity College to Duke University, the school was renamed the Duke University School of Law. Notable alumni include former President of the United States Richard Nixon, television broadcaster and Emmy award-winning journalist Charlie Rose, and United States Solicitor General and Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.

Duke Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and admits roughly 20% of applicants.[1] The law school is one of the "T14" law schools, that is, schools that have consistently ranked within the top 14 law schools since U.S. News & World Report began publishing rankings.[2] On average, 95% of students are employed at graduation, with a median starting salary in the private sector of over $160,000.[3] The class of 2017 had the highest employment number in the country for the category of long-term, full-time jobs that require bar passage and are not funded by the school at 93.8%.[4] Duke's 2017 class bar passage rate was 97.44%, which was among the top five law schools in first time bar passage rates.[4] Duke Law School was ranked 1st in Times Higher Education 2018 World Universities in the subject of Law.[5]

Reputation

Duke Law is routinely ranked within the top 14 law schools in the country, and is a member of the "T-14" law schools, a prestigious group of 14 schools that have national recognition. In fact, it has never been ranked lower than 12th by U.S. News, or less than 7th by Above the Law.[6] Duke Law is one of three T14 law schools to have graduated a President of the United States (Richard Nixon). Duke Law was ranked by Forbes as having graduated lawyers with the 2nd highest median mid-career salary amount.[3][7] It is tied as the #8 best law school by the 2015 U.S. News overall law school Rankings. [8] In 2017, The Times Higher Education World University Rankings listed Duke Law as the number one ranked law school in the world.[9]

Admissions

Duke Law is one of the most selective law schools in the United States. The law school is one of few that have experienced an increase in law school applications despite an overall national decline of applications in recent years. For the class entering in the fall of 2014, 221 students enrolled out of 5,358 applicants. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2014 entering class were 166 and 170, respectively, with a median of 169 (top 3% of test takers worldwide). The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.66 and 3.85, respectively, with a median of 3.77.[10] The School has approximately 640 J.D. students and 75 students in the LL.M. and S.J.D. programs.

History

Built in 1929, the Languages Building (as it is currently known) was the home of Duke Law from 1930 to 1962

The date of founding is generally considered to be 1868 or 1924.

However, in 1855 Trinity College, the precursor to Duke University, began offering lectures on (but not degrees in) Constitutional and International Law (during this time, Trinity was located in Randolph County, North Carolina).

In 1865, Trinity's Law Department was officially founded, while 1868 marked the official chartering of the School of Law. 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 (by this time, Trinity College had relocated to Durham, North Carolina). When Trinity College became part of the newly created Duke University upon the establishment of the Duke Endowment in 1924, the School of Law continued as the Duke University School of Law. In 1930, the law school moved from the Carr Building on Duke's East Campus to a new location on the main quad of West Campus. During the three years preceding this move, the size of the law library tripled. 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 in West Campus.

Law students at Duke University established the first U.S. Chapter of the International Criminal Court Student Network (ICCSN) in 2009.[11]

Rankings

  • 1st Best Law School in the world, Times Higher Education (2018)[12]
  • 1st Best Professors according to the Princeton Review (2015 and 2016; 2nd in 2018)[13]
  • 1st Best Quality of Life according to the Princeton Review (2014, 2nd in 2015 and 2017)[13]
  • 2nd Highest Median Mid-Career Salary[7]
  • 2nd Best Classroom Experience according to Princeton Review (2015 and 2017, 3rd in 2018)[13]
  • 3rd Best Law School by Above the Law (2018)[14]
  • 3rd Best Law School (overall) according to the Best Law Schools ranking published by the National Jurist in 2013.
  • 5th Best Law School by Vault (2017)[15]
  • 5th Best Law School by Business Insider[16]
  • 5th Toughest to get into according to the Princeton Review[13]
  • 5th Best Law School for BigLaw Hiring according to National Law Journal's "Go-To Law Schools" ranking[17]
  • 6th Best Law School according to CNN Money[18]
  • 6th Best Law School for Federal Clerkships according to National Jurist[19]
  • 6th Best Law School for Moot Court according to National Jurist[20]
  • 8th Best Law School as Ranked by Law Firm Recruiters[21]*
  • 10th Best in the world in the subject of law according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2017[22]
  • 10th Best for Standard of Living according to National Jurist[23]
  • Tied for 10th Best Law School by U.S. News Rankings[8][24]
  • 12th Most Median Grant Money and Percentage of Students Receiving Grants according to National Jurist[19]
  • 17th Best Law Review according to National Jurist[25]
  • 19th Best Law School Library according to National Jurist[26]

Facilities

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

The Trinity College School of Law was located in the Carr Building prior to the renaming of Trinity to Duke University in 1924. The Duke University Law School was originally housed in what is now the Languages Building, built in 1929 on Duke's West Campus quad.

The law school 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 dark polished granite façade was added to the rear exterior of the building, enclosing the interior courtyard.

In 2004, Duke Law School broke ground on a building construction project officially completed in fall 2008. The renovation and addition offers larger and more technologically advanced classrooms, expanded community areas and eating facilities, known as the Star Commons, improved library facilities, and more study options for students.

Law journals at Duke

The Trinity College School of Law was located in the Carr Building prior to the renaming of Trinity to Duke University in 1924

Duke Law School publishes eight academic journals or law reviews, which are, in order of their founding:

  • Law and Contemporary Problems
  • Duke Law Journal
  • Alaska Law Review
  • Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law
  • Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum
  • Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy
  • Duke Law & Technology Review
  • Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

Law and Contemporary Problems is Duke Law's oldest law journal, though it was originally faculty-edited until the 1970s.

The Duke Law Journal was the first student-edited publication at Duke Law and publishes articles from leading scholars on topics of general legal interest.

Duke publishes the Alaska Law Review in a special agreement with the Alaska Bar Association, as the state of Alaska has no law school.

The Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy (DJGLP) is the preeminent journal for its subject matter in the world.

The Duke Law & Technology Review has been published since 2001 and is devoted to examining the evolving intersection of law and technology.

The Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy was founded by members of the Class of 2006—the six members of the inaugural executive board were Sarah Coble, Chris Fulmer, Richard Goldberg, John Lomas, Scott Mikkelsen, and John Plecnik. Professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Christopher H. Schroeder served as the ConLaw journal's inaugural faculty advisors.


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 6 unveiling of the Open Access Law Program, an initiative of Creative Commons, for its work in pioneering open access to legal scholarship.

Joint-degree programs

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, the Pratt School of Engineering, and the Sanford School of Public Policy; and a JD/LLM dual degree program in International and Comparative Law. Approximately 25% of students are enrolled in joint-degree programs.

Employment

According to Duke's 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 93.8% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation and not funded by the school - the highest number for any law school in the country.[4] According to the NLJ, Duke ranks third among all law schools in the percentage of 2017 graduates working in federal clerkships or jobs at firms of 100 or more lawyers, a category NLJ terms “elite jobs.” Duke also ranks fourth in federal clerkships.[4]

Law School Transparency gave Duke Law the highest "Employment Score" in the country at 93.8%, and lowest "Under-Employment Score" of 0.4% in 2017.[27]

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Duke for the 2015–2016 academic year is $80,937.[28] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $285,725.[29]

Notable Faculty

Current Faculty

Notable faculty including a sitting Supreme Court Justice, a former United States Senator, 14 former Supreme Court clerks, a former federal judge and a former Judge Advocate General.

Former Faculty

Notable Alumni

Political

President Nixon

Judiciary

Kenneth Starr

Academia

Business

Military

  • Dan McCarthy, '83 – JAG Chief Prosecutor, United States Navy

Sports

Charlie Rose, PBS TV Host

Miscellaneous

Deans of Duke Law School

  • 1850 – 1882, Braxton Craven[32]
  • 1891 – 1894, A.C. Avery
  • 1904 – 1927, Samuel Fox Mordecai
  • 1927 – 1930, W. Bryan Bolich (acting)
  • 1930 – 1934, Justin Miller
  • 1934 – 1947, H. Claude Horack
  • 1947 – 1949, Harold Sheperd
  • 1949 – 1950, Charles L.B. Lowndes
  • 1950 – 1956, Joseph A. McClain, Jr.
  • 1956 – 1957, Dale F. Stansbury (acting)
  • 1957 – 1966, Elvin Latty
  • 1966 – 1968, F. Hodge O'Neal
  • 1968 – 1970, A. Kenneth Pye
  • 1971 – 1973, Joseph Tyree Sneed III
  • 1973 – 1976, A. Kenneth Pye
  • 1976 – 1977, Walter Dellinger (acting)
  • 1978 – 1988, Paul Carrington
  • 1988 – 1999, Pamela Gann
  • 1999 Clark C. Havighurst (interim)
  • 2000 – 2007, Katherine T. Barlett
  • 2007 – 2018, David F. Levi
  • 2018 – present, Kerry Abrams

References

  1. ^ "Duke Law School | Law School Numbers". duke.lawschoolnumbers.com. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  2. ^ "Prelaw Handbook Historical US News Rankings". PRELAWHANDBOOK. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  3. ^ a b [1]
  4. ^ a b c d "Employment Statistics".
  5. ^ "Best Law Schools in the World". Times Higher Education. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ a b http://abovethelaw.com/2011/03/more-law-school-rankings-best-law-schools-for-getting-rich/
  8. ^ a b [3]
  9. ^ "Best Law Schools in the World". Times Higher Education. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  10. ^ [4]
  11. ^ "International Criminal Court Student Network takes hold at Duke". Duke Law News. Duke University. January 1, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  12. ^ Times Higher Education
  13. ^ a b c d Princeton Review
  14. ^ Above the Law
  15. ^ Vault
  16. ^ [5]
  17. ^ [6]
  18. ^ [7]
  19. ^ a b [8] preLaw by National Jurist Winter 2012
  20. ^ [9]
  21. ^ [10]
  22. ^ [11] ARWU 2017 - Law Subject ranking
  23. ^ [12] National Jurist September 2011
  24. ^ "US News Best Law School Duke University". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  25. ^ [13]
  26. ^ [14] preLaw by National Jurist Spring 2010
  27. ^ http://www.lstscorereports.com/national/
  28. ^ "Tuition and Expenses".
  29. ^ "Duke University Profile".
  30. ^ James Andrew Courter, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed September 6, 2007.
  31. ^ David McKean state department profile
  32. ^ Official list of Deans

36°00′05″N 78°56′41″W / 36.0013°N 78.9447°W / 36.0013; -78.9447