University of Virginia School of Law

Infobox_University


image_size = 91px
name = University of Virginia
School of Law
established = 1819
type = Public charter, Private funding
dean = Paul G. Mahoney
city = Charlottesville, VA
country = USA
coor = coord|38.052890|-78.510232|type:edu|display=inline,title
students = 1100
campus = Suburban
website= [http://www.law.virginia.edu/ www.law.virginia.edu]

The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program. The school's reputation as one of the ten most prestigious law schools in the nation is supported by its perennial appearance among the "top ten" in the "U.S. News & World Report" rankings, where it is currently ranked 9th, tied with Michigan and Northwestern. [ [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php USNews.com: America's Best Graduate Schools 2009: Top Law Schools ] ] According to Brian Leiter's Law School rankings, Virginia Law ranks 17th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of its faculty. [http://www.leiterrankings.com/faculty/2007faculty_impact.shtml] And in terms of overall student numerical quality, Virginia Law ranks 8th in the nation. [http://www.leiterrankings.com/students/2008student_quality.shtml]

The Law School receives no funding from public coffers except for in-state student tuition subsidies. [ [http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2003/14/law_darden_strengths.html Law, Darden build on financial strengths: 06-27-2003 ] ] Thus, the Law School depends upon the largesse of private donors, its substantial endowment and student tuition payments. In 1995-1997, the Law School used entirely donated funds to renovate and expand its buildings on the University's North Grounds to include the former facilities of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration which built a new campus several hundred yards away. The Law School's 51% alumni giving rate is among the highest of the nation's law schools. [http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2006_spr/record.htm?=feed]

Admissions

Virginia Law is among the most selective law schools in the nation. For the 2007-2008 entering class, 24% of applicants were accepted with a class median LSAT score of 170 and median GPA of 3.76. [http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/view.php/165] Emphasizing its role as a public institution, Virginia Law reserves 40% of the seats in each first-year class for Virginia residents. The University of Virginia, Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Duke University, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, and The College of William & Mary are consistently the most well represented schools in Virginia Law's entering class.

tudent organizations

The Law School maintains an extensive roster of student organizations, including chapters of the Federalist Society, the American Constitution Society and the Saint Thomas More Society.

The "Virginia Law Weekly", the Law School's student-run weekly newspaper, has been published since 1948. The paper has been cited in several court cases including the U.S. Supreme Court case, " [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=432&invol=197 Patterson v. New York] ". In addition to its news content, the VLW also contains student-submitted content which often includes humor and creative pieces. The Law Weekly has won the American Bar Association's previous two "Best Newspaper Awards," in 2006 and 2007. [ [http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2007_fall/lawweekly.htm Virginia Law Weekly Wins ABA Best Newspaper Award for Second Year in a Row ] ]

Each spring over a hundred students write, direct and perform in "The Libel Show", a comedy and musical theatre production that was first organized in 1904. Its performers roast Law School professors, student stereotypes and life in Charlottesville throughout each of its three nightly showings. Professors write and sing their response to the students' jokes at the penultimate performance.

Law journals

The Law School is host to nine academic journals, including the "Virginia Law Review", one of the most cited law journals in the country [ [http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx Law Journals: Submissions and Ranking ] ] :

* Journal of Law and Politics
* Virginia Environmental Law Journal
* Virginia Journal of International Law
* Virginia Journal of Law & Technology
* Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law
* Virginia Law & Business Review
* Virginia Law Review
* Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal
* Virginia Tax Review Association

Notable Virginia Law graduates

Politics

*George F. Allen ('77) - former U.S. Senator and former Governor of Virginia
*Alben W. Barkley (1900) - former U.S. Senator and former U.S. Vice President
*Evan Bayh ('81) - U.S. Senator
*Christopher Bond - U.S. Senator
*Rick Boucher - U.S Congressman
*Alan Stephenson Boyd ('48) - First U.S. Secretary of Transportation
*John Brigeland ('87) - Director, USA Freedom Corps
*Mortimer Caplin ('40) - former Commissioner, U.S. Internal Revenue Service
*John Cornyn ('95) - U.S. Senator
*J. Randy Forbes ('77) - U.S. Congressman
*Douglas F. Gansler ('89) - Attorney General of Maryland
*James Gilmore III ('77) - former Governor of Virginia
*Edward Kennedy ('59) - U.S. Senator
*Robert F. Kennedy ('51) - former U.S. Senator and former U.S. Presidential candidate
*Angus S. King, Jr. ('69) - former Governor of Maine
*Sheila Jackson-Lee ('75) - U.S. Congresswoman
*Thurgood Marshall, Jr. ('81) - former Cabinet Secretary under U.S. President Bill Clinton
*Robert Mueller - Federal Bureau of Investigation Director
*Janet Napolitano ('83) - Governor of Arizona
*Bill Nelson ('68) - Astronaut and current U.S. Senator
*W. Robert Pearson ('68) - U.S. Ambassador to Turkey
*Charles Robb ('73) - former U.S. Senator and former Governor of Virginia
*Faryar Shirzad - advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush
*John Warner ('53) - U.S. Senator
*Lowell Weicker ('58) - former U.S. Senator and former Governor of Connecticut. [ [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=w000253 Lowell Palmer Weicker, Jr.] , "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Accessed December 16, 2007.]
*Sheldon Whitehouse ('82) - U.S. Senator
*Woodrow Wilson (attended 1879) - former U.S. President
*Frank Wisner - former head of the Office of Strategic Services and head of the Directorate of Plans of the CIA during the 1950s

Law

*G. Steven Agee - Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
*Ronald D. Castille (1971) - Chief Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme Court
*James L. Dennis - Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
*Robert D. Durham (1998, LL.M) - Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
*Jerry Falwell Jr. (1987) - Chancellor, Liberty University
*Fred Fielding (1964) - former White House Counsel and D.C. Bar 2004 Lawyer of the Year
*Julia Smith Gibbons (1975) - Judge, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
*Thomas B. Griffith (1954) - Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
*Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. - Justice, Missouri Supreme Court
*J. Michael Luttig (1981) - former Judge, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and current senior vice president and general counsel at Boeing Co.
*James Clark McReynolds (1884) - former Justice, United States Supreme Court
*Diana Gribbon Motz (1968) - Judge, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
*Stanley Forman Reed (1908) - former Justice, United States Supreme Court
*W. Taylor Reveley, III, (1968) - President, The College of William and Mary, former dean and law professor at William & Mary Law School
*Michael J. Wilkins (2001, LL.M) - Associate Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court
*J. Harvie Wilkinson (1972) - Judge, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
*Victor J. Wolski (1991) - Judge, United States Court of Federal Claims

Media

*David Baldacci ('86) - Novelist
*Linda Fairstein ('72) - Novelist
*Emily Giffin ('97) - Novelist
*Laura Ingraham ('91) - Radio talk-show host
*Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ('69) - Co-host, "Ring of Fire, Environmental Lawyer"
*N. Scott Momaday ('59) - Novelist and Pulitzer Prize recipient
*Andrew Scheinman ('73) - Movie producer
*Will Shortz ('77) - Crossword Editor, New York Times
*Evan Thomas ('77) - Editor, "Newsweek"
*Bob Wright ('68) - Chairman and CEO, NBC

Business

*Tim Finchem ('73) - Commissioner and CEO, PGA TOUR
*Michael Slive ('65) - current commissioner of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and formerly the first commissioner of both Conference USA and Great Midwest Conference
*Bob Wright ('68) - Former CEO of G.E.

References

External links

* [http://www.law.virginia.edu/ University of Virginia School of Law]
* [http://www.lawweekly.org/ Virginia Law Weekly]