Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center | |
---|---|
D.C., United States 38°53′54″N 77°0′45″W / 38.89833°N 77.01250°W | |
Enrollment | 2,440: 1,982 JD, 441 LLM, 17 SJD |
Faculty | 285: 126 full-time, 159 part-time |
USNWR ranking | 14th (tie) (2024)[3] |
Bar pass rate | 90.51% (2023 first-time takers)[4] |
Website | www |
The Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over 2000 students.[5] It frequently receives the most full-time applications of any other law school in the United States.[6][7]
The school's campus is several blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building.[8]
Prominent alumni include 11 members of the United States Congress,[9] federal and state judges, billionaires, and diplomats.
History
Opened as Georgetown Law School in 1870, Georgetown Law was the second (after
Georgetown Law's original wall (or sign) is preserved on the quad of the present-day campus.
Admissions
For the class entering in the fall of 2023, 2,119 out of 10,827 J.D. applicants (19.6%) were offered admission, with 570 (26.90%) matriculating. The median LSAT score for the class entering in fall of 2023 is 171 and the median undergraduate GPA is 3.91. In the 2023-24 academic year, Georgetown Law had 2,079 J.D. students, of which 29% were minorities and 56% were female.[13]
Bar examination passage
In 2023, the overall bar examination passage rate for the law school’s first-time examination takers was 90.51%. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 97.17% for the class of 2021.[4]
Employment
Of the 691 J.D. graduates in the Georgetown Law class of 2020 (including both full- and part-time students), 569 (82.3%) held long-term, full-time positions that required bar exam passage (i.e., jobs as lawyers) and were not school-funded nine months after graduation.[15] 644 graduates overall (93.2%) were employed, 6 graduates (0.9%) were pursuing a graduate degree, and 34 graduates (4.9%) were unemployed.[15]
435 J.D. graduates (63.0%) were employed in the private sector, with 368 (53.3%) at law firms with over 250 attorneys.[15] 208 graduates (30.1%) entered the public sector, with 80 (11.6%) employed in public interest positions, 55 (8.0%) employed by the government, 68 (9.8%) in federal or state clerkships, and 5 (0.7%) in academic positions.[15] 35 graduates (5.1%) received funding from Georgetown Law for their positions.[15]
The median reported starting salary for a 2018 J.D. graduate in the private sector was $180,000. The median reported starting salary for a 2018 graduate in the public sector (including government, public interest, and clerkship positions) was $57,000.[16]
272 J.D. graduates (39.4%) in the class of 2020 were employed in Washington, DC, 155 (22.4%) in New York, and 31 (4.5%) in California. 13 (1.9%) were employed outside the United States.[15]
As of 2011, Georgetown Law alumni account for the second highest number of partners at
Georgetown Law was ranked #11 for placing the highest percentage of 2018 J.D. graduates into associate positions at the 100 largest law firms.[18]
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Georgetown Law for the 2024-25 academic year is $113,450.[19] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $419,938.[20]
Campus
The Law Center is located in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, D.C. It is bounded by 2nd St. NW to the west, E St. NW to the south, 1st St. NW and New Jersey Avenue to the east, and Massachusetts Avenue to the north.
The campus consists of five buildings. Bernard P. McDonough Hall (1971, expanded in 1997) houses classrooms and Law Center offices and was designed by
Libraries
The Georgetown Law Library supports the research and educational endeavors of the students and faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center. It is the second largest law library in the United States, and as one of the premier research facilities for the study of law, the Law Library houses the nation's fourth largest law library collection and offers access to thousands of online publications. The Law Library was ranked by The National Jurist as the 14th best law library in the nation in 2010.[21]
The mission of the library is to support fully the research and educational endeavors of the students and faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center, by collecting, organizing, preserving, and disseminating legal and law related information in any form, by providing effective service and instructional programs, and by utilizing electronic information systems to provide access to new information products and services.
The collection is split into two buildings. The Edward Bennett Williams Law Library (1989) is named after Washington, D.C. lawyer Edward Bennett Williams, an alumnus of the Law Center and founder of the prestigious litigation firm Williams & Connolly. It houses the Law Center's United States law collection, the Law Center Archives, and the National Equal Justice Library. The Williams library building consists of five floors of collection and study space and provides office space for most of the Law Center's law journals on the Law Library's first level.
The John Wolff International and Comparative Law Library (2004) is named after John Wolff, a long-serving member of the adjunct faculty and supporter of the Law Center's international law programs. The library is located on two floors inside the Eric E. Hotung building. It houses the international, foreign, and comparative law collections of the Georgetown University Law Center. Wolff Library collects primary and secondary law materials from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, and South Africa. English translations of primary and secondary legal materials from other jurisdictions and compilations of foreign law on special topics are also included.
In addition to foreign law, the Wolff Library maintains an extensive collection of public and private international law, focusing on international trade, international environmental law, human rights, arbitration, tax and treaty law. The collection also includes documentation from many international organizations, including the International Court of Justice, the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization.
Curriculum
Georgetown Law's
Students are offered the choice of two tracks for their first year of study. "Curriculum A" is a traditional law curriculum similar to that taught at most schools, including courses in
"Curriculum B" is a more interdisciplinary, theoretical approach to legal study, covering an equal or wider scope of material but heavily influenced by the
Students in both curricula may participate in a week-long introduction to international law between the fall and spring semesters.
Clinics
Georgetown's clinics are: Appellate Litigation Clinic, Center for Applied Legal Studies, The Community Justice Project, Criminal Defense & Prisoner Advocacy Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, D.C. Law Students in Court, D.C. Street Law Program,
In the Winter 2017 edition of The National Jurist, Georgetown Law's Moot Court Program was ranked #4 in the country for 2015–16 and #5 among U.S. law schools that have had the best moot courts this past decade.[22]
Appellate Litigation Clinic
Directed by Professor Erica Hashimoto (following 36 years of leadership by Professor Steven H. Goldblatt), the Appellate Litigation Clinic operates akin to a small appellate litigation firm. It has had four cases reach the United States Supreme Court on grants of writs of certiorari.[23] One such case was Wright v. West, 505 U.S. 277 (1992), considered in habeas corpus the question whether the de novo review standard for mixed questions of law and fact established in 1953 (the Brown v. Allen standard) should be overruled. Another was Smith v. Barry, 502 U.S. 244 (1992), which reversed a Fourth Circuit determination that the court did not have jurisdiction over an appeal because the defendant's pro se brief could not serve as a timely notice of appeal.
Center for Applied Legal Studies
CALS represents
Civil Rights Clinic
CRC operates as a public interest law firm, representing individual clients and other public interest organizations, primarily in the areas of discrimination and constitutional rights, workplace fairness, and open government.[30] The Clinic is directed by Professor Aderson Francois, who joined in 2016.[31] Students work with CRC staff attorneys to litigate Freedom of Information Act claims, wage theft suits, and retaliation claims on behalf of employees terminated for asserting their rights under FLSA and DC Wage and Hour law.
Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic
Students in CDPAC represent defendants facing misdemeanor charges in
DC Street Law Program
The DC Street Law Program, Directed by Professor Charisma X. Howell, provides legal education to the DC population through two projects: the Street Law High Schools Clinic and the Street Law Community Clinic. Professor Richard Roe directed the Street Law High Schools Clinic since 1983. Professor Howell became the director in 2018. In the program, students introduce local high school students to the basic structure of the legal system, including the relationship among legislatures, courts, and agencies, and how citizens, especially in their world, relate to the lawmaking processes of each branch of government.[35][36]
Harrison Institute for Public Law
The Harrison Institute is one of the longest running public law clinics in the country, having begun as the Project for Community Legal Assistance in 1972. In 1980 it was renamed in honor of Anne Blaine Harrison, a philanthropist and early supporter of the institute.[37] Over its history, the institute has been home to several clinical programs, including focuses on state and local legislation, administrative advocacy, housing and community development, and policy. In 2019, under the directorship of Robert Stumberg, the institute consists of four policy teams: Climate, Health, Human Rights, and Trade.[38] Each of these teams involves students working to shape policy to achieve client goals.
Publications
Georgetown University Law Center publishes fourteen student-run law journals, two peer-reviewed law journals, and a weekly student-run newspaper, the Georgetown Law Weekly. The journals are:
- American Criminal Law Review
- Food and Drug Law Journal[39]
- Georgetown Environmental Law Review
- Georgetown Immigration Law Journal
- Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law
- Georgetown Journal of International Law
- Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives
- Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy
- Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics
- Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy
- Journal of National Security Law and Policy[40]
- Georgetown Law Technology Review (online only)[41][42][43][44][45][46]
- Georgetown Law Journal
Controversies
In January 2022, Ilya Shapiro, the incoming executive director and senior lecturer of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, wrote in a tweet that he opposed President Biden's intent to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, writing that because Biden would not nominate Shapiro's friend Sri Srinivasan, he was choosing a "lesser black woman."[49] The dean of Georgetown University Law Center condemned the remarks, stating, "The tweets' suggestion that the best Supreme Court nominee could not be a Black woman and their use of demeaning language are appalling...The tweets are at odds with everything we stand for at Georgetown Law." Shapiro later deleted the tweet as well as many other tweets he had written in the past, and issued a statement calling it an, "inartful tweet."[50] Shapiro was then placed on administrative leave while being investigated for violations of "professional conduct, non-discrimination, and anti-harassment" rules.[51] As a result of the investigation, Shapiro was reinstated, as the school's investigators found that he was "not properly subject to discipline."[52] Nevertheless, on June 6 Shapiro chose to resign in protest, arguing that the school had "implicitly repealed Georgetown's vaunted Speech and Expression Policy and set me up for discipline the next time I transgress progressive orthodoxy."[53]
List of deans
No. | Name | Years | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Vice Presidents of the Law Department[54] | |||
- | Charles P. James
|
1870–1873 | [55] |
- | George W. Paschal | 1873–1875 | [55] |
Deans of Georgetown Law School | |||
1 | Charles W. Hoffman | 1876–1890 | [55] |
2 | Martin Ferdinand Morris | 1889–1890 | [56] |
3 | George E. Hamilton | 1900–1903 | [56] |
4 | Harry M. Clabaugh | 1903–1914 | [56] |
5 | George E. Hamilton | 1914–1941 | [56] |
6 | Hugh J. Fegan | 1941–1953 | [56] |
Deans of the Georgetown University Law Center | |||
- | Hugh J. Fegan | 1953–1955 | [56] |
7 | Paul R. Dean | 1955–1969 | [56] |
8 | Adrian S. Fisher | 1969–1976 | [57] |
9 | David J. McCarthy Jr. | 1976–1983 | [57] |
10 | Robert Pitofsky | 1983–1989 | [57] |
11 | Judith Areen | 1989–2004 | [57] |
12 | T. Alexander Aleinikoff | 2004–2010 | [57] |
13 | William Treanor | 2010–present | [58] |
Faculty
Notable current faculty include:
- Charles F. Abernathy, Professor of civil rights and comparative law
- Islamic law, family law, and feminism
- Guggenheim Fellow
- M. Gregg Bloche, professor of public health policy
- Foreign Policy
- Paul Butler, Professor of criminal law and civil rights, expert on jury nullification
- Sheryll D. Cashin, Professor of civil rights and housing law
- Julie E. Cohen, Professor of copyright, intellectual property, and privacy law
- David D. Cole, Professor of first amendment and criminal procedure law
- Peter Edelman, former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Second Gentleman of the United States, Entertainment Lawyer
- Heidi Li Feldman, Professor of law
- Lawrence O. Gostin, Professor of public health law
- Shon Hopwood, Associate Professor, convicted bank robber turned jailhouse lawyer who represented matters before the Supreme Court
- Neal Katyal, Former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, Professor of national security law
- Marty Lederman, Associate Professor, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel
- Naomi Mezey, Professor of law and culture
- U.S. House of Representatives
- Victoria F. Nourse, Chief Counsel to Vice President Joe Biden and principal author of the Violence Against Women Act
- Ladislas Orsy, canonical theologian
- Gary Peller, Prominent member of critical legal studies and critical race theory movements
- Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, former attorney-advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice
- Louis Michael Seidman, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law, significant proponent of the critical legal studies movement
- Howard Shelanski, Former Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
- Abbe Smith, Criminal Defense Attorney and Director of the Criminal Defense & Prisoner Advocacy Clinic
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- William M. Treanor, Dean of Georgetown University Law Center, former dean of Fordham University School of Law, noted constitutional law expert
- fanfiction
- David Vladeck, Former Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission
- Edith Brown Weiss, Professor of international law and former president of the American Society of International Law
- Robin West, Frederick J. Haas Professor of Law and Philosophy, proponent of feminist legal theory and the law and literature movement
Notable alumni
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ Expressed by Joseph A. Cantrel (Class of 1922), at the 50th Anniversary Celebration in December 1920. See official site Archived July 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ As of June 30, 2023. Georgetown University Consolidated Financial Statements (Report). Georgetown University. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ "US News Law School Rankings".
- ^ a b "Georgetown University | Bar Passage". abarequireddisclosures.org. American Bar Association. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
- ^ Georgetown University, U.S. News & World Report, Retrieved: January, 2024
- ^ 10 Law Schools With the Most Full-Time Applications, U.S. News & World Report, Published: March 31, 2016. Retrieved: January 30, 2017
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
- ^ "Visit Our Campus". www.law.georgetown.edu. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ "Eleven Georgetown Law Alumni Will Serve in the 117th Congress". Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ "Timeline of Saint Louis University". https://www.slu.edu/timeline/ Saint Louis University. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ "About". www.law.georgetown.edu. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ Curran 2010b, p. 311
- ^ "2023 Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). American Bar Association. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
- ^ "Employment Summary for 2020 Graduates" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d e f "American Bar Association Employment Summary for 2020 Graduates – Georgetown Law" (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2021.
- ^ "Georgetown University Law Center Class of 2018 Summary Report" (PDF). Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- SSRN 1903934.
- ^ "Sneak Peek at the 2019 Go-To Law Schools: Nos. 11–20 | Law.com". Law.com. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
- ^ "Tuition & Cost of Attendance". www.law.georgetown.edu.
- ^ "Georgetown University, Finances". www.lstreports.com.
- ^ "Best Law Libraries | the National Jurist". www.nationaljurist.com. October 12, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
- ^ "The National Jurist – Winter 2017". www.nxtbook.com. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
- ^ "Appellate Litigation Clinic — Georgetown Law". Law.georgetown.edu. October 14, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "Center for Applied Legal Studies — Georgetown Law". Law.georgetown.edu. October 14, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "Faculty Receive Prestigious Medals as Presidential Fellows at Convocation | Georgetown University". Georgetown.edu. October 15, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ Prof, Immigration. "ImmigrationProf Blog". Lawprofessors.typepad.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "Lives in the Balance | Asylum Adjudication by the Department of Homeland Security | Books". NYU Press. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ Schoenholtz, Andrew I. (2005). "Refugee Protection in the United States Post-September 11". Scholarship at Georgetown. Georgetown University Law Center.
- ^ Wong, Edward. ""The New Refugees and the Old Treaty: Persecutors and Persecuted in the Twenty-First Century" by Schoenholtz, Andrew I. – Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Summer 2015". Archived from the original on September 27, 2015.
- ^ Georgetown University Law Center. "Civil Rights Clinic".
- ^ Georgetown University Law Center. "Fellowships".
- ^ "Criminal Defense & Prisoner Advocacy Clinic (CDPAC)". law.georgetown.edu.
- ^ "Profile Abbe Smith". law.georgetown.edu.
- ^ "CDPAC Staff". georgetown.law.edu.
- ^ "About Our Clinic — Georgetown Law". Law.georgetown.edu. October 14, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "Street law schools in life skills – Video on". Nbcnews.com. August 3, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "The Anne Blaine Harrison Institute". The Washington Post. May 5, 1978. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "Harrison Institute for Public Law". law.georgetown.edu.
- ^ "Food and Drug Law Journal".
- ^ "Journal of National Security Law & Policy". jnslp.com.
- ^ "Georgetown Law Technology Review". georgetownlawtechreview.org.
- Georgetown Law Technology Review. November 17, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Georgetown Law Tech Review: Symposium 2022". Georgetown University Law Center. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Georgetown Law Technology Review". Georgetown University Law Center. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Georgetown Law Technology Review Student Writing Competition". University of Georgia School of Law. University of Georgia. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "About Us". Georgetown Law Technology Review. September 9, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "2021 Meta Rankings". Meta Rankings. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- ^ "Law Journal Ranking – Bryce Clayton Newell". Law Journal Meta. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- ^ Ma, Alexandra. "Incoming Georgetown Law professor prompts backlash by saying Biden will pick 'lesser Black woman' for Supreme Court". Business Insider. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ "Tweet by Mark Joseph Stern of Slate Magazine". Twitter. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ Lumpkin, Lauren. "Georgetown Law official cleared over tweets on Supreme Court pick". Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
- ^ Lumpkin, Lauren. "Georgetown Law official resigns, had been cleared in probe into tweets". Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
- ^ "Georgetown Law Timeline". Georgetown University Law Center. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- ^ a b c Curran 2010a, p. 367, Appendix D: Presidents, Prefects, and Deans in Georgetown's First Century
- ^ a b c d e f g Curran 2010b, p. 401, Appendix F: Deans of the Law School, 1889–1969
- ^ a b c d e Curran 2010c, p. 294, Appendix F: Deans of the Law School/Executive Vice Presidents for Law Center Affairs, 1955–2010
- ^ "William M. Treanor is Reappointed as Dean of Georgetown Law". Georgetown University Law Center. June 15, 2020. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
Sources
- Curran, Robert Emmett (2010a). A History of Georgetown University, From Academy to University, 1789—1889. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: ISBN 978-1-58901-689-7.
- Curran, Robert Emmett (2010b). A History of Georgetown University: The Quest for Excellence, 1889–1964. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: ISBN 978-1-58901-689-7.
- Curran, Robert Emmett (2010c). A History of Georgetown University: The Rise to Prominence, 1964—1989. Vol. 3. Washington, D.C.: ISBN 978-1-58901-691-0.
External links
- Official website
- INSPIRE records, at the University of Maryland libraries. The Institute of Public Interest Representation (INSPIRE) is part of the Georgetown University Law Center.