Notre Dame Law School

The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News & World Report. Notre Dame Law ranks 16th in graduates attaining Supreme Court clerkships in recent years.

According to Notre Dame's 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 71.7% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.

Notre Dame Law School is distinguished by its study abroad programs. Students have the option of studying for a full semester, a full year, or just a summer at the University's London Law Centre. NDLS also maintains student exchange programs that enable students to apply to study for a semester at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in South America, or at either Peking University Law School or Tsinghua University School of Law in Bejing, China.

Admissions and Rankings

Admission to NDLS is highly selective. For the class entering in the fall of 2014, 2,416 applied for admission, with 200 first-year students matriculating. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2013 entering class were 160 and 165, respectively, with a median of 163. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.44 and 3.78, respectively, with a median of 3.64.

Notre Dame Law School is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News & World Report. NDLS ranks 16th in graduates attaining Supreme Court clerkships in recent years. In addition, NDLS is ranked 17th in Above the Law's "Top 50 Law School Rankings" in 2014.

The Law School grants the professional Juris Doctor degree as well as the graduate Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees.

Job Placement

The class of 2013 reported employment in 31 states and the District of Columbia, with 132 out of 184 graduates (71.7%) securing full-time, long-term employment requiring passage of the bar exam within nine months of graduation. The top 5 most popular destinations for graduates in the class of 2013 were Illinois (29), California (12), Indiana (12), District of Columbia (10), and New York (9). Furthermore 28.3% of graduates in the class of 2013 found employment in large law firms (100+ attorneys) and 6.0% pursued federal clerkships.

Student Life

The Law School has a Student Bar Association that coordinates relations between the student body and administration. The SBA also handles most social, extracurricular, and athletic functions for the students.

In addition, the following student organizations are active at NDLS:

American Civil Liberties Union, American Constitution Society, Asian Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Business Law Forum, Christian Legal Society, Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Education Law Forum, The Environmental Law Society, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, Future Prosecuting Attorney’s Council, Health Law Society, Hispanic Law Students Association, Intellectual Property Law Society, International Human Rights Society, International Law Society, J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Jewish Law Students Association, Jus Vitae of Notre Dame, Legal Voices for Children & Youth, Married Law Students Organization, Military Law Students Association, Native American Law Students Association, Phi Alpha Delta, The Public Interest Law Forum, Social Justice Forum, Sports, Communications and Entertainment Law Forum, St. Thomas More Society, Student Bar Association, Women’s Legal Forum

The University of Notre Dame offers on-campus housing for over 900 graduate students and their families. Housing is available for single students, married students with no dependents, and married students with children. All University-operated housing is located on campus and within a 15-minute walk of the Law School.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Notre Dame Law School for the 2014-2015 academic year is $69,930. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $265,000.

Facilities

Notre Dame Law School is centrally located in the heart of Notre Dame's campus. Eck and Biochini Halls, two buildings connected by a suspended walkway, house the Law School. The conjoined buildings were designed by famous American architect Charles Donagh Maginnis and the buildings serve as a prominent example of collegiate Gothic architecture. The Kresge Law Library, is located Biochini Hall, while most of the Class Rooms are in Eck Hall. Funding for the law library was provided by American businessman S.S. Kresge, the founder of what is now Sears Holding Corporation. The two buildings were effectively doubled in a recent, historically-sensitive expansion project (there was no corresponding increase in enrollment). The Law School also hosts a Legal Aid Clinic in South Bend.

Notable alumni

• William Beauchamp - President of the University of Portland
• G. Robert Blakey - Author of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
• Joseph Cari, Jr.-Private equity investor, policy analyst and philanthropist
• John Cencich - Former senior international war crimes investigator with the United Nations at The Hague
• Tom Clements - Quarterback coach for the Green Bay Packers
• N. Patrick Crooks - Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• John Crowley- Biotechnology executive
• Lucille Davy, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education.
• Samuel L. Devine - former United States Congressman (R-OH)
• John V. Diener - Mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Andy Dillon - Former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and current Treasurer
• Larry Dolan - Owner and President of the Cleveland Indians
• Joe Donnelly - United States Senator (D-IN)
• Clark Durant - CEO and founder of Cornerstone Schools (Michigan), political activist
• David Campos Guaderrama- Nominated by Barack Obama to be Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• Patricia Anne Gaughan- District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
• Mark Gimenez - author of legal thrillers (his book The Color of the Law was a New York Times bestseller)
• John M. Gearin - former United States Senator (D-OR)
• William J. Granfield - former United States Congressman (D-MA)
• Robert A. Grant-former United States Congressman (R-IN) and Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
• José Reyes Ferriz - a Mexican politician, affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), former Municipal President(mayor) of Ciudad Juárez
• Nora Barry Fischer - District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• Peter F. Flaherty - Former Mayor of Pittsburgh and Deputy Attorney General in the Carter Administration
• Kevin Hasson - Founder and President of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• Donna Jean Hrinak - American diplomat, former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil (2002â€"2004), Venezuela (2000â€"2002), Bolivia (1997â€"2000), and the Dominican Republic (1994â€"1997).
• John Kilkenny - Former judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Peter King - United States Congressman (R-NY)
• David G. Larimer - was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of New York
• Edward Leavy - Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
• Brendan Loy - American blogger who gained fame for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina
• Maureen Mahoney - a former Deputy Solicitor General and well-known appellate lawyer, reported to have been among George W. Bush's Supreme Court candidates
• Eduardo Malapit - Hawaiian politician and the first Filipino American mayor of any United States municipality.
• John E. Martin - Former Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
• Natasha Martin - Associate Dean and Professor at Seattle University School of Law
• Romano L. Mazzoli - Former United States Congressman (D-KY)
• Patrick F. McCartan - Chairman of the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, former managing partner at Jones Day
• John Henry Merryman - Comparative law scholar at Stanford Law School and professor of art (emeritus) at Stanford University
• Judith A. McMorrow - torts scholar and law professor at Boston College Law School
• Carol Ann Mooney - President of Saint Mary's College
• Brian Moynihan - President & CEO, Bank of America Corporation
• Clifford Patrick O'Sullivan - Former Judge United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Joseph P. O'Hara - Former United States Congressman (R-MN)
• Graciela Olivarez - First female and Latina graduate; Director of the Community Services Administration under Jimmy Carter
• Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial analyst and former judge
• Paul V. Niemeyer - Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Keith James Rothfus - United States Congressman (R-PA)
• Margaret A. Ryan - Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
• John F. Sandner - Former Chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
• Lisa M. Schenck- Military law scholar
• Thomas D. Schroeder - District Judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
• Sean B. Seymore - Intellectual property scholar at Vanderbilt Law School
• William K. Sjostrom - Securities regulation scholar at University of Arizona Law
• Michael A. Stepovich - Former Governor of Alaska
• Janis Lynn Sammartino - District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
• Theresa Lazar Springmann - District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
• Luther Merritt Swygert - Former Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Martha Vázquez - Chief Judge on the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
• Pete Visclosky - United States Congressman (D-IN)
• Ann Claire Williams - Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Frank Comerford Walker - former United States Postmaster General and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee
• Charles R. Wilson - Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Mary Wittenberg is the President and Chief Executive Officer of New York Road Runners (NYRR)
• Chris Zorich - Former Notre Dame and Chicago Bears star Defensive lineman
• William J. Zloch- Judge for United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• Tae-Ung Baik, Legal Scholar of International Human Rights Law and Korean Law, Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law, Former Prisoner of Conscience

Notable faculty

• G. Robert Blakey - Author of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (also an alumnus)
• Margaret Brinig - Law and economics scholar focusing on family law
• John Finnis - Australian philosopher, specializing in the philosophy of law (also Professor of Law at University College, Oxford)
• Nicole Stelle Garnett - Legal scholar specializing in the areas of property, land use, urban development, local government law, and education
• Richard W. Garnett - First Amendment and criminal law scholar
• Jimmy Gurulé - Former Under Secretary for Enforcement, United States Department of the Treasury and former Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice
• William K. Kelley - Former White House Deputy Counsel
• Kenneth Francis Ripple - Senior Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
• Jay Tidmarsh - authority on complex litigation and civil procedure

Former Faculty

Former Professor Vincent Rougeau was appointed Dean of Boston College Law School in 2011. Former Professor Douglas Kmiec was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Malta by President Barack Obama in 2009. David Barrett was the special prosecutor and author of the Barrett Report.

Law journals

Notre Dame Law School publishes five student-run journals:

• Notre Dame Law Review
• Journal of College and University Law
• Journal of Legislation
• Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy
• Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law

Moot Court

The Moot Court program is a student run organization that coordinates intermural and intercollegiate competitions in appellate and international divisions.

Established in 1950, the Moot Court program provides an opportunity for students to develop their appellate advocacy skills. The program is administered by the Moot Court Board (a group of students selected to represent Notre Dame Law School in competitions) and guided by a faculty advisor.

Students are selected to the Moot Court Board after competing in the optional 1L Moot Court Competition and receiving an invitation to join the Board based on their 1L briefs and their performance in the competition. In the fall of their 2L year, Board members compete intramurally to determine placement on the Board’s various teams. In years past NDLS’ teams have competed in the National Moot Court competition, the ABA competition, the National Religious Freedom Competition, and the Jessup International Law Moot Court competition. The National team also performs the Showcase argument in front of a panel of sitting judges, watched by the 1L class.

Members of the Board also have the opportunity to argue actual cases in front of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Under the guidance of a local attorney, they take on a case representing a prisoner. In that capacity, they write a brief, a reply brief and argue the case before a three judge panel.

References

External links

• Notre Dame Law School
• The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
• "Law School Receives $21 million," The Observer Online, 8/26/05