The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional school for the study of law at the University of Wisconsinâ€"Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. The law school was founded in 1868.
Facilities
The law school is located on Bascom Hill, the center of the UWâ€"Madison campus. In 1996, it completed a major renovation project that joined two previous buildings and created a four-story glass atrium. The renovation was recognized by the American Institute of Architects for its innovative design, incorporating modern design into the 150 years of architecture on historic Bascom Hill. In addition to lecture halls and smaller classrooms, the law school contains a fully functional trial courtroom, appellate courtroom, and an extensive law library. The library is noted for the 1942 mural "The Freeing of the Slaves" by John Steuart Curry that dominates the Quarles & Brady Reading Room (also known as the "Old Reading Room").
Legal philosophy
The University of Wisconsin Law School subscribes to a "law in action" legal philosophy. This philosophy proposes that to truly understand the law, students must not only know the "law on the books", but also study how the law is actually practiced by professionals. The law school's classroom discussions, involvement with other campus departments, scholarship, and clinical practica all emphasize the interplay between law and society.
Journals and publications
The University of Wisconsin Law School's flagship journal is the Wisconsin Law Review, which was founded in 1920 and became one of the nation's first entirely student-run law reviews in 1935. Students at the law school also publish two specialty journals: the Wisconsin International Law Journal, established in 1982, and the Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society, a continuation of the Wisconsin Women's Law Journal, established in 1985. A third specialty journal, the Wisconsin Environmental Law Journal, was founded in 1994 but discontinued publication in 2002.
Clinical programs
The law school places a great emphasis on its clinical programs, as part of its law-in-action curriculum. The most well-known clinic is the Frank J. Remington Center, named after the late UW law professor Frank J. Remington. The Center runs a variety of programs focused on the practice of criminal law. The largest program in the Center is the Legal Assistance to Institutionalized Persons (LAIP) Project, which provides legal services to inmates incarcerated in Wisconsin. The Center also runs clinics focused on family law, criminal defense, criminal prosecution, criminal appeals, community oriented policing, and an Innocence Project that attempts to reverse judgments against wrongfully convicted defendants. The law school also runs a group of clinics focusing on civil law called the Economic Justice Institute. This clinical trio includes the Neighborhood Law Clinic, which serves underrepresented clients in landlord/tenant, workers' rights, and public benefit disputes; the Family Court Assistance Project; and the Consumer Law Clinic. Finally, the Center for Patient Partnerships is an interdisciplinary patient advocacy clinical housed in the Law School where students of law, medicine, nursing, social work, pharmacy, public policy etc. serve as advocates for people with life-threatening illnesses as they negotiate the health care system.
Traditions
The most visible tradition at the law school is that of the Gargoyle. The Gargoyle graced the roof of the original law school building, built in 1893. That building was torn down in 1963, but the gargoyle was found, intact, amongst the rubble, and was saved as an unofficial mascot. The Gargoyle became the symbol of the law school, and was displayed outside the law school building for many years. With the most recent renovation, it moved to a more protected location inside the law school atrium. The image of the gargoyle graces the cover of the Wisconsin Law Review, and the law school alumni magazine is called the Gargoyle. Its image has been applied to ties, coffee cups, tee shirts and other law school memorabilia. In addition to the Gargoyle, "Blind Bucky" is also sometimes used as an unofficial mascot of the Law School.
Another tradition is the homecoming cane toss, which dates from the 1930s. Before the University's homecoming football game, third-year law students run from the north end of the football field at Camp Randall Stadium to the south end wearing bowler hats and carrying canes. When the students reach the goalpost on the south end of the field, they attempt to throw their canes over the goalpost. Legend has it that if the student successfully throws the cane over the goalpost and catches it, she will win her first case; if she fails to catch it, the opposite will hold true.
Another tradition at the law school is an annual fall competitive challenge between the law and medical schools at the University. This set of competitions is called the Dean's Cup and not only serves as a social outlet for law and med students, but also raises funds to support local charities.
Diploma privilege
The University of Wisconsin Law School is one of only two law schools in the United States whose graduates enjoy diploma privilege as a method of admission to the bar. Unlike all other jurisdictions in the United States, Wisconsin's state bar allows graduates of accredited law schools within the state to join the bar without taking the state's bar examination if they complete certain requirements in their law school courses and achieve a certain level of performance in those courses. The other school with this privilege is the Marquette University Law School.
Wisconsin residents who graduate from out-of-state law schools must pass the bar exam to be admitted to the bar in Wisconsin. Some states, but not all, will grant reciprocal admission to Wisconsin bar members admitted by diploma privilege after they have completed a certain number of years in the practice of law.
Rankings
U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 31st among the nearly 200 A.B.A.-approved U.S. law schools in 2014, making it a "Tier 1" law school. Vault listed the Wisconsin Law School as one of its Top 25 programs for 2008 [2] In 2008 the clinical programs at Wisconsin were ranked as having the second most clinical opportunities in the nation by National Jurist, behind Yale Law School.
Employment
According to Wisconsin Law's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 60.3% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. Wisconsin Law's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 21.4%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Faculty
- Ann Althouse
- Louis Butler
- Alta Charo
- Richard Dickson Cudahy
- Charles P. Dykman
- Marc Galanter
- Paul B. Higginbotham
- Joan F. Kessler
- Charles B. Schudson
- Patricia J. Williams,
Former Faculty
- Nathan Feinsinger
- James Willard Hurst
- Jane Larson
- Ithamar Sloan
- Robert D. Sundby
Notable alumni
References
External links
- University of Wisconsin Law School
- University of Wisconsin Law School Student Bar Association
- University of Wisconsin Law Library
- History of the Gargoyle
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