The University of Akron School of Law is the law school at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. Offering both the J.D. and LL.M. degrees, it was founded in 1921 as the Akron School of Law and merged with the University of Akron in 1959, becoming fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 1961. Since 1921, the school has produced over 6,000 graduates who have gone on to careers in the private and public sectors, including several notable judges and politicians. Located across from E. J. Thomas Hall on University Avenue, the University of Akron School of Law is housed in the C. Blake McDowell Law Center on the northwest portion of the University of Akron campus. It also houses the Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Institute for Professional Responsibility and The University of Akron Center for Constitutional Law, one of only four constitutional law centers established by Congress in the United States.
Curriculum
The University of Akron School of Law admits traditional three year J.D. students, part-time J.D. students, and also students for the LL.M. Within the J.D. program, Akron Law students can also choose to specialize in one of eight areas of law, which include business, criminal, intellectual property, international, labor and employment, litigation, public law, and tax law.
Joint degree programs
The School of Law also offers six joint degree programs, listed below:
- Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration
- Juris Doctor/Master of Taxation
- Juris Doctor/Master of Public Administration
- Juris Doctor/Master of Science and Management in Human Resources
- Juris Doctor/Master of Applied Politics
- Juris Doctor/Master in Accountantcy - Financial Forensics
The joint degree programs allow credit from classes to count towards both a Master's degree and to the Juris Doctor. In most cases, a joint JD/MA program can be completed in four years.
Intellectual property program
The school's program in intellectual property, managed by The Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology, is of note as it is one of two programs to offer the LL.M. in intellectual property in Ohio, and is one of 22 such programs in the United States. A study conducted by IDEA â€" The Intellectual Property Law Review, ranks Akron’s IP program curricular offerings as tied for fifth in the nation. The law school also publishes the Akron Intellectual Property Journal which is a "scholarly legal publication of The University of Akron C. Blake McDowell Law Center that produces an annual volume of two issues for use by scholars, practitioners, and judges." The Akron Intellectual Property Journal is part of the Akron Law Review, which in 2010, was ranked #39 out of over 200 ABA-accredited and major foreign general, student-edited journals on the Washington and Lee impact rankings (based in citations per issue). This is the fifth consecutive year the Akron Law Review was in the top 50. Each Spring, The University of Akron School of Law hosts the Richard C. Sughrue Symposium On Intellectual Property Law and Policy, featuring many known scholars and practitioners within the field of Intellectual Property. Known past speakers include Robert Stoll, Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO and Chief Judge Paul R. Michel.
Notable Intellectual Property Department Faculty:
Jacqueline Lipton is the Center's director and the David L. Brennan Professor of Law. She has held faculty and academic administrative positions at various law schools in the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom. Her scholarship focuses on law and digital technology, as well as law and the creative arts. She is the co-author of multiple editions of a leading cyberspace casebook and numerous other casebooks and articles, including articles that have been published in leading law reviews in the United States, Europe and Australia. Professor Lipton currently teaches trademark law, cyberlaw, and international intellectual property law.
A. Samuel Oddi is the Giles Sutherland Rich Professor of Intellectual Property. He is nationally recognized for his IP scholarship and expertise in the area of international intellectual property law. Professor Oddi has served as the senior legal officer at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ryan Vacca is an Associate Professor of Law and joined the Akron faculty in 2010. Professor Vacca has written numerous articles on a variety of intellectual property issues and has taught intellectual property courses and presented his research throughout the United States.
Matthew J. Wilson, Dean of Akron Law, has extensive experience in the realm of IP law, both in practice and academia. He has handled matters involving patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, electronic commerce, and Internet law in private practice while working as a lawyer at a large law firm, in-house counsel for a telecommunications firm, and general counsel of an American university. He teaches intellectual property law, electronic commerce, and international business.
Honors to Law program
The University of Akron School of Law recently began a new program whereby undergraduate Honors students at the University of Akron can receive undergraduate admission to the law school. Benefits of the program include mentoring by law faculty and students as well as visiting a law school class at least once per semester. In order to stay in the program students must maintain a 3.4 GPA and score at or above the anticipated median LSAT score of the next class of entering full-time law students.
Alumni
After graduating from Kent State University, Ohio congresswoman Betty Sutton received her J.D. from Akron law. In 2006, she defeated Craig L. Foltin for Ohio's 13th congressional district and was successfully re-elected in 2008. In the 110th Congress, Sutton was a member of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, and in the 111th Congress, Sutton is a member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The current mayor of Akron, Ohio, Don Plusquellic, received his J.D. from Akron law and was a private practice attorney at the time of his election in 1987.
Alice M. Batchelder received her J.D. from Akron in 1971 and is the longest current serving federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, having been appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1991.
Deborah L. Cook received her J.D. from Akron in 1978. Having previously served as a justice for the Supreme Court of Ohio from 1995 to 2003, she was appointed by George W. Bush in 2003 to serve on the Sixth Circuit alongside Batchelder. They were both touted by the media as possible nominations of George W. Bush for the Supreme Court, and Cook was seen as a possible McCain appointment, had he been elected President.
Among the school's graduates who have gone on to be United States district court judges are James S. Gwin, Peter C. Economus, Samuel H. Bell, and John R. Adams.
Matt Moneymaker graduated in 1996, and shortly after founded the enthusiast's group Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) which is now featured on Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot, in its fourth season with two million viewers.
Employment
The University of Akron School of Law Akron School of Law is proud of its strong record of post-graduation employment. Our graduates are practicing in nearly every state with large numbers in all major metropolitan areas. Akron Law graduates work in major law firms, corporations, many federal and state courts across the country and numerous government agencies and public interest organizations. Akron Law takes special pride in its graduates' commitment to public service, including government, the judiciary and public interest organizations.
89.2% of the Class of 2013 obtained employment nine months after graduation. 59% of the Class of 2013 obtained employment for which a JD is required nine months after graduation.[23] In addition, over 15% of the Class of 2013 obtained JD-preferred positions. 13.3% of the Class of 2013 obtained other professional positions. Many students come to The University of Akron School of Law in order to obtain their JD to be utilized in non-traditional career paths and have great career success. In fact, 87.3% of the Class of 2013 was employed in either a JD-required, JD-preferred, or Other Professional position nine months after graduation. For more information about employment, please visit http://www.uakron.edu/law/career/prospective/ps_employmentst.dot.
Costs
The total cost of tuition at The University of Akron for the 2014-2015 academic year is $24,440 for non-residents and $24,340 for residents of Ohio.
Rankings
U.S. News & World Report listed Akron's full-time Juris Doctor program as 119th in the nation in 2012; its part-time Juris Doctor program was ranked 47th in the nation. Additionally, Akron's trial advocacy program was ranked 11th in the nation and its law review ranked 43 out of more than 200 ABA-accredited law journals.
References
External links
- Official University of Akron School of Law website
- Official University of Akron website
- The University of Akron Constitutional Law website
- The University of Akron Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Institute for Professional Responsibility website
- The University of Akron Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology
- The University of Akron School of Law profile at Law School Numbers
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