Boston University School of Law
Boston University School of Law | |
---|---|
Established | 1872 |
School type | Private |
Parent endowment | $2.179 billion[1] |
Dean | Angela Onwuachi-Willig |
Location | Boston, Massachusetts, US |
Enrollment | 676 FT; 1 PT[2] |
Faculty | 198[3][2] |
USNWR ranking | 22[2] |
Bar pass rate | 95.38%[4] |
Website | http://www.bu.edu/law/ |
Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, located on the university's campus on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.[5]
U.S. News and World Report currently ranks the school as 22nd in the country.[6] Two specialties are in the top 10: Health Law (#4), and Tax Law (#7). Princeton Review ranks it 1st place nationally in "Best Professors"[7] and 8th place for "Best Classroom Experience."[7] For the class of 2021, the median student LSAT score was 166 and median GPA was 3.74.[8]
BU Law was one of the first law schools in the country to admit students regardless of race or gender. It is the second-oldest law school in Massachusetts, and a charter member of the American Bar Association. More than 700 students are enrolled in the full-time J.D. degree program and about 350 in the School's five LLM degree programs. The School offers more than 200 classes and seminars, 21 study abroad opportunities, and 17 dual degree programs. Students learn critical legal theory and doctrine in classes that average a 6.5:1 student/faculty ratio,[9] while developing professional lawyering skills in the School’s 1L Lawyering Lab, civil and criminal law clinics, national and international externships, pro bono placements, and transactional law program. BU Law also pioneered a clinic to represent victims of human trafficking in Boston.[10]
Contents
1 Admissions
2 Rankings
3 Sumner M. Redstone Building and Law Tower
4 History
5 Employment
6 Curriculum
6.1 Dual Degree Programs
6.2 Concentrations
6.3 LL.M. Programs
6.4 Study Abroad
6.5 Clinical Programs & Externships
7 Law Journals
8 Costs
9 Notable alumni
10 References
11 External links
Admissions
BU Law's most recent entering class comes from 39 states and the District of Columbia. These students represent 16 countries and 155 undergraduate institutions.[8]
Admission to Boston University School of Law is very competitive. There were 284 students who matriculated in the fall of 2018 out of a pool of 5,891 J.D. applicants. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2018 entering class were 160 and 167, respectively. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.49 and 3.84, respectively, with a median of 3.74.[11]
Rankings
Boston University School of Law ranks #22nd among American law schools in the 2019 list of best law schools compiled by U.S. News & World Report.[12]U.S. News also ranks the School's Health Law Program #4 and Tax Law #7.
The Journal of Legal Education ranks BU Law #12 for "Where Big Firm Partners Went to Law School," and the School ranks #16 in the National Law Journal's "Go-To Schools" Annual Survey for the number of graduates working in top U.S. law firms.
Sumner M. Redstone Building and Law Tower
On September 13, 2012, media executive and former BU Law lecturer Sumner Redstone donated $18 million[13] to expand the School’s facilities. Opened in 2014 alongside the Law Tower, the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building houses most of the law school's classrooms, which are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. The Redstone Building[14] welcomes visitors into the glass-enclosed Robert T. Butler Atrium on the first floor, and houses the Samuel M. Fineman Law Library and McCausland Commons on the second floor. It also provide new facilities to support clinical, transactional and professional training programs. Student locker facilities, lounges, a small dining facility, and other student function and informal meeting spaces are located throughout the new building. The materials, color and exterior detailing of the Redstone Building have been calibrated to respect and complement the architecture of the five original Josep Lluis Sert buildings (Law Tower, Central Boiler Plant, Pappas Law Library, Mugar Library and George Sherman Student Union) at BU.
As the new law school entry, the Redstone Building faces a paved entry forecourt off the main east-west pedestrian path, which has been re-graded, paved and landscaped with new trees and plantings. The open area to the north and east of the Law Tower has been restored and replanted to reinforce the existing character of the area and of the Alpert Mall to the east. The space between the Law Tower and Pappas Library has been redesigned to emphasize the visual connection between the original and the new entrances to the school. Plantings are native species and select ornamental species that maintain the existing planted character of the BU campus.
The School’s 17-story tower underwent a complete renovation and reopened in 2015. Its design faithfully rehabilitated most of Sert's original tower while taking deliberate measures within the original architect's design vocabulary to make the existing building more acceptable to the 21st century needs of its inhabitants. All windows were replaced with thermally insulated units reflecting the pattern and profile of the original building. The exterior concrete panels that define the building's architectural aesthetic were totally refurbished. The tower was renovated with new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, larger bathrooms, and modern facilities to house the school's administrative departments, faculty offices, moot courtrooms and law journals. The spalled cast-in-place concrete of the building was repaired where needed, and care was taken to match existing color and texture as much as possible. Precast fins and other precast elements on the exterior were repaired or replaced as necessary, and some of the full-story precast panels were replaced with glass in a manner consistent with the original compositional intent of the building façade.
History
The Boston University School of Law was one of the first law schools to admit women and minorities, at a time when most other law schools barred them. In 1881, Lelia Robinson became the first female BU Law graduate. Then, women lawyers were less than half of one percent of the profession.[15] Upon graduation, she successfully lobbied the Massachusetts legislature to permit the admission of women to the state bar, and in 1882, became the first woman admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Her classmate, Nathan Abbott, would later become the founding dean of Stanford Law School. Another prominent female alum at the time, Alice Stone Blackwell, would go on to help found the League of Women Voters and edit the Woman's Journal. Takeo Kikuchi (1877), the School's first Japanese graduate, was co-founder and president of Tokyo's English Law School which grew into Chuo University. Clara Burrill Bruce (1926) was the first black woman elected editor-in-chief of a law review (the Boston University Law Review).
BU Law's first homes were 36 Bromfield Street, 18–20 Beacon Street and 10 Ashburton Place. In 1895, the University Trustees acquired 11 Ashburton Place, which was refurbished and named Isaac Rich Hall in honor of the third founder of Boston University. The dedication speaker was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. whose historic speech "The Path of the Law" was delivered in 1897. Former United States President William Howard Taft lectured on legal ethics from 1918 until his appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1921.[16]
Isaac Rich Hall housed BU Law until 1964. In 1964 BU Law occupied the bottom half of the current building, 765 Commonwealth Avenue on the Charles River Campus, colloquially known as the "Tower." BU Law shared the Tower with the School of Education for some years but now occupies the entire building. The School of Law's legal library, the Fineman & Pappas Law Libraries, occupies three floors in the Law Complex, spanning both the Law Tower and the Redstone Building. The Libraries also include two floors of closed stacks in the basement of the adjacent Mugar Memorial Library, BU's main library.[17]
In July 2016, the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced a new partnership allowing BU Law to serve as headquarters for a $350 million initiative researching and combating antibiotic-resistant diseases.[18] Professor Kevin Outterson, a health law specialist and researcher at BU Law, serves as executive director of the initiative, which is named CARB-X.[18]
Employment
According to BU Law's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 78.8% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment ten months after graduation.[19] BU Law's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 14.3%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2017 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job ten months after graduation.[20]
For new graduates, the self-reported median starting salary for the class of 2017 was $160,000 in the private sector, and $54,000 in the public sector.[2] This ranked the school #9 on the US News list "Schools Where Salaries for Grads Most Outweigh the Debt."[21] BU placed 52 graduates from the class of 2015 at NLJ 100 firms, earning it the number 16 slot on the National Journal's law school rankings for large law firm employment.[22]
Curriculum
Boston University School of Law offers a broad selection of legal classes and seminars (approximately 200) with a student to faculty ratio of 12:1.
Dual Degree Programs
BU Law offers dual degrees in the following programs:
- J.D./LL.M. in Asian Legal Studies with National University of Singapore
- J.D./LL.M. in Banking and Financial Law
- J.D./LL.M. in Chinese Law with Tsinghua University
- J.D./LL.M. in European Law with Panthéon-Assas University
- J.D./LL.M. in Finance with Institute for Law and Finance
- J.D./LL.M. in International and European Business Law with ICADE (Madrid)
- J.D./M.A. in Law and English
- J.D./M.A. in Law and History
- J.D./M.A. in Law and International Relations
- Accelerated 3-Year J.D./M.B.A. in Law and Management
- J.D./M.B.A. in Law and Management
- J.D./M.S. in Law and Mass Communication
- J.D./M.D. in Law and Medicine
- J.D./M.A. in Law and Philosophy
- J.D./M.A. in Law and Preservation Studies
- J.D./M.P.H. in Law and Public Health
- J.D./LL.M. in Law and Taxation
Concentrations
The J.D. program offers certificates in the following concentrations:
- Health Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- International Law
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Transactional Practice
LL.M. Programs
In addition to J.D. and joint degree programs, Boston University School of Law offers LL.M. programs in the following:
- American Law (for Non-U.S. lawyers)
- Banking and Financial Law
- Executive LL.M. in International Business Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- Taxation (Online option as well)
Study Abroad
English Language Semester Programs:
- Bucerius Law School (Hamburg, Germany)
- The Buchmann Faculty of Law (Tel Aviv, Israel)
- École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris)
- Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland)
- Harris Manchester College (Oxford, UK)
- Leiden University (Leiden, The Netherlands)
- Tsinghua University (Beijing, China)
- The National University of Singapore (The Republic of Singapore)
- The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China)
- Université Jean Moulin, Lyon III (Lyon, France)
- Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE–Madrid, Spain)
- Institute for Law & Finance (Frankfurt, Germany)
Foreign Language Semester Programs:
- The University of Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- The University of Florence (Florence, Italy)
- Université Jean Moulin, Lyon III (Lyon, France)
- Panthéon-Assas University (Paris, France)
- Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE–Madrid, Spain)
Full-year Programs in English:
- Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE–Madrid, Spain)
- Panthéon-Assas University (Paris, France)
- The National University of Singapore (The Republic of Singapore)
Clinical Programs & Externships
Clinics:
- Africa iParliaments Clinic
- American Legislative Practice
- Criminal Law: Prosecutor Program
- Criminal Law: Public Defender Program (Adult)
- Criminal Law: Public Defender Program (Juvenile)
- Employment Rights Clinic
- Entrepreneurship & IP Law Clinic
- Housing, Employment, Family and Disability Clinic
- Human Trafficking Clinic
- Immigrants' Rights Clinic
- International Human Rights Clinic
- Technology & Cyberlaw Clinic
- Wrongful Convictions Clinic
- Environmental Law Practicum
Externships:
- Judicial Externship
- Legal Externship
- Government Lawyering Externship
- Health Law Externship
- Community Courts Externship
- Affordable Housing Externship
Semester-In-Practice Programs:
- Human Rights (United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, Switzerland)
- Government Lawyering (Washington, DC)
- Independent Proposal
Attorney Skills Accelerator Program
The Attorney Skills Accelerator Program (ASAP)[23] at Boston University School of Law offers summer classes, clinics, and externships for qualified J.D. students enrolled in accredited law schools. During Summer 2017, ASAP students will be able to enroll in Contract Drafting[24] and/or Negotiation[25] courses. ASAP students will also have the opportunity to take part in a legal externship, or one of three clinics:
- Entrepreneurship & IP Clinic[26]
- Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic[27]
- Criminal Law: Prosecutor Clinic[28]
Law Journals
- Boston University Law Review
- American Journal of Law & Medicine
- Review of Banking & Financial Law
- Boston University International Law Journal
- Journal of Science & Technology Law
- Public Interest Law Journal
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at BU Law for the 2017-18 academic year was $74,689.[29] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $243,230.[30]
Notable alumni
Frederic W. Allen, LLB 1951, Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court (1984-1997)[31]
Lincoln C. Almond, JD 1961, governor of Rhode Island
George Weston Anderson, LLB 1890, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Consuelo Northrup Bailey, LLB 1925, first woman elected as lieutenant governor in the United States
F. Lee Bailey, LLB 1960, disbarred criminal defense lawyer; represented Sam Sheppard & O.J. Simpson, among others
Albert Brown, LLB 1904, governor of New Hampshire
Fred H. Brown, LLB 1884, governor of New Hampshire, U.S. Congressman
Edward W. Brooke, LLB 1948, LLM 1949, Attorney General of Massachusetts; first African American elected to the Senate by popular vote; one of only five African Americans to serve in the U.S. Senate; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
William M. Butler, LLB 1884, U.S. Senator (MA)
Norman S. Case, LLB 1912, Governor of Rhode Island
Martha M. Coakley, JD 1979, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator, 2010, Massachusetts Attorney General (2007–Present), District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts
William S. Cohen, LLB 1965, U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senator from Maine
Paul A. Dever, LLB 1926, Governor of Massachusetts
Joshua Eric Dodge, 1877, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Samuel Felker, JD, Governor of New Hampshire
Michael F. Flaherty, JD 1994, President of the Boston City Council
Michael D. Fricklas, JD 1984, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Viacom, Inc.
Richard Graber, JD 1981, former United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic
Judd A. Gregg, JD 1972, LLM 1975, U.S. Senator, Governor of New Hampshire
Jeff Jacoby, JD 1983, Boston Globe opinion/editorial columnist
Dr. Barbara C. Jordan, LLB 1959, first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from a southern state, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, first woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1976
David E. Kelley, JD 1983, Emmy winning television producer
Robert Khuzami, JD 1983, Director of Enforcement, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Gary F. Locke, JD 1975, US Ambassador to China, United States Secretary of Commerce, Governor of Washington, and the first Asian-American governor in the mainland U.S.
Maria Lopez, JD 1978, first Hispanic appointed a judge in the Massachusetts, current television jurist on the U.S. syndicated television show Judge Maria Lopez.
Sandra Lynch, JD 1971, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Frederick William Mansfield, LLB 1902, 46th Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, and 38th Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts
Elizabeth (Sadie) Holloway Marston, LLB 1918 - co-creator of the comic book character Wonder Woman
J. Howard McGrath, LLB 1929, Sixtieth Attorney General, 1949-52 U.S. Senator, 1940–45Governor of Rhode Island
Thomas McIntyre, LLB 1940, U.S. Senator (NH)
F. Bradford Morse, LLB 1949, director of the United Nations Development Program
Markos Moulitsas, JD 1999, founder of the popular blog, Daily Kos
Shannon O'Brien, JD 1985, first woman to hold the office of treasurer and receiver general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Irving H. Picard, JD 1966, Trustee in the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
Shari Redstone, JD 1979, LLM 1981, President of National Amusements and vice-chair of CBS Corporation and Viacom
Chase T. Rogers, JD 1983, Chief Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court
Greg Griffin, LLM 1984, Judge, Alabama 15th Judicial Circuit Court, First African American General Counsel of an Alabama State Agency
William Russell, LLB 1879, Governor of Massachusetts
Sabita Singh, JD 1990, Associate Justice of the Appeals Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Robert T. Stafford, LLB 1938; HON 1959, U.S. Senator, father of the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan (Stafford Loan) program, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) and co-sponsor of the Wilderness Protection Act
Niki Tsongas, JD 1988, Congresswoman for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district
Robert Upton, LLB 1907, U.S. Senator (NH)
David I. Walsh, LLB 1897, U.S. Senator, Governor of Massachusetts
Myrth York, JD 1972, Rhode Island State Senator, first female chair of the Senate Health, Education and Welfare Committee (RI)
Owen D. Young, LLB 1896, founder of RCA, 1929 Time Magazine's Man of the Year Chairman and CEO of General Electric
David Zaslav, JD 1985, President and CEO, Discovery Communications, Inc.- Howard Moore Jr, LLB 1960, General Counsel Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Federation of Southern Cooperatives
References
^ http://www.bu.edu/ar/2018/img/financial-statement.pdf
^ abcd Boston University | Best Law School | US News
^ http://www.bu.edu/law/files/2015/12/Boston-University-School-of-Law-Std-509-11.24.15.pdf
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20140223215312/https://officialguide.lsac.org/Release/SchoolsABAData/SchoolPage/SchoolPage_Info/ABA_LawSchoolData.aspx?sid=12. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2013. Missing or empty|title=
(help).mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Boston University School of Law | Official Guide
^ "Best Law School Rankings | Law Program Rankings | US News". grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
^ ab Best Professors | The Princeton Review[1]
^ ab Class Profile | School of Law
^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/boston-university-03073
^ BU Law's Human Trafficking Clinic
^ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20140701060842/http://www.bu.edu/law/about/documents/ABAStandard509December2013.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014. Missing or empty|title=
(help)
^ Best Law School Rankings | Law Program Rankings | US News
^ Sumner Redstone Gives $18 Million to School of Law | BU Today | Boston University
^ Law School Complex | School of Law
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20101202205307/http://www.law.stanford.edu/library/womenslegalhistory/articles/makinghistory.htm. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2010. Missing or empty|title=
(help)
^ "BU School of Law Timeline". Boston University. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ "Law Libraries | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
^ ab Division, News (2016-07-27). "HHS forges unprecedented partnership to combat antimicrobial resistance". HHS.gov. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
^ "Class of 2015 Employment".
^ "Boston University Profile".
^ 10 Law Schools that Pay Off
^ The National Jurist - Back to School 2015
^ "Attorney Skills Accelerator Program | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^ "Contract Drafting | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^ "Negotiation | School of Law". www-staging.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^ "Entrepreneurship & IP Clinic | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^ "Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^ "Criminal Law: Prosecutor Clinic | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^ "Tuition, Fees, and Expenses".
^ "Boston University Profile".
^ "Obituary, Frederic W. Allen". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. April 13, 2016.
External links
Media related to Boston University School of Law at Wikimedia Commons- Boston University School of Law