Drake University Law School
Encyclopedia
Drake University Law School is a fully accredited law school of Drake University
, located in Des Moines, Iowa
. The school has over 400 full-time students. The school is presently led by Dean Allan Vestal. The most recent edition of US News and World Report's Best Law Schools ranked Drake in the third tier out of four among ABA accredited law schools and second in the state of Iowa.
, Drake Law is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country and the second law school founded west of the Mississippi River after Saint Louis University. Justice Cole felt that having a law school located in the state capital would be advantageous. That notion proved to be correct. In time, Drake Law alumni would fill the ranks of all branches of Iowa local and state government. This alumni base, combined with the school's physical location, permit a large portion of the student body to participate in long-term governmental internships.
program, the law school features the following special programs:
Lecture series, endowed by the former CEO of West Publishing and Drake Alumnus, is an annual event of national importance in constitutional law. Several Supreme Court Justices
have visited campus to deliver lectures on American jurisprudence. Numerous current and former United States Supreme Court Justices have delivered the Opperman Lecture, including Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas
, Justice Antonin Scalia
, Justice Samuel Alito
, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
, Justice Stephen Breyer
, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, and late Justices Harry A. Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist.
The rankings, compiled by John Doyle of the Washington and Lee Law School Library, show the Drake Law Review had 60 citations, according to the 2008 data. Drake is in the top group of more than 1,400 journals in the rankings, which are available at http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/.
The Drake Law Review is published quarterly by Drake law students. In the past few years, the Drake Law Review has published articles by a number of distinguished legal scholars and judges, including: Erwin Chemerinsky
, Cass Sunstein
, Randy Barnett
, Cheryl Harris, Paul Brest
, Stephen Carter, Michael Gerhardt, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Stephen Rapp
(Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone).
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
, located in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. The school has over 400 full-time students. The school is presently led by Dean Allan Vestal. The most recent edition of US News and World Report's Best Law Schools ranked Drake in the third tier out of four among ABA accredited law schools and second in the state of Iowa.
History
Established in 1865 by Chester C.Cole, a justice of the of Iowa Supreme CourtIowa Supreme Court
The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. As constitutional head of the Iowa Judicial Branch, the Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices....
, Drake Law is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country and the second law school founded west of the Mississippi River after Saint Louis University. Justice Cole felt that having a law school located in the state capital would be advantageous. That notion proved to be correct. In time, Drake Law alumni would fill the ranks of all branches of Iowa local and state government. This alumni base, combined with the school's physical location, permit a large portion of the student body to participate in long-term governmental internships.
Programs
In addition to the full-scale, three-year, Juris DoctorJuris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
program, the law school features the following special programs:
- Drake Law Review
- Drake Journal of Agricultural Law
- 5 Research Centers
- Certificate programs in several fields
- Civil and Criminal Clinical Programs
- Multiple Moot Court and Mock Trial teams
- Summer in France Program
- Summer Institute in Constitutional Law (for entering 1L's)
Opperman Lecture Series
The Dwight D. OppermanDwight D. Opperman
Dwight D. Opperman is currently chairman of Key Investments, a privately held venture capital firm focusing on high-tech ventures. Previously, Opperman was the CEO of West Publishing Company and while he was CEO the company moved into technology products with the creation of the Westlaw legal...
Lecture series, endowed by the former CEO of West Publishing and Drake Alumnus, is an annual event of national importance in constitutional law. Several Supreme Court Justices
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
have visited campus to deliver lectures on American jurisprudence. Numerous current and former United States Supreme Court Justices have delivered the Opperman Lecture, including Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
, Justice Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...
, Justice Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
, Justice Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, and late Justices Harry A. Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist.
Success of Drake Law Review
As of September 2011, the Drake Law Review is ranked among the top 40 law reviews nationally for the number of times courts have cited its articles, is ranked #235 in "Impact Factor, is ranked #124 in the number of times cited by other journals, and is rated #199 in "Currency Factor."The rankings, compiled by John Doyle of the Washington and Lee Law School Library, show the Drake Law Review had 60 citations, according to the 2008 data. Drake is in the top group of more than 1,400 journals in the rankings, which are available at http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/.
The Drake Law Review is published quarterly by Drake law students. In the past few years, the Drake Law Review has published articles by a number of distinguished legal scholars and judges, including: Erwin Chemerinsky
Erwin Chemerinsky
Erwin Chemerinsky is an American lawyer and law professor. He is a prominent scholar in United States constitutional law and federal civil procedure...
, Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein
Cass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics, who currently is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration...
, Randy Barnett
Randy Barnett
Randy E. Barnett is a lawyer, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and a legal theorist in the United States...
, Cheryl Harris, Paul Brest
Paul Brest
Paul Brest is an American scholar of constitutional law, the president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and a former dean of Stanford Law School...
, Stephen Carter, Michael Gerhardt, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Stephen Rapp
Stephen Rapp
Stephen J. Rapp is an American lawyer and is currently United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.-Career:...
(Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone).
Notable alumni
Drake Law has graduated numerous significant lawyers, including several state/federal judges and politicians, including:- Marsha K. Ternus, former Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
- James E. GritznerJames E. GritznerJames E. Gritzner is an active United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.Gritzner was born in Charles City, Iowa. He received a B.A. from Dakota Wesleyan University in 1969, and a M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa in 1974. He received...
, current federal judge for the Southern District of Iowa - Mark W. BennettMark W. BennettMark W. Bennett is a United States federal judge, serving on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bennett received his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1972 and a J.D. from Drake University Law School in 1975. He was in private...
, current federal judge for the Northern District of Iowa - Dwight D. Opperman, former CEO of West Publishing Company
- Terry E. BranstadTerry E. BranstadTerry Edward Branstad is an American politician who is the 42nd and current Governor of Iowa since January 2011. Branstad was the 39th Governor of Iowa from 1983 to 1999 and President of Des Moines University from 2003 to 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is the youngest and...
, current and longest-serving Governor of Iowa - Robert D. RayRobert D. RayRobert Dolph Ray served as the 38th Governor of Iowa from January 16, 1969 to January 14, 1983. He served in the United States Army. He received his B.A. in Business from Drake University in 1952 and his Law Degree in 1954...
, former Governor of Iowa - Louis A. Lavorato, former Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
- C. Edwin Moore, former Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court