The
Duke University School of Law is the
law schoolA law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
and a constituent academic unit of
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
,
Durham, North CarolinaDurham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, United States. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law began as the
Trinity College School of Law in 1868. In 1924, following the renaming of
Trinity CollegeThe history of Duke University began when Brown's Schoolhouse, a private subscription school in Randolph County, North Carolina , was founded in 1838. The school was renamed to Union Institute Academy in 1841, Normal College in 1851, and to Trinity College in 1859...
to Duke University, the school was renamed the Duke University School of Law. The School features programs in Business,
ComparativeComparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries. More specifically, it involves study of the different legal systems in existence in the world, including the common law, the civil law, socialist law, Islamic law, Hindu law, and Chinese law...
and
International LawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
,
Environmental LawEnvironmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, and
Intellectual PropertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, among others.
Duke Law is routinely ranked within the top 10 law schools. In 2011, law firm recruiters ranked Duke Law as the 8th best law school in the country. In addition, Duke Law was ranked by Forbes as having graduated lawyers with the 2nd highest median mid-career salary amount. The School has approximately 640
J.D.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...
students and 75 students in the LL.M. and S.J.D. programs. The class of 2013 posted a
medianIn probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
LSATThe Law School Admission Test is a half-day standardized test administered four times each year at designated testing centers throughout the world. Administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates, the LSAT is designed to assess Reading Comprehension,...
score of 170 (out of 180 possible points) or 98th percentile and a median undergraduate GPA of 3.80. On average, 95% of students are employed at graduation, with a median starting salary in the private sector of over $160,000. Over 400 law firms annually offer positions to Duke Law students. Duke Law boasts a number of notable alumni as well, including former President
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.
Duke Law has the highest New York Bar Exam pass rate of all US law schools. A reported 97% of students that take the exam pass at first sitting. Duke's overall student pass rate (based on two attempts) is 100%. This record is compared with all law schools across the nation, where on average 77% of students pass the New York Bar exam on their first sitting.
The current Dean of the School of Law is
David F. LeviDavid F. Levi is a U.S. jurist and current Dean of the Duke University School of Law. From 1990–2007, he was a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, serving as Chief Judge since 2003. At the time Levi left the bench, he was widely considered to be one...
, former
Chief JudgeChief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking judge of a court that has more than one judge. The meaning and usage of the term vary from one court system to another...
of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of CaliforniaThe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California is composed of six divisions.The Bakersfield division has jurisdiction over certain cases in Inyo and Kern counties and on federal lands and National Parks...
. Dean Levi assumed the deanship from outgoing Dean Katharine T. Bartlett on July 1, 2007.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/01/03/duke-law-school-selects-judge-david-levi-as-dean/http://www.law.duke.edu/news/story?id=535&u=11
The School offers joint-degree programs with the Duke University
Graduate SchoolThe Graduate School of Duke University is currently one of ten graduate and professional schools that make up the university. Established in 1926, the Graduate School offers the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Public Policy, and the Doctor of...
, the
Duke Divinity SchoolThe Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina is one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 full time and 18 part time faculty and over 500 full time students. The current dean of The Divinity School is Richard B. Hays, who replaced...
,
Fuqua School of BusinessThe Fuqua School of Business is the business school of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It currently enrolls 1,340 students in degree-seeking programs...
, the
Medical SchoolThe Duke University School of Medicine is Duke University's medical school operating under the auspices of the Duke University Medical Center. Established in 1925 by James B...
, the
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth SciencesThe Nicholas School of the Environment is one of ten graduate and professional schools at Duke University. The Levine Science Research Center is home to the vast majority of its programs, while a secondary facility is maintained in the coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina...
, and the
Sanford School of Public PolicyThe Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University is named after former Duke president and Governor of North Carolina Terry Sanford, who established the university's Institute for Policy Sciences and Public Affairs in 1971 as an interdisciplinary program geared toward training future leaders...
; and a JD/LLM dual degree program in International and Comparative Law. Approximately 25% of students are enrolled in joint-degree programs.
Duke Law is currently ranked 9th in
Intellectual PropertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, 10th in
International LawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
and 11th overall among
ABAThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
-accredited law schools in the 2011 edition of
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
.
History
In 1855 Trinity College, the precursor to Duke University, began offering lectures on Constitutional and International Law (during this time, Trinity was located in Randolph County, North Carolina). In 1865, Trinity's Law Department was officially founded, while 1868 marked the official chartering of the School of Law. After a ten-year hiatus from 1894 to 1904, James B. Duke and
Benjamin Newton DukeBenjamin Newton Duke was a U.S. tobacco, textile, energy industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:...
provided the endowment to reopen the school, with Samuel Fox Mordecai as its senior professor (by this time, Trinity College had relocated to Durham, North Carolina). When Trinity College became part of the newly created Duke University upon the establishment of the Duke Endowment in 1924, the School of Law continued as the Duke University School of Law. In 1930, the Law School moved from the Carr Building on Duke's East Campus to a new location on the main
quadIn architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
of West Campus. During the three years preceding this move, the size of the law library tripled. Among other well-known alumni, President Richard Nixon graduated from the school in 1937. In 1963, the school moved to its present location on Science Drive in West Campus.
Facilities
The Trinity College School of Law was located in the Carr Building prior to the renaming of Trinity to Duke University in 1924. The Duke University Law School was originally housed in what is now the Languages Building, built in 1929 on Duke's West Campus quad.
The Law School is presently located at the corner of Science Drive and Towerview Road and was constructed in the mid-1960s.
The first addition to the Law School was completed in 1994, and a dark polished
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
façade was added to the rear exterior of the building, enclosing the interior courtyard.
In 2004, Duke Law School broke ground on a building construction project officially completed in fall 2008. The renovation and addition offers larger and more technologically advanced classrooms, expanded community areas and eating facilities, known as the Star Commons, improved library facilities, and more study options for students.
Law Journals at Duke
Duke Law School publishes nine academic journals or
law reviewA law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
s, which are, in order of their founding:
- Law & Contemporary Problems
- Duke Law Journal
The Duke Law Journal is a student-run law review published at Duke University School of Law. The journal publishes general-interest articles and student notes in eight issues each year.- Overview :...
- Alaska Law Review
The Alaska Law Review is an academic law journal that is devoted to legal issues relating to the State of Alaska. First published in 1971, since 1984 it has been published by students at Duke Law School in Durham, North Carolina every June and December....
- Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law
- Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum
- Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy
The Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy is an interdisciplinary law journal published by students at the Duke University School of Law....
- Duke Law & Technology Review
- Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy
The Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy was established by members of the class of 2006. The first editor-in-chief was Scott Mikkelsen....
- Duke Forum for Law & Social Change
|
Law & Contemporary Problems is Duke Law's oldest law journal, though it was originally faculty-edited until the 1970s.
The
Duke Law JournalThe Duke Law Journal is a student-run law review published at Duke University School of Law. The journal publishes general-interest articles and student notes in eight issues each year.- Overview :...
was the first student-edited publication at Duke Law and publishes articles from leading scholars on topics of general legal interest.
Duke publishes the
Alaska Law ReviewThe Alaska Law Review is an academic law journal that is devoted to legal issues relating to the State of Alaska. First published in 1971, since 1984 it has been published by students at Duke Law School in Durham, North Carolina every June and December....
in a special agreement with the Alaska Bar Association, which has no law school.
The
Duke Journal of Gender Law & PolicyThe Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy is an interdisciplinary law journal published by students at the Duke University School of Law....
(
DJGLP) is the preeminent journal for its subject matter in the world.
The
Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public PolicyThe Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy was established by members of the class of 2006. The first editor-in-chief was Scott Mikkelsen....
was founded by members of the Class of 2006—the six members of the inaugural executive board were Sarah Coble, Chris Fulmer, Richard Goldberg, John Lomas, Scott Mikkelsen, and John Plecnik. Professors
Erwin ChemerinskyErwin Chemerinsky is an American lawyer and law professor. He is a prominent scholar in United States constitutional law and federal civil procedure...
and
Christopher H. SchroederChristopher Henry Schroeder is the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy for the United States Department of Justice. He also is the Charles S...
served as the ConLaw journal's inaugural faculty advisors.
The
Duke Forum for Law & Social Change was founded in 2008 and will feature articles covering a wide range of social issues, from immigration law and policy to poverty initiatives.
The Law School provides free online access to all of its academic journals, including the complete text of each journal issue dating back to January 1996 in a fully searchable HTML format and in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF). New issues are posted on the web simultaneously with print publication.
In 2005, the Law School was featured in the June 6th unveiling of the Open Access Law Program, an initiative of
Creative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
, for its work in pioneering open access to legal scholarship.
Notable alumni
- Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, '37 – 37th President of the United States
- Gerald B. Tjoflat, '57 – Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Gérard Louis-Dreyfus
William Louis-Dreyfus is a French-born American businessman. With his family's net worth estimated at $2.9 billion by Forbes, he is one of the richest men in the world. He is the chairman of Louis Dreyfus Energy Services and the great grandson of Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, founder of Louis Dreyfus Group...
- energy magnate, billionaire
- Jim Courter
James Andrew "Jim" Courter is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer and businessman. He is a resident of Hackettstown, New Jersey.-Biography:He was born October 14, 1941 in Montclair, New Jersey...
'66 – former U.S. Representative from New Jersey
- Charlie Rose
Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
, '68
- Robert M. Hart, '69 – Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Alleghany Corporation, formerly Co-chairman of the Corporate Department of the law firm of Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine in New York
- D. Todd Christofferson
David Todd Christofferson is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He has been a general authority of the church since 1993...
, '72 – Apostle, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
, '73 – Solicitor General, Independent Counsel during the Clinton Administration, former Dean of Pepperdine University School of LawThe Pepperdine University School of Law is a law school located on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.The school placed 54th among the nation's "Top 100" law schools according to the 2011 U.S. News and World Report rankings and is the third highest ranked law school in...
, and current President of Baylor UniversityBaylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
- Allyson Kay Duncan
Allyson Kay Duncan is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She is the Fourth Circuit's first female African American judge.- Background :...
, '75 – Judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Gary Lynch
Gary G. Lynch is an American attorney and the former chief legal officer for the New York investment bank Morgan Stanley. He was formerly Vice Chairman of the Firm, resident in its London Office....
, '75
- Rodney A. Smolla
Rodney A. Smolla, is an award-winning author and first amendment scholar. He is the 11th president of Furman University.Smolla went to Yale University as an undergraduate and to Duke University Law School, where he finished first in his class...
, '78 – President of Furman UniversityFurman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
- David Addington
David Spears Addington , was legal counsel and chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney, and is now vice president of domestic and economic policy studies at The Heritage Foundation....
, '81 – Chief of Staff and former legal counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney
- Dan McCarthy
Dan McCarthy is a captain in the United States Navy and one of around 730 lawyers who are members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Navy. He was educated at the Duke University School of Law...
, '83 – JAG Chief Prosecutor, United States Navy
- Sam Glasscock, III, '83 - Vice Chancellor on the Delaware Court of Chancery
The Delaware Court of Chancery is a court of equity in the American state of Delaware. It is one of Delaware's three constitutional courts, along with the Supreme Court and Superior Court.-Jurisdiction:...
- Wang Shengli, '86 – Fleet Admiral, People's Liberation Army- Navy, China
- Gao Xiqing
Gao Xiqing is the Vice Chairman, President and Chief Investment Officer of the China Investment Corporation, China's sovereign investment fund.-Early life and career:...
, '86 - Vice Chairman, President, and Chief Investment Officer of the China Investment CorporationChina Investment Corporation is a sovereign wealth fund responsible for managing part of the People's Republic of China's foreign exchange reserves. CIC was established in 2007 with approximately US$200 billion of assets under management, making it one of the largest sovereign wealth funds...
- Michael P. Scharf, '88 – Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Professor of Law and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center
The is a research center founded at Case Western Reserve University School of Law that focuses on the legal study of international law. The Center sponsors conferences, visiting lecturers, the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, the Case Western Reserve team for the Philip C...
at Case Western Reserve University School of LawCase Western Reserve University Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law is the law school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It opened in 1892, making it one of the oldest law schools in the country. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association and was...
- Claude Allen
Claude Alexander Allen was the Assistant to the President of the United States for Domestic Policy in George W. Bush's White House and a withdrawn Bush judicial nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The African-American Republican was appointed to his White House...
, '90 – former Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
- Jeffrey Lichtman
Jeffrey Lichtman is a prominent defense attorney in New York City who represented John Gotti Jr. and managed to secure a dismissal of three charges of murder conspiracy, an acquittal of a $25 million securities fraud charge, and a hung jury on every remaining count brought against him...
, '90 – Prominent criminal defense attorney
- Drew Rosenhaus
Drew Rosenhaus is an American sports agent who represents professional football players. He owns the Miami-based sports agency, Rosenhaus Sports, and is known for using aggressive tactics on behalf of his clients who play in the National Football League.Rosenhaus currently represents approximately...
, '90
- Jay Bilas
Jay Scot Bilas is an American lawyer and basketball analyst for ESPN and CBS Sports. He is also a former college basketball player.-Playing career:...
, '92
- Don R. Willett, '92 – Texas Supreme Court Justice
- Michael Elston
Michael Elston , is a United States lawyer.He is currently the Chief Counsel for Appellate & Commercial Litigation in the Office of the General Counsel, United States Postal Service, in Washington, D.C. From November 2005 to June 2007, he was a political appointee in the administration of...
, '94 – former Chief of Staff & Counselor, Office of the Deputy Attorney General
- Bobby Sharma
Bobby Sharma is Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Basketball for IMG , the premier global sports and media company. Sharma oversees the growth of IMG's basketball business around the world, including the emerging economies of India and Brazil.-Education:Sharma graduated from Duke...
, '98
- Tucker Max
Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drunken and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it for a bet in 2002, making him an Internet celebrity.Max's book I Hope They...
, '01 – Humorist and entrepreneur
- Sam Seaborn
Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.-Creation and...
, - Fictional Character on The West Wing
Notable faculty
- Katharine T. Bartlett, immediate past Dean (2000–2007) and A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law
- Curtis Bradley, Richard A. Horvitz Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy Studies (international law and U.S. foreign relations law)
- James Boyle, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law (Intellectual Property and Legal Theory)
- Paul D. Carrington, former Dean and currently Chadwick Professor of Law (civil procedure and international litigation)
- James D. Cox, Brainerd Currie
Brainerd Currie was a law professor noted for his work in conflict of laws and his creation of the concept of the governmental interests analysis. He was the father of law professor David P. Currie....
Professor of Law (corporate and securities law)
- Richard A. Danner, Archibald C. and Frances Fulk Rufty Research Professor of Law
- Walter E. Dellinger III
Walter Estes Dellinger III is the Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law at Duke University and head of the appellate practice at O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. He also currently leads Harvard Law School's . He served as the acting United States Solicitor General for the 1996-1997 Term of the...
, Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law and Former Acting Solicitor General of the United States (1996–1997)
- G. Mitu Gulati, Professor of Law (International Debt Transactions and Judicial Behavior)
- Donald L. Horowitz, James B. Duke Professor of Law (national specialist on ethnic conflict)
- David L. Lange, Melvin G. Shimm Professor of Law (intellectual property)
- David F. Levi
David F. Levi is a U.S. jurist and current Dean of the Duke University School of Law. From 1990–2007, he was a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, serving as Chief Judge since 2003. At the time Levi left the bench, he was widely considered to be one...
, Dean and former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of CaliforniaThe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California is composed of six divisions.The Bakersfield division has jurisdiction over certain cases in Inyo and Kern counties and on federal lands and National Parks...
(1994–2007)
- Jerome H. Reichman, Bunyan S. Womble Professor of Law
- Thomas D. Rowe, Jr., Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law (civil procedure and federal courts) (emeritus)
- Christopher H. Schroeder
Christopher Henry Schroeder is the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy for the United States Department of Justice. He also is the Charles S...
, Charles S. Murphy Professor of Law (administrative law)
- Neil S. Siegel, Professor of Law and Political Science
- Scott Silliman
Scott L. Silliman is a Professor of the Practice of Law at Duke Law School, and Executive Director of Duke Law School's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security...
, Professor of the Practice of Law (national security law, military law, and the law of armed conflict)
- Michael Tigar
Michael E. Tigar is an American criminal defense attorney known for representing controversial clients. He is also a member of the Duke Law School faculty.-Early life and education:...
, Professor of the Practice of Law (criminal law)
- Ernest A. Young, Alston & Bird Professor of Law (Federal Courts and Constitutional Law)
Former faculty
- William Van Alstyne
William Warner Van Alstyne is an American lawyer, law professor, and constitutional law scholar. He currently holds the named position of Lee Professor of Law at William and Mary Law School....
, former William R. & Thomas S. Perkins Chair of Law (Constitutional Law), 1974–2004; current Lee Professor of Law at William and Mary Law School
- 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...
, former Alston & BirdAlston & Bird LLP, commonly abbreviated , is the largest law firm in Atlanta and the forty-third largest in the United States.-History:...
Professor of Law (Constitutional Law), current Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of LawThe University of California, Irvine School of Law is the law school at the University of California, Irvine . It is the fifth law school in the UC system and the first public law school to open in California in 40 years...
- Brainerd Currie
Brainerd Currie was a law professor noted for his work in conflict of laws and his creation of the concept of the governmental interests analysis. He was the father of law professor David P. Currie....
, conflict of lawsThe choice of law rules in the conflict of laws in the United States have diverged from the traditional rules applied internationally. Choice of law is a procedural stage in the litigation of a case when it is necessary to reconcile the differences between the laws of different states, and in the...
pioneer (deceased)
- Robinson O. Everett
Robinson O. Everett was an American lawyer, judge and a professor of law at Duke University.Everett was born in Durham, North Carolina, to a family of lawyers: his grandfather and both of his parents being noted North Carolina attorneys...
, Professor of Criminal Law and Former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals (deceased)
External links
Official Website
Centers
Programs
Publications