Order of the Coif
Encyclopedia
The Order of the Coif is an honor society
Honor society
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...

 for United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 law school graduates. A student at an American law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

 who earns a Juris Doctor
Juris 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...

 degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the Order.

Membership

According to the organization's constitution, "The purpose of The Order is to encourage excellence in legal education by fostering a spirit of careful study, recognizing those who as law students attained a high grade of scholarship, and honoring those who as lawyers, judges and teachers attained high distinction for their scholarly or professional accomplishments."

The exact induction process varies by law school, but students are generally notified of their membership after the final class ranks at their schools are announced. A new member receives a certificate of membership, a badge of membership for wear during academic ceremonies, a Coif key, and in some cases an actual coif
Coif
A coif is a close fitting cap that covers the top, back, and sides of the head.- History :Coifs were worn by all classes in England and Scotland from the Middle Ages to the early seventeenth century .Tudor and earlier coifs are usually made of unadorned white linen and tied under...

 or a representation of one.

The basic requirement for membership is ranking in the top 10% of a member school's graduating class. If a member law school graduates fewer than 30 students, it may induct its top three students. A school can decide not to allow an otherwise eligible student to receive the honor, and may impose additional requirements for membership beyond the organization's national requirement of being in the top 10% of the class.

Each member school may also induct a faculty member and one honorary member each year. The national organization's executive committee may also elect a limited number of honorary members. Those chosen for honorary membership are usually United States Supreme Court justices and other preeminent members of the legal profession.

Notable members

  • Jim Bacchus
    Jim Bacchus
    James Bacchus is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a former chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization....

  • Elizabeth Warren
    Elizabeth Warren
    Elizabeth Warren is an American bankruptcy expert, policy advocate, Harvard Law School professor, and Democratic Party candidate in the 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts. She has written several academic and popular books concerning the American economy and personal finance. She...

  • Warren E. Burger
    Warren E. Burger
    Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings, the U.S...

  • Warren Christopher
    Warren Christopher
    Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...

  • Ann Coulter
    Ann Coulter
    Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...

  • Roger Groot
    Roger Groot
    Roger Douglas Groot was the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, where he had taught since 1973. He was an expert in criminal law and procedure, and the death penalty...

  • Richard Nixon
    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...

  • Kathleen M. O'Malley
    Kathleen M. O'Malley
    Kathleen McDonald O'Malley is a United States federal judge.Born in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, O'Malley received a double A.B. from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1979, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Her majors were honors history and economics; she graduated in both with...

  • Robert G. Pugh
    Robert G. Pugh
    Robert Gahagan Pugh, Sr., known as Bob Pugh , was a prominent attorney in Shreveport, Louisiana, who, as his local bar association president in 1970–1971, initiated the first prepaid legal services plan in the United States...

  • Diane Wood
  • Barbara, Lady Judge

Chapters

, 81 of 199 United States law schools accredited by the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The 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...

 to award the J.D. degree had Order of the Coif chapters. In that year, all but five of the top fifty law schools, as ranked by U.S. News, were member schools. The others, Boston University School of Law
Boston University School of Law
Boston University School of Law is the law school affiliated with Boston University, and is ranked #22 among American law schools by US News and World Report magazine. It is the second-oldest law school in Massachusetts and one of the first law schools in the country to admit students regardless...

, Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...

, Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

, George Mason University School of Law
George Mason University School of Law
George Mason University School of Law is the law school of George Mason University, a state university in Virginia, United States...

, and Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame Law School
The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News &...

, have never applied for a chapter. Notre Dame and Columbia are ineligible because they do not rank the top 10% of their graduating class by grade point average, which the order's constitution requires.

For a law school to establish a chapter, the school must apply for a charter. If the organization's executive committee determines, after considering the law school's written submissions and its own investigation (which may include an examination of the school by a visitation team), that the applicant merits a chapter, it will submit the application for a vote by the existing chapters. A charter for a new chapter requires approval by 80% of the existing chapters.

Criteria considered when a law school applies for a chapter of the Order include: (1) American Bar Association and Association of American Law Schools
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools is a non-profit organization of 170 law schools in the United States. Another 25 schools are "non-member fee paid" schools, which are not members but choose to pay AALS dues. Its purpose is to improve the legal profession through the improvement of legal...

 approval; (2) at least ten years of existence as a law school; (3) affiliation with a university; (4) if a part-time J.D. program exists, the part-time program must offer students and faculty affiliated with the part-time program the same scholarship opportunities as all other students and faculty; (5) a stimulating intellectual environment for the study of law; (6) commitment of the university and law school administration to quality legal education; (7) faculty scholarship and institutional support for same; (8) a diverse educational program; (9) a diverse student body with strong academic credentials; (10) a law library that will support and encourage research activity; and (11) appropriate physical facilities.

A law school can also be removed from the Order if a two-thirds majority of member schools agrees to bring the matter to a vote and a four-fifths majority (excluding the school in question) then votes to remove the school.

The University of Illinois established the first Order of the Coif chapter in 1902.
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