University of Illinois College of Law, Urbana-Champaign, IL

Overview

The University of Illinois College of Law is a place not only to learn the law but also to gain a full understanding of it. The mission of the law school is to train well-rounded, critical, and socially conscious individuals to become outstanding lawyers.


Established in 1897, the University of Illinois College of Law was a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools and was the home of the founding chapter of the law honor society now known as the Order of the Coif. The school has specialized expertise in the areas of business and commercial law, employment law, environmental law, intellectual property law, international and comparative law, public interest law, and taxation law.

In addition to legal studies, University of Illinois law students enjoy a variety of learning opportunities that apply principles to practice. Analytical thinking, problem solving, research, pretrial and trial skills, negotiation, and interviewing are critical skills needed for real-world success. Encountering a breadth of practice experiences during law school also helps develop the increasingly important ability to practice law in and with diverse cultures at home and around the globe.

The University of Illinois College of Law offers scholarly areas of research, teaching, and coursework, which are called “specialty programs.” These are not majors or concentrations in the traditional sense but areas of academic interest and strength within the law school.

Complementing a full array of courses are writing and editing responsibilities for scholarly journals, participation in clinical programs and competitions ranging from moot courts to trial teams to negotiation, opportunities for involvement in organizations, and invitations to study abroad. A robust schedule of lectures and conferences provides regular opportunities for lively student involvement in question-and-answer sessions with renowned legal scholars and prominent members of the judiciary. The law school’s environment is both collaborative and challenging while traditional and progressive. The faculty is also very accessible and accomplished. They are well-connected, well-published legal experts who care about students and teaching.

The all-inclusive learning environment at the University of Illinois College of Law features dining facilities, a bookstore, a student lounge, wireless computing areas, and a computer lab. The Albert E. Jenner Jr. Memorial Law Library has access to thousands of electronic legal information sources and offers students, faculty, and members of the community excellent legal academic resources.

Student-Faculty Ratio : 12.6:1

Admission Criteria

	LSAT	GPA
25th-75th Percentile	156-168	3.38-3.85
Median*	163	3.70

The above LSAT and GPA data pertain to the fall 2011 entering class.

Medians have been calculated by averaging the 25th- and 75th-percentile values released by the law schools and have been rounded up to the nearest whole number for LSAT scores and to the nearest one-hundredth for GPAs.

Admission Statistics
 

Approximate number of applications	4,219
Number accepted	853
Percentage accepted	20.2%

The above admission details are based on fall 2011 data.

Class Ranking and Grades

The University of Illinois College of Law only verifies a student’s grades if the student has provided written permission to the school to release that information.

The following grading scale is used by the law school:

A+,A	4.00
A-	3.67
B+	3.33
B	3.00
B-	2.67
C+	2.33
C	2.00
C-	1.67
D	1.00
F	0.00

Grade normalization (Curve)

Minimum Grade Required to Attain (Based on May 2010 graduation class)
 

minimum GPA required to fall within the top 10% of the class	NA
Minimum GPA required to fall within the top 33% of the class	NA
Minimum GPA required for graduation	2.00

Honors

Honor	Criteria
Order of the Coif	Top 10%
summa cum laude	GPA of at least 3.75
magna cum laude	GPA of at least 3.50
cum laude	GPA of at least 3.25
Harno Scholars	Top 10% in each semester
Dean’s List	Top 11%-30% in each semester

Awards

Name of Award	Description
Bell, Boyd & Lloyd Best Advocate Award	Awarded to first-year students for oral and written advocacy skills
CALI Excellence for the Future Award	Awarded for the highest grade in each course
Cook County Circuit Court Honors Externship Program	Awarded to applicants who earned Honors or High Honors distinctions in the first-semester Legal Research and Writing class
Harker Prize	Awarded to the student ranked number one after the first year
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg Law Review Writing Award	Awarded for the best law review note
Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal Award of Excellence in Legal Research and Writing	Awarded for legal research and writing skills
Rickert Awards	Awarded to outstanding third-year law students who demonstrate excellence within a variety of academic, advocacy, and community-building activities
Larry Travis Bushong Writing Award	Awarded for the best student paper on gay and lesbian issues
Honorary Round Best Oralist	Awarded to the best oralist in the Moot Court Honorary Round
Dennis France Scholarship	Awarded to an outstanding third-year student in family law
J. Nelson Young Tax Award	Awarded for academic excellence in taxation
Brinks Hofer Award	Awarded for academic excellence in intellectual property
Ellen Daar Kerschner Memorial Scholarship	Awarded to an outstanding female student
Class of 1996 Public Service Award	Awarded for public service commitment
Jenner & Block Minority Scholar	Awarded to an outstanding 1st Year Minority Student
Cook County Circuit Court Honors	Awarded to 1st year students with honors in legal writing
Joseph M. Barich Award	Awarded for the excellence in Patent Law
Ward F. McDonald	Awarded for the  excellence in Real Estate Law
H.H.Harris Foundation/Charles Hough	Awarded for the excellence in Law

Journals

The University of Illinois Law Review is published five times per year by students of the University of Illinois College of Law. The student-edited review provides practitioners, judges, professors, and law students with analyses of important topics in the law. It is generally regarded as one of the preeminent law reviews in the country. Students may be invited to become a member based on a writing competition held before the beginning of the fall semester or by writing a note that is selected for publication in the law review.

The Elder Law Journal is published twice annually by students of the University of Illinois College of Law. It is dedicated to addressing elder law issues and publishes manuscripts that not only address policy decisions but also serve as guides to attorneys practicing in the field. The journal helps attorneys who advise clients on estate planning, living wills, arrangements for long-term nursing care, qualifying for Medicaid, and other areas of law pertinent to the elderly, as well as professionals in fields such as social work, gerontology, ethics, and medicine.

The University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy is a peer-reviewed, biannual publication of the University of Illinois College of Law. It features articles that address the societal impact of technology, legal and regulatory regimes that govern technology, intellectual property issues posed by technology, the use of technology to vindicate societal goals, and ethics and technology. It is a unique forum for the discussion of issues at the intersection of law, technology, and policy.

The Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal was founded in 1976. It provides a venue for the very best scholarship regarding the comparative analysis of labor law, employment policy, and social security issues. In 1997, the journal moved to the University of Illinois, where it was given its current name and its editorial advisory board broadened to better reflect its mission. With an extensive worldwide circulation, the journal has become a major international forum for research—theoretical and applied—in an area of growing importance to the developed and in the developing world. It is a publication of the University of Illinois College of Law and the United States branch of the International Society for Labor

Law and Social Security.

The Illinois Business Law Journal is a production of the University of Illinois College of Law’s Business Law Society. It is inspired by an innovative trend in legal publication in which weblog technology is being utilized to allow faculty, students, and professionals to interact in a novel way, providing a unique complement to traditional law reviews. The purpose of the journal is to provide the casual reader with information on recent developments affecting business law.

The Illinois Law Update is a column written by law students. These students are chosen from among the top legal writing students in the college. It focuses on recent developments in Illinois law. It is published monthly in the Illinois Bar Journal.

Moot Court

The University of Illinois College of Law offers both internal and external moot court opportunities to its students. All second- and third-year students are eligible to participate in internal and external moot court competitions. Students earn academic credit for both internal and external competitions, and upper level writing requirements are also satisfied.

Students can participate in following competitions:

• Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
• Environmental Law Moot Court Competition
• Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition
• Frederick Green Moot Court Competition
• Hispanic National Bar Association Moot Court Competition
• Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition
• Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition

Clinical Programs

The University of Illinois College of Law offers clinical programs where students solve real problems for actual clients. These programs provide hands-on experience and draw directly from the knowledge and skills gained in the classroom. There are in-house clinics and outplacement clinics. All of the clinics provide free legal services to individuals and organizations that would not otherwise have access to legal representation.

The law school’s in-house clinics are as follows:

• Civil Litigation Clinic
• Community Preservation Clinic
• Conflict Resolution Clinic
• Family Advocacy Clinic
• Federal Civil Rights Clinic
• International Human Rights Clinic

The law school’s outplacements clinics include the following:

• Appellate Defender
• Appellate Prosecutor
• Domestic Violence Clinic
• Innocence Project
• Legislative Projects
• Patent Law Clinic

Placement Facts

Starting Salaries (2010 Graduates employed Full-Time)
 

Private sector (25th-75th percentile)	$65,000-$160,000
Median in the private sector	$130,000
Median in public service	$42,000

Employment Details

Graduates known to be employed at graduation	72.8%
Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation	87.2%

Areas of Legal Practice

Graduates employed In	Percentage
Law Firms	54.7%
Business and Industry	12.4%
Government	17.1%
Judicial Clerkships	6.5%
Public Interest Organizations	4.1%
Academia	5.3%
Unknown	0%

Externships/Internships

Externships

• In the University of Illinois College of Law’s externship programs, under the direct supervision of attorneys, students complete assignments such as interviewing clients and witnesses; researching legal questions; preparing pleadings, discovery motions, and briefs; and, in some instances, trying cases.

Internships

Summer Internship

• The school assists students interested in working with public interest organizations find summer internships. Internships may be paid or unpaid, depending on the organizations. In some cases, the law school may help students in unpaid internships acquire outside funding.

Student organizations

• American Bar Association – Student Division
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – College of Law Chapter
• American Constitution Society
• Asian American Law Students Association (AALSA)
• Black Law Students Association (BLSA)
• Chicago Bar Association (CBA) – Student Division
• Christian Law Students Association
• Corporate and Business Law Association (CBLA)
• Criminal Law Society
• Environmental Law Society
• External Competition Team
• Family Law Society
• Federalist Society
• Health Law Society
• Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) – Student Division
• Immigration Law Society
• Intellectual Property Legal Society
• International Law Society
• Internet and Technology Law Association (ITLA)
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society
• Jewish Law Students Association
• Labor and Employment Law Society
• Latino/Latina Law Students Association
• Law Student Labor Action Coalition
• Lone Star Law Student Association
• Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA)
• Muslim Law Students Association (MLSA)
• Myra Bradwell Association for Women Law Students (WLS)
• National Lawyers Guild
• OUTLAW Sexual Orientation and Legal Issues Society
• Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity
• Prisoners’ Rights Research Project
• Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF)
• Racquetball Association
• Real Estate Law Society
• Sports and Entertainment Law Society
• Street Law
• Student Bar Association (SBA)
• Student Legal Relief

References

• http://www.law.illinois.edu/
• http://premium.usnews.com/
• http://www.nalplawschoolsonline.org/
• http://illinoislawreview.org/
• http://elderlaw.law.uiuc.edu/
• http://www.jltp.uiuc.edu/