David A. Clarke School of Law

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David A. Clarke School of Law
File:Udc dcsl logo.jpg
Motto Practice Law. Promote Justice. Change Lives.
Parent school University of the District of Columbia
Established 1986[1]
School type Public
Dean Katherine S. Broderick[2]
Location Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
Enrollment 366[3]
Faculty 47[3]
USNWR ranking Rank Not Published[4]
Bar pass rate 55.6% [3]
Website http://www.law.udc.edu/

The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (also known as UDC-DCSL and UDC Law) is the District of Columbia's public law school. Located near the Van Ness – UDC Metro station in Washington, D.C., 366 students were enrolled at the school for the 2012-2013 academic year[3]

According to UDC Law's 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 57.5% of the Class of 2013 obtained JD-required or advantage employment nine months after graduation.[5]

History

UDC Law was established as the District of Columbia School of Law after Antioch University decided to close its law school.[1] The Antioch School of Law was a Washington, D.C. school established in 1972 by Jean Camper Cahn and Edgar S. Cahn, a married inter-racial couple dedicated to improving legal services for poor people.[6]

Eager to retain the Antioch School of Law's mission, curriculum, clinical programs, and personnel for the benefit of the city, in 1986 Antioch School of Law students, alumni and local legal and civic leaders mounted a successful grassroots campaign to persuade the Council of the District of Columbia to pass legislation that re-established the school as the District of Columbia School of Law (DCSL).[7] The Council of the District of Columbia later passed legislation merging the School of Law with the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.[1] In 1998 President Clinton signed legislation renaming the School after former D.C. Council Chair David A. Clarke, a civil rights leader, former Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia and long-time advocate for the law school and its mission.[1]

The District of Columbia School of Law was awarded provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1991, while the David A. Clarke School of Law was awarded provisional accreditation shortly after its renaming in 1998.[1] It was awarded full accreditation by a unanimous vote of the ABA House of Delegates on August 8, 2005.[1]

Mission

The David A. Clarke School of Law has carried on the original mission of The Antioch School of Law. DCSL's original mission was:

  1. To recruit and enroll students from groups underrepresented at the bar,
  2. Provide a well-rounded theoretical and practical legal education that will enable students to be effective and ethical advocates, and
  3. To represent the legal needs of low-income residents through the school's legal clinics.[1]

Academics

Curriculum

The school requires full-time first year students to take courses on Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Law & Justice, Lawyering Process, and Torts.[8] Upper-division full-time students are required to take clinical courses and courses on Constitutional Law, Evidence, Moot Court, Professional Responsibility, and Property.[8]

Degrees offered

UDC Law students can earn their J.D. in three years as full-time students or in four years as part-time students.[9] The school also offers a two-year LL.M. program with concentrations in Clinical Education, Social Justice, and Systems Change.[10]

Faculty

The school had 18 full-time faculty as of Fall 2013 and a student-faculty ratio of 13.27 to 1.[3]

Experiential learning

UDC Law puts a strong emphasis on legal clinics, requiring all upper-division students to take two clinical classes.[11]

The school offers the following clinics:[11]

  • Community Development Clinic
  • Government Accountability Clinic
  • General Practice Law Clinic
  • Housing & Consumer Law Clinic
  • Immigration & Human Rights Clinic
  • Juvenile & Special Education Law Clinic
  • Legislation Clinic
  • Low Income Taxpayer Clinic

U.S. News & World Report ranked UDC Law 7th for clinical training in its 2014 ranking of ABA-accredited law schools.[4]

Student life

UDC Law enrolled 366 students for the 2012-2013 academic year including 330 students pursuing a J.D.[3] 57.3% of UDC Law's JD student were enrolled full-time.[3] 51.8% of J.D. students were racial minorities and 57.9% were female.[3]

UDC Law students can participate in more than 20 groups.[12]

Admissions

UDC Law had a 34.8% acceptance rate in 2013 with the school receiving 983 applications.[3] The school's matriculation rate was 29% with 99 of the 342 admits enrolling.[3]

The median LSAT score for students enrolling in UDC in 2013 was 149 (40th percentile)[13] and the median GPA was 3.07.[3]

Employment

ABA Employment Summary for 2013 Graduates[14]
Employment Status Percentage
Employed - Bar Passage Required
  
 32.5%
Employed - J.D. Advantage
  
 25%
Employed - Professional Position
  
 10%
Employed - Non-Professional Position
  
 5%
Employed - Undeterminable
  
 0.0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time
  
 1.25%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred
  
 0.0%
Unemployed - Not Seeking
  
 1.25%
Unemployed - Seeking
  
 15%
Employment Status Unknown
  
 10%
Total of 80 Graduates

According to the school's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 26.3% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[5] One of the 21 recent graduates with full-time long-term, JD-required employment was employed by UDC Law.[5]

UDC Law ranked 197th out of the 201 ABA-approved law schools in terms of the percentage of 2013 graduates with non-school-funded, full-time, long-term, bar passage required jobs nine months after graduation.[15]

UDC Law's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 38.8%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[16]

Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland were the top employment locations for 2013 graduates.[5]

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at UDC Law for the 2013-2014 academic year is $41,630 for full-time students who are D.C. residents and $52,750 for full-time students who are non-residents.[17] The average annual increase in tuition and fees for DC residents at UDC Law for the past five years has been 9%.[18]

The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $159,633.[18]

Ranking

UDC Law's rank was not published in the 2014 edition of U.S. News & World Report's annual law school rankings,[4] indicating that the school ranked below the publication's cutoff.[19]

Notable alumni

Federal government

State government

Judiciary

Academia

Arts

References

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External links


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