The University of Chicago Law School 2014-2015 Viewbook
The University of Chicago Law School Office of Admissions 1111 East 60th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637
Where it is comfortable to share ideas
Message
from the Dean
Welcome to the University of Chicago Law School! This book in your hands will give you just a small taste of life at Chicago Law, a law school that stands apart from all others. In these pages, you will learn about our amazing faculty and their unparalleled quality (and quantity!) of scholarship, their excellence in teaching, and their accessibility to our students. You will learn about our small, diverse, and close-knit student body, and about the many courses they take, activities in which they participate, and community service opportunities they undertake. You will see why we love being in Hyde Park and the city of Chicago, and why you will love it too. And you will discover where a Chicago Law degree can take you—to work in the public sector or private practice, to business, politics, or academia, and to the four corners of the globe. I hope you will also get a sense of what makes the University of Chicago Law School so unique among American law schools. Today, there is tremendous pressure toward uniformity among elite American law schools. At Chicago, we resist the trend to look just like our counterparts. Our calendar is different as is our curriculum. Our students engage in the life of the Law School to an extent unheard of at most schools. We are recognized among judges, academics, law firms, and members of the business community as being an institution uniquely committed to the world of ideas. Regardless of whether you are a liberal or conservative, an economist or a humanist, a member of the majority or a person in the minority, it is your ideas that matter, not who you are or where you came from. Honest, respectful, no-holds-barred debate about ideas and the role of law in our society will be nourished and protected at all costs. The more you learn about us, the more you will want to be part of our uniquely exciting community. Importantly, Chicago is known not only as a place where your intellect will be challenged, but also as a place that will give you the training and the skills necessary to hit the ground running as a lawyer. Having Chicago Law on one's diploma is synonymous with proficiency in legal reasoning and argumentation. We train our students to think analytically, carefully, and thoughtfully, and we do that better than any other school. But particularly given the changes buffeting the legal market, we also give serious attention to skills training—the activities that professionals engage in every day of their life—such as drafting and negotiating agreements and oral advocacy. The training you will receive as a Chicago Law student is second to none, and private and public employers alike will be glad to have you join their ranks. Indeed, I repeatedly hear from employers that there are no better trained lawyers out there than those who graduate from our school. After reading this viewbook, make sure to check out our website. We encourage you to watch our videos, follow us on Twitter, and spend lots of time on our pages for prospective students. Once you’re done reading, watching, and clicking, come visit us and let us show you why our students and faculty are so happy to be here and why alumni are so proud of the education they got here. Meet the people in our community, see the newly renovated library and classrooms, and experience for yourself the best legal education in America. And, of course, while you are here learn for yourself why Chicago is the most exciting and livable city in the nation. We look forward to meeting you.
Michael Schill
2
The University of Chicago Law School is about ideas.
We love them. We revel in working through a complex problem, benefiting from the insights of fellow members of our community. Our students have a passion for discussing cutting-edge issues— such as commercial law in virtual worlds or international human rights issues in China—over coffee in our Green Lounge. Our faculty are excited about hosting students in their homes for our unique Greenberg Seminars, where the focus could be anything from American foreign policy to graphic novels. We thrive on being part of the world-class intellectual environment that is the University of Chicago.
We strive every day to create the finest learning experience possible. Classes are small, allowing for intimate conversations. Entering students are organized into research and writing sections of about thirty students, who get to know each other well and work together their entire first year. Connecting and collaborating with faculty, who bring their scholarly expertise and broad personal interests to bear on topics large and small, is not only easy but expected. Our students enjoy their time outside the classroom as much as their time in it. They run organizations that delve deeper into law or that broaden social horizons. They play sports, sing in a cappella groups, act in the Winter Quarter Musical, represent clients in our legal clinics, challenge the faculty in a trivia tournament, and volunteer for community service. A favorite activity is the weekly Wine Mess, an afternoon “happy hour” that has been a tradition at the Law School for more than fifty years. On Wednesday mornings, faculty and staff drop by the Green Lounge for
Coffee Mess, where they talk with students over donuts and bagels. And our entire community benefits from our location in Chicago, where students can enjoy fine restaurants, theater, concerts, parks, sports, and more. We take great pride in our network of alumni, who have been trained to think independently, critically, and creatively about the law. We believe, and our graduates confirm, that ideas turned into action is one of the most satisfying ways to practice law. Come visit us and see the Chicago difference. Meet our faculty members— driven teachers and prolific scholars, engaged with social problems and real legal issues. Spend time with our students, who value academic thought, compassionate clinical work, and engagement with one another and their teachers. Get to know our graduates, who distinguish themselves with their intellect, skepticism, sense of purpose, and taste for the tough questions. Come join our family of lifelong learners.
“I remember how I loved the experience. I don’t think there is anyplace else in the world where one learns so well how to think and process information, to look at all aspects of any situation and think about it on multiple levels, from the highly theoretical to the utterly human.” Steve Lipscomb, ’88, Founder and CEO, World Poker Tour
The University of Chicago Law School
Students 5
Ideas matter–
to our students, to our faculty, to our alumni. Chicago students enjoy their classes. Chicago faculty love teaching them. Chicago alumni never forget them. Our students crave intellectual stimulation. They work hard—and play hard. They challenge their teachers and each other on all things logical, legal, and political. They master a lawyer’s most powerful skills: researching, writing, and presenting well-reasoned legal arguments. And they also enjoy more than fifty student organizations ranging from the Environmental Law Society to the Federalist Society, from Neighbors, which engages in a wide variety of community service activities, to the women’s intramural football team, which has won the campus championship
nine times in a row. Students even fill the classrooms during lunchtime to hear faculty and other speakers discuss the issues of the day, and to enjoy a free lunch. Why do they do this? Because it’s great. Because it’s worth it. Because they are partners in their own education. Because they grow. Because they are truly prepared for their careers—and lives— after law school. Because they forge lifelong friendships and mentoring relationships. And, most of all, because it’s fun. Chicago students enjoy a very special environment—a true community that combines the academic and the social. Our small size allows an environment where everyone knows everyone else, where faculty, staff, and students can get to know each other on an individual basis, and where everyone is part of a common enterprise. It also gives students a ready group with whom to explore Chicago—the restaurants, the theaters, the running paths, and yes, the bars— and with whom to start out on the path to an exciting career.
Chicago students are confident and engaged. They come from diverse backgrounds and hail from across the country and around the globe. They are ready for the next challenge. They go on to head law firms, become CEOs of companies, clerk for Supreme Court Justices— and become judges themselves. Learn more about our students at www.law.uchicago.edu/students.
“My classmates and I were a close knit group—we played together, studied together, challenged one another's views and thoughts. There was an incredibly wide range of ideas and views in the classroom and we managed to really exchange those ideas and look at problems in ways I had never looked at them before. It was very exciting.” James Cole, ’95, Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation The University of Chicago Law School
6 Faculty
Learning the law at Chicago is collaborative. Faculty do not simply lecture—they engage students in a dialogue. They ask questions about complex legal concepts and principles, challenging students to articulate and think about the law for themselves. Chicago faculty know that complex social and legal problems have no easy answers. Our graduates need to think on their feet in the courtroom, the legislative chamber, and the boardroom—and the Socratic Method teaches them to do that. Because the Law School believes in interdisciplinary inquiry, our faculty are not just leading law scholars. They are also
feminist scholars, historians, economists, and philosophers. They are clinical practitioners, dedicated to teaching and advocacy. Together with our faculty, visiting faculty and lecturers drawn from government and private practice teach more than 170 courses and reflect a breadth and depth that are hard to match. Learn more about our faculty at www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty. Chicago faculty engage with students in ways uncommon in academia. The Law School sponsors the Chicago Policy Initiatives, which encourage faculty members and students to work together, examine important social problems, and propose solutions. Past and current topics for Policy Initiatives include judicial decisionmaking, animal
treatment, foster care, parental leave, and climate change. Chicago students love the Greenberg Seminars, where professors from different disciplines team up to teach casual seminars on unusual subjects in their own homes. Students have said that the seminars, which change yearly, enhance the Law School’s reputation for professors’ accessibility, and take the open-door office hours policy several steps further than most law schools. Several times a year, faculty host roundtable dinners, a popular discussion series for students. Twenty students gather at a faculty member’s home to talk about topics not covered in classes—from who has property rights over the final out ball of the Red Sox World Series game, to the exposure of children to the Internet, to racial profiling and gerrymandering.
“Faculty-student interaction here is phenomenal. In my first quarter alone, I had dinner with one faculty member, lunch with two others, and my Civil Procedure professor had the whole class to her house for breakfast!” Lauren Barnett, ’14
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8 Public Interest
“The great law schools have a very special responsibility not only to produce the best lawyers in the country, but to produce lawyers who fulfill the obligation of the bar to serve the public interest, whether through government service, NGOs, or community organizations.” Lillian Kraemer, ’64, retired partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Chicago is committed to training lawyers and scholars
connect students with alumni mentors practicing in public interest law. To learn more about public interest at the Law School, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ publicinterest.
who are dedicated to the public good. In order to make public interest careers possible, the Law School has created unique and generous programs to assist current students and graduates who pursue these jobs. A dedicated public interest law advisor serves on the Office of Career Services staff to offer critical assistance to students and alumni pursuing work and volunteer opportunities in the public and nonprofit sectors. Susan Curry, formerly the executive director of the Public Interest Law Initiative, joined the Law School in 2010 as the Director of Public Interest Law and Policy. Curry and our other experienced OCS counselors meet regularly with students to assist them in every step of their job search, as well as coordinate informational programs and guest speakers to highlight different types of government and public interest law careers. They also
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The Law School’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program allows any graduate who works in a qualified public interest position for ten years to attend law school for free. Working in concert with current federal debt relief programs, Chicago’s LRAP is one of the most generous of its kind. Unlike most law schools’ LRAPs, our inclusive program includes judicial clerkships as eligible positions and has a generous salary cap of $80,000. More details are available at www.law.uchicago.edu/financialaid/ LRAP. The Law School guarantees summer funding for 1L and 2L students engaged in qualified public interest work. Through the Heerey Fellowship Program and the Chicago Law Foundation, first- and second-year students working in eligible nonprofit or government law positions during the summer are guaranteed a $5,000 award. Participants in both programs may also earn up to $5,000 from other summer funding sources. In addition, a gift from alumnus Herbert L. Caplan, ’57, established paid fellowships for students who work in public interest policy after their second year.
Our clinical programs (see page 11) aren’t the only way to serve the public interest and engage with issues that matter to you while you’re in law school. You can join organizations like the Chicago Law Foundation, which raises money for grants given to students working in summer public interest jobs, or Neighbors, which works with local school children on literacy and civics issues. You can participate in the Spring Break of Service, which annually sends two dozen students to do legal aid work in places like Biloxi and Jackson, Mississippi, or Jammu, India. You can even start your own organization to do what is meaningful to you. Or you can participate in our Pro Bono Service Initiative by pledging to volunteer at least 50 hours of law-related service during your time in law school. Program participants recognize that pro bono public service is an integral part of a lawyer’s professional obligation and an essential ingredient in a legal career. These service opportunities also offer students additional opportunities to develop their legal skills and experience. Each year, Chicago students log hundreds of pro bono hours with various community legal service providers, including the Cook County Public Defender, Equip for Equality, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Chicago Legal Clinic, the National Resources Defense Council, and many others. Learn more about the Pro Bono Service Initiative at www.law.uchicago.edu/ publicinterest/probono.
Public Interest 9
Clinical Program 11 “Our clinical faculty are expert practitioners and expert teachers. We don’t just practice law and let students tag along—our job is to coach, challenge, and guide our students in their development as practitioners. Over their time in the clinic, students learn to take the lead on the case or transaction. They move from being apprentices to being true colleagues.” Jeff Leslie, Director of Clinical and Experiential Learning, Clinical Professor of Law, Paul J.Tierney Director of the Housing Initiative, and Faculty Director of Curriculum
Chicago students get involved in our community, and the Law School’s clinical programs make it easy for them to do so.
outstanding clinical professors. Students can work in a wide variety of areas, including: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
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Students can readily prepare for careers serving the public interest and get practical experience that will enrich their education, their legal practice, and their lives. The Law School was a pioneer in clinical legal education by establishing one of the first legal clinics associated with a law school. In 2008, the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic celebrated its 50th anniversary of serving the people of Chicago. Second- and third-year students working in the clinic learn litigation, legislative advocacy, and transactional skills by representing clients while under the close supervision of the Law School’s
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Civil rights and police accountability; Criminal and juvenile justice; Employment discrimination; Affordable housing; Mental health; International human rights; Social service; Exoneration of people wrongfully convicted; Federal criminal law; Advocacy for immigrant children; Environmental law; Gendered violence; and Public criminal defense and prosecution.
For those more interested in the business side of the law, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship is devoted principally to expanding economic liberties by providing a range of legal services for start-up businesses in economically disadvantaged communities. Students actively represent clients in all of these projects–it’s not just busy work. The State of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals allow students, under the supervision of licensed attorneys, to serve as counsel for clients.
This means that our students serve as trial lawyers, conducting direct and cross examinations, making opening and closing arguments, and drafting motions. They also argue the cases on appeal. They do the leg work and the research, they draft the contracts and negotiate the settlements. They practice law. For this, they earn course credit, gain real-world experience, and serve the community. Our clinic students’ work makes a difference. In the past few years Chicago Law students have helped exonerate a man wrongfully imprisoned for 29 years, advocated for changes to the laws that impede Chicago entrepreneurs, laid the legal groundwork in the completion of a new Chicago affordable housing development, and won a case before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that could fundamentally change the way the federal government prosecutes illegal immigrants. Our students have even built a case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the state of Illinois’ forfeiture laws. Every day our students are doing work that gives a legal voice to the voiceless in ways large and small. Read more about our clinical programs at www.law.uchicago.edu/clinics.
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12 Curriculum
“What I can promise you is a community that is committed to both sides of the lawyer’s craft— to the passion and commitment to what the law should try to achieve, and also to unflinching critical analysis that accepts no orthodoxy except the sovereignty of reason.” David Strauss, Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law
At Chicago, you learn the law— and you learn how to think, which is even more important.
may not have been written with today’s problems in mind. Elements will give you the tools to analyze legal problems long after you leave Chicago’s halls.
The Law School encourages students to get a broad curricular foundation. The law will change while you are in law school, and so we train our students for the future. Classes are small— particularly our Bigelow legal research and writing course. First-year students take a core sequence covering contracts, torts, property, criminal law, and civil procedure, as well as one interdisciplinary course, Elements of the Law. “Elements,” a class designed at Chicago, examines legal issues from diverse standpoints. You’ll learn how political scientists, economists, psychologists, sociologists, and moral philosophers think about legal questions. And you’ll learn about the basic reasoning behind all laws: why we reason from precedent; what consent, coercion, and voluntary choice mean; how we choose between rules and discretionary standards; and how to think about interpreting statutes and other authoritative texts that
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Chicago is on the quarter system (although we’re only in session three quarters a year). Quarters create shorter classes, and you take fewer of them at a time than you would in a semester system. Our students find that the quarter system allows them to take a wider variety of classes than at most law schools. The quarter system also allows our 1Ls to ease into their exams because they only have two finals in their first quarter compared to four in a semester system. To learn more about the quarter system, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/prospectives/ faqs/quartersystem. Another benefit of the quarter system is that it allows every 1L to take an elective. You’ll get to spice up your 1L schedule with such courses as Copyright, Public International Law, Economic Analysis of the Law, or Legislation—courses most schools don’t offer to 1Ls. All of the University is open to you in the second and third years, when you can choose not only from more than 170 classes within the Law School, ranging from Health Law and Policy to Structuring Complex Business Transactions, from Feminist Jurisprudence to International Criminal Law, but also
from hundreds of courses in other schools and departments. The Law School encourages interdisciplinary work—all students may take up to twelve hours of coursework anywhere in the University. You will find that the curriculum is deep and diverse, emphasizing careful analysis infused with interdisciplinary perspectives, drawing on the faculty’s extensive backgrounds in fields such as history, philosophy, political science, economics, and sociology. The Law School also offers shorter, more intensive courses such as Criminal Justice Policy and Financial Accounting to supplement the curriculum with skills training and distinguished visitors— and without a major time investment. These courses provide a foundation for understanding complicated legal and policy issues, and also for a career in the public or private sector. For a complete list of courses, see www.law.uchicago. edu/courses. Students may also apply for joint or dual degree programs—including three formal joint degree programs with the Booth School of Business (M.B.A., Ph.D.), The Harris School of Public Policy (M.P.P.), or the Divinity School (M. Div.)—either at the same time they apply to the Law School, in their first year (as required by certain joint degree programs), or during the course of their studies at the Law School. For more information, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/students/ jointdegree.
“The classroom experience at The Law School is beyond anything I could’ve imagined. I’m constantly blown away by how engaging, intelligent, and organized my professors are. They know exactly how to get us to where we need to be in each and every class.” Rob Lee, ‘15
You’ll graduate Chicago Law not only thinking like a lawyer, but also ready to practice and to lead. Preparing for a legal career certainly involves a great deal of learning about the law, but at Chicago, it also goes far beyond that. From lunchtime events to clinical opportunities, from intensive practice workshops and labs to moot courts and journals, the Law School offers countless ways to gain skills and knowledge necessary for the practice of law. All students must take at least one “skills” course in order to graduate, but your opportunities to learn important professional skills and gain practical experience will extend far beyond the classroom. Designed to get students in the habit of enhancing their education outside a formal learning or work environment, our Keystone Professionalism & Leadership Program (KPLP) is structured to operate much like the Continuing Legal Education programs that many licensed attorneys attend. We identified ten categories of practical, social, and leadership skills that lead to becoming an effective attorney, and this past year alone hosted over
85 programs in those categories in which our students could participate. Students earn points by attending the events, and those with at least 200 points by the end of each year receive special recognition and are eligible to list participation in KPLP on their resumes. To learn more, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/Keystone. Through a combination of classroom instruction and direct work on real, cutting-edge projects, students in the Corporate Lab train to become well-rounded legal practitioners with sound legal and business judgment. Corporate Lab students can work in either the Litigation Lab, which brings lawyers and students together to analyze and develop aspects of the lawyers’ ongoing litigation, or the Transactional Lab, where students work closely with corporate legal teams at major companies in a variety of sectors, such as technology, consulting, telecommunications, and emerging businesses. The Corporate Lab mirrors a real-world work experience: students receive hands-on substantive and client-development experience and are expected to manage and meet expectations and deadlines while exercising a high level of professionalism. More information is available at www.law.uchicago.edu/ corporatelab. Last year saw the launch of the Law School’s Doctoroff Business Leadership Program, a new certificategranting program that combines law and business courses to prepare
Professionalism, Skills, and Experiential Education
13
the next generation of law graduates with the analytical skills to be leaders of businesses or key advisors to business. The program will generally make available to all students a series of core business courses. In addition, it will provide a smaller set of students admitted to the program a unique array of mentorship, internship, and enrichment opportunities not normally found in law schools. For more information on the Doctoroff Business Leadership Program, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ doctoroffbusinessleadership. The Class of 2017 will be the first class to participate in the Law School’s inaugural year for the Kapnick Leadership Development Initiative, a program that will introduce systematic leadership development and training to the first year class. The Law School, in partnership with The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has modeled the leadership training program on Booth’s very successful Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD) class and customized it for law students to give them the tools to respond to the legal profession’s unique challenges. Each year, all first year law students will participate in a series of team-building exercises, leadership challenges, and social events, which have been created to give each 1L the opportunity to be introduced to their classmates and learn about their own leadership style and effectiveness in team situations. To learn more, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ alumni/magazine/fall13/kapnick.
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Students, Professor Alison LaCroix, and Judge Richard Posner gather at Professor Martha Nussbaum’s home for a Greenberg Seminar on Shakespeare and the Law.
16 Curriculum
First-year law students take a required set of courses listed below, as well as a 1L elective in the spring. The list of electives available changes each year. In the second and third years, the only required course is a legal ethics course. In addition, students must take two courses with a substantial writing component and a skills course. Other than that, students are free to choose for themselves. The courses listed below are loosely grouped into categories for ease of reading, although no formal concentrations exist in our curriculum. These courses were offered during 2012-13 and 2013-14, and while not all of them are taught every year, this list will give you an idea of the kinds of courses we offer. In addition, our curriculum often changes in response to current events, so other new courses will likely be offered during your time at the Law School. First-Year Courses Civil Procedure I and II Contracts Criminal Law Elements of the Law Legal Research and Writing Property Torts Administrative Law Abrams Environmental Law Clinic Administrative Law Advanced Corporate Law: Mergers and Acquisitions American Indian Law Bankruptcy and Reorganization: The Federal Bankruptcy Code Collective Bargaining in Sports and Entertainment Comparative Legal Institutions Complex Financial Institutions: Lessons from the Financial Crisis and Current Regulatory Debate Construction Law Consumer Law Current Issues in Criminal and National Security Law Delegation and Its Limits Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Election Law Employee Benefits Law Employment Law Energy Law Environmental Law EU Competition Law: With Special Emphasis on the Application of Advanced Topics in Antitrust Evolving Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets The Federal Budget Federal Legislative Power Federal Regulation of Securities Food and Drug Law Foreign Relations Law Greenberg Seminar: Crime and Politics in Charm City: A Portrait of the Urban Drug War Health Care Policy
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Historical Semantics and Legal Interpretation: Questions and Methods History of Civil Liberties in the United States Housing and Development: Law and Policy Immigration Law International Arbitration International Human Rights Clinic International Human Rights Law Labor Law Land Use The Law and Policy of Climate Change Local Government Law Obscenity Law and Pop Culture Oil and Gas Law Parent, Child, and the State Poverty and Housing Law Clinic Presidential Powers Private Regulation Public Choice Public International Law Public Land and Resources Law Public-Entity Bankruptcy Regulation of Investment Professionals Regulation of Sexuality Regulatory Interpretation Residential Real Estate Development and the Law State and Local Finance: Selected Topics Telecommunications Law and Regulation Theories of Financial Regulation U.S. Taxation of International Transactions Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic Constitutional Law Administrative Law American Law and the Rhetoric of Race American Legal History, 1607-1870 Capital Punishment in America Civil Rights Clinic: Police Accountability Comparative Constitutional Design The Comparative Law of Democracy Comparative Legal Institutions Conflicts of Law
Constitutional Decision Making Constitutional Law I: Governmental Structure Constitutional Law II: Freedom of Speech Constitutional Law III: Equal Protection and Substantive Due Process Constitutional Law V: Freedom of Religion Corporate and Entrepreneurial Finance Counterintelligence and Covert Action—Legal and Policy Issues Criminal Procedure I: The Investigative Process Criminal Procedure III: Further Issues In Criminal Adjudication Current Issues in Criminal and National Security Law Delegation and Its Limits Development of Legal Institutions Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Election Law Employment Discrimination Law The Evolving Relationship between the Federal Government and the States Federal Courts Federal Criminal Practice Federal Criminal Procedure: From Bail to Jail Federal Legislative Power Feminist Philosophy Foreign Relations Law Greenberg Seminar: Race and Place in Chicago Greenberg Seminar: The Life and Times of the Warren Court (1954-1968) Higher Education and the Law History of Civil Liberties in the United States Human Rights: Alien and Citizen Immigration Law The Interbellum Constitution Law and Practice of Zoning, Land Use, and Eminent Domain Law and Religion Legislation and Statutory Interpretation Life in the Law Marriage Obscenity Law and Pop Culture
Originalism and its Critics Presidential Powers Privacy Religion, Law and Politics The Roberts Court U.S. Supreme Court: Theory and Practice Workshop: Constitutional Law Workshop: Public Law and Legal Theory Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic Taxation Accounting and Financial Analysis Accounting and Financial Analysis for Debt and Equity Markets and Transaction Structuring Accounting for Lawyers Agency and Partnership Law Business Planning Business Strategy Commercial Real Estate Transactions Corporate and Entrepreneurial Finance Drafting Contracts: The Problem of Ambiguity Electronic Commerce Law Employee Benefits Law Evolving Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets Federal Tax Policy Seminar Fundamentals of Accounting for Attorneys Global Inequality Greenberg Seminar: 99:1–Inequality Past and Present International Finance International Income Taxation Introductory Income Taxation Islamic Law and Finance Legal Elements of Accounting Legal Issues in International Transactions Major Corporate Transactions: Legal and Business Issues Non-Profit Organizations Partnership Taxation Project and Infrastructure Development and Finance Residential Real Estate Development and the Law Structuring Financial Instruments Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions Taxation of Corporations I Taxation of Corporations II U.S. Taxation of International Transactions Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Capital Punishment in America Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Comparative Criminal Procedure Computer Crime Corporate Criminal Prosecutions and Investigations Counterintelligence and Covert Action–Legal and Policy Issues Court Reform in the Juvenile Justice System Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic Criminal Procedure I: The Investigative Process Criminal Procedure III: Further Issues In Criminal Adjudication Current Issues in Criminal and National Security Law Current Topics in Criminal Law & Procedure Developing Law Practice Skills through the Study of National Security Issues Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Empirical Criminal Law Exoneration Project Clinic Federal Criminal Justice Clinic Federal Criminal Law Federal Criminal Practice Federal Criminal Procedure: From Bail to Jail Federal Habeas Corpus Federal Sentencing: Balancing Judicial and Prosecutorial Discretion The Grand Jury: History, Law, and Practice Greenberg Seminar: Cheating Greenberg Seminar: Crime and Politics in Charm City: A Portrait of the Urban Drug War Greenberg Seminar: The Life and Times of the Warren Court (1954-1968) Immigration Law Investigative, Trial, and Policy Issues in Criminal and National Security Law Law and Political Thought: Punishment
Life in the Law Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic Prosecution and Defense Clinic Public Corruption and the Law Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic Commercial, Business, and Labor Law Accounting and Financial Analysis Accounting and Financial Analysis for Debt and Equity Markets and Transaction Structuring Accounting for Lawyers Advanced Contract Drafting: General Corporate Agreements Advanced Contracts: Sales Law for a Modern Economy Advanced Corporate Law: Mergers and Acquisitions Advanced Topics in Corporate Reorganizations Advanced Trademarks and Unfair Competition Agency and Partnership Law Antitrust Law Art Law Banking Law Bankruptcy and Reorganization: The Federal Bankruptcy Code Behavioral Law and Economics Business Associations I Business Associations II Business Organizations Business Perspectives on Workplace Privacy Business Planning Business Strategy Buyouts Chinese for Business Lawyers Closing a Deal: Structuring and Documentation of a Secured Loan Transaction Collective Bargaining in Sports and Entertainment Commercial Real Estate Finance Commercial Real Estate Transactions Commercial Transactions–Negotiation, Drafting, and Analysis Competition Policy in the European Community Complex Financial Institutions: Lessons from the Financial Crisis and Current Regulatory Debate Construction Law Consumer Law Contract Drafting and Review Contract Law for LLM Students Contract Negotiation: Outsourcing Contracts and Commercial Transactions Copyright Corporate and Entrepreneurial Finance Corporate Criminal Prosecutions and Investigations Corporate Finance Corporate Governance Corporate Governance in China Corporate Lab: Litigation Clinic Corporate Lab: Transactional Clinic Corporate Management and Decisionmaking Corporate Reorganizations Cross-Border Transactions: Lending Cross-Border Transactions: Securities, M&A, and Joint Ventures Current Controversies in Corporate and Securities Law Early Stage Ventures: The Legal Challenges for Lawyers and Entrepreneurs Electronic Commerce Law Elements of Economic Analysis II: Honors Employee Benefits Law Employment Discrimination Clinic Employment Discrimination Law Employment Law Energy Law Entrepreneurship and the Law Environmental Law EU Competition Law: With Special Emphasis on the Application of Advanced Topics in Antitrust Evolving Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets Federal Regulation of Securities Federal Tax Policy Seminar Feminist Economics and Public Policy Food and Drug Law Fundamentals of Accounting for Attorneys Greenberg Seminar: 99:1–Inequality Past and Present Greenberg Seminar: States and Markets in American History
Health Care Policy Housing and Development: Law and Policy Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship Insurance Law Intellectual Property-based Finance and Investment International Arbitration International Finance International Trade Law Islamic Law and Finance Labor History and the Law Labor Law Land Use The Law and Policy of Climate Change Law and the Theory of the Firm Legal Elements of Accounting Legal Issues in International Transactions Major Corporate Transactions: Legal and Business Issues Managing Legal Risk in a Global Economy Mergers and Acquisitions Network Industries Partnership Taxation Patent Claim Construction: A Hands-On Introduction to Patent Litigation Patent Law Price Theory I Price Theory II Private Equity in Asia Private Equity Transactions: Issues and Documentation Private Regulation Problems in Corporate Law Project and Infrastructure Development and Finance Public Land and Resources Law Public-Entity Bankruptcy Regulation of Investment Professionals Residential Real Estate Development and the Law Risk Management and Policy Decision-Making Secured Lender Remedies and Workout Transactions Secured Transactions State and Local Finance: Selected Topics Strategic Business Partnerships Strategies and Processes of Negotiations Structuring Financial Instruments Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions Taxation of Corporations I Taxation of Corporations II Technology Policy Theories of Financial Regulation Trademarks and Unfair Competition U.S. Taxation of International Transactions Courts, Jurisdiction, and Procedure Administrative Law Admiralty Law Advanced Civil Procedure Advanced Law and Economics American Indian Law American Legal History, 1607-1870 Arbitration in the United States Brief-writing and Appellate Advocacy Seminar Capital Punishment in America Class Action Controversies Comparative Criminal Procedure The Comparative Law of Democracy Comparative Legal Institutions Complex Litigation Conflicts of Law Court Reform in the Juvenile Justice System Criminal Procedure I: The Investigative Process Criminal Procedure III: Further Issues In Criminal Adjudication Current Issues in Criminal and National Security Law Current Topics in Criminal Law & Procedure Delegation and Its Limits Development of Legal Institutions Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Evidence Federal Courts Federal Courts from the Judge’s Perspective Federal Criminal Procedure: From Bail to Jail Federal Habeas Corpus Federal Jurisdiction Federal Legislative Power
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Greenberg Seminar: Crime and Politics in Charm City: A Portrait of the Urban Drug War Greenberg Seminar: The Life and Times of the Warren Court (1954-1968) Human Rights: Alien and Citizen Immigration Law International Litigation in U.S. Courts Investigative, Trial, and Policy Issues in Criminal and National Security Law Law and Politics: U.S. Courts as Political Institutions Legal Profession Life in the Law Litigation Laboratory Local Government Law Mental Health Litigation Clinic Patent Claim Construction: A Hands-On Introduction to Patent Litigation Prosecution and Defense Clinic Public International Law Public-Entity Bankruptcy Remedies The Roberts Court Trial Advocacy U.S. Supreme Court: Theory and Practice Workshop: Judicial Behavior Jurisprudence and Legal Theory Advanced Law and Economics American Indian Law Behavioral Law and Economics Canonical Ideas in Legal Thought Capital Punishment in America Comparative Legal Institutions Constitutional Decision Making Constitutional Law I: Governmental Structure Delegation and Its Limits Development of Legal Institutions Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Economic Analysis of the Law Empirical Law and Economics Evolution of Legal Doctrine The Evolving Relationship between the Federal Government and the States Federal Courts Federal Courts from the Judge’s Perspective Federal Legislative Power Feminist Philosophy Greenberg Seminar: Crime and Politics in Charm City: A Portrait of the Urban Drug War Human Rights II: History and Theory Jurisprudence I: Theories of Law and Adjudication Law and Advances in Medicine Law and Political Thought: Punishment Law and Politics: U.S. Courts as Political Institutions Law and the Theory of the Firm Legal Interpretation Legislation and Statutory Interpretation Life in the Law Originalism and its Critics Property Theory Public Choice Public International Law Public Opinion, Public Policy, and the Law Racism, Law, and Social Sciences Rawls Regulatory Interpretation Seminal Texts in the History of Medical Ethics Social Norms and Law Theories of Financial Regulation Theories of Property U.S. Supreme Court: Theory and Practice Workshop: Judicial Behavior Workshop: Law and Economics Workshop: Law and Philosophy Workshop: Public Law and Legal Theory Health Law Complex Mental Health Litigation Clinic Consumer Law Environmental Law Family Law Food and Drug Law Global Inequality Greenberg Seminar: 99:1–Inequality Past and Present
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Greenberg Seminar: Law and Disaster Greenberg Seminar: Race and Place in Chicago Health Care Policy Health Law Health Law and Policy Insurance Law Law and the Mental Health System Life in the Law Mental Health Advocacy Clinic Mental Health Litigation Clinic Parent, Child, and the State Regulation of Sexuality Seminal Texts in the History of Medical Ethics Women, Children, Gender, and Human Rights Family Law, Property Rights, Torts, and Insurance Abrams Environmental Law Clinic Advanced Contracts: Sales Law for a Modern Economy American Indian Law Art Law Business Perspectives on Workplace Privacy Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Commercial Real Estate Finance Commercial Real Estate Transactions Complex Mental Health Litigation Clinic Construction Law Consumer Law Court Reform in the Juvenile Justice System Divorce Practice and Procedure Employee Benefits Law Employment Discrimination Clinic Employment Discrimination Law Employment Law Energy Law Environmental Law Family Law Family Law Seminar: Divorce Global Inequality Greenberg Seminar: 99:1–Inequality Past and Present Greenberg Seminar: Cheating Greenberg Seminar: Law and Disaster Higher Education and the Law Historic Preservation Law Historical Semantics and Legal Interpretation: Questions and Methods Housing and Development: Law and Policy Housing Initiative Clinic Immigration Law Insurance Law Intellectual Property-based Finance and Investment Introductory Income Taxation Land Use The Law and Policy of Climate Change Law and Practice of Zoning, Land Use, and Eminent Domain Law and the Mental Health System Life in the Law Marriage Oil and Gas Law Parent, Child, and the State Poverty and Housing Law Clinic Privacy Private Ownership of Cultural Property Project and Infrastructure Development and Finance Property Theory Public Land and Resources Law Regulation of Sexuality Residential Real Estate Development and the Law Risk Management and Policy Decision-Making Structuring Financial Instruments Theories of Property Trusts and Estates Women, Children, Gender, and Human Rights Workshop: Regulation of Family, Sex, and Gender Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic Intellectual Property, Technology Law, and Entrepreneurship Advanced Contract Drafting: General Corporate Agreements Advanced Contracts: Sales Law for a Modern Economy Advanced Trademarks and Unfair Competition Antitrust Law Art Law
Business Perspectives on Workplace Privacy Business Planning Business Strategy Collective Bargaining in Sports and Entertainment Computer Crime Contract Drafting and Review Contract Negotiation: Outsourcing Copyright Corporate and Entrepreneurial Finance Corporate Lab: Litigation Clinic Corporate Management and Decisionmaking Cross-Border Transactions: Securities, M&A, and Joint Ventures Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Early Stage Ventures: The Legal Challenges for Lawyers and Entrepreneurs Electronic Commerce Law Employment Law Entrepreneurship and the Law Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship Intellectual Property-based Finance and Investment Legal Issues in International Transactions Major Corporate Transactions: Legal and Business Issues Mergers and Acquisitions Network Industries Patent Law Privacy Regulation of Investment Professionals Risk Management and Policy Decision-Making Strategic Business Partnerships Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions Technology Policy Telecommunications Law and Regulation Trademarks and Unfair Competition Clinical Courses Abrams Environmental Law Clinic Civil Rights Clinic: Police Accountability Complex Mental Health Litigation Clinic Corporate Lab: Litigation Clinic Corporate Lab: Transactional Clinic Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic Employment Discrimination Clinic Entrepreneurship and the Law Exoneration Project Clinic Federal Criminal Justice Clinic Housing Initiative Clinic Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship Intensive Trial Practice Workshop Mental Health Advocacy Clinic Mental Health Litigation Clinic Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic Poverty and Housing Law Clinic Pre-Trial Advocacy Prosecution and Defense Clinic Trial Advocacy Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic International and Comparative Law Advanced Legal Research: Foreign and International Law Art Law Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Chinese for Business Lawyers Chinese for Lawyers Comparative Constitutional Design Comparative Criminal Procedure The Comparative Law of Democracy Comparative Legal Institutions Competition Policy in the European Community Corporate Governance in China Counterintelligence and Covert Action–Legal and Policy Issues Cross-Border Transactions: Lending Cross-Border Transactions: Securities, M&A, and Joint Ventures Current Issues in Criminal and National Security Law East Asian Law and Society EU Competition Law: With Special Emphasis on the Application of Advanced Topics in Antitrust European Legal History Foreign Relations Law
Curriculum 19 “Every corner of the curriculum is filled with fantastic teachers, teachers so good that students clamor to take their classes even if they aren’t specifically interested in the subject matter. They are rarely disappointed.” Jonathan Masur, John P. Wilson Professor of Law and David and Celia Hilliard Research Scholar French Law Global Inequality Greenberg Seminar: Korea Greenberg Seminar: Law and Disaster Human Rights II: History and Theory Human Rights III: Current Issues in Human Rights Human Rights: Alien and Citizen International Arbitration International Finance International Human Rights Clinic International Human Rights Law International Human Rights Lawyering Skills International Income Taxation International Litigation in U.S. Courts International Trade Law Islamic Law and Finance The Law and Policy of Climate Change Legal Elements of Accounting Legal Issues in International Transactions Legalistic Wrongdoing in Hitler’s Europe and Postwar Restitution in American Federal Courts Managing Legal Risk in a Global Economy Private Equity in Asia Private Ownership of Cultural Property Public International Law The U.S.-China Treaty Project U.S. Taxation of International Transactions Women, Children, Gender, and Human Rights Workshop: International and Comparative Law Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic Legal History American Indian Law American Law and the Rhetoric of Race American Legal History, 1607-1870 American Legal History: The Twentieth Century Development of Legal Institutions European Legal History Evolution of Legal Doctrine Greenberg Seminar: Race and Place in Chicago Greenberg Seminar: States and Markets in American History Greenberg Seminar: The Life and Times of the Warren Court (1954-1968) Historical Semantics and Legal Interpretation: Questions and Methods History of Civil Liberties in the United States Human Rights II: History and Theory Labor History and the Law Legalistic Wrongdoing in Hitler’s Europe and Postwar Restitution in American Federal Courts Life in the Law Marriage Originalism and its Critics Roman Law The Evolving Relationship between the Federal Government and the States The Grand Jury: History, Law, and Practice The Interbellum Constitution Theories of Property Skills, Legal Practice, and Ethics Advanced Law and Economics American Law and the Rhetoric of Race An Introduction to Doing Empirical Microeconomic Research Behavioral Law and Economics Business Planning Business Strategy Capital Punishment in America East Asian Law and Society Elements of Economic Analysis II: Honors Empirical Criminal Law
Evolution of Legal Doctrine Economics and Public Policy Feminist Philosophy Fundamentals of Accounting for Attorneys Greek Tragedy and Philosophy Greenberg Seminar: 99:1–Inequality Past and Present Greenberg Seminar: Can You Have It All? Greenberg Seminar: Cheating Greenberg Seminar: Crime and Politics in Charm City: A Portrait of the Urban Drug War Greenberg Seminar: Korea Greenberg Seminar: Law and Disaster Greenberg Seminar: Race and Place in Chicago Greenberg Seminar: Southern Literature and the Law Greenberg Seminar: States and Markets in American History Greenberg Seminar: The Book of Revelation and Literature It Has Inspired Greenberg Seminar: The Life and Times of the Warren Court (1954-1968) Greenberg Seminar: The Rise of Women Human Rights II: History and Theory Human Rights III: Current Issues in Human Rights Human Rights: Alien and Citizen Kapnick Initiative Leadership Effectiveness and Development Lab I: Development Law and Advances in Medicine Law and Literature Law and Politics: U.S. Courts as Political Institutions Leadership Leading, Following, and Parting Ways Legalistic Wrongdoing in Hitler’s Europe and Postwar Restitution in American Federal Courts Price Theory I Price Theory II Public Opinion, Public Policy, and the Law Racism, Law, and Social Sciences Rawls Religion, Law and Politics Roman Law Social Norms and Law Women, Children, Gender, and Human Rights Workshop: International and Comparative Law Workshop: Law and Economics Workshop: Law and Philosophy Workshop: Legal Scholarship Workshop: Regulation of Family, Sex, and Gender Complementary, Multi-Disciplinary, and Cross-Listed Courses Abrams Environmental Law Clinic Accounting and Financial Analysis Accounting and Financial Analysis for Debt and Equity Markets and Transaction Structuring Accounting for Lawyers Advanced Civil Procedure Advanced Contract Drafting: General Corporate Agreements Advanced Contracts: Sales Law for a Modern Economy Advanced Legal Research Advanced Legal Research: Foreign and International Law Advanced Legal Writing An Introduction to Doing Empirical Microeconomic Research Arbitration in the United States Brief-writing and Appellate Advocacy Seminar Business Planning Business Strategy Chinese for Business Lawyers Chinese for Lawyers Civil Rights Clinic: Police Accountability
Class Action Controversies Closing a Deal: Structuring and Documentation of a Secured Loan Transaction Commercial Real Estate Finance Commercial Real Estate Transactions Commercial Transactions–Negotiation, Drafting, and Analysis Complex Litigation Complex Mental Health Litigation Clinic Constitutional Decision Making Construction Law Contract Drafting and Review Contract Law for LLM Students Contract Negotiation: Outsourcing Contracts and Commercial Transactions Corporate Lab: Litigation Clinic Corporate Lab: Transactional Clinic Corporate Management and Decisionmaking Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic Developing Law Practice Skills through the Study of National Security Issues Developments in Fourth and Fifth Amendment Jurisprudence: Effects of Emerging Technologies Divorce Practice and Procedure Drafting Contracts: The Problem of Ambiguity East Asian Law and Society Empirical Law and Economics Employment Discrimination Clinic Entrepreneurship and the Law Ethical Quandaries in Legal Practice Exoneration Project Clinic Federal Criminal Justice Clinic Federal Criminal Practice Fundamentals of Accounting for Attorneys Housing Initiative Clinic Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship Intensive Trial Practice Workshop International Arbitration International Human Rights Clinic International Human Rights Lawyering Skills Kapnick Initiative Leadership Effectiveness and Development Lab I: Development The Law and Ethics of Lawyering Law and Practice of Zoning, Land Use, and Eminent Domain Leadership Leading, Following, and Parting Ways Legal Elements of Accounting Legal Profession Legal Profession: Ethics Litigation Laboratory Mental Health Advocacy Clinic Mental Health Litigation Clinic Partnership Taxation Patent Claim Construction: A Hands-On Introduction to Patent Litigation Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic Poverty and Housing Law Clinic Pre-Trial Advocacy Private Equity Transactions: Issues and Documentation Professional Responsibility Professional Responsibility in the Real World Prosecution and Defense Clinic Residential Real Estate Development and the Law Seminal Texts in the History of Medical Ethics Strategies and Processes of Negotiations Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions Trial Advocacy U.S. Supreme Court: Theory and Practice Writing and Research in the U.S. Legal System Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic
The University of Chicago Law School
Careers 21
Seminars, workshops, and eight professional career advisors
recruiting materials available at our wired and wireless Career Resource Center. Regular programs teach job-seeking and interview skills, as well as allow you to hear directly from alumni at top firms, government agencies, and public interest organizations.
complicated world of fellowship applications and government programs and know how to help you find not only a job but also funding. We have built a network of alumni in public service so that you will have a community not only within the Law School but in your field.
are dedicated
These alumni are graduates of prestigious programs like the Skadden and Echoing Green fellowships, practice worldwide, and have even started their own renowned public service organizations. We also offer financial support to students and alumni through loan repayment assistance and summer funding.
An individualized approach is the centerpiece of the Chicago philosophy of career services. Starting in the first year of law school, you will regularly work on a one-on-one basis with our career advisors to be sure that the advice you receive is tailored to your individual circumstances and goals.
Our graduates take on the most demanded and demanding professional opportunities. The country’s top 200 law firms, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations all actively seek out Chicago graduates. Over 400 employers come to campus annually to interview our students during the fall On-Campus Interviewing program. Chicago is one of the two most successful law schools in placing graduates in Supreme Court clerkships. Over the past ten years, 20 to 25 percent of each class has clerked for federal or state judges. An increasing number of alumni are clerking after a few years of experience in the public or private sector.
Practice interviews and coaching are available to all students, and you can research your future employment using office publications, online databases, proprietary survey data, clippings, and
The Law School’s Office of Career Services has a long history of assisting students interested in pursuing a career in public service. Our career counselors are experts in navigating the sometimes
to helping you find the job that will fit you best.
Chicago graduates work and live all over the world. We have alumni in every American state and in (at last count) 65 countries. Because of this extensive network and the high demand for Chicago-educated lawyers, our students have opportunities to work during the summer and after graduation at foreign courts, multinational corporations, war crimes tribunals, international aid agencies, and private law firms around the globe. For more information, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/prospective/ careers.
“A law degree from the University of Chicago gives you tremendous access to opportunities. Everywhere I go there are Chicago alums, which helps form an instant bond. A degree from the Law School provides a seal of integrity in a field not always known for it.” James L. Tanner Jr.,’93, Partner, Williams & Connolly The University of Chicago Law School
22 The University and the City
“While it is easy to rave about Chicago as an academic institution, the eclectic student body is equally impressive. Whether you want to go to the hot new restaurant in town and then catch a show at one of Chicago's myriad jazz bars, or make dinner at home and listen to the radio, you can always find someone to join you.” Nick Spear, ’14
The University of Chicago is known for its more than seventy Nobel laureates and its world-changing ideas, but it
is also a friendly place to work and play. The heart of the University campus, known as the Quads, is a 211-acre botanic park. Students study by the ducks in Botany Pond, relax on the swing in the Social Science quad, or take a quiet walk through the cloisters near the Divinity School. Not only is the campus bisected by the spacious green belt known as the Midway, but it is also surrounded by Chicago parks, which include an 18-hole golf course one half-mile from campus, a swimming pool, romantic lagoons, and a bustling marina on Lake Michigan. The Ratner Center, named for Law School alumnus Gerald Ratner, ’37, is the University’s sports complex. It is an ideal place to work out, whether you choose to
The University of Chicago Law School
swim in the Olympic-sized pool, run on the indoor track, or use the exercise machines in the cardio rotunda. Students can also take in lectures all over campus, attend nightly viewings of new and classic films in Ida Noyes’ award-winning, Dolbyequipped theater, stretch out in a dance class, or go to a play produced by the Court Theatre, the University’s acclaimed professional theater company. Chicago Chicago is a cosmopolitan, diverse, yet affordable city. Chicago is also the birthplace of modern architecture and sketch comedy, the home of the Chicago Marathon on Columbus Day weekend, and a showplace for world-class museums like the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum of Natural History. It’s a city where there is something new to do every day and night: go to Navy Pier to take in Shakespeare and a ferris wheel ride; visit Devon Avenue to buy a sari or the Pilsen neighborhood to admire the public murals and eat Mexican food; dance at hundreds of nightclubs; feast at thousands of restaurants; take in an art film, a rock concert, or a street fair. Our students plan outings to see our major league sports teams: the Bulls, the Bears, the Blackhawks— and of course the Cubs and the White Sox. Many of the 250 local theater ensembles and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra offer student discounts. Some students particularly like getting a drink at legendary jazz and blues clubs
like the Green Mill and Hyde Park’s own Checkerboard Lounge. Hyde Park Hyde Park, nestled next to Lake Michigan and long considered the jewel of Chicago’s South Side, is a diverse, close-knit, and highly intellectual community. Many of the University professors live nearby on “Professors’ Row,” and residents greet each other outside the Medici, a popular burger joint, or while walking their dogs in Nichols Park. They attend raucous community meetings on zoning and development, often enriched by the views of economics and sociology professors. Swim at the sandy beach near Promontory Point Park. Ice skate on the Midway just 200 feet from the Law School’s front door. Get involved with local politics—your local state representative could be going places! Browse through thousands of hand-chosen titles at the warren-like 57th Street Books. Buy some cotton candy at the Hyde Park Art Fair or fresh vegetables at the weekly Harper Court farmer’s market. Students who live in Hyde Park will find a range of some of the most affordable housing in the city, from full-service buildings with a pool and a doorman, to family- and pet-friendly apartments owned by the University. Chicago students have the best of both worlds—a college town within one of the world’s great cities.
24 Financial Aid
Your Chicago legal education is an investment in your future. Chicago provides generous financial aid in the form of scholarships and loans for all of our students. Entering law student tuition for 2014-2015 is $54,462 for the nine-month academic year. During the 2014-2015 academic year, the average budget, including tuition and living expenses, for a single student is $79,137. An additional $1,500 loan is automatically added to each student's financial aid package during his or her first year to cover the cost of a computer. Tuition and expenses for 2015-2016 will be determined in Spring 2015. Loan Repayment Assistance Program and Guaranteed Summer Public Interest Support Public interest work is a valuable and fulfilling career option and the University of Chicago Law School is committed to making such options available for its students and graduates. In order to make public interest careers possible, the Law School created unique and generous programs to assist students and graduates who pursue these jobs. The Loan Repayment Program is not a traditional loan repayment assistance program. There is not a lengthy time
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“We train lawyers to be innovative. Being innovative and creative, yet practical, is good for the client—and it’s more fun for you.” Anup Malani,’00, Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law
requirement to receive benefits, and benefits are provided regardless of spousal income or potential family contributions. Public service is defined broadly to include government and nonprofit jobs. Unlike many other programs, graduates may also take advantage of LRAP while completing a judicial clerkship. LRAP provides an interest-free loan equal to each graduate’s repayment responsibility. Each year's loan is fully forgiven one year after it is made, provided that the graduate remains in a qualifying public interest job. Benefits are available for those who work in qualifying jobs at salaries up to $80,000 and for ten years following graduation, with the potential to have all law school eligible federal loans forgiven. For more information, please visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ financialaid/LRAP. The University of Chicago Law School also guarantees financial support for students who engage in qualifying summer public interest work for 8 or more weeks during the summer following the first year and second year of law school. Students are eligible for a $5,000 living stipend at summer’s start. This aid is in addition to any salary paid by that or any other summer employer and is in addition to any other grant that may be received. For program details, please visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ financialaid/summerfunding.
Deadlines and Procedures All admitted students are automatically considered for merit-based scholarships. No separate application is required. If you would like your financial need considered, complete the candidate and parent questionnaires (and if applicable the spouse questionnaire) on the Need Access Application at www.needaccess.org. Please see the website for details and deadlines.* Parental information is required for all applicants even if your parents will not be contributing financially to your legal education. Student loans are processed through the Student Loan Administration (SLA). To apply for loans, applicants must complete the FAFSA and the University of Chicago Application for Graduate Loans & Federal Assistance by the priority deadline of May 30. The Law School’s FAFSA code is E00377. Applicants do not need to wait to receive an offer of admission before filing the FAFSA and Need Access applications. To contact SLA please visit sla.uchicago.edu. *Scholarship offers will take into account considerations of both merit and need.
“The students and faculty here are never afraid to ask difficult questions, to push harder, to try to get to the bottom of important issues—which makes the school’s influence on the law and in how we think about the law unparalleled.” David Weisbach, Walter J. Blum Professor of Law
Ready to join us? The Law School now has an environmentally friendly, completely paperless admissions process. All applicants must apply through the Law School Admission Council’s (LSAC) electronic application system, available at www.lsac.org. When to Apply The Law School starts accepting applications on August 15. You may apply Early Decision or Regular Decision. Early Decision If you want to apply Early Decision, the application and all supporting materials must be received by the Admissions Office by December 1. Admission during Early Decision is binding on applicants. Indicate your intention to apply Early Decision on your application and complete the Early Decision Agreement with your application. We will let you know by the end of December whether your application is accepted, denied, or placed on our waitlist. Admission will no longer be binding if your file is placed on our waitlist for further review. Regular Decision If you are applying Regular Decision, submit your application and all supporting materials so that the Admissions Office receives them by February 1. We consider applications as soon as they are completed and review them in the order they are completed. Applications
How to Apply 27
received after February 1 will be considered on a space available basis. Applicants taking the February or June LSAT may still apply, but space will be limited. We have been known to accept outstanding applicants into the summer.
Academic History Please provide us with a complete history of your academic performance, including all undergraduate and graduate transcripts, through LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS).
Chicago Law Scholars Current University of Chicago College students and alumni may complete the application process early and receive an expedited decision. If you are applying through the Chicago Law Scholars program, submit your application and all supporting materials by September 15. Admission is binding. For more information, visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ prospectives/jdapply.
Résumé Describe your principal extracurricular and community activities, as well as any full- or part-time employment, in your résumé.
Application To apply, electronically complete LSAC’s Flexible Application and provide the supporting materials, detailed below. All application materials must be submitted online. The application fee is $75. Law School Admission Test Your Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score must be less than five years old. Submit all scores received on the LSAT. Interviewing Program Interviews will be conducted only at the request of the Admissions Committee. Applicants will be contacted via email and asked to set up an interview. Unfortunately, applicants may not request an interview. Visit www.law.uchicago.edu/ prospective/interviews for more information about our Admissions Interviewing Program.
Letters of Recommendation You must send us two letters of recommendation, but we will accept up to four. We strongly recommend that you send at least one letter from an academic instructor who is very familiar with your academic ability. You must submit your letters through the CAS letter of recommendation service. Personal Statement Your personal statement is an important, required part of your application that gives us insight into the nonacademic contribution you would make to the class and helps us to know you better. A statement that focuses on some personal attribute or experience is helpful to the Admissions Committee. Detailed information and instructions regarding each of the application requirements may be found at www.law.uchicago.edu/ prospectives/jdapply. Visit the Law School We’d love to meet you! Learn more about visiting the Law School, tours, and attending a class at www.law.uchicago.edu/ prospectives/visit.
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Questions? Call us at 773.702.9484, visit www.law.uchicago.edu, or e-mail us at admissions@law.uchicago.edu. Contact Information Office of Admissions University of Chicago Law School 1111 East 60th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 Telephone 773.702.9484 Fax 773.834.0942 admissions@law.uchicago.edu http://twitter.com/ UChicagoLawApps
In keeping with its long-standing tradition and policies, the University of Chicago considers students, employees, applicants for admission or employment, and those seeking access to programs on the basis of individual merit. The University, therefore, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or veteran status, and does not discriminate against members of protected classes under the law. The Affirmative Action Officer (773.702.5671) is the University official responsible for coordinating the University’s adherence to this policy and the related federal, state, and local laws and regulations (including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act). Standard 504 of the American Bar Association requires that law schools advise each applicant to secure information regarding character and other qualifications
for admission to the bar in the State in which the applicant intends to practice. We advise you to contact the appropriate Board of Bar Examiners. The University of Chicago reserves the right to make changes affecting policies, fees, curricula, or any other matters announced in this publication. This publication is not intended to be, nor should be regarded as, any part of a contract. The University of Chicago annually makes information, including several reports and policies, available to its community and to prospective students and employees. These reports provide abundant information on topics from equity in athletics to campus safety, including several items for which federal law requires disclosure. Please visit csl.uchicago.edu/policies to access this important information. For reports not available on the Internet, the University will provide copies upon request.
www.law.uchicago.edu
The University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School Office of Admissions 1111 East 60th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637