The University of Alabama School of Law

Introduction

The University of Alabama School of Law, the only public law school in Alabama, offers students a nationally recognized, progressive legal education. The law school has served as the training ground for state and national leaders in the legal profession, business, and government. Law students are provided with an abundance of cultural, academic, and athletic opportunities through the university. The curriculum is traditional but diverse. The law school is student-centered; faculty and administration are accessible to students. Although the faculty’s first priority is teaching, the professors are actively engaged in scholarly research and writing. Alabama is accredited by the ABA and the AALS.

Library and Physical Facilities

The law school building, which sits on 23 acres of the University of Alabama’s campus in Tuscaloosa, was designed by Edward Durell Stone, the architect for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the US Embassy in New Delhi, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Construction on a new wing and renovations to the existing building were completed in 2006. The wing includes new classrooms, the clinical offices, a cafeteria, a career services suite, meeting rooms, and a 24-hour computer lab. The Bounds Law Library provides users with a substantial research collection, student study carrels, the Hugo Black Study, the Howell Heflin Conference Room, and the Payne Special Collections Room. The school is on a wireless network.

Special and Summer Programs

Clinical programs enable law students to gain valuable practical experience in interviewing clients, preparing cases, and participating in courtroom presentations. During the second and third years, students can choose to participate in the Elder Law, Domestic Violence, Civil, Community Development, Capital Defense, Mediation Law, or Criminal Defense clinics. Alabama guarantees every interested student the opportunity to participate in at least one clinic before graduating.

The externship program offers students practical experience while receiving credit. Externships are available during the summers and the second and third academic years. The law school’s Public Interest Institute awards grants to encourage students to participate in the area of public interest and honors students who perform public interest work. The institute also has a full-time dean to assist students.

The joint JD/MBA program offers select students an opportunity to earn both an MBA and JD. Students may select from programs designed for them to earn both degrees within three or four years. The graduate program for international students provides international lawyers an opportunity to earn an LLM degree. The law school also offers a part-time LLM in Taxation program for JD degree holders.

The law school’s two summer programs at the University of Fribourg in Fribourg, Switzerland, and the Australian National University in Canberra provide a unique international experience. Both programs include a course surveying the host country’s national law and a comparative law doctrinal course. In addition, Alabama Law offers current students the opportunity to study abroad for a semester at Tel Aviv University in Israel and the National Law University of New Delhi in India.

Summer school is open to students who have completed the first year.

Admission

A student must obtain a bachelor’s degree at an accredited institution before enrolling, but may apply during his or her senior year. Applicants must take the LSAT, preferably in June or September/October in the year preceding enrollment, and register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). Transcripts must show all schools attended. Application materials are available in the late summer each year and accepted in early fall. Applications are processed on a rolling basis. The two most significant factors for admission are the undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. However, the school believes that the law school experience is enriched by a diverse group of students. The Admissions Committee also considers other factors, such as honors, activities, unique work or service experience, difficulty of undergraduate courses, writing ability, trends in academic performance, leadership roles, travel experience, exceptional talents, career achievements, graduate school performance, and history of overcoming adversity. One letter of recommendation or LSAC evaluation is required. The law school recommends that letters be submitted to the Credential Assembly Service. A résumé is also required.

Student Activities

A broad range of student activities adds to the students’ law school experience. Student organizations represent diverse interests. These include the Student Bar Association, Black Law Students Association, Public Interest Law Association, Civil Rights Law Students Association, Dorbin Association (women’s group), Law Students for Choice, Gay-Straight Alliance, Environmental Law Society, International Law Society, Just Democracy, Labor and Employment Law Society, Law Democrats, Law Republicans, Business Law Society, Criminal Law Association, Defense Lawyers Association, Future Trial Lawyers Association, Christian Legal Society, Sports and Entertainment Law Society, and Latin American Law Association.

The School of Law also offers numerous writing opportunities. The Alabama Law Review, a nationally recognized law journal, is edited by students and devotes substantial space to national and state issues. The Journal of the Legal Profession, Law and Psychology Review, and Alabama Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review are also student-edited law journals. Over 40 percent will graduate with journal experience.

Moot court and trial advocacy teams have enjoyed exceptional success over the years. The law school sponsors teams in several moot court, specialty, and trial advocacy competitions. The moot court and trial advocacy teams have won many team and individual awards in both regional and national competitions.

Expenses and Financial Aid

The majority of students enrolled in the School of Law finance their legal education through loans, savings, earnings, or family contributions. Applicants are considered automatically for first-year scholarships, which are typically based on factors such as GPA and LSAT performance. Scholarships sometimes are renewable during the second and third years—depending upon funding, the student’s need, and whether the recipient maintains stated levels of academic achievement. Following acceptance by the law school, each admitted student who applies for federal aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) receives a financial aid packet from the university’s Financial Aid Office. Information on loans can be obtained by contacting Student Financial Aid, the University of Alabama, Box 870162, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0162; phone: 205.348.6756; website: www.financialaid.ua.edu. Applicants should complete the FAFSA form as soon after January 1 as possible, and may apply online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Career Services

The Career Services Office assists students in their efforts to find employment. The office provides individual career counseling, group presentations, speaker programs, and library and database resources. Seminars are presented on résumé writing, interviewing techniques, job-search techniques, judicial clerkships, and nontraditional legal jobs, to name a few. Extensive on-campus interviewing occurs. The law school also participates in job fairs in Atlanta, New York City, Chicago, and Washington, DC. The employment rate within nine months of graduation was 97.4 percent for the class of 2010 with approximately 40 percent practicing outside of Alabama. The national bar passage rate for the same class was 95 percent and the in-state bar passage rate was 95 percent.

Housing

The University of Alabama maintains residence halls and units for students; however, most law students live off campus. The cost of living in Tuscaloosa for a single law student ranges from approximately $500 to $1,100 per month. For information on university housing, students must contact the Office of Residential Life at the University of Alabama at housing@sa.ua.edu.

Applicant Profile

The University of Alabama School of Law

This grid includes only applicants who earned 120–180 LSAT scores under standard administrations.

	GPA
LSAT Score	3.75+	3.50–3.74	3.25–3.49	3.00–3.24	2.75–2.99	2.50–2.74	2.25–2.49	2.00–2.24	Below 2.00
LSAT score 175–180	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 170–174	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 165–169	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 160–164	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 155–159	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 150–154	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 145–149	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 140–144	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 135–139	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 130–134	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 125–129	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 120–124	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely

Good  = Good Possibility

Possible  = Possible

Unlikely  = Unlikely

Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; average LSAT data reported.