Vermont Law School

Introduction

Vermont Law School (VLS) operates from the belief that lawyers and legal scholars should advocate for the common good and help protect the natural world, and that legal education in service to those objectives should be both rigorous and practical. The school's legal scholars, practitioners, and staff guide and prepare students to impact fields affecting the public interest, public policy, and social justice. Graduates work for nonprofit organizations, private firms, government agencies, and educational institutions.

As an international leader in environmental law, VLS is active in broadening the array of social justice, energy policy, and climate crisis issues to be addressed by legal scholarship and in legal education. The school features distinctive programs in international law and dual JD/master's degree programs in business administration, environmental management, environmental policy, philosophy, and other fields.

Vermont Law School also works with advocacy organizations, domestic and international governments, and other educational institutions that share its commitment to make substantial, positive change in their communities and countries. The experiential education VLS provides prepares its graduates to engage in the critical issues of our time.

Faculty

The stimulating environment at Vermont Law School has attracted scholars and practitioners of national and international renown. In their teaching, VLS faculty strike a balance between scholarship and application, between rigorous research and a realistic approach to problem solving. They understand the nuanced analytic and political abilities needed in advocacy work, while also recognizing the portfolio of core skills graduates will need in their first jobs and throughout their legal careers.

As legal experts, VLS faculty are frequently sought out by national and international law firms, educational institutions, government agencies, and advocacy organizations. VLS faculty members regularly work on important cases in environmental law, international and comparative law, human rights, national security law, business law, and constitutional law, providing frequent opportunities for students to engage in related independent study and research projects. Because of the school's size and focus on teaching, close relationships between students and faculty tend to last a lifetime.

Curriculum and Experiential Programs

The fundamentals of law are rigorously addressed in the required general curriculum, in addition to which VLS students can customize their educations to build skill sets in practice areas on the leading edge of the law and social change.

At VLS, in-depth scholarship is balanced with experiential opportunities that highlight what lawyers are actually called upon to do in the field. VLS students are able to take advantage of many clinics and experiential programs that provide hands-on training and involve students in real cases and legal issues. These include:

• The Semester in Practice program, which matches self-directed students with mentors, who are legal professionals in a range of fields, for independent projects.
• The South Royalton Legal Clinic, which serves low-income area residents who need assistance in matters involving family law, housing, welfare and unemployment, health care, immigration, Social Security, children's rights, consumer protection, bankruptcy, contracts, wills, and civil rights. Guided by experienced attorneys, students represent clients in state court, federal court, and administrative hearings.
• The Environmental and Natural Resource Law Clinic, which is where qualified students work alongside legal experts to advance environmental protection goals while developing their research, advocacy, and litigation skills.
• The Legislative Clinic, which takes advantage of VLS's proximity to the state capital through internships with the Vermont General Assembly.
• The Mediation Clinic, which trains students to mediate civil disputes in Vermont Superior Court, Small Claims Court, and the Environmental Court. Students also mediate conflicts in which the parties choose to avoid court or postpone filing a court action until attempting mediation.
• Judicial externships, which are programs structured to provide students with both academic background on judicial issues and hands-on experience working in judges' chambers.
• JD, MELP (Master of Environmental Law and Policy), and LLM internships in which students gain real-world experience in general and environmental law and policy in a wide variety of settings both locally and worldwide.
• The General Practice Program (GPP), which simulates a professional law firm with professors as partners overseeing student associates who are expected to perform a range of legal activities and handle client cases. The GPP received the 2007 E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association.

Joint- and Dual-Degrees and Specialized Program Offerings

In addition to the general JD program, VLS offers:

• A unique, one-year master's degree in environmental law and policy and specialized programs in land use, energy, climate change, and international environmental law.
• Dual JD/master's degree programs in business administration, environmental management, environmental policy, philosophy, and other fields through partnerships with Yale, Dartmouth, Northeastern, Cambridge, Cergy-Pontoise, Seville, Thunderbird School of Global Management, University of South Carolina, University of South Dakota, and the University of Vermont.
• Semester exchange programs with five US law schools as well as Cergy-Pontoise, McGill, Renmin (China), and Trento.
• The largest number of, and most extensive, environmental law courses in the country, taught by some of the top scholars in the field.
• Extensive summer programs that attract legal, energy, industry, and environmental experts from around the country and the world who teach courses and lead seminars on a range of pressing topics.

Student Community

Recent VLS students have come from every state and from countries including China, Guam, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Japan, Russia, and Spain. The undergraduate institutions they attended span the geographic spectrum of the country and range in size and type from Yale to the University of Colorado to Western Washington University. In a typical year, the entering class will represent over 40 states and at least 150 undergraduate institutions. Men and women are equally represented in both the student and faculty populations. And while some students come to VLS soon after graduating from college, others have spent years in a wide variety of professions, including engineering, teaching, lobbying, corporate management, and nonprofit programming. This important mix of backgrounds allows VLS to enjoy a diversity of perspectives on campus and in the classroom.

VLS's size and emphasis on collaboration foster an environment where students are valued for the contributions they make and the initiative they take within the VLS community. Whether through independent collaboration with faculty, engagement with one of the many active student organizations, or participation with the Student Government Association, students help shape academic and cocurricular coursework and campus policies.

Admission

Successful candidates demonstrate substantial academic ability and motivation and will bring diverse perspectives and interests, as well as strong talents, to the community. The two admission criteria that are weighed most heavily are academic records and two required personal essays. In addition, the school responds favorably to candidates who have been active in their communities and engaged with student organizations or professional endeavors. VLS is committed to supporting individuals traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, beginning on the first of December.

Tuition and Financial Aid

At Vermont Law School, a combination of merit scholarships, loans, tuition grants, and work-study opportunities are employed to address the financial needs of law school candidates. On average, 90 percent of the student body receives some form of financial assistance, and approximately 40 percent of enrolling students receive VLS merit- or need-based aid. In addition to counseling students on loan repayment strategies—including the new federal income-based loan repayment and loan forgiveness program—VLS offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which is designed to support graduates pursuing public interest careers in repaying educational debts.

Career Services

In addition to the network of staff, peers, and faculty advocates who serve as ready resources to every VLS student and graduate, the Office of Career Services operates as a clearinghouse for information on professional and experiential opportunities for students throughout their law school years. The office provides tools for résumé and interview preparation, assists students in researching and applying for internships and summer jobs, and helps them explore a range of postgraduate placements. The office also provides a three-year guide to finding a job, including a searchable online directory of alumni, an online job posting site, and comprehensive guides to career planning and judicial clerkships.

Applicant Profile

Vermont Law School

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

	GPA
LSAT Score	3.75+ Apps	3.75+ Adm	3.50–3.74 Apps	3.50–3.74 Adm	3.25–3.49 Apps	3.25–3.49 Adm	3.00–3.24 Apps	3.00–3.24 Adm	2.75–2.99 Apps	2.75–2.99 Adm	2.50–2.74 Apps	2.50–2.74 Adm	Below 2.50 Apps	Below 2.50 Adm	No GPA Apps	No GPA Adm	Total Apps	Total Adm
LSAT score 170–180	5	5	1	1	1	1	0	0	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	10	10
LSAT score 165–169	10	9	20	20	8	8	7	7	4	3	0	0	5	2	0	0	54	49
LSAT score 160–164	16	16	32	32	27	26	22	22	12	8	6	5	4	2	2	2	121	113
LSAT score 155–159	34	33	43	42	61	60	45	44	37	32	16	12	13	4	3	3	252	230
LSAT score 150–154	24	24	39	39	51	50	69	64	45	32	20	10	19	0	6	3	273	222
LSAT score 145–149	11	7	21	16	41	22	34	14	25	8	21	4	13	0	2	0	168	71
LSAT score 140–144	5	0	17	1	23	0	17	4	10	0	13	0	6	0	1	0	92	5
LSAT score Below 140	3	0	2	0	3	0	8	1	8	0	6	0	14	0	1	0	45	1
Total	108	94	175	151	215	167	202	156	143	85	83	32	74	8	15	8	1015	701

Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 98% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.