Seattle University School of Law

Introduction

Seattle University School of Law is the most diverse law school in the Pacific Northwest, dedicated to the twin goals of academic excellence and education for justice.

The School of Law is home to leading academic programs, including one of the country's top-ranked legal writing programs and the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic, as well as distinguished centers and institutes. These programs, and a superb faculty, support the law school's mission to educate outstanding lawyers to be leaders for a just and humane world.

The school enrolls just over 1,000 students representing more than 200 undergraduate schools and drawn from the top third of the national law school applicant pool. We serve an impressive body of students, whose diversity encompasses age, life experience, and cultural heritage. The law school is recognized nationally for its diverse faculty and welcoming environment. It is the only Washington law school with a part-time program geared to meet the needs of working professionals.

The law school is accredited by the ABA and holds membership in the AALS. Students may pursue a Juris Doctor or one of many joint degrees.

Location

Located in the heart of dynamic Seattle, the law school is a vital part of the community. It is located on the beautiful urban campus of Seattle University in the lively Capitol Hill neighborhood just steps from downtown Seattle. The area offers a mix of exciting, professional, cultural, and recreational opportunities.

One of the most beautiful and livable cities in the United States, Seattle is a legal, business, technological, and cultural hub that provides law students access to summer and school-year employment with major players in the economy, multinational law firms, and public agencies.

Sullivan Hall, home to the law school, is an award-winning, state-of-the-art facility with the latest technology throughout its impressive library, classrooms, courtroom, and study and activity areas. The School of Law Annex is a modern building less than a block from Sullivan Hall, which was built to accommodate the growing law school. It houses the clinical and externship programs, student journals, and additional classrooms.

Focus-Area and First-Year Curriculum

Our innovative first-year studies are rigorous, emphasizing sound legal analytical skills while allowing students to choose an elective course in the second semester. Our focus-area curriculum allows students to select a primary area of interest and supports that with enrollment in a prescribed range of courses. Students may focus their upper-division legal studies in one of 14 substantive areas, including Civil Advocacy, Criminal Practice, Environmental Law, Health Law, Labor and Employment, or Real Estate Law.

Faculty

Seattle University School of Law is home to an outstanding faculty of committed teacher-scholars. Our professors do not choose between scholarship and teaching, but rather are experts in their fields who are drawn to share their knowledge with students.

A primary mission that drives the academic program is the faculty's desire to prepare students to practice the law with competence, honor, and commitment to public service. Our talented faculty members teach students to analyze problems and construct policy arguments, as well as train them to write and speak with clarity and precision.

The teaching is both demanding and humane. It blends legal theory, doctrinal analysis, and comprehensive practical-skills training. Reflecting the Jesuit tradition of open inquiry, social responsibility, and concern for personal growth, the law school values freedom of conscience, thought, and speech.

Since 2000, law school faculty members have authored or coauthored more than 117 books, 130 book chapters, and more than 900 articles that have appeared in prestigious law reviews and specialized journals. Articles by our faculty are among the most read on Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN).

Academic Enrichment Programs

Access to Justice Institute (ATJI)—The mission of ATJI is to inspire all law students toward a lifelong commitment to equal justice. The institute connects students to public interest opportunities that fulfill unmet legal needs, facilitates advocacy and legal skills training, hosts social justice forums and events, counsels students in public interest career exploration, and collaborates with local, state, and national efforts to promote equal justice.

Center for Law and Equality—The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality aims to advance social justice by fostering critical thinking about discrimination in US society and through targeted advocacy to promote equality and freedom. The center's work is divided into three units: research, advocacy, and education projects.

International Initiatives—Seattle University School of Law is a leader in global legal education and has expanded its international reach to offer students and faculty a greater world view. Among the many compelling programs are the International and Comparative Law Program opportunities for international internships and externships.

Adolf A. Berle Jr. Center on Corporations, Law and Society—The Berle Center facilitates the study of the constantly evolving American and global economic system; the ongoing struggle for power between and among corporations, governments, individuals, and society; and the role of law in mediating and shaping the nature of our economic relations and institutions.

Admission and Financial Aid

In admission decisions, the law school places equal emphasis on three factors:

1. LSAT performance;
2. the undergraduate academic record; and
3. personal achievements, especially talents or factors that contribute to our law school community in special and significant ways.

We also admit a limited group of applicants annually through our Access Admission Program, which addresses those cases in which traditional admission criteria are inadequate predictors of success in law school and in the practice of law. Members of historically disadvantaged, underrepresented, or physically challenged groups are among those individuals considered for this program (limited to no more than 10 percent of the entering class).

The law school's Scholarship Program is among the most ambitious in the region, awarding over $3 million per year to approximately 350 students. Its objectives are twofold: to offer to all students—regardless of economic or social background—the advantages of a private legal education, and to recognize and reward—regardless of financial need—the achievements and outstanding potential of the most highly qualified students in the applicant pool. Upon admission, all entering students are automatically considered for scholarships. The School of Law offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program to support graduates who choose full-time public interest legal careers as licensed attorneys doing law-related, public interest work. It offers two annual full-tuition Scholars for Justice Awards to outstanding students committed to social justice work and a full-tuition Native American Scholarship to an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe.

Applicant Profile

Seattle University 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	Good	Possible	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 170–174	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 165–169	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 160–164	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 155–159	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Possible	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 150–154	Possible	Possible	Possible	Possible	Possible	Possible	Unlikely	Unlikely	Unlikely
LSAT score 145–149	Possible	Possible	Possible	Possible	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

This chart is to be used as a general guide only. Nonnumerical factors are strongly considered for all applicants.