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University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

332 South 1400 East, Room 101
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0730
Phone: 801.581.6833; Fax: 801.820.9154
E-mail: admissions@law.utah.edu; Website: www.law.utah.edu

Introduction

Established in 1913, the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law is nationally recognized for its outstanding academic reputation, stellar faculty, intimate learning environment, innovative curriculum, excellent faculty-to-student ratio, and stunning location. The College of Law is a vibrant learning community with both well-established expertise and exciting new projects on the critical issues of our time: climate change, conflict and security, health justice, the new frontier of family law, technology commercialization, conservation, addiction, innocence, victims' rights, global mediation, and many others. We have also launched four innovative, crosscutting initiatives in leadership, cross-disciplinary training, smart technology, and global legal education. These creative intellectual investments have generated astounding results for each class of 115–125 entering students.

Among the students, there is a prevailing sense of community fostered by an open and service-oriented faculty and administration. The law school is less than a 10-minute drive or light rail ride from downtown Salt Lake City—the seat of federal, state, and local governmental bodies. Salt Lake City is the economic center of the region and is regularly voted one of America's most livable cities. This location provides ample professional opportunities for our students, as well as superb outdoor recreational access and a strong cultural scene.

Library and Physical Facilities

The S.J. Quinney Law Library and the law building are wireless environments. First-year students are provided with their own study hall furnished with group-study tables and carrels. Advanced students are provided carrels that also have wireless network access in the adjacent Quinney law library—a modern, spacious facility with the latest technological equipment and library research services.

The library holds more than 345,000 volumes of law and law-related material and serves as a depository for US government documents. CD-ROM and web-based databases provide access to primary legal materials, journal indexes, directories, and other law-related information. There is a computer lab with 31 workstations located in the library. Eight librarians (six with law degrees) teach the research component of the Legal Methods course.

Curriculum

The Quinney law school's innovative academic programs blend theory and practice skills that prepare graduates to tackle the major questions of our time and practice law in any jurisdiction. The curriculum is designed to allow more efficient and rational sequencing of legal education that responds to the evolving legal, social, and ethical needs of our society.

The entering students are first offered an intensive four-day Introduction to Law course before they begin the required first-year curriculum. The first-year doctrinal courses include a small section in which enrollment is limited to no more than 25 students. Second-year students select from a variety of foundational courses. In the third year, students may take year-long intensive courses that provide the opportunity for in-depth study, research, and a practicum in a focused area of law.

Additionally, outside the formal classroom, clinical and cocurricular opportunities ensure that students learn the most critical professional and intellectual lessons in simulated competitions and real-world settings. We have several award-winning moot court teams, three first-rate journals, and a series of new projects working on the major issues of our time. These include the Global Justice Project, the Family Law Project, the Biolaw Project, the New Economy Project, and the Innovation Project. Through our think tanks, projects, clinics (over 300 placements each year), and award-winning pro bono initiative (with 325 placements each semester), our students contributed over 40,000 hours of public service in just one year.

Special Programs

The Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment provides opportunities for students to engage in academic courses and related law activities focusing on public lands, environmental and natural resources law, and energy law. A Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law is awarded to students who complete a sequence of approved courses with a specified GPA. The law school also offers an LLM degree in natural resources and environmental law.

The clinical programs offer both live and simulated opportunities for students to assume the lawyering role. In the Civil Clinic and the Criminal Clinic, students represent clients, investigate cases, and appear in court. In the Judicial Clinic, students act as clerks to judges, researching issues and drafting opinions in pending cases. The Judicial Extern Program allows students to spend a semester away from school working as full-time clerks for certain courts. Other clinical opportunities are available in our Environmental, Health Law, Legislative, and Mediation clinics.

The Utah Criminal Justice Center is an interdisciplinary partnership between the University of Utah and state government.

The Pro Bono Initiative is a voluntary program offered to emphasize the centrality of public service to the legal profession. The College of Law encourages students to perform at least 50 hours of law-related volunteer work during their time in law school. The Pro Bono Initiative facilitates this opportunity by providing students with a broad spectrum of developed volunteer placements.

Through the London Law Consortium, students engage in the law school's study-abroad program during the spring semester.

The College of Law maintains four formal joint-degree programs. Students may earn joint degrees in the areas of business (JD/MBA), public administration (JD/MPA), public policy (JD/MPP), or social work (JD/MSW).

The Academic Support Program provides structured assistance to students whose backgrounds and experiences before law school suggest a need for such assistance. Students request to participate in the program after admission to the College of Law.

Admission Standards

No applicant is accepted or rejected without members of the Admission Committee having first fully considered the entire application. The personal statement should expand on the applicant's biographic and academic background and motivations for seeking a legal education. The College of Law makes a special effort to attract students from diverse cultural, educational, economic, ethnic, racial, and nontraditional backgrounds. Each applicant is evaluated for the contribution that person can make to the student body or the legal profession, in addition to evidence of demonstrated high academic ability.

Student Activities

The Utah Law Review, the Journal of Law and Family Studies, and the Utah Environmental Law Review are professional journals edited and published by students. The Utah Law Review selects staff members on the basis of academic achievement and a writing competition. The other journals select staff members based on a writing competition.

Student organizations include the Student Bar Association, Women's Law Caucus, Natural Resources Law Forum, Minority Law Caucus, International Law Society, Business Law Society, Federalist Society, OUTLaws, Public Interest Law Organization, Phi Delta Phi, Jackie Chiles Law Society, J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Sports Law Club, Student Intellectual Property Law Association, SJQ Veteran's Association, Utah Student Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Student Litigation Society.

Financial Aid

The College of Law provides an effective financial aid program that includes generous scholarships. The University of Utah participates in Federal Perkins, Stafford, and Graduate PLUS loan programs. More information on these student loan programs is available at www.law.utah.edu/admissions/financial-aid/. Merit scholarships are awarded to selected candidates based on the information contained in their application materials. Need-based scholarships are awarded to students based on information provided through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and a separate application provided to all admitted candidates. The law school also has a Loan Forgiveness Program for qualified graduates who practice in the public sector or the public interest field.

Career Services

College of Law students and graduates have access to one of the most attentive and dedicated legal career services programs in the US. The office, known as the Professional Development Office (PDO), transmits information to prospective employers, both on and off campus, and coordinates the on-campus interview process. The PDO also conducts personal career counseling and assists students with the development of their résumés and other material used in the employment search. The PDO maintains a resource library and sponsors numerous seminars throughout the year.

Applicant Profile

University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

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		 2.25–
2.49 Apps		 2.25–
2.49 Adm		 2.00–
2.24 Apps		 2.00–
2.24 Adm		 Below 2.00
Apps		 Below 2.00
Adm		 No GPA
Apps		 No GPA
Adm		 Total
Apps		 Total
Adm
175–180 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
170–174 6 6 9 8 5 5 5 3 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 24
165–169 30 26 36 30 21 16 12 7 9 4 4 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 3 1 119 87
160–164 60 54 92 61 72 35 24 4 16 1 6 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 7 2 281 159
155–159 70 26 124 34 105 14 41 5 20 0 5 0 8 0 2 1 0 0 7 2 382 82
150–154 27 2 41 8 68 7 46 2 25 0 14 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 231 20
145–149 12 0 18 0 33 2 23 0 14 0 8 0 4 0 0 0 3 1 4 1 119 4
140–144 2 0 11 1 11 0 12 0 12 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 58 1
135–139 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 4 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19 0
130–134 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
125–129 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
120–124 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 211 116 334 143 318 80 166 21 102 6 50 5 29 2 8 1 3 1 31 6 1252 381

Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 100% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.