William & Mary Law School

Introduction

Established in 1779 at the request of Thomas Jefferson, William & Mary Law School is the nation's oldest law school and one of its most intellectually rigorous. William & Mary combines rich historic roots, a strong national reputation, and a wealth of programs at a cost rated to be "a very good buy." William & Mary Law School advances not only its students' intellectual development, but also provides programs and training that will enable its students to use the law for the betterment of society. Many assume William & Mary is a private school, but it is not. The Law School is small enough to form a cohesive community where people know one another by name, but it is large enough to offer a wide range of programs and learning opportunities in both traditional and cutting-edge legal disciplines.

Members of the 2011–2012 student body earned undergraduate degrees from 279 colleges and universities and represent 45 states; Washington, DC; and 8 other countries. The Law School is located a few blocks from Colonial Williamsburg and within short driving distance of the metropolitan areas of Washington, DC; Richmond; and Norfolk. Visits are encouraged and may include student tours, class observations, and individual meetings with an admission dean.

Curriculum

The required first-year curriculum includes constitutional law, contracts, torts, civil procedure, property, criminal law, and legal skills. William & Mary's innovative Legal Skills program utilizes simulated law offices and client representation to teach the skills necessary for the practice of law. The Legal Skills program features a dedicated cadre of legal writing instructors who hone students' research and writing skills, and distinguished practitioners who teach students the core skills needed to become superior lawyers. The rigorous first-year Legal Skills program is augmented in the second year by a skills-track course in civil litigation, criminal litigation, and transactional work.

To earn a Juris Doctor degree, students must successfully complete 86 credit hours through full-time study, all required courses, and a significant paper of publishable quality. Students may choose yearly from more than 100 upper-level courses covering a broad range of contemporary and traditional areas of law. The Law School offers seven clinical programs (domestic violence, elder law, federal tax, legal aid, Innocence Project, special education advocacy, and veterans benefits). Students also may earn academic credit by externing with judges, prosecutors, public defenders, law firms, government agencies, legislators, civil legal service providers, corporations, and private nonprofit organizations.

Joint-Degree Programs

William & Mary offers three joint-degree programs: JD/MBA, JD/MPP, and JD/MA in American Studies. The JD/MBA and the JD/MPP combine traditional five-year programs into four years of study. Students may complete the JD/MA in either three or four years.

International Programs and Study-Abroad Opportunities

William & Mary offers a summer session in Madrid, Spain, where students can earn up to six credits in a five-week program. William & Mary professors and prominent Spanish professors and practitioners teach the courses in English. JD students may also study abroad during their third academic year in Beijing, China; Vienna, Austria; Madrid, Spain; Auckland, New Zealand; Tokyo, Japan; Luxembourg; and Hong Kong.

Additionally, the Law School offers an LLM in the American legal system for students with law degrees from outside the United States. The LLM students take courses with JD students and enrich the classroom experience with the inclusion of their unique legal traditions.

William & Mary is privileged to have an impressive core group of professors who specialize in international law as well as two robust international law programs. The Human Security Law Center offers students the opportunity to learn about the interplay between national defense and the protection of civil rights, while the Program in Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding serves as a focal point for research and study on comparative legal practices and the mechanisms used to reestablish justice after war and internal strife.

Special Programs and Facilities

The McGlothlin Courtroom at the Law School is the nation's most technologically advanced trial and appellate chamber. The courtroom is designed to permit trials with multiple remote appearances and web-based evidence, and it offers students hands-on training in the use of state-of-the-art courtroom technology. The Courtroom has a wide variety of features, including all available major court record systems, evidence presentation technologies, assistive and foreign language interpretation technologies, and critical infrastructure technologies. The Law School also features the Center for Legal and Court Technology, which puts the latest technology to the test in laboratory trials conducted by students in the McGlothlin Courtroom. The Center for Legal and Court Technology aims to improve the administration of justice through the use of technology.

Through the acclaimed Institute of Bill of Rights Law, the Law School has become one of the preeminent institutions studying the Constitution's Bill of Rights. The Institute sponsors lectures, symposia, and publications through which nationally known scholars explore important constitutional issues.

The Law School's Property Rights Project facilitates the exchange of ideas between scholars and practitioners by encouraging scholarship on the role of property rights in society. This year's Property Rights Conference was held in Beijing, China, and it brought together distinguished property scholars in both the United States and China.

Other important programs at the Law School include the Election Law Program, which provides assistance to judges who are called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes, and the George Wythe Society of Citizen Lawyers, a program focusing on constructive citizenship.

The Loan Repayment Assistance Program provides up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness annually for a maximum of three years to selected graduates working full time for civil legal service organizations, public defenders or prosecutors, government agencies, or other 501(c)(3) organizations with a public service mission.

Student Activities

Scholars and practitioners frequently cite articles from our five student-managed academic journals, the flagship William & Mary Law Review, the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, the William & Mary Business Law Review, the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, and the William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law.

The Law School has a highly successful Moot Court Program and National Trial Team, each team winning numerous competitions in recent years. William & Mary's Moot Court team, which competes domestically and overseas, won six tournaments last year and is currently among one of the most accomplished moot court teams in the country. The National Trial Team and Alternative Dispute Resolution Team also regularly win competitions. Additionally, William & Mary students frequently win national legal writing competitions.

As impressive as they are, law reviews and competitive teams constitute only a portion of William and Mary's vibrant student life. More than 40 student organizations reflect the diverse interests of the student body. For more information about William & Mary's student organizations, visit the Student Life section of the website.

Career Services

The Office of Career Services (OCS) is dedicated to helping students and graduates secure meaningful employment. The mission statement of the Office of Career Services charges the Office with advancing the following goals:

partner with students and alumni to help them explore career options, learn about and obtain employment opportunities, further long-term professional development, and achieve career satisfaction;
maintain comprehensive career and professional development resources to prepare students and alumni to be competitive candidates;
foster professionalism, ethics, and integrity in the career-development and job-search process so students will continue to demonstrate those traits as citizen-lawyers; and
cultivate constructive, mutually beneficial relationships with employers.

To accomplish these priorities, each student is assigned a designated career advisor. OCS also organizes dozens of workshops, programs, and guest speakers annually; arranges on-campus, Skype, and videoconference interviews and off-campus interview programs; provides access to a proprietary database of employment opportunities; and helps students develop professional relationships with alumni, practitioners, and judges.

To assist students working in government and public service internships, the Law School offers a robust summer fellowship program. For summer of 2012, the Law School awarded fellowships to 105 students to work in 17 states, the District of Columbia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Nepal, and South Africa.

Applicant Profile

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

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
	GPA
LSAT score 175–180	7	7	8	6	7	5	9	5	5	1	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	1	44	25
LSAT score 170–174	99	97	85	72	73	42	45	9	25	3	9	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	12	2	355	225
LSAT score 165–169	358	335	483	279	311	91	168	21	75	4	34	4	20	1	3	0	2	0	46	6	1500	741
LSAT score 160–164	575	158	713	52	521	14	328	14	103	3	66	3	19	0	12	0	0	0	65	1	2402	245
LSAT score 155–159	167	25	222	12	170	6	102	4	47	0	25	0	9	0	6	1	1	0	16	0	765	48
LSAT score 150–154	64	10	104	3	101	3	82	2	57	1	20	0	6	0	7	0	2	0	12	0	455	19
LSAT score 145–149	27	1	37	0	45	0	43	0	35	0	24	1	8	0	2	0	1	0	4	0	226	2
LSAT score 140–144	8	0	16	0	28	0	23	0	14	0	5	0	4	0	6	0	2	0	4	0	110	0
LSAT score 135–139	2	0	7	0	6	0	7	0	8	0	4	0	4	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	43	0
LSAT score 130–134	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	0	2	0	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
LSAT score 125–129	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
LSAT score 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	1307	633	1675	424	1265	161	811	55	371	12	195	8	79	1	43	1	8	0	163	10	5917	1305

Apps = Number of Applicants
Adm = Number Admitted
Reflects 99% of the total applicant pool; highest LSAT data reported.