1971 University Boulevard
Lynchburg, VA 24502
Phone: 434.592.5300; Fax: 434.592.5400
E-mail: lawadmissions@liberty.edu; Website: www.law.liberty.edu
Distinctively Christian, Liberty University School of Law has attracted national attention for its innovative program of legal education, competitive teams, and practice opportunities for its students. The student body will cap at approximately 450 to maintain the small classes and collegiality that students and faculty now enjoy. The law school and adjoining law library are advantageously located on one level in Liberty's million-square-foot Campus North complex. The 330-seat ceremonial courtroom features a nine-seat bench, which replicates the US Supreme Court bench. Two other mock trial courtrooms, all classrooms, and the law library feature the latest technologies. Liberty's 802.11n wireless network currently hosts approximately 950 wireless access points (WAPs) and distributes 16 streaming multichannels through a wireless connection known as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). The 6,500-acre campus rests in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Virginia, within easy driving distance of Washington, DC.
Liberty's groundbreaking law program has three distinct but related components: foundations of law, substantive law courses, and lawyering skills. In keeping with the law school's mission "to equip future leaders in law with a superior legal education in fidelity to the Christian faith expressed through the Holy Scriptures," the foundations courses explore the thoughts and writings of those who shaped the American legal system. The Christian worldview permeates the curriculum. The six-semester skills program has two threads: a litigation thread and a planning thread. Each student moves a simulated case from the initial client interview to the court verdict and develops the practice skills essential to planning client affairs. While the core courses look much the same as at other law schools—same course names, same subject matter coverage, same casebooks—Liberty's distinction is in the linkage of the substantive law courses to the foundations and lawyering skills courses. The law faculty is highly accessible to students throughout each day. In addition to academic advising and support from faculty, many Liberty law students take advantage of the academic support program.
The Academic Support Program begins with an intensive four-day Barristers' Orientation for entering students. During the academic year, the program staff assists law students in achieving their full academic potential, helping them with class preparation, class participation, and examination strategies. Support includes post-class reviews prior to taking law school examinations and practice-exam workshops. The program director holds workshops on case briefing, note taking, time and stress management, outlining, exam preparation, and legal writing. All students may take advantage of one-on-one tutorials to help them assimilate course materials and apply classroom knowledge to law school examinations. The Academic Support Program also assists students with bar examination preparation.
The law school places a high priority on equipping students with the skills necessary to practice law, as evidenced in its Lawyering Skills Program. Its externship and clinical programs provide the next step in the continuum of classroom learning, from simulation to client- and real-life practice experience. The Constitutional Litigation Clinic works in conjunction with Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit legal organization specializing in constitutional law, which has offices on the Liberty University campus. Students work on live, real-time legal issues through current cases that address constitutional law challenges. The School of Law has formed a partnership with Liberty Counsel in founding the Liberty Center for Law and Policy. The center trains law students who have career plans and interests in public policy law with a focus on the legislative process, constitutional law, and religious liberty advocacy.
The law school engages in traditional externship placements through its Criminal Law Externship Program. This program places law students as externs in county and federal prosecutors' offices and in public defenders' offices, under the supervision of experienced practitioners. Students are placed in a variety of field-study venues, including offices of US attorneys, commonwealth attorneys, district attorneys, and attorneys general; judicial clerkships at local, state, and federal courts; courts of appeal and state supreme courts; and in public interest organizations. The public service externship component gives students a wide variety of individualized experiences in public service law and pro bono legal assistance. In addition, Liberty law students obtain externships and summer positions in venues ranging from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, to private law firms and corporations.
In addition to the Student Bar Association (SBA) and many student organizations, the law school has nationally competitive teams in moot court, negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution, along with a developing transactional competition program. Students produce the Liberty University Law Review and the Liberty Legal Journal. Many law students volunteer their time in pro bono activities. The law school also matches students with private practitioners engaged in pro bono work and provides them opportunities to intern in legal aid offices, public defender offices, and prosecutorial offices. Student life includes attending the wide range of events on the campus of Liberty University and enjoying the sociability of the law school community. Law students have access to the university's many recreational facilities, which include the year-round Snowflex synthetic ski slope (the first of its kind in North America), ice rink, 112-acre lake, and equestrian center. Off campus, law students enjoy the rich history and natural beauty of Central Virginia.
The Center for Career and Professional Development serves law students and alumni by providing tools to develop skills essential for career development, by cultivating a lifelong commitment to professionalism and community service, and by promoting regional and national awareness of the law school's distinctive program of legal study. The center cultivates internship and pro bono opportunities and works cooperatively with the school's clinical and externship programs to foster relationships with members of the bench and bar to the benefit of students and alumni. Alumni are working in all sectors of law practice. Placement statistics are available at the center.
With many comfortable seating areas and close proximity to the classrooms, Ehrhorn Law Library provides an environment conducive to research, study, and writing. To its growing collection of nearly 300,000 volumes and volume equivalents, the law library is continually adding titles that support the curriculum and undergird the law school's mission. Along with its extensive microform archives, the law library provides access to law-related and general databases via the Internet through any web browser. These electronic databases are available to law students on or off campus. Reliable wired and wireless access to the Internet is provided throughout the law school facility. Every classroom has SMART technology. The law school community benefits from a high level of university support for its state-of-the-art computing, instructional, informational, and audiovisual technologies.
Many law schools have developed courses of study that give expression to a particular jurisprudential perspective, be it law and economics, legal realism, or policy-oriented jurisprudence. Liberty University School of Law has chosen to do the same, developing its curriculum and standards of conduct consistent with the Christian worldview. Its admission process is designed to identify those who desire to receive a legal education from this perspective. Each completed applicant file is reviewed by a law faculty committee. That committee gives careful attention to a full range of factors that indicate the applicant's likelihood of success in law school and the legal profession. It attempts to identify strengths and indicators of success that may not show up in test scores and to ensure that students make fully informed decisions in deciding to attend Liberty University School of Law. Written applications and letters of recommendation are used to identify applicants with strong communication skills, levels of interest, personal traits, and life experiences that exhibit a calling to law and potential for success in legal education and the practice of law. The personal statement, which addresses prescribed discussion points noted in the application for admission, is of particular importance in the admission decision.
Institutional scholarships are awarded on the basis of prior academic excellence and indicators of law school success, and for demonstrated leadership and service in keeping with the law school's mission. Committed to debt management, the law school assists each student with a financial aid package to meet individual needs.
The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid assists prospective students and law students with the law school admission process, financial aid, and other matters related to relocation and matriculation. To schedule a visit, call 434.592.5300 or e-mail lawadmissions@liberty.edu.
Liberty University School of Law recognizes that LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs are important indicators of academic success, but that a number of other factors must be considered in making admission decisions. An important purpose of interviews and written applications is to identify applicants with particular communications skills, levels of interest, personal traits, and life experiences that evince a calling to law and potential for success in legal education. Factors providing predictors of success in law school may include: demonstrated leadership, highly motivated and successful employment history, proficiency in written and oral communication skills, and a detailed explanation of personal reading and study habits, including the books having the greatest impact on the applicant's intellectual life. Breadth of intellectual interest and ability is an indicator of interest in, and appreciation for, the kind of education offered at the law school.
The law school looks at more than numbers. Questions asked on the application and during the interview process are designed to identify strengths that do not show up in test scores and to ensure that students are fully informed of the kind of legal education provided at Liberty.