Notre Dame Law School | |
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Parent school | University of Notre Dame |
Established | 1869 |
School type | Private |
Parent endowment | $10.4 billion |
Dean | Nell J. Newton |
Location |
Notre Dame, IN, U.S. 41°41′55.27″N 86°14′16.45″W / 41.6986861°N 86.2379028°WCoordinates: 41°41′55.27″N 86°14′16.45″W / 41.6986861°N 86.2379028°W |
Enrollment | 520 (2014) |
Faculty | 97 |
USNWR ranking | 22 (2015) |
Bar pass rate | 88.11% (2013) |
Website | law.nd.edu |
The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News & World Report. NDLS is ranked 16th by Business Insider's Best Law Schools in America. Ranked 8 in federal judicial clerkships by US News. Notre Dame Law ranks 17th in graduates attaining Supreme Court clerkships in recent years, tied with Cornell Law School and the University of Minnesota Law School.
According to Notre Dame's 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 76.0% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment ten months after graduation.
It offers the only American Bar Association-approved year-long study abroad program, which is based in London.
The Notre Dame Law School opened in February 1869 and was the first Catholic institution of its kind. Despite its humble beginning, right from the start the Law School required law students to have completed previous education in a thorough course in the liberal arts. This was not common at the time, when Law School applicants only had to be 18. The first faculty consisted of only four professors, with the most prominent being Lucius Tong and Timothy Howard. The first class graduated in 1871 and consisted of three students.
One of the most important names in the history of the school was "Colonel" William Hoynes. He was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1847 and emigrated with his parents at age seven. He fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he was a student at Notre Dame from 1867 to 1872, and later went to Brunswick, New Jersey where he was editor of the Daily Times. Hoynes later attended the University of Michigan Law School and obtained his LL.B . In 1882, Rev. Walsh, then the president of the University, invited Hoynes to take control of the Law School, which was in demise. Hoynes accepted Rev. Walsh's offer in 1883, and taught classes in the Main Administration Building (University of Notre Dame) and in Sorin Hall where a large room permitted him to set up a "Moot Court". The course of study was extended from two to three years. Hoynes was assisted in various subjects by John Ewing and Lucius Hubbard of South Bend. Under his tenure, enrollment in the law school began to rise immediately.