Saint Louis University School of Law |
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Parent school | Saint Louis University |
Established | 1843 |
School type | Private, Roman Catholic - Jesuit |
Parent endowment | $880.3 million (2011) |
Dean | William P. Johnson |
Location | Downtown, St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
Enrollment | 930 (806 full-time, 124 part-time) |
Faculty | 129 |
USNWR ranking | 82 in "Best Law Schools 2016" |
Bar pass rate | 84.3% |
Website | law |
ABA profile | ABA Profile |
Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. Opened in 1843, it is the first law school west of the Mississippi River. The school has been ABA approved since 1924 and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Housed in Scott Hall, the law school has the highest enrollment of law students in Missouri. It offers both full- and part-time programs. The school is home to the University's Vincent C. Immel Law Library, one of the largest law libraries in the state of Missouri. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas studied for his bar exam at the old Omer Poos Law Library on the main SLU campus.
It was the first ABA law school in St. Louis to accept African-American students. In 1908, the law school accepted its first female law students. In the fall of 2013, the school moved to its current location, Scott Hall, a new facility in Downtown St. Louis. According to SLU LAW's 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 55.5% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.
Most students are enrolled in the full-time J.D. program. SLU LAW has the only part-time J.D. program in St. Louis. The school also offers dual-degree programs and an LL.M in Health Law and an LL.M Program in American Law for Foreign Lawyers.
During their first year, full-time students are required to take 15 hours per semester to complete the core courses . After the first year, full-time upper-division students select from more than 150 hours of upper-division course electives to complete the required 91 credit hours. Of the remaining 61 credit hours, only the following are required courses: 1) Legal Profession; 2) a seminar of the student's choice; 3) a humanities course and 4) a professional skills courses.
There is an evening program with classes three to four nights a week; students in this program can earn their Juris Doctor degree in four to five years.
Since its establishment before 1990, the Center for Health Law Studies is consistently listed first in health law by U.S. News & World Report. . The Center has eleven full-time faculty members who publish work in law, medicine and ethical journals. It offers a broad range of health law courses taught by full-time faculty, including foundational and specialized health law courses each semester.