Cornell Law School

History

The Law Department at Cornell opened in 1887 in Morrill Hall with Judge Douglass Boardman as its first dean. At that time, admission did not require even a high school diploma. In 1917, two years of undergraduate education were required for admission, and in 1924, it became a graduate degree program. The department was renamed the Cornell Law School in 1925. In 1890, George Washington Fields graduated, one of the first law-school-graduates of color in the United States. In 1893, Cornell had its first female graduate, Mary Kennedy Brown. Future Governor, Secretary of State, and Chief Justice of the United States, Charles Evans Hughes, was a professor of law at Cornell from 1891–1893, and after returning to legal practice he continued to teach at the law school as a special lecturer from 1893–1895. The law school’s residence hall is named in honor of Hughes.

In 1892, the school moved into Boardman Hall, which was constructed specifically for legal instruction. The school moved from Boardman Hall (now the site of Olin Library) to its present-day location at Myron Taylor Hall in 1937. The law school building, an ornate, Gothic structure, was the result of a donation by Myron Charles Taylor, a former CEO of US Steel, and a member of the Cornell Law class of 1894. Hughes Hall was built as an addition to Myron Taylor Hall and completed in 1963. It was also funded by a gift from Taylor. Another addition to Myron Taylor Hall, the Jane M.G. Foster wing, was completed in 1988 and added more space to the library. Foster was a member of the class of 1918, an editor of the Cornell Law Review (then Cornell Law Quarterly), and an Order of the Coif graduate. In June 2012 the school embarked on a three-year, multi-phase expansion and renovation. The first phase created additional classroom space underground, adjacent to Myron Taylor Hall along College Avenue. The second phase will include the removal and digitization of printed materials from the library stacks so that the space can be converted to additional classroom and student space. The third phase involves converting Hughes Hall into office space.

In 1948, Cornell Law School established a program of specialization in international affairs and also started awarding LL.B. degrees. In 1968, the school began to publish the Cornell International Law Journal. In 1991, the school established the Berger International Legal Studies Program. In 1994, the school established a partnership with the University of Paris I law faculty to establish a Paris-based Summer Institute of International and Comparative Law. From 1999–2004 the school hosted the Feminism and Legal Theory Project. In 2006, the school established its second summer law institute in Suzhou, China. The Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture was established in 2002.

Admissions

For the class entering in the fall of 2016, 987 out of 4,101 applicants (24.1%) were offered admission, with 194 matriculating. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2016 entering class were 163 and 168, respectively, with a median of 167. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.60 and 3.81, respectively, with a median of 3.73.

In the LL.M. program, which is designed for non-U.S.-trained lawyers, 900 applications were received for the 50 to 60 openings. LL.M. students come from over 30 different countries.

Along with consideration of the quality of an applicant's academic record and LSAT scores, the full-file-review admissions process places a heavy emphasis on an applicant's personal statement, letters of recommendation, community/extracurricular involvement, and work experience. The application also invites a statement on diversity and a short note on why an applicant particularly wants to attend Cornell. The Law School values applicants who have done their research and have particular interests or goals that would be served by attending the school versus one of its peer institutions.

Reputation

Cornell Law School was ranked 7th in the Law School 100 Rankings and 13th in the 2017 U.S. News and World Report Law School rankings. The Master of Laws (LL.M.) program at Cornell Law School was ranked 1st in the 2011, 2010, 2008 and 2006 AUAP rankings. In 2011, the National Law Journal reported that Cornell Law graduates had the 2nd highest percent placement at the top 250 law firms.

Academics

The advanced degrees in law, LL.M. and JSD, have been offered at Cornell since 1928. The JD/MBA has three- and four-year tracks, the JD/MILR program is four years, the JD/MPA is four years, and JD/MRP is four years.

In addition, Cornell has joint program arrangements with universities abroad to prepare students for international licensure:

Joint program with University of Paris (La Sorbonne) (JD/Master en Droit)

Joint program with Humboldt University of Berlin (JD/M.LL.P)

Joint program with Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (JD/Master in Global Business Law)

The JD/Master en Droit lasts four-years and prepares graduates for admission to the bar in the United States and in France. The JD/M.LL.P is three years and conveys a mastery of German and European law and practices. The JD/Master in Global Business Law lasts three years.

Cornell Law School runs two summer institutes overseas, providing Cornell Law students with unique opportunities to engage in rigorous international legal studies. The Cornell-Université de Paris I Summer Institute of International and Comparative Law at the Sorbonne in Paris, France offers a diverse curriculum in the historic Sorbonne and Centre Panthéon (Faculté de droit) buildings at the heart of the University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne. Coursework includes international human rights, comparative legal systems, and international commercial arbitration. French language classes are also offered.

In 2006, Cornell Law School announced that it would launch a second summer law institute, the new Workshop in International Business Transactions with Chinese Characteristics in Suzhou, China. In partnership with Bucerius Law School (Germany) and Kenneth Wang School of Law at Soochow University (China), Cornell Law provides students from the United States, Europe, and China with an academic forum in which they can collaborate on an international business problem.

Employment

Cornell ranked 2nd nationally on the American Bar Association's list of law schools with the highest bar-passage-required job placement. According to Cornell Law School's official ABA-required disclosures, 95.8% of the Class of 2014 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. Cornell's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 2.1%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2014 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Cornell Law School for the 2014-2015 academic year is $79,429. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $297,190.

Legal Information Institute

Cornell Law also is home to the Legal Information Institute (LII), an online provider of public legal information. Started in 1992, it was the first law site developed for the internet. The LII offers all opinions of the United States Supreme Court handed down since 1990, together with over 600 earlier decisions selected for their historic importance. The LII also publishes over a decade of opinions of the New York Court of Appeals, the full United States Code, the UCC, and the Code of Federal Regulations among other resources.

It recently created Wex, a free wiki legal dictionary and encyclopedia, collaboratively created by legal experts. And the LII Supreme Court Bulletin is a free email- and web-based publication that intends to serve subscribers with thorough, yet understandable, legal analysis of upcoming Court cases as well as timely email notification of Court decisions.

Publications

The school has three law journals that are student-edited: the Cornell Law Review, the Cornell International Law Journal, and the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. Additionally, the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies is a peer-reviewed journal that is published by Cornell Law faculty.

Moot Court

Cornell Law students actively participate in myriad moot court competitions annually, both in the law school itself and in external and international competitions. The Langfan First-Year Moot Court Competition, which takes place every spring, traditionally draws a large majority of the first-year class. Other internal competitions include the Cuccia Cup and the Rossi Cup.

Campus

Cornell Law is housed within Myron Taylor Hall (erected 1932), which contains the Law Library, classrooms, offices, a moot court room, and the Cornell Legal Aid Clinic.

Library

The law library contains 700,000 books and microforms and includes rare historical texts relevant to the legal history of the United States. The library is one of the 12 national depositories for print records of briefs filed with the United States Supreme Court. Also, there is a large collection of print copies of the records and briefs of the New York Court of Appeals. The large microfilm collection has sets of Congressional, Supreme Court, and United Nations documents, as well as a large collection of World Law Reform commission materials. Microfiche records and briefs for the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and D.C. Circuit, and the New York State Court of Appeals are also collected. The library also has a large collection of international, foreign, and comparative law, with the main focus being on the Commonwealth of Nations and Europe. Along with this, there are also collections of public international law and international trade law. A new initiative by the library is to collect Chinese, Japanese, and Korean resources to support the Law School’s Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture.

Rare books in the library include the Samuel Thorne collection, which has 175 of some of the earliest and most rare books on law. Other significant collections include the Nathaniel C. Moak library and the Edwin J. Marshall Collection of early works on equity and the Earl J. Bennett Collection of Statutory Material, a print collection of original colonial, territorial, and state session laws and statutory codes. Among the library’s special collections are 19th Century Trials Collection, Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Scottsboro Collection, William P. and Adele Langston Rogers Collection and the Chile Declassification Project.

Faculty

Gregory S. Alexander, Property Law and Theory

Cynthia Grant Bowman, Gender Equality, Women's Rights, Feminist Jurisprudence

Michael C. Dorf, Constitutional Law (and noted legal blogger)

Andrei Marmor, Legal, Political, Moral, and Linguistic Philosophy

Eduardo Peñalver, Property and Land Use

Annelise Riles, Comparative Law, International Law, Legal Anthropology

Stewart J. Schwab, Employment Law

Lynn Stout, Corporate Law, Securities Regulation, Law and Economics

Robert S. Summers, Contract and Commercial Law

Stephen Yale-Loehr, Immigration Law

Alumni

Political

John G. Alexander (1916), United States Representative for Minnesota's 3rd congressional district (1939-1941).

Rob Andrews (1982), United States Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district (1990-2014).

Mark J. Bennett (1979), served as Attorney General of Hawaii.

Arnold Burns (1953), served as United States Deputy Attorney General.

Thomas Carmody (1882), served as Attorney General of New York.

Katherine Clark (1989), United States Representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district (2013–present).

Barber Conable (1948), United States Representative for New York's 30th congressional district (1983-1985), President of the World Bank (1986-1991).

Carlos Mendoza Davis (LLM 1995), Governor of Baja California Sur state in Mexico.

Arthur Hobson Dean (1923), diplomat, chief U.S. negotiator of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended the Korean War, drafter of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and delegate to the United Nations.

Anna Dolidze (JSD 2013), Georgian Deputy Minister of Defense, nominated for a position on the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Juan Carlos Esguerra (LLM 1973), former Ambassador of Colombia to the United States, former Colombian Minister of Justice and Law.

William vanden Heuvel (1952), diplomat, businessman, and author.

Philip H. Hoff (1951), served as Governor of Vermont.

Frank Horton (1947), United States Representative for New York's 36th congressional district (1963-1973), 34th district (1973–1983), and 29th district (1983–1993).

Tsai Ing-wen (LLM 1980), first woman elected President of Taiwan (2016).

Charles Samuel Joelson (1939), United States Representative for New Jersey's 8th congressional district (1961-1969).

Frances Kellor (1897), advisor to Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party (United States, 1912), early scholar of urban poverty, unemployment and crime, and advocate for education and immigration reform.

Norman F. Lent (1957), United States Representative for New York's 4th congressional district (1973-1993).

John T. Morrison (1890), served as Governor of Idaho.

Edmund Muskie (1939), served as Governor of Maine, as a U.S. Senator, and as U.S. Secretary of State.

Edward R. O'Malley (1891), served as Attorney General of New York.

Edward Worthington Pattison (1957), United States Representative for New York's 29th congressional district (1975-1979).

Peter N. Perretti, Jr. (1956), served as Attorney General of New Jersey.

Philip J. Perry (1990), former general counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security and former general counsel for the Office of Management and Budget.

Samuel Pierce (1949), served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

John Raymond Pillion (1927), United States Representative for New York's 42nd congressional district (1953-1965).

Alexander Pirnie (1926), United States Representative for New York's 34th congressional district (1959-1963) and 32nd district (1963–1973). Pirnie was awarded the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star Medal for service in Europe during World War II.

Michael Punke (1989), United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (2011- ).

Howard W. Robison (1939), United States Representative for New York's 39th congressional district (1958-1975).

William P. Rogers (1937), served as U.S. Attorney General, and as U.S. Secretary of State. Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1973.

William Sorrell (1974), Vermont Attorney General (1997-present).

Henry P. Smith (1936), United States Representative for New York's 40th congressional district (1965-1973).

Michael E. Toner (1992), former chair of the Federal Election Commission and chief counsel for the Republican National Committee.

Martín Travieso (1903), served as provisional Governor of Puerto Rico, a member of the first Senate of Puerto Rico, Mayor of San Juan, and Associate and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.

Federal Judiciary

Simon L. Adler (1889), United States District Court for the Western District of New York (1928-1934).

Mary Donlon Alger (1920), first woman editor-in-chief of a US law review and Judge of the United States Customs Court (now the United States Court of International Trade).

Frederic Block (1959), United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (1994-2005).

Robert Boochever (1941), United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1980-1986).

Leonie Brinkema (1976), United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1993-present).

Brian Cogan (1979), United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (2006-present).

Paul A. Crotty (1967), United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2005-present).

Phillip S. Figa (1976), United States District Court for the District of Colorado (2003-2008).

Peter W. Hall (1977), United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2004-present).

Frederick Bernard Lacey (1948), United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1971-1986).

Alison J. Nathan (2000), United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2011-present).

Pamela Pepper (1989), United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (2014-present).

Stephen C. Robinson (1984), United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2003-2010).

Shira Scheindlin (1975), United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1994-2012).

Gary L. Sharpe (1974), United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (2004-present), Chief Judge of the Northern District of New York from 2011–present.

Amy J. St. Eve (1990), United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2002-present).

Roger Gordon Strand (1961), United States District Court for the District of Arizona (1985-2000).

Joseph L. Tauro (1956), United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1972-2013), Chief Judge of the District of Massachusetts from 1992-1999.

Elbert Parr Tuttle (1923), one of the "Fifth Circuit Four," United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1954–1981), United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (1981–1996), and Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit from 1960–1967. Tuttle received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 and the courthouse for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is named in his honor.

Richard C. Wesley (1974), United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2003-present).

Thomas Samuel Zilly (1962), United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (1988-2004).

State Judiciary

Barry T. Albin (1976), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (2002–present).

Victor Ashrafi (1980), Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division (2009–present).

Ariel E. Belen (1981), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department (2008-2012).

Robert Boochever (1941), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alaska (1972-1980), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alaska from 1975-1978.

Patricia L. Cohen (1982), Judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals (2003–present).

Stephen G. Crane (1963), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department (2001-2008).

Rowland L. Davis (1897), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department (1921-1926), Third Department (1926-1931), and Second Department (1931-1939).

Thomas A. Dickerson (1973), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department (2006–present).

Ellen Gorman (1982), Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (2007–present).

Robert M. Gross (1976), Judge of the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal (1995–present), Chief Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal from 2008-2011.

Erika L. Hadlock (1991), Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (2011–present).

Stewart F. Hancock, Jr. (1950), Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1986-1993).

Irving G. Hubbs (1891), Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1929-1939).

Anthony T. Kane (1969), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department (2002-2009).

Edward C. LaRose (1980), Judge of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal (2005–present).

Anne M. Patterson (1983), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (2011–present).

Cuthbert W. Pound (1887), Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1915-1934), Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1932-1934.

Phillip Rapoza (1976), Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (2006-2015), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1998-2006).

Roberto A. Rivera-Soto (1977), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (2004-2011).

Harry L. Taylor (1893), Associate Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department (1924-1937).

Douglas L. Tookey (1990), Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (2013–present).

Joseph Weintraub (1930), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (1957-1973), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (1956-1957).

Richard C. Wesley (1974), Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1997-2003).

International Judiciary

Song Sang-Hyun (JSD 1970), Judge of the International Criminal Court (2003–2015), President of the International Criminal Court from 2009–2015.

Law and Business

Leo V. Berger (1956), founder of Apex Marine Corporation.

Milton S. Gould (1933), founding partner of Shea & Gould. The Milton Gould Award for Outstanding Advocacy is named in his honor.

Frances Kellor (1897), founding member of the American Arbitration Association and expert in international arbitration.

Ron Kuby (1983), criminal and civil rights lawyer, counsel on cases such as Texas v. Johnson.

Samuel Leibowitz (1915), criminal and civil rights lawyer, represented The Scottsboro Boys and argued Norris v. Alabama. The Samuel Leibowitz Professorship was endowed in his honor.

Sol Linowitz (1938), Chairman of Xerox. Linowitz received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Shannon Minter (1993), civil rights attorney.

Marshall Phelps (1969), former corporate director of intellectual property licensing and patents at IBM and Microsoft.

Frank Rosenfelt (1950), former CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studio and recipient of the Purple Heart for injuries sustained at the Battle of the Bulge.

Thomas A. Russo, general counsel at American International Group.

Jan Schlichtmann (1977), toxic tort plaintiffs' attorney and subject of the book and film, A Civil Action.

Harry L. Taylor (1893), provided the legal advice that elevated the American League to major league status as a rival to the National League. Taylor financed his legal education by playing professional baseball with the Louisville Colonels.

Myron Charles Taylor (1894), CEO of U.S. Steel.

Justin DuPratt White (1890), founding partner of White & Case. The J. DuPratt White Professorship was endowed in his honor.

Robert D. Ziff (1992), former co-CEO of Ziff Brothers Investments.

Miscellaneous

Hyun Kim (LLM 1984), President of the Korean Bar Association and former President of the Seoul Bar Association.

George Bell, Jr. (1894), United States Army Major General who commanded the 33rd Infantry Division in World War I and later the United States VI Corps. Bell was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and the Legion of Honor, as well as appointment as a Knight Commander of Britain's Order of St. Michael and St. George.

Edward J. Bloustein (1959), former President of Rutgers University.

Bob DuPuy (1973), former President of Major League Baseball.

Charles Garside (1923), former President of the State University of New York.

Harold O. Levy (1977), Executive Director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and former Chancellor of New York City Schools.

Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol (LLM 2002, JSD 2005), Princess of Thailand.

Ari Melber (2009), journalist and host of the MSNBC show The Cycle.

Michael Punke (1989), author of The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, which was the basis for the film The Revenant.

Glenn Scobey Warner (1894), legendary football coach and innovator.

Fictional

Irene Menéndez Hastings, in The Secret in Their Eyes, received her law degree from Cornell.

Norman Mushari, according to God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, graduated "at the top of his class."

Ling Woo, on Ally McBeal, was an editor of the Cornell Law Review.