Parent school Lewis & Clark College School type Private Dean Jennifer J. Johnson Undergraduate tuition and fees 36,362 USD (2011) Phone +1 503-768-6600 Faculty 107 | Established 1915 Parent endowment US$231.2 million Location Portland, Oregon, US Total enrollment 764 (2011) Founded 1915 | |
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Address 10015 SW Terwilliger Blvd, Portland, OR 97219, USA Motto Explorare, Discere, Sociare (Latin) Notable alumni Kate Brown, Earl Blumenauer, Heidi Heitkamp, Phil Schiliro, Donald C Johnson Similar Lewis & Clark College, Willamette University College o, University of Oregon School of, Portland State University, University of Washingt Profiles | ||
The Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College (also known as Lewis & Clark Law School), is an American Bar Association-approved private law school in Portland, Oregon.
Contents
- Campus grounds
- History
- Law library
- Rankings
- Law centers and institutes
- Journals
- National moot court competitions
- Semester abroad opportunities
- Employment
- Costs
- References
The law school received ABA approval in 1970 and joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1973.
Lewis & Clark Law School offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, including a range of scholastic concentrations and legal certificate programs, as well as a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in environmental, natural resources, and energy law and an LLM degree in animal law].
Each class in the three-year J.D. program has approximately 180 students. The dean of Lewis & Clark Law School is Jennifer J. Johnson, Erskine Wood Sr. endowed Professor of Law. Dean Johnson is a noted securities law scholar and arbitration expert, as well as a member of the American Law Institute.
Lewis & Clark law students can complete their degrees on full-time or part-time schedules, take courses during the day or evening, and focus in a number of legal specialties. The institution has a well-regarded general law review and a range of nationally ranked specialty programs, including environmental law, public interest law, and the lawyering program. According to Lewis & Clark's 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 61.7% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-preferred employment nine months after graduation.
Campus grounds
The law school grounds are adjacent to a forested natural area, replete with 14-miles of biking and jogging trails in Tryon Creek State Park. The Law School is 4-miles from downtown, in the Southern hills of Portland, west of the Willamette River, at the base of the undergraduate campus of Lewis & Clark College.
The Lewis & Clark College undergraduate, graduate school, and law campus grounds collectively occupy 137 acres (554,000 m²), centered on the M. Lloyd Frank Estate on Palatine Hill in the Collins View neighborhood of Southwest Portland.
Student and faculty fitness enthusiasts enjoy the landscaped walks to the Pamplin Sports Center on the undergraduate campus, which includes gyms, indoor and outdoor pools, and tennis courts.
History
Lewis & Clark Law School's origins began with the University of Oregon establishing a Department of Law in Portland in 1885. After the Oregon State Legislature moved the program to Eugene, Oregon in 1915, several law faculty members resisted the move, and formed the Northwestern College of Law.
In 1965, the faculty and overseers of Northwestern College of Law joined with the president and trustees of Lewis & Clark College to incorporate the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College.
Today the college has over 100 faculty and staff. Academic personnel develop policies and initiatives to steward student success, including rigorous admissions standards and limited class sizes. Instructors generally guide students through the law using the Socratic method. Faculty members regularly appear as experts in legal proceedings, publish legal texts and contribute primary research findings to legal scholarship around the country.
Law library
The Paul L. Boley Law Library is the largest law library in Oregon and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest with a collection of over 505,000 volumes as of 2014. Boley is also home to clinical space and program offices.
Rankings
The law school's curriculum and programs continue to receive high marks. In 2016, Lewis & Clark Law School ranked second of environmental law programs in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report's rating system. Meanwhile, the Lewis & Clark Part-Time Program was ranked 7th in the country as of 2015.
The Lewis & Clark Law Review was ranked among the top 5% of all law journals and the top 20% of general-interest law reviews by the 2015 Washington and Lee Law Review Rankings and Google Scholar.
Law centers and institutes
Journals
Lewis & Clark Law School supports three student-edited scholarly journals:
National moot court competitions
Lewis & Clark law students benefit from the campus serving as a destination for several national moot courts. In 2013, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts launched Lewis & Clark's Environmental Moot Court Competition, presiding as a guest judge. While at Lewis & Clark, the Chief Justice of the United States visited with first year law students and shared legal writing advice.
The campus also serves as the permanent host of the National Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) Moot Court Competition and the International Law Students Association (ILSA) Pacific Regional Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Additionally, the ILSA Student Initiated Lecture Series at Lewis & Clark has been internationally recognized for academic excellence.
Semester abroad opportunities
In addition, the law school has developed a number of exclusive global summer externship placements. There are options in India for students interested in business, litigation, transactional, public interest, human rights, and environmental practice through placement with firms and NGOs in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. The law school has also secured exclusive placements in Asia, for students interested in international law firm experience. Past placements include firms in both Beijing and Shanghai, China.
Employment
According to Lewis & Clark's official 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 61.7% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-preferred employment nine months after graduation. Lewis & Clark's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 27.2%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Costs
The average cost of attendance at Lewis & Clark Law School for the 2016-17 school year includes tuition ($43,240 full-time, $32,426 part-time); fees ($50 public interest fee); health insurance ($2,402 if not already covered); and average cost of living expenses ($18,761).