Saint Louis University School of Law

Degree programs

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.

Full-time program

During their first year, full-time students are required to take 15 hours per semester to complete the core courses (torts, contracts, civil procedure, property, constitutional law I, criminal law, and legal research and writing). 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.

The evening program

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.

Center for Health Law Studies

Since its establishment before 1990, the Center for Health Law Studies is consistently listed first in health law by U.S. News & World Report. St. Louis, home to Barnes Hospital carries out medical and biotechnology research. The Center has eleven full-time faculty members who publish work in law, medicine and ethical journals.

The Center offers a broad range of health law courses taught by full-time faculty, including foundational and specialized health law courses each semester.

Center for International and Comparative Law

The Center for International and Comparative Law promotes international legal scholarship within the law school. Faculty members teach pragmatic and theory based courses, such as public international law, international trade, multinational corporate responsibility, international tax, comparative law, immigration law, comparative criminal law, gender rights and international human rights. Speakers and practitioners are also invited to the school to discuss and teach. Students are eligible to earn a certificate from the Center, as well as study abroad in Madrid, Berlin, Orléans, Paris, Bochum, and Cork. The Center also has a Jessup Moot Court Team, which advanced on to the semi-final rounds of the Southwest Super Regionals in 2009 in Houston, Texas, and subsequently won third place for best brief overall.

Center for Employment Law

The Center's extensive curriculum offers a broad range of courses addressing the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, including the prohibition of discrimination; establishment of collective bargaining relationships in the private and public sector; regulation of employee benefits, health and safety in the workplace; and arbitration and mediation of labor and employment disputes. To obtain a certificate in employment law, students complete 11 hours of approved coursework in the employment field and write a paper of publishable quality on an employment law topic in addition to receiving a J.D. degree. All students in the Certificate program take the basic law labor course. The Center enhances the students' exposure to critical issues in labor and employment law by presenting conferences that explore current significant topics in the field. Every year, the student-sponsored Employment Law Association and the Center offer a variety of extra-curricular programs for students that address new legal developments, career opportunities and employment law practice.

Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Law & Advocacy

Through the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Law & Advocacy (CISLA), established in 2011, current and future lawyers will attain a broad range of skills to use in further advancing change, advocacy and legal theory. The Center brings together two distinct areas of legal education – scholarly research and experiential practice – under the umbrella of interdisciplinary studies. Through collaboration with scholars, professors, the judiciary, lawyers and professionals in complementary areas of study and research including psychology, anthropology, economics and communications, students will gain new perspectives that will allow them to become stronger advocates for their clients. The Center will sponsor lectures, symposia, research initiatives and other educational events that showcase advocacy across different disciplines.

Clinics

SLU LAW professors and students annually provide more than 39,000 hours of free legal service, totaling an estimated $3.9 million, to the community through the School of Law's Legal Clinics and public service programs. The Legal Clinics offer SLU LAW upper division students invaluable practical experience while providing valuable legal services to the community. Students are able to appear in court on cases under Missouri's Student Practice Rule. A full-time faculty member supervises the in-house students.

In-House Clinics

Externships

Concentrations

The school offers "concentrations" in business transaction law, civil litigation skills, criminal litigation skills, employment law, health law, intellectual property law, international & comparative law, taxation, and urban development, land use and environment law. Each of these concentrations has different requirements, allowing students to specialize their legal education.

Examinations

First-year students take four final examinations each semester, one for each class other than legal research and writing. All other students self-schedule their exams. Generally the exam period is two weeks long; graduating students are required to complete exams in a shorter time. Students may choose between typing their exams on laptop computers or handwriting them. As at most other law schools, exams are graded on a curve determined by the section.

Admissions

The 75th to 25th percentile of undergraduate GPA for the fall 2012 entering class was 3.7-3.23. The 75th to 25th percentile of LSAT score was 159-151.

Facilities

SLU LAW is located in Scott Hall, a 12-story facility located at 100 N. Tucker Blvd. in downtown St. Louis. The building contains classrooms, the law library, the school's administrative and faculty offices, event space, and a restaurant called "The Docket." The legal clinics are housed on the 7th floor of the building. The 12th floor, which was added to the building during renovations, is almost entirely glass, offering views of the surrounding downtown area from the courtroom and indoor/outdoor event areas. The school's downtown location puts it in close proximity to many law firms and city, state and federal courts.

Prior to Scott Hall, the law school was housed in three buildings on the main SLU campus in Midtown. Morrissey Hall housed the bulk of the law school, including the law library, four large lecture halls, faculty offices, and some administrative space. Queen's Daughters Hall is a historic building and housed the rest of the administrative offices and meeting rooms. The law school also had a separate clinic building located on Spring Street, one block from the main building. The clinic was renovated and enlarged in 2008.

Rankings

In the 2016 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Saint Louis University School of Law was ranked 82 in "Best Law Schools" list. SLU's Center for Health Law Studies is ranked the No. 1 program in the country. In the new 2012 category "When Lawyers Do the Grading," the School of Law was ranked 67 by recruiters and hiring partners at highly rated firms.

Student publications

The school has three student-edited academic law journals:

The Saint Louis Brief is a publication about the law school that is distributed to alumni and supporters.

Students at one time published the 1843 Reporter, an independent student newspaper administered and funded without assistance from the school. It published bi-monthly and sought to foster a sense of community and on-campus dialogue, as well as provide an outlet for students wishing to publish in a non-journal forum.

Student organizations

SLU law school has nearly 30 student organizations. The organizations' funding is distributed in part by the law school's student government, the Student Bar Association (SBA). Organizations include:

Employment

According to SLU Law's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 55.5% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. SLU Law's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 26.9%, 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 total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at SLU Law for the 2014-2015 academic year is $59,608. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $220,008.

Current

Past

Dean controversy

In August 2012, Saint Louis University School of Law's Dean, Annette Clark, resigned from her deanship by sending a resignation letter to the university. She claimed that the university was operating "outside the bounds of common decency, collegiality, professionalism and integrity." Clark argued that the university was using the law school to subsidize university operations and she sharply criticized Lawrence Biondi, the university president. The university responded by stating that it intended to fire her prior to the resignation letter. The university then appointed Thomas Q. Keefe as interim dean. Keefe is a personal injury attorney and member of the Saint Louis University board of trustees, but had no other experience with teaching or academia.

On March 4, 2013, Keefe announced he was stepping down, saying he "made politically incorrect statements to faculty and was not a good fit for the position." The statements included one comment perceived as sexual harassment and another where Keefe said he had gotten "drunker than 10 big Indians." He does not deny making the statements.

Michael A. Wolff, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, was named as the new dean on March 7, 2013.

Notable alumni

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri

United States District Court, Southern District of Illinois

United States District Court, Central District of Illinois

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit