Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loyola University Chicago School of Law offers degrees and combined degree programs, including the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.). Loyola University Chicago and its Water Tower campus also holds art exhibitions and other cultural events.
Due to a significant national decline in law school applications beginning in 2011, Loyola has lowered admissions standards in recent years and increased the rate of acceptance. The school admits just over one out of every two applicants. The Fall 2016 entering class had a median GPA of 3.30 and a median LSAT of 157. 32.8 percent of the 2016 entering class were students of color. The July 2016 Illinois Bar Exam pass rate for first-time test takers was 77%, placing the school sixth out of Illinois' nine law schools. While Loyola's overall U.S. News ranking fell in 2017, the school's specialty rankings have improved. The school was ranked 72nd in 2016, but fell to 82nd in 2018. In 2017, Loyola was ranked 6th in the country in health law, 6th in trial advocacy, and 14th for its part-time program, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2017 specialty rankings. In 2015, Loyola was ranked #1 in the country in family law according to Law Street Media. Law Street Media ranked Loyola's healthcare law and business law programs #1 and #9 in the country, respectively, in 2014. Loyola recently launched a weekend JD program to provide a flexible option for working professionals.
According to Loyola's 2015 ABA-required disclosures, only 50.9% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage required employment ten months after graduation. 12.3% of graduates from the Class of 2015 were unemployed 10 months after graduation.
Academics
There are fourteen major degree programs offered at the School of Law: doctor of jurisprudence (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.) in either business law, child and family law, health law or tax law. Students may pursue a master of jurisprudence (M.J.) in either business law, child and family law or health law. There are two major doctoral degrees: doctor of juridical sciences in health law and policy (S.J.D.) which is the highest degree any attorney may obtain in the United States and the doctor of laws (D.Law). Dual degree programs are offered with the Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work (J.D./M.S.W. and M.J./M.S.W.), Department of Political Science (J.D./M.A.), Graduate School of Education (J.D./M.A. in International Comparative Law and Education) and the Graduate School of Business (J.D./M.B.A.). Loyola offers a master of laws and master of jurisprudence in rule of law for development at the University's John Felice Rome Center in Italy. Loyola offers seven online degree programs.
Like most U.S. law schools, Loyola imposes a grade curve. Loyola's curve has a median GPA of 3.0. The grade curve prevents many students from transferring to higher ranking law schools. In addition, the curve makes Loyola's top students more attractive to legal employers that are less inclined to hire graduates of lower ranking law schools. The curve puts many students at a disadvantage, because legal employers typically will only consider hiring graduates with a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Employment
The National Journal noted Loyola as one of the Top 50 Go-To Law Schools for graduate placement in the top 100 law firms in the U.S. According to Loyola's official 2015 ABA-required disclosures, only 50.9% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage required employment ten months after graduation. 12.3% of graduates were unemployed 10 months after graduation. Overall employment for the Class of 2015 ten months after graduation was 85.9%. Since 2011, Loyola has only placed 50-55% of graduates into full-time, long-term, bar passage required employment. Every year, some graduates have remained unemployed months after graduation. Loyola's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 29.5%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2015 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job ten months after graduation.
Bar Passage
Loyola's Illinois Bar exam pass rate has declined significantly in recent years. In 2013, 88% of graduates passed the Illinois Bar exam. By July 2016, the Illinois Bar exam pass rate for Loyola grads had fallen to 77%. The passage rate placed Loyola sixth out of Illinois' nine law schools behind the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Northwestern University, IIT Chicago-Kent, and Northern Illinois University.
Prior to 2011, law schools published fraudulent employment statistics suggesting that over 90% of their graduates were employed in attorney positions earning six figure salaries. Loyola was noted as a law school that previously provided inaccurate consumer information. When the ABA required law schools to publish accurate graduate employment statistics, applications to law schools fell precipitously. In response, law schools lowered admission standards to maintain class sizes without considering the consequences on bar passage rates. Since 2011, applications to law schools, including Loyola, have fallen by over 50%. Loyola responded by lowering admission standards. In 2011, Loyola admitted a class with a 25th/75th percentile GPA of 3.13/3.57 and a 25th/75th percentile LSAT of 156/162. By 2016, Loyola's entering class had a 25th/75th percentile GPA of 3.02/3.54 and a 25th/75th percentile LSAT of 154/160. The decline in admissions standards to maintain enrollment has resulted in falling bar passage rates across the country.
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Loyola for the 2016-2017 academic year is $70,883. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $237,478.
Student body
The School of Law currently occupies the Corboy Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street. The Law School previously occupied Maguire Hall, at One East Pearson, but switched buildings with the Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business in the fall of 2005. Each day, its student body of over 1,000 congregates at the Water Tower Campus to receive instruction from full-time and part-time professors, who are the leading jurists of the City of Chicago and State of Illinois. Students are involved in over thirty student organizations and six distinguished law publications: Annals of Health Law, Children's Legal Rights Journal, Consumer Law Review, International Law Review, Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, Public Interest Law Reporter and Loyola University Chicago Journal of Regulatory Compliance.
Administration
From July 2005 until May 2016, David N. Yellen served as Dean and Professor of Law. Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Michael J. Kaufman assumed the role of interim dean after Yellen left Loyola to become president of Marist College. After an extensive national search, Kaufman was appointed Loyola University Chicago's 12th law dean. Kaufman has been a member of Loyola's full-time law faculty since 1986. His areas of expertise are education law and policy, securities regulation and litigation, civil procedure, and jurisprudence.
The Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition
In 1993, the APA Law Student Association of the South Texas College of Law founded the Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition. The competition is administered by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association ("NAPABA") Law Foundation and the NAPABA Judicial Council. Judge Thomas Tang was a champion of individual rights, an advocate for the advancement of minority attorneys and an ardent supporter of NAPABA and the moot court competition. This moot court competition was established to continue Judge Tang's legacy. From 1977 until his death in 1995, he served on the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The format of the competition divides the country into six regions: central, northeast, southeast, southwest, west, and northwest. The top two teams from each region advance to the national competition that is held simultaneously with the NAPABA National Convention. The convention sites have included, but are not limited to Hawaii, New York City, Scottsdale, Arizona, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Dallas, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Notable alumni
- James Milton Burns, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the District of Oregon
- Joseph Carroll, founding director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and founding director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI)
- David H. Coar, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Suzanne B. Conlon, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Philip H. Corboy Sr., one of the nation's leading personal injury and aviation litigation attorneys; named in The National Law Journal's Profiles in Power (in five of six publications) and The Best Lawyers in America
- Tom Dart (1987), Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois
- Joyce Karlin Fahey, former federal prosecutor, Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and two-term mayor of Manhattan Beach, California
- John Phil Gilbert, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- William Thomas Hart, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Neil Hartigan, former Illinois Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and a judge of the Illinois Appellate Court
- Christopher Helt, Illinois immigration attorney
- Henry Hyde, U.S. Congressman (1975 - 2007)
- Daniel Hynes, former Comptroller of Illinois, 2010 candidate for Governor of Illinois
- Virginia Mary Kendall, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Louis A. Lehr, Jr. of Arnstein & Lehr, LLP, one of this country's foremost civil defense litigation attorneys, has represented and defended major corporations in 44 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
- Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois
- Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois
- Peg McDonnell Breslin, member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1977-1991 and the first woman elected to the Illinois Appellate Court outside of Cook County.
- Frank James McGarr, former United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Mary Ann G. McMorrow, former chief justice, Supreme Court of Illinois
- Dan Proft, political writer and radio talk show host
- Michael Quigley, U.S. Congressman from Illinois' 5th District
- William Quinlan, former Illinois state appellate court justice, former Chicago Corporation Counsel, and former parliamentarian for the Cook County Board of Commissioners
- Edith S. Sampson (LL.M.), alternate U.S. delegate to the United Nations, member of the UN's Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee, member of the U.S. Commission for UNESCO, U.S. representative to NATO, first black woman to be elected as a judge in the United States
- Robert R. Thomas, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois
- Corinne Wood, first female Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (1999 - 2003)
- Howard Thomas Markey, first chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Thomas P. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (July 19, 1977 - April 30, 1981)
- Dan K. Webb, Chairman & Partner, Winston & Strawn LLP
- John Harris, Rod Blagojevich Chief of Staff
See also
References
External links
- Loyola University Chicago School of Law