University of Chicago Law School
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-->The University of Chicago Law School is a part of the University of Chicago. Having recently celebrated its centennial in the 2002-2003 school year, the law school has established itself as a high profile part of the university. It ranks 4th by academics, 4th by practitioners, and 6th overall in the influential US News graduate school [rankings] and is a member of the "top 14" (an insider mark of legal excellence), with its student body ranking at fifth in the nation [link]. Additionally, Chicago's faculty has the highest per capita article citation rate of any American law school [link]. The Law School is also notable for having the third highest gross and second highest per capita placement in terms of U.S. Supreme Court clerkships[link], with roughly 15% of each graduating class going on to clerkships at the federal or state level. Private career prospects are equally bright for graduates, placing highly into elite firms [link]. A significant moment in jurisprudence also occurred at the law school when Aaron Director began the first modern systemic investigation between the instersection of law and economics, an area in which the law school's faculty figure prominently.
The University of Chicago Law Review is the school's student-run journal, and admits editors by "grade on," i.e. first year GPA, and "write on," post first year writing competition, methods. The Supreme Court Review, published by the law school and overseen by faculty since the 1960's, remains the most cited legal journal internationally with respect to commentary on the nation's highest court.
Grading
The Law School employs a unique grading system with a range from 155 to 186. The average grade is in the high 170s with a median grade of 177. Though the specific numbers may change from year to year, in general a student graduates "with honors" if a final average of 179 is attained and "high honors" if a final average of 180.5 is attained. The maximum grade attainable is 186. Only 4% of students receive above a 182 in any given class.The grading scale was previously 55-86, but the school prefixed their grades with a "1" in 2003 to avoid confusion with traditional grading scales.
Prominent faculty
- Douglas Baird
- Ronald Coase
- David P. Currie
- Judge Frank H. Easterbrook
- Richard Epstein
- Daniel Fischel
- Judge Douglas Ginsburg
- R.H. Helmholz
- Dennis J. Hutchinson
- Dallin H. Oaks (former faculty member)
- William Landes
- Lawrence Lessig (former faculty member)
- Saul Levmore
- Catharine MacKinnon
- Bernard Meltzer
- Judge Abner Mikva
- Martha Nussbaum
- U.S. Senator Barack Obama (on leave of absence)
- Judge Richard A. Posner
- Eric Posner
- Gerald N. Rosenberg
- Justice Antonin Scalia (former faculty member)
- Geoffrey Stone
- David Strauss
- Cass Sunstein
- Judge Diane Pamela Wood
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