The University of Alabama School of Law,[4] (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama)[5][6] located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the only publiclaw school in the state. It is one of five law schools in the state, and one of three that are ABA accredited. According to Alabama's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 84% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. An additional 8.4% of the Class of 2017 obtained JD-advantage employment.[7]
Approximately 428 JD students attended Alabama Law during school year 2022–2023. 51 undergraduate institutions, 23 states, and 3 countries are represented among the class of 2026, and the student-faculty ratio is 6.7 to 1.[8]
Academicsedit
Alabama Law offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, as well as an International LL.M., an LL.M. in Taxation, and an LL.M. in Business Transactions. In conjunction with the Manderson Graduate School of Business, the law school also offers a four-year joint J.D./M.B.A. program. Students may also pursue a number of graduate degrees through established dual enrollment programs for M.A. or Ph.D. in Political Science, M.P.A., Ph.D. in Economics, or LL.M. in Taxation. Certificates in Public Interest Law, Governmental Affairs, and International and Comparative Law are also available.
Admissions have been increasingly selective. The class of 2026 has a median LSAT score of 167 and median undergraduate GPA of 3.95. The 75th and 25th percentile for these metrics are 168 and 4.00, and 159 and 3.63, respectively.[8]
Law clinicsedit
Alabama Law guarantees that every interested student has the opportunity to participate in at least one law clinic before graduating. It is one of the few law schools in the country to make this guarantee.[9]
The Children's Rights Clinic works with the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program to assist youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system.[10]
The Civil Law Clinic is Alabama's oldest clinic and provides free legal advice and representation to University of Alabama students and community members in civil matters. Civil clinic students handle over 200 cases annually.[11]
The Criminal Defense Clinic represents indigent defendants in misdemeanor and felony criminal matters for both bench and jury trials.[12]
The Domestic Violence Clinic takes a holistic approach to assisting survivors of domestic abuse in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. In addition to providing comprehensive legal services, clinic students also perform outreach and education.[13]
The Entrepreneur & Nonprofit Clinic provides free transactional legal services to small businesses, start-ups, and nonprofit organizations. The suite of services include preparation of formation documents, agreement negotiation and drafting, and regulatory compliance.[14]
The Mediation Law Clinic provides an alternative to the adversarial litigation process for families to settle disputes more promptly and with a reduction in emotional trauma.[15]
Publicationsedit
In 2007 Jarvis & Coleman ranked the Alabama Law Review (ALR) 36th "on the basis of the prominence of their lead article authors."[16] This represents an incredible 63 position improvement from the rankings of ten years prior. For 2015–2016, ExpressO, UC Berkeley's manuscript submission service, ranked the ALR at 10th in terms of "number of manuscripts received."[17] In 2015 Washington and Lee's methods rank ALR at 46th in both the number of citations from other journals and the combined score.[18] These show an improvement of 10 and 26 positions, respectively, over the preceding 5 years.
Approximately 40% of students graduate with journal experience. This is a slightly lower percentage than many of Alabama's peer schools, but nonetheless above the national average.
Employmentedit
According to Alabama's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 83.2% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage required employment within nine months after graduation.[7] Alabama's Law School Transparency under-employment score for 2017 is 7.6%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2017 who were unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[23]
Tuition and fees at the University of Alabama School of Law for the 2018–2019 academic year total $23,920 for residents and $42,180 for nonresidents.[25] 69.2% of students received discounts during the 2017–2018 school year; the remaining 30.8% paid full price. Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years at full price to be $157,785 for residents and $231,042 for nonresidents.[25]
Charles J. Cooper (Class of 1978), clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, U.S. Supreme Court, founder of law firm, Cooper & Kirk, in Washington, D.C.
Nick Wilson, public defender and reality show contestant[50]
Referencesedit
^Law, University of Alabama School of. "William S. Brewbaker III Named Dean of The University of Alabama School of Law – The University of Alabama – School of Law". law.ua.edu.
^"University of Alabama". Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^"UA trustees vote to return Culverhouse Jr. donation, remove name from law school". WTVY. June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
^"UA Law School Named for Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. in Recognition of $26.5 Million Donation". law.ua.edu. UA Law School. September 20, 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
^Data Report, Staff (September 20, 2018). "Sarasota developer Hugh Culverhouse Jr. donates millions to University of Alabama law school". heraldtribune.com. Sarasota Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
^ ab"Employment Summary for 2017 Graduates" (PDF).
^ ab"Quick Facts". UA School of Law. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
^"Academics; Law Clinics". The University of Alabama School of Law. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
^"Children's Rights Clinic | The University of Alabama School of Law". www.law.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^"Civil Law Clinic | The University of Alabama School of Law". www.law.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^"Criminal Defense Clinic | The University of Alabama School of Law". www.law.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^"Domestic Violence Law Clinic | The University of Alabama School of Law". www.law.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^"Entrepreneurship & Nonprofit Clinic | The University of Alabama School of Law". www.law.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^"Mediation Law Clinic | The University of Alabama School of Law". www.law.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^"Ranking Law Reviews by Author Prominence -- Ten Years Later" (PDF). Law Library Journal. p. 577.
^Editor, Erin Cox. "SOLE SURVIVOR: Williamsburg's Nick Wilson wins 37th season of 'Survivor'". Richmond Register. Retrieved 2018-12-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)