- Columbus School of Law
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The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law 
Motto Deus Lux Mea Est - God Is My Light Established 1897 Type Private Dean Veryl V. Miles Admin. staff 120 Students 950 Location Washington, D.C., US Campus Urban Website http://law.edu The Columbus School of Law, also known as CUA Law, is the law school of The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C..
Over 900 Juris Doctor students attend CUA Law. Incoming classes are typically composed of two to three hundred students, including day and night programs. Around 3,500 students apply annually. CUA Law touts itself as possessing highly ranked clinical and externship programs, an excellent trial advocacy program, and a commitment to preparing students to enter the legal profession. CUA Law is located slightly two miles north of the United States Capitol and a five minute walk from a DC metro station.
Contents
History
The law school was established in 1897. Its name comes from ties to The Knights of Columbus. The law school's pioneering externship program was established in the 1970s; over 100 students pursue fieldwork for credit each semester at government agencies, non-profit organizations, law firms, and corporations. The CUA externship program has served as a model for many law schools across the nation. Columbus School of Law faculty members wrote the first and only textbook for use in externship seminars.
Campus
The Columbus School of Law remains close to its roots in the Roman Catholic Church. The campus features a chapel with masses held daily. In 1994 the law school opened a state-of-the art 170,000-square-foot (16,000 m2) facility to house its program. The new building includes the Kathryn J. DuFour Law Library, the Walter A. Slowinski and Haislip and Yewell Courtrooms, and the three-story Keelty Atrium.
Curriculum
Catholic University's J.D. program can be completed over three years of full-time day study or four years of part-time evening study.
The school offers LL.M programs in Banking and Commercial Law, Communications Law, Securities Law, Trusts and Estates, Comparative and International Law, and Jurisprudence.[1]
The school also offers an exclusive LL.M program in American law with the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. It allows Jagiellonian law students and students enrolled in the CUA-JU LL.M. program to study the essential substantive and procedural elements of the legal system of the United States.
In addition to its J.D. program, Catholic University offers six institutes for specialized study. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to pursue a specified concentration of courses. Each institute accepts approximately 15 students each academic year. They are:
- Institute for Communications Law Studies
- Comparative and International Law Institute
- Law and Public Policy Program
- Securities and Corporate Law Program
- Interdisciplinary Program in Law and Religion
Academics & student activities
The Columbus School of Law has several law journals, including the Catholic University Law Review, the Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy, CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Policy, and the Journal of Law, Philosophy & Culture. The school also has a very active moot court program, with teams practicing in international law, communications law, labor law, constitutional law, securities law, national security, and a trials competition. Additionally, there are more than forty active student organizations on campus.
Founded in 1969, the Columbus Community Legal Services offers three distinct clinical courses: the General Practice Clinic; the Families and the Law Clinic; and Advocacy for the Elderly. In addition, the school offers a general practice clinic, a criminal prosecution clinic, a mediation clinic, an SEC Student Observer Program, and both a civil and criminal D.C. Law Students in Court Program.
Rankings
The school was ranked 79th in the U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Graduate Schools" edition for 2011[2] and is consistently ranked within the nation's top 100 law schools.
The law school's legal clinic, Columbus Community Legal Services, is consistently ranked among the top dozen in the nation.
Career placement
2009 Graduates facts[3]
- Graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation: 93.4%
- Percentage of class employed in private sector: 60%
- Percentage of class employed in public sector: 38.1%
- Private Practice Median Salary: $160,000
- Government Sector Median Salary: $62,000
- Business Sector Median Salary: $75,000
- Judicial Clerkship Median Salary: $52,000
- Public Interest Sector Median Salary: $55,000
Notable alumni
Graduates include several leading judicial, academic, and political figures, including U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, U.S. Senator Robert Patrick Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania, U.S. Rep.-elect Kathy Hochul of New York, Justice Peggy A. Quince of the Florida Supreme Court, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member Naomi C. Earp, Former FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Rhode Island House Minority Leader, Robert A. Watson, Chief Judge Edward J. Damich of the United States Court of Federal Claims, former National Labor Relations Board Chair John H. Fanning, Chief Administrative Law Judge James G. Gilbert of the United States Postal Service, B. Jeffrey Cravath, Senior Vice President of Fannie Mae, Christine Luchok Fallon, Reporter of Decisions for the U.S. Supreme Court, and Arizona Cardinals President Michael Bidwill .
External links
References
People Life Campus Athletics Catholic University Cardinals · Catholic Cardinals football · Cardinal Stadium · Raymond A. DuFour CenterCategories:- The Catholic University of America
- Catholic law schools in the United States
- Law schools in Washington, D.C.
- Knights of Columbus
- Educational institutions established in 1897
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