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Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University. It is one of the five Ivy League law schools, and is among the nation's best law schools. The law school offers 4 types of law degrees, 8 programs of law study and over 120 courses for its students. In the field of law, the Cornell law school retains an excellent reputation as its graduates have the sixth highest percent placement at the top 50 law firms. However, the school does face some criticism for its small size.

The Cornell Law School was formally opened in 1887, but was moved to its present day location at Myron Taylor Hall in 1937. The law school building, an ornate, collegiate gothic structure, was the result of a donation by Myron Charles Taylor, a former CEO of US Steel, and a member of Cornell class of 1894. An addition to Myron Taylor Hall was completed in 1988.

Admissions

In 2005 the median GPA for incoming Cornell Law students was 3.65, while the median LSAT score was 167. Also, the admissions rate for 2005 was 20.6%. However, a breakdown of the various degree programs reveals that for certain programs the selectivity can dramatically increase, as in the LL.M. program the admittance rate hovers around 6.67% in 2005, as 900 applications were received for the 50 to 60 openings in the program.

Along with placing an emphasis on both high GPA and LSAT scores, the admissions process places a heavy emphasis on an applicant's explanation for wanting to attend Cornell. In particular, the Law School values applicants that have done their research and have particular interests or goals that would be served by attending the school, versus one of its peer institutions.

Reputation

Cornell is one of the pre-eminent law schools in the United States; 7th in the 2004 Law School 100 rankings, 13th in the 2007 U.S. News and World Report, and its master of laws, or LL.M., program ranked 1st in the 2006 AUAP rankings. In 2005, the National Law Journal reported that Cornell Law graduates had the 6th highest percent placement at the top 50 law firms.

Cornell Law graduates have consistently achieved the highest bar pass-rate among law schools in the state of New York during the past few years. In 2006, Cornell's July 2005 New York bar pass rate for first-time candidates was 95% versus 94% for New York University (NYU) and 90% for Columbia.

Library and the Legal Information Institute

Cornell's law library is one of the largest in the nation. The law library contains 700,000 books and microforms and includes rare historical texts relevant to the legal history of the United States.

An important aspect of the library is the fact that it is one of the 12 national depositories for print records of briefs filed with the United States Supreme Court. Also, there is a large collection of print copies of the records and briefs of the New York Court of Appeals. The large microfilm collection has sets of Congressional, Supreme Court and United Nations documents, as well as a large collection of World Law Reform commission materials. Microfiche records and briefs for the United States Supreme Court, the Second Circuit and District of Columbia Courts of Appeals, and the New York State Court of Appeals are also collected. The library also has a large collection of international, foreign and comparative law, with the main focus being on the nations of the British Commonwealth and Europe. Along with this, there are also collections of public international law and international trade law. A new initiative by the library is to collect Chinese, Japanese and Korean resources to support the Law School’s Program in East Asian Law and Culture.

The law library also boasts a significant collection of rare books. This collection has over 1200 volumes, and it is housed in the Rare Book Room, which was built in 1981. Among these rare books is the Samuel Thorne collection, which has 175 of the some of the earliest and most rare books on law. Other significant collections include the Nathaniel C. Moak library and the Edwin J. Marshall Collection of early works on equity and the Earl J. Bennett Collection of Statutory Material, a print collection of original colonial, territorial, and state session laws and statuary codes.

Among the library’s special collections are 19th Century Trials Collection, Donovan Nuremburg Trials Collection, Scottsboro Collection, William P. and Adele Langston Rogers Collection and the Chile Declassification Project.

Academic Offerings

Law Degrees

Law Programs

  • International Program
  • Legal Information Institute
  • Death Penalty Project
  • Public Interest
  • Keck Foundation Ethics Program
  • Olin Program of Law & Economics
  • Clark Program in East Asian Law'

Notable faculty

See also: List of Cornell University people

Notable alumni

References

External links

Cornell University | Colleges and schools of Cornell University | Law schools in New York

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Cornell Law School".

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