Jump to content

Columbus School of Law

Coordinates: 38°56′10″N 76°59′49″W / 38.936°N 76.997°W / 38.936; -76.997
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Catholic Law" redirects here. For the religion law, see Canon law of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic University of America
Columbus School of Law
MottoDeus Lux Mea Est
(Latin for God Is My Light)
Parent schoolCatholic University of America
Religious affiliationRoman Catholic
Established1898; 127 years ago (1898) by the Knights of Columbus[1]
School typePrivate law school
DeanStephen C. Payne
LocationWashington, D.C., U.S.
38°56′10″N 76°59′49″W / 38.936°N 76.997°W / 38.936; -76.997
Enrollment374[2]
Faculty110 (36 full-time; 74 part–time)[2]
USNWR ranking94th (tie) (2024)[3]
Bar pass rate84.47% (2023 first-time takers)[4]
WebsiteColumbus School of Law
ABA profileABA Required Disclosures

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States.

More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the school. Incoming classes are typically composed of about 125 students, including day and evening programs.[2] Around 1,250 students apply annually.[2][5] According to Columbus School of Law's ABA-required disclosures, 72.5% of 2023 graduates obtained full-time, long-term employment requiring bar passage (i.e., as attorneys) within ten months after graduation.[6]

History

[edit]

Catholic University of America began offering instruction in law in 1895, as part of its decision to open "faculties for the laity."[1] The department was turned into an official school in 1898.[1]

In 1919, the Knights of Columbus founded an educational program known as Columbus University which provided an evening education program for Catholic war veterans returning from World War I. This institution was closely affiliated with Catholic University and shared faculty at both institutions' Washington, D.C., locations. In 1954, Columbus University (then consisting only of an evening law school) merged with Catholic University's law school to form the Columbus School of Law.[citation needed]

The law school has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1921[7] and accredited by the American Bar Association since 1925.[8] Its first African-American student was enrolled in 1902; its first female student in 1922.[citation needed]

Rankings

[edit]

In the 2024 "Best Law Schools" edition of U.S. News & World Report, the Columbus School of Law is ranked tied for 94th out of 196 schools.[3] Its part-time program is ranked tied for 26th out of 68.[3]

Admissions

[edit]

For the class entering in 2024, the law school accepted 435 out of 1256 applicants (34.63%), with 125 of those accepted enrolling, a 28.74% yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enrolled). One students was not included in the acceptance statistics. The class consists of 126 students. The median LSAT score was 160 and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.64. Three students were not included in the LSAT calculation, and two students were not included in the GPA calculation. The reported 25th/75th percentile LSAT scores and GPAs were 162/158 and 3.76/3.38.[2]

Student body

[edit]

Of Columbus School of Law's 2024 newly enrolled first year students, 102 (81%) attend full-time and 24 (19%) attend part-time.[2] In 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report, 59.4% of the total student body was female and 40.3% male. The student body was 68.6% white, 7.2% Hispanic, 6.4% Black or African American, 4.1% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 0% American Indian, 7.2% two or more races, 4.4% unknown race, and 1.3% international.[3]

Over 30 student organizations are active on campus.[9] The school has a moot court program with teams practicing in international law, communications law, labor law, constitutional law, securities law, national security, and a trials competition.[10] The moot court team holds an annual inter-school competition between first year students ("1Ls") called SoapBox.[11]

Costs

[edit]

For 2024, annual tuition and fees were $60,392 for full-time J.D. students and $2,982 per credit for part-time J.D. students. The annual estimated cost for J.D. students living off campus, which cost includes tuition, fees, and living expenses, was $91,934 for full-time students and an additional $31,542 for part-time students.[2] 100% of part-time students and 92% of full-time students received some amount of discount through scholarships or grants, with 52% and 48%, respectively, receiving less than 1/2 tuition.[2] Between 2019 and 2022, the average annual increase in tuition and fees was 9.7%.[12]

Employment outcomes

[edit]

Within nine months of graduation, 59% of 2021 graduates obtained full-time, long-term employment requiring bar passage (i.e., as attorneys); 23% obtained employment in full-time, long-term positions where having a J.D. was preferred; 2% obtained employment in other full-time, long-term professional positions; and the remaining 16% either obtained short-term positions or part-time positions, did not obtain employment, or did not report their employment status.[6] None of those jobs were school-funded positions.[6] Graduates who obtained full-time, long-term positions within nine months of graduation became employed in a variety of contexts, including approximately 4% in federal judicial clerkships, 15% in state and local judicial clerkships, 24% in government, 29% in private practice, 21% in business and industry, 6% in public interest, and 1% in education. Geographically, most of Catholic Law's 2021 graduates who became employed within nine months of graduation were hired to work in Washington, D.C., followed by Virginia and Maryland.[6]

Catholic Law ranked 150th out of the 201 ABA-approved law schools in terms of the percentage of 2013 graduates with non-school-funded, full-time, long-term, bar-passage-required jobs nine months after graduation.[13]

Academics

[edit]

Curriculum

[edit]
Columbus School of Law

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 first-year curriculum is prescribed for all students. The day-division curriculum consists of seven required courses totaling 29 credit hours.[14] Evening-division students are required to complete the same basic courses within the first two years of their law school career. Revised for 2013, the curriculum is designed to strengthen first-year doctrinal courses, to support the development of practice-area concentrations, and to emphasize training that will help graduates transition to the real world of practice.

The upper-division curriculum comprises several requirements, courses that are strongly recommended, and elective options. Students must complete a minimum of 84 credits to earn the J.D. degree. Required upper division courses include Constitutional Law II, Professional Responsibility, Professional Skills, and Upper-Level Writing.[14] The law school is developing a Transition-to-Practice requirement for students. This requirement is expected to be fulfilled by taking either a clinical course or a capstone course. Foundational courses for all areas of legal practice—and thus strongly recommended for all upper-class students—include Evidence, Corporations, and Criminal Procedure.

To respond to increasing demand for specialized legal services, the law school has developed practice-area concentrations for upper division students in Civil Litigation, Criminal Litigation, Family Law, Intellectual Property, Labor and Employment Law, and Securities Regulation.[15]

Degrees offered

[edit]

In addition to the J.D. program, the school offers LL.M. programs in Law & Technology, Securities Law, and Comparative and International Law.[16]

The school also offers an LL.M. program in American law with the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.[17] 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.

The school offers a M.L.S. degree program, which enhances the ability of professionals to work with lawyers and legal issues, to gain a deeper knowledge of a particular legal field, and to understand laws and regulations. Students can choose to concentrate in the fields of Compliance and Corporate Responsibility, Employment and Human Resources, or Intellectual Property. Alternatively, students may choose a General U.S. Law option, which provides a broad overview of the law and legal practice.

Faculty

[edit]

In 2024, the law school Catholic Law had 110 faculty members, including 36 full-time faculty members and 74 part-time faculty members.[2] The law school's student-faculty ratio was 7.1 to 1.[3]

Institutes and programs

[edit]

Catholic Law offers five opportunities for specialized legal study; four of them are certificate-granting.[15] The programs are designed to give students the opportunity to pursue a specified concentration of courses. Each institute accepts approximately 15 students each academic year. They are:

  • Comparative and International Law Institute
  • Compliance, Investigation, and Corporate Responsibility
  • Law and Public Policy Program
  • Law and Technology Institute
  • Securities and Corporate Law Program

Experiential learning

[edit]

Founded in 1969, Columbus Community Legal Services offers four legal clinics that offer students hands-on learning. The Columbus Community Legal Services clinics include the General Practice Clinic; the Families and the Law Clinic; Advocacy for the Elderly; and the Consumer Protection Clinic.[18] In addition, the school offers the Criminal Prosecution Clinic, the Immigration Litigation Clinic, the Innocence Project Clinic and Clemency Project, the Virginia Criminal Defense Clinic, and an SEC Student Observer Program.[19]

The Columbus School of Law has an extensive legal externship program through which about 200 upper-class students per year earn course credits during the fall, spring, and summer semesters by working in nonprofit organizations; federal, state, and local government agencies; Congress; and for judges, law firms, trade associations, and corporations in the D.C. area.[20]

Publications

[edit]

The Columbus School of Law has two student-edited law journals:[21]

Campus

[edit]

The Columbus School of Law is located on the campus of the Catholic University of America, and law students have access to many of the same services and facilities as undergraduate students. Completed in 1994, the law school building contains the classrooms, offices, law library, and courtrooms. The building is located in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and is a five-minute walk from the Brookland-CUA metro station.

Notable alumni

[edit]

Congress

[edit]

Federal government

[edit]

Federal judiciary

[edit]

State government

[edit]

Business

[edit]

Non-profit

[edit]
  • Alexandra Dunn (JD, 1994), executive director and general counsel of the Environmental Council of States

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Columbus School of Law: History". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Columbus School of Law - 2024 Standard 509 Information Report". abarequireddisclosures.org. American Bar Association. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Catholic University of America". Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  4. ^ "Catholic University of America 2024 Bar Passage Report" (PDF). American Bar Association. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  5. ^ "The Catholic University of America 2024 Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d "Employment Summary for 2023 Graduates". American Bar Association. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  7. ^ "AALS Member and Fee-Paid Schools". AALS. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  8. ^ "Alphabetical School List". ABA. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  9. ^ "CUA Law Student Organizations". Columbus School of Law. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  10. ^ "Moot Court". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  11. ^ "SoapBox". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  12. ^ "Catholic University of America Profile". Law School Transparency. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
  13. ^ Leichter, Matt (April 9, 2014). "Class of 2013 Employment Report". The Law School Tuition Bubble. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  14. ^ a b "Course Requirements, First-Year Courses". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Certificate Programs and Concentrations". Columbus School of Law. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  16. ^ "LL.M. Program". Columbus School of Law. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  17. ^ "LL.M. Program offered by CUA in cooperation with Jagiellonian University". Columbus School of Law. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  18. ^ "Columbus Community Legal Services". Columbus School of Law. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  19. ^ "Clinics and Practical Training". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  20. ^ "Legal Externships". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  21. ^ "Journals". Columbus School of Law. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "CUA Law Notable Alumni". Columbus School of Law. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  23. ^ Charlene Barshefsky "Dedication," Catholic University Law Review, Volume 47, Issue 3, Spring 1998, Article 2.
  24. ^ Flint, Peter (July 23, 1990). "John Harold Fanning Dies at 73; A Chief of Labor Relations Board". New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  25. ^ "Biographical Profile for Martin Connor". Vote NY. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  26. ^ "Kelly Murphy-D runs against Alan Livingston-R, for House District 125 seat". Press Herald. September 29, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  27. ^ "Retired Judge Charles Pomeroy dies", Waterville Morning Sentinel (December 30, 1993), p. 7.
  28. ^ Connecticut Reports (1965), volume 152, p. 758-759.
[edit]
Retrieved from "http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Columbus_School_of_Law&oldid=1274608097"