Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loyola University Chicago School of Law offers degrees and combined degree programs, including the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.).

The Fall 2022 entering class had a median GPA of 3.56 and a median LSAT of 159. The Fall 2022 entering class was 67% female and 34% students of color. Loyola's 2021 bar passage rate for first-time test takers was 81.2%. Loyola's 2022 U.S. News ranking national ranking was 73rd(tie) for its full time program, and 9th for its part-time program. Loyola has been highly ranked in health law (3rd nationally in 2022) and family law. In 2017, Loyola was ranked 6th in the country in health law and 6th in trial advocacy according to U.S. News' 2017 specialty rankings. In 2015, Loyola was ranked #1 in the country in family law according to Law Street Media. Law Street Media ranked Loyola's healthcare law and business law programs #1 and #9 in the country, respectively, in 2014. Loyola recently launched a weekend JD program to provide a flexible option for working professionals.

According to Loyola's 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 73% of the Class of 2019 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage required employment ten months after graduation.

The School of Law currently occupies the Corboy Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street. The Law School previously occupied Maguire Hall, at One East Pearson, but switched buildings with the Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business in the fall of 2005.

Academics
There are fourteen major degree programs offered at the School of Law: doctor of jurisprudence (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.) in either business law, child and family law, health law or tax law. Specialized certificates are available in advocacy, child and family law, health law, international law and practice, public interest law, tax law, and transactional law. Students may pursue a master of jurisprudence (M.J.) in either business and compliance law, child and family law, health law, global competition, and rule of law for development. There are two major doctoral degrees: doctor of juridical sciences in health law and policy (S.J.D.) which is the highest degree any attorney may obtain in the United States and the doctor of laws (D.Law). Dual degree programs are offered with the Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work (J.D./M.S.W. and M.J./M.S.W.), Department of Political Science (J.D./M.A.), Graduate School of Education (J.D./M.A. in International Comparative Law and Education) and the Graduate School of Business (J.D./M.B.A.). Loyola offers a master of laws and master of jurisprudence in rule of law for development at the University's John Felice Rome Center in Italy. Loyola offers seven online degree programs and online certificate programs in school discipline reform and privacy law. Additionally, Loyola Chicago Law is known for a significant orientation in public interest and social justice. The school's Curt and Linda Rodin Center for Social Justice Fellowship is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious public interest and social justice fellowships of its kind.

Like the majority of law schools in the United States, Loyola has a grading curve to uphold a 3.0 median GPA.

Employment
According to the ABA-required disclosure of Employment Summary for 2019 Loyola University Chicago School of Law graduates, 73.0% of the Class of 2019 obtained "bar passage required" employment within ten months of graduation. A “bar passage required” position is defined as one that requires the graduate to pass a bar exam and to be licensed to practice law in one or more jurisdictions. The positions that have such a requirement are varied and include, for example, positions in law firms, business, or government. However, not all positions in law firms, business, or government require bar passage; for example, a paralegal position would not. Positions that require the graduate to pass a bar exam and be licensed after beginning employment in order to retain the position are included in this category. Judicial clerkships are also included in this category.

An additional 13.7% of the Class of 2019 obtained "J.D. advantaged" employment within ten months of graduation. A “J.D. advantaged” position is one for which the employer sought an individual with a J.D., and perhaps even required a J.D., or for which the J.D. provided a demonstrable advantage in obtaining or performing the job, but which does not itself require bar passage or an active law license or involve practicing law. Examples of positions for which a J.D. is an advantage include a corporate contracts administrator, alternative dispute resolution specialist, government regulatory analyst, FBI agent, and accountant. Also included might be jobs in personnel or human resources, jobs with investment banks, jobs with consulting firms, jobs doing compliance work in business and industry, jobs in law firm professional development, and jobs in law school career services offices, admissions offices, or other law school administrative offices. Doctors or nurses who plan to work in a litigation, insurance, or risk management setting, or as expert witnesses, would fall into this category, as would journalists and teachers (in a higher education setting) of law and law related topics. It is an indicator that a position does not fall into this category if a J.D. is uncommon among persons holding such a position.

Bar passage
According to the ABA-required disclosure of Bar Passage Results for 2022, in calendar year 2021, Loyola University Chicago School of Law had a total of 236 graduates. The school had a total of 207 graduates who sat for their first bar examination within any jurisdiction. Out of those who sat for their first bar examination in calendar year 2021, a total of 170, or 82.13%, passed on their first attempt.

Costs
The total cost of attendance (tuition and fees) in the full-time JD Program for the 2023-2024 academic year is $55,838.

The total cost of attendance (tuition and fees) in the Weekend JD Program for the 2023–2024 academic year is $42,050.

Student Involvement
Each day, Loyola's student body of over 1,000 congregates at the Water Tower Campus in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood to receive instruction from full-time and part-time professors.

Law students at Loyola participate in over fifty student organizations and advocacy programsand eight distinguished law journals and publications: Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, Annals of Health Law and Life Sciences, Children's Legal Rights Journal, International Law Review, Journal of Regulatory Compliance, Journal on Rule of Law (PROLAW), Loyola Consumer Law Review, and the Public Interest Law Reporter.

Administration
Michèle Alexandre is dean of the Law School, as of July, 2022. She is the 14th dean of the Law School, and previously was Dean at Stetson University College of Law from 2019–2022. Alexandre chose to take the position at Loyola University Chicago because of the School of Law's focus on the public interest, noting that "[i]t’s very rare to have a law school that is not ambivalent about service." She is a first-generation lawyer and was raised in Haiti and Brooklyn, New York.

From July 2005 until May 2016, David N. Yellen served as Dean and Professor of Law. Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Michael J. Kaufman assumed the role of interim dean after Yellen left Loyola to become president of Marist College. After an extensive national search, Kaufman was appointed Loyola University Chicago's 12th law dean. Kaufman has been a member of Loyola's full-time law faculty since 1986. His areas of expertise are education law and policy, securities regulation and litigation, civil procedure, and jurisprudence.

The Thomas Tang moot court competition
In 1993, the APA Law Student Association of the South Texas College of Law founded the Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition. The competition is administered by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association ("NAPABA") Law Foundation and the NAPABA Judicial Council. Judge Thomas Tang was a champion of individual rights, an advocate for the advancement of minority attorneys and an ardent supporter of NAPABA and the moot court competition. This moot court competition was established to continue Judge Tang's legacy. From 1977 until his death in 1995, he served on the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The format of the competition divides the country into six regions: central, northeast, southeast, southwest, west, and northwest. The top two teams from each region advance to the national competition that is held simultaneously with the NAPABA National Convention. The convention sites have included, but are not limited to Hawaii, New York City, Scottsdale, Arizona, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Dallas, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 2017 and 2018, Loyola won both the regional and national Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition.

Notable alumni

 * Peg McDonnell Breslin, member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1977–1991 and the first woman elected (outside of Cook County) to the Illinois Appellate Court
 * James Milton Burns, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the District of Oregon
 * Joseph Carroll, founding director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and founding director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI)
 * David H. Coar, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Suzanne B. Conlon, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Philip H. Corboy Sr., personal injury and aviation litigation attorney, named in The National Law Journal's Profiles in Power and The Best Lawyers in America
 * A. L. Cronin, Illinois state legislator and lawyer
 * John Darrah, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Tom Dart (1987), Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois
 * Joyce Karlin Fahey, former federal prosecutor, Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and two-term mayor of Manhattan Beach, California
 * John Phil Gilbert, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
 * John Harris, Rod Blagojevich Chief of Staff
 * William Thomas Hart, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Neil Hartigan, former Illinois Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and a judge of the Illinois Appellate Court
 * Donald L. Hollowell, civil rights attorney instrumental in winning the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961
 * Henry Hyde, U.S. Congressman (1975–2007)
 * Daniel Hynes, former Comptroller of Illinois, 2010 candidate for Governor of Illinois
 * Virginia Mary Kendall, United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Louis A. Lehr, Jr., of Arnstein & Lehr, LLP, civil defense litigation attorney who has represented major corporations in 44 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico
 * Lisa Madigan, former Attorney General of Illinois
 * Michael Madigan, former Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and former Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois
 * Howard Thomas Markey, first chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
 * Frank James McGarr, former United States Federal Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Mary Ann G. McMorrow, former chief justice, Supreme Court of Illinois
 * James Mulvaney, lawyer and investment banker, president of the United States National Bank of San Diego, president of the San Diego Padres (PCL)
 * Dan Proft, political writer, radio talk show host and 2010 Illinois gubernatorial candidate.
 * Michael Quigley, U.S. Congressman from Illinois' 5th District
 * William Quinlan, former Illinois state appellate court justice, former Chicago Corporation Counsel, and former parliamentarian for the Cook County Board of Commissioners
 * Elizabeth Rochford, lawyer from Illinois who serves an assoc. judge of Illinois' 19th Judicial Circuit.
 * Edith S. Sampson, alternate U.S. delegate to the United Nations, member of the UN's Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee, member of the U.S. Commission for UNESCO, U.S. representative to NATO, first black woman to be elected as a judge in Illinois
 * Thomas P. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
 * Robert R. Thomas, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois
 * Dan K. Webb, Chairman & Partner, Winston & Strawn LLP
 * Corinne Wood, first female Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (1999–2003)