Regent University School of Law

Regent University School of Law is the law school of Regent University, a private Christian university in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was founded in 1986 and accredited by the American Bar Association in 1996.

Admissions
JD Degree: For the class entering in 2023, the school accepted 224 applicants out of 548 (40.88%), with 108 of those accepted enrolling, a 48.21% yield rate. Four students were not included in the acceptance statistics. The class consists of 112 students. The median LSAT score was 157 and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.68. One student was not included in the LSAT calculation and two were not included in the GPA calculation. Its 25th/75th percentile LSAT scores and GPA were 152/160 and 3.40/3.88. Starting in 2023-2024 academic year, entering JD students whose GPA fall under 2.20 at the end of their 1L year will be academically dismissed. LL.M. Degree: Regent Law offers three advanced law degrees for those who have obtained first degree in Law and foreigner trained lawyers. There are three tracks of LL.M. Degree: LL.M in American legal studies, LL.M. in Human Rights, and LL.M. in Foundations of American Law. LL.M. students take same classes with JD students on campus. Over the years, the LL.M. programs have trained attorneys from China, Korea, Thailand and Columbia. Regent Law has partnered with Handong International Law School (HILS) to offer LL.M degree to graduates or current students of HILS.

Bar examination passage
In 2023, the overall bar examination passage rate for the law school’s first-time examination takers was 83.51%. The average first-time pass rate for ABA accredited schools was 75.46%. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate for Regent students, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 93.98% for the class of 2021.

Employment
According to the schools's official ABA-required disclosures for 2022 graduates, within ten months after graduation 83.50% of the 97 member graduating class was employed in full-time positions requiring bar passage (i.e. as attorneys), 6.19% were employed in full-time JD advantage positions, and 2.06% employed in professional positions. Positions were in various size law firms, most being in 1-10 attorney firms as well as in firms of up to 500 attorneys, 12 graduates obtained local or state judicial clerkships, and three obtained federal clerkships. 28 were employed in public interest, government, higher education, or business employment. 2.06% of the class was still seeking employment.

ABA national competition wins and moot court program
As of 2015, moot court teams from the Regent University School of Law have placed as quarter-finalists or better in over 100 moot court competitions, winning more than 40 national and regional events. In 2006 and 2007, Regent Law won several national ABA moot court and negotiation competitions succeeding against teams from Harvard and Yale. Regent's moot court program was ranked sixth in the nation in 2015.

Law review
Established in 1991, the Regent University Law Review is produced by student editors and staff members who exhibit academic achievement and writing ability to provide scholarship that applies a “Law of God” perspective, but is open to publishing opposing viewpoints.

Deans

 * Jeffrey A. Brauch (2000–2015)
 * Michael V. Hernandez (2015–2019)
 * Mark D. Martin (2019–2022)
 * Bradley Lingo (2022–present)

Faculty

 * John D. Ashcroft
 * Erin Hawley
 * James Duane
 * Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

Alumni

 * Bob McDonnell (JD 1989), 71st governor of Virginia
 * Daniel Kelly (JD 1991), former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
 * Kristen Waggoner (JD 1997), attorney, lead counsel in Supreme Court First Amendment rights case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission