Wake Forest University School of Law

Wake Forest University School of Law is the law school of Wake Forest University, a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Established in 1894, Wake Forest University School of Law is an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The current dean is Andrew R. Klein.

The entering class in 2023 had 175 students, divided into four sections of approximately 40 students each. The entering class had a median LSAT score of 165 and media GPA of 3.79. As of 2021, Wake Forest University School of Law had 44 resident faculty members, 43 extended faculty members, 8 law librarians, and 20 school administrators.

According to Wake Forest's official ABA-required disclosures, 88.12% of the class of 2022 obtained full-time, long-term, Bar-required employment (i.e. as attorneys) within 10 months after graduation. Of those graduates, North Carolina was the most popular employment location accounting for over half of graduates’ employment. The bar passage rate in North Carolina for the Class of 2023 was 92.00% and the overall bar passage rate was 92.39%.

Class profile
For 2023, Wake Forest University School of Law had 2116 applicants, offering admission to 666 (31.47%) and 175 enrolled (a 26.28% yield rate). The incoming class came from 100 different undergraduate colleges and universities from 32 different states, with 67% of students being classified as "out-of-state residents".

The incoming class included 52% identifying as female and 48% identifying as male, 20% identifying themselves as being LGBTQ+, and 19% of the class identifying as being a minoritized ethnicity. 54% of the incoming class also reported having at least 1 year of post-undergraduate experience prior to matriculating.

The incoming class had a median LSAT score of 165, the 75th percentile was 166, and the 25th percentile was 159. The median undergraduate GPA was 3.72, the 75th percentile was 3.85, and the 25th percentile was 3.46.

Publications
The school has three student-run law journals. The school's flagship journal is the Wake Forest Law Review. The school also publishes two specialized journals, the Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy and the Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law.

Journal membership is determined primarily through a writing competition that is administered at the end of the first-year. Wake Forest Law Review also extends invitations for membership based on GPA to the top 10% of the first-year class, regardless of performance in the writing competition. The Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law considers not only academic performance and achievement in the writing competition, but also takes prior experience in intellectual property law into account. By joining a journal, students are eligible to earn two (2) credit hours per year, in the Spring semester, by serving on the Editorial Board or by writing an original piece of scholarship (i.e. a Note or Comment).

Rankings
The Wake Forest University School of Law is ranked 25th in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report ranking.

Student organizations

 * Student Bar Association
 * Phi Alpha Delta
 * Asian Pacific American Law Association
 * Black Law Students Association
 * North Carolina Student Bar Association
 * American Constitution Society
 * Federalist Society
 * Christian Legal Society
 * Moot Court Board
 * Trial Bar
 * Transactional Law Competition
 * Public Interest Law Organization
 * Wake Forest Law Review
 * Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy
 * Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law
 * Texas Young Lawyer Association National Trial Team
 * AAJ Student Trial Advocacy Competition Trial Team
 * OUTLaw

Student opportunities

 * Metropolitan Externship in Washington, D.C. – Students spend approximately 35 hours per week interning in a government agency or non-governmental organization. In addition to this practice component, students attend a weekly class session, which explores issues common to the interns.
 * Summer Study Abroad Programs in London, Venice, and Vienna.
 * Inns of Court
 * Guardian Ad Litem
 * Pro bono Project

Clinics
The law school offers seven legal clinics, or programs that allow students to attain practical legal experience through providing legal services to real clients.
 * Appellate Advocacy Clinic – Students represent clients in a variety of appellate courts, including the Fourth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit. Students handle an actual appeal from start to finish, with advice and assistance from their professor, who is counsel of record.  Students also travel to Washington, D.C., to observe arguments at the United States Supreme Court.
 * Child Advocacy Clinic – represent children in custody disputes, domestic violence situations, and in issues involving the public school system.
 * Community Law and Business Clinic – A new program, this clinic provides law and graduate business students with an opportunity to develop skills needed to practice in the increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment they will encounter as professionals.
 * Innocence and Justice Clinic – This clinic has its origins in the Innocence Project in which Wake Forest students review and investigate claims of innocence to determine whether DNA evidence existed that could exonerate inmates.
 * Civil & Criminal Externship Clinic – Formerly referred to as the Litigation Clinic, students have the opportunity to receive real world practice experience by working with local attorneys. During the semester, all students receive civil placements with local firms, in-house counsel offices, and the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina. Students also spend half of their semester working in a criminal placement. These placements have included private firms as well as prosecutors' and public defenders' offices.
 * Veterans Legal Clinic – Students work with former military services members to upgrade their discharge statuses. The lengthy process involves submitting briefs to the pertinent military discharge review board.

Employment
According to Wake Forest's official ABA-required disclosures, within 10 months after graduation 73.3% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, Bar-required employment (i.e. as attorneys) and 13.0% obtained JD Advantage employment.

Cost of attendance
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Wake Forest University School of Law for the 2022–2023 academic year is $78,744. Though Wake Forest University School of Law does not provide any "need-based" scholarships (i.e. scholarship based on income or family contribution), most students qualify for and receive some form of "merit based" scholarship (i.e. scholarship based on prior academic performance). For all students in attendance between 2020-2021, out of 465 students, 443 students received some form of merit scholarship (95% of total students). Of those students, 122 (26% of total students) received scholarships for an amount less than half the cost of tuition. Another 288 (62% of total students) received scholarships for amounts between half and full tuition. And 31 (7% of total students) received scholarships for amounts greater than the cost of tuition. Of the scholarships provided: the 75th percentile was valued at $42,000 per year, the median was valued at $36,000 per year, and the 25 percentile was valued at $22,250 per year.

Outside of traditional scholarship opportunities, Wake Forest students frequently receive Grad PLUS Loans through Federal Student Aid Programs or participate in various approved Federal Work-Study program opportunities throughout the law school.

Notable alumni

 * Kenneth D. Bell (J.D. 1983), Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
 * Joseph Branch, Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
 * Fanny Yarborough Bickett (J.D.), First Lady of North Carolina and first female president of the North Carolina Railroad
 * Rhoda Billings (J.D., 1966), Former Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
 * Porter Byrum (J.D., 1942), attorney and philanthropist
 * Mary P. Easley (J.D. 1975), Former First Lady of North Carolina
 * William Earl Britt (LL.B. 1958), Former federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
 * Sidney S. Eagles Jr. (J.D. 1964), Former Justice of the North Carolina Court of Appeals
 * James P. Cain (J.D. 1984), Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
 * Elizabeth Kay Dillon (J.D. 1986), Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia
 * Robert L. Ehrlich (J.D., 1982), Former Governor of and Congressman for the state of Maryland
 * Rocky Fitzsimmons, member of the West Virginia Senate
 * Jerome B. Friedman (J.D., 1969), Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
 * Kay Hagan (JD, 1978), Former U.S. Senator for the state of North Carolina (2009-2015)
 * Johnson Jay Hayes (LL.B. 1909), Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
 * Malcolm Jones Howard, (J.D. 1970), Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
 * Samuel Johnson Howard (J.D. 1976), 8th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida
 * Woodrow Wilson Jones (LL.B. 1937), Federal judge for the Western District of North Carolina
 * Cheslie Kryst (J.D. 2017), Miss USA 2019 and television presenter
 * I. Beverly Lake Jr. (J.D. 1960), Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
 * John C. Martin (J.D. 1967), Former Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals
 * Warren McGraw (J.D. 1963), Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and West Virginia Senate President
 * Robert Burren Morgan (J.D.), Former U.S. Senator for the state of North Carolina (1975–1981)
 * Anuraag Singhal (J.D. 1989), Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
 * Emory M. Sneeden (LL.B. 1953), Former Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
 * Edwin Monroe Stanley (LL.B., 1931), Former federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
 * Charles H. Taylor (J.D., 1966) Former U.S. Representative for the state of North Carolina (1991–2007)
 * Norwood Tilley (J.D. 1969), Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
 * Don Vaughan (J.D., 1979) Former member of the North Carolina State Senate from Greensboro
 * Hiram Hamilton Ward (LL.B., 1950) Former federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
 * Samuel Grayson Wilson (J.D. 1974) Federal Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia
 * Christopher R. Barron (J.D.), Co-Founder of GOProud.
 * Greg Habeeb (J.D., 2001) Member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
 * Creigh Deeds (J.D., 1984) Member of the Virginia State Senate.
 * Suzanne Reynolds (J.D., 1977) Dean Emerita and Professor of Law at Wake Forest School of Law.