Northwestern University School of Law

Northwestern University School of Law
Name	Northwestern University School of Law
Established	1859 (as Chicago Law School)
Type	Private law school
Parent	Northwestern University
Location	Evanston, Illinois
Country	United States
Dean	Kate A. Shaw
Students	~1,100 (JD)
Faculty	~150
Website	official site

Contents

Northwestern University School of Law is a professional graduate school of Northwestern University located in Evanston, Illinois with strong ties across Chicago, Cook County, and national legal institutions. Founded in the 19th century, the school has produced leaders who have influenced the United States Supreme Court, the United States Congress, the Illinois Supreme Court, and international tribunals. It maintains collaborative relationships with Kellogg School of Management, Feinberg School of Medicine, and research centers linked to federal agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

History

The school's origins trace to the establishment of the Chicago Law School in 1859 and subsequent consolidation with Northwestern University during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period that overlapped with legal developments surrounding the Haymarket Affair and the expansion of Chicago Bar Association. During the Progressive Era and the New Deal, alumni and faculty engaged with reforms connected to the National Labor Relations Act and the Securities Act of 1933, while later generations contributed to jurisprudence during the Civil Rights Movement and decisions of the United States Supreme Court such as those under Chief Justice Warren Court. Throughout the Cold War and post-9/11 era, the school adapted curricula in response to cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and debates before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The law school is situated on the Evanston Township High School–adjacent campus with facilities within proximity to Chicago Loop institutions. Key sites include classrooms, moot courtrooms used for competitions such as the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and Gavels, faculty offices, and research libraries holding collections complementary to the Pritzker Legal Research Center and regional archives referencing the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Chicago History Museum. Clinical spaces connect students with externships at venues like the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Northern District of Illinois, the Illinois Appellate Court, and corporate partners headquartered in Chicago Board of Trade and Merchandise Mart complexes.

Programs include the Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Studies in Law (MSL), and joint degrees with Kellogg School of Management (JD-MBA), Medill School of Journalism (JD-MS), and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (JD-MEng). Curriculum offerings cover specialties such as constitutional law courses intersecting with precedents like Brown v. Board of Education and Miranda v. Arizona, transactional courses related to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and international modules referencing the United Nations treaty practice and cases from the International Court of Justice. Experiential learning includes externships with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and corporate placements at firms with representation before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Illinois Supreme Court.

Admissions are competitive, drawing applicants who have studied at institutions such as Harvard College, Yale University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and internationally at University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. The school appears in rankings by entities including U.S. News & World Report and assessments that reference outcomes like clerkships with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and appointments to offices such as the United States Attorney General and seats on the Illinois Supreme Court. Financial aid and scholarship programs align with federal loan frameworks and public interest initiatives tied to organizations like the American Bar Association and the Legal Services Corporation.

Research centers encompass institutes focusing on areas such as corporate law and governance with links to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, health law collaborations involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration, and international law projects tied to the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization. Clinical programs include a civil rights clinic engaging matters related to precedents from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an immigration clinic interacting with policy developments around the Immigration and Nationality Act, and transactional clinics that support startups connected to the Chicago Innovation Exchange and venture partners in the Illinois Technology Association.

Faculty and alumni have held positions as federal judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, served in executive roles at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, and occupied elected offices in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. Distinguished affiliates include scholars who contributed to scholarship referenced alongside jurists such as Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and John Marshall Harlan II; practitioners who argued cases before the United States Supreme Court and represented corporations before the Securities and Exchange Commission; and public servants who have led municipal administrations in Chicago, state government in Illinois, and diplomatic missions involving the United Nations.