St. John's University School of Law

St. John's University School of Law is a Roman Catholic law school located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. The law school was founded in 1925 by Bishop Thomas Edmund Molloy and New York State Senator James A. Foley. It is one of the five law schools in the New York City area, along with New York University School of Law, Fordham University School of Law, Brooklyn Law School, and Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The law school is part of St. John's University, which also has campuses in Staten Island, Rome, and Paris.

● History

The law school was established in 1925, with an initial class of 47 students, and was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1937. The school's early years were marked by a strong focus on Catholic social teaching and a commitment to serving the New York City community, as exemplified by the work of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement. During World War II, the law school played an important role in training United States Army and United States Navy officers, including General Omar Bradley and Admiral Chester Nimitz. In the 1960s, the law school became a hub for Civil Rights Movement activity, with faculty members such as Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley playing key roles in landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia.

● Academics

The law school offers a range of academic programs, including a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, as well as several combined degree programs, such as the J.D./Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) and the J.D./Master of Arts in Government and Politics. The school is also home to several research centers and institutes, including the Center for International and Comparative Law, the Institute for Asian Legal Studies, and the Center for Labor and Employment Law, which have hosted events featuring prominent scholars like Cass Sunstein and Martha Nussbaum. Students at the law school have the opportunity to take courses taught by distinguished faculty members, including Laurence Tribe, Alan Dershowitz, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and to participate in clinical programs, such as the Immigration Clinic and the Consumer Justice Clinic, which have worked with organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Consumer Law Center.

● Campus

The law school is located on the St. John's University campus in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, and is situated near several major transportation hubs, including JFK Airport and LaGuardia Airport. The campus is also home to several other St. John's University schools and colleges, including the Peter J. Tobin College of Business and the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, which have partnerships with institutions like the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The law school's facilities include a state-of-the-art library, the Rittenberg Law Library, which has a collection of over 500,000 volumes and provides access to numerous online databases, including Westlaw and LexisNexis, and a range of study spaces and student lounges, including the Bishop Thomas Edmund Molloy Lounge and the James A. Foley Student Lounge.

● Notable Alumni

The law school has a long history of producing successful and distinguished alumni, including United States Senator Charles Schumer, New York State Governor Mario Cuomo, and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as well as several prominent judges, such as Judge Judith Kaye and Judge Joseph W. Bellacosa. Other notable alumni include Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and Sister Helen Prejean, a leading advocate for death penalty abolition, who have worked with organizations like the Catholic Charities USA and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The law school's alumni network also includes many successful lawyers and business leaders, such as David Boies and Mary Ann Tighe, who have worked with firms like Boies Schiller Flexner and CBRE Group.

● Rankings and Accreditation

The law school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. It is also ranked among the top law schools in the country by several publications, including U.S. News & World Report and PreLaw Magazine, which have recognized the school's strengths in areas like clinical education and public interest law. The law school has also been recognized for its commitment to diversity and inclusion, and has been ranked as one of the most diverse law schools in the country by National Jurist and The National Law Journal, which have highlighted the school's efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

● Clinical and Experiential Programs

The law school offers a range of clinical and experiential programs, including the Immigration Clinic, the Consumer Justice Clinic, and the Securities Arbitration Clinic, which provide students with hands-on experience in areas like immigration law, consumer protection law, and securities law. The school also offers several externship programs, including the Judicial Externship Program and the Corporate Externship Program, which have placed students with organizations like the New York State Court of Appeals and the New York Stock Exchange. These programs are designed to give students practical experience and skills, and to prepare them for success in their future careers, whether in private practice, public interest law, or government service, with organizations like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice.