UIC John Marshall Law School


The UIC John Marshall Law School is a public law school in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 and initially accredited by the American Bar Association in 1951. The school was named for the influential nineteenth-century U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. It merged with the University of Illinois at Chicago on August 16, 2019, according to a plan announced by both schools in 2018.
The UIC John Marshall Law School offers programs for both part-time and full-time students, with both day and night classes available, and offers January enrollment—choices most law schools no longer offer.
John Marshall is located in Chicago's central financial and legal district, most commonly known as The Loop. It is across the street from the Dirksen Federal Building, which houses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and about four blocks from the Daley Center, which houses the Circuit Court of Cook County. It is also next door to the Chicago Bar Association.
The Fall 2019 entering class had a median GPA of 3.24 and a median LSAT of 150.

Post-graduation employment and background

According to John Marshall's official 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 51% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.
According to the law professor blog, The Faculty Lounge, based on 2014 data submitted by law schools to the American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 48.9% of graduates obtained full-time, long term positions requiring bar admission, ten months after graduation, ranking 149 out of 197 law schools.
The bar passage rate for first-time takers at the July 2017 sitting of the Illinois bar exam was 72% vs. a state average of 80%.

Costs

The total cost of attendance at John Marshall for the 2016–2017 academic year is $72,594.

Curriculum

John Marshall has day and evening divisions, with identical instruction, course content, and scholastic requirements. Lawyering Skills courses, which focus on writing, research, and oral argument, are an integral part of the core curriculum. These courses are taught in small groups, to maximize the individual attention given to each student. A student may earn a J.D. certificate in a certain area of the law or focus more emphatically and earn a joint degree.
The law school also offers Master of Laws and Master of Jurisprudence programs for practicing attorneys and non-attorney professionals and other individual students.
The John Marshall Law School offers seven Master of Laws programs for attorneys seeking specialized education in legal issues and for current J.D. students who would like the maximum concentration in particular areas of the law. John Marshall offers a comprehensive curriculum in the following areas: Employee Benefits Law, Estate Planning, Information Technology and Privacy Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Business and Trade Law, Real Estate Law, and Tax Law.

Clinics, externships, and special programs

Practical legal experience plays a vital role in education at The John Marshall Law School. Students are required to earn three experiential learning credits – working in a clinic, externship, or a combination of both – in order to graduate. The law school offers students practical opportunities through nine clinics and more than 100 externships. Clinics include the Business Enterprise Law Clinic, Conflict Resolution Institute & Clinic, Domestic Violence Clinic, Fair Housing Legal Support Center & Clinic, International Human Rights Clinic, USPTO-certified IP Patent Clinic, USPTO-certified IP Trademark Clinic, Pro Bono Program & Clinic, and the Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic. Externship opportunities include judicial, governmental, and non-profit placements.

Global Legal Skills Conference Series

The Global Legal Skills Conference Series was founded in 2005 at The John Marshall Law School as a forum for professors who teach Legal English and international legal skills to exchange information on teaching techniques and materials. The conference built upon the law school's strengths in legal writing education, trial advocacy, and international legal education, creating a specialized conference connecting legal writing professionals and other professors who had an interest in teaching international students and lawyers who spoke English as a second language. Since its inception, the Global Legal Skills Conference has been held four times in Chicago, once in Washington, D.C., twice in Mexico, twice in Costa Rica, and twice in Italy. The conference now also includes presentations of GLS Awards for individual achievement, institutional vision, and outstanding publications.

Interscholastic competitions

In 2007, the school's Advocacy and Dispute Resolution Team of Daniel Padernacht and Curtis Vosti placed second in the American Bar Association National Negotiation Competition. This competition involved 220 teams from law schools around the country. The John Marshall team of Padernacht and Vosti then went on to represent the United States in the 2007 International Negotiation Competition for Law Students in Singapore where they placed sixth. The team was coached by Dawn Bode, Kenneth Kandaras, and Susann Maclachlan.
In 2007, in the ABA Dispute Resolution Mediation and the CBA Mediation competitions, John Marshall placed second and fourth.
In 2007, The John Marshall Moot Court teams won Second Place Brief at the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Competition, First Place in the Frederick Douglass Competition Nationals, Second Place in the Hispanic National Bar Association Competition, Second Place at the John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Competition, and competed in the Semifinals of the Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition, winning Third Best Brief in the nation against eighty teams.
In 2008, The John Marshall Moot Court program took first place in the Hispanic National Bar Association Moot Court competition. The school also took second place at the Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Communications Law Moot Court Competition and at the 21st Annual August A. Rendigs, Jr. National Products Liability Moot Court Competition.

Library

The Louis L. Biro Law Library occupies the 6th – 10th floors of the law school's State Street building. A team of professional librarians and staff members work to serve the students during the 96 hours/week that the library is open. The library holds over 263,003 volumes and microform equivalents and provides on-campus and remote access to some of those titles via their specialty electronic databases. It is continually adding more online subscriptions to its growing collection of electronic resources, including Lexis, Westlaw, CALI Lessons, BNA Premier, IICLE SmartBooks, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law Online, Justis International Law Reports, Courtroom View Network, which contains audio versions of law school casebooks and streaming trial videos, and Mango languages, an easy to follow system for learning over 20 different languages.
Students have wireless access throughout the law school and the library offers seating for 750, including twelve group study rooms. In addition to supporting the research & instructional needs of the students, faculty & staff of the law school, the library is also open to law school alumni and members of the Chicago Bar Association, whose headquarters building is next door.

Student activities

There are five honors programs: The John Marshall Law Review, The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law, the Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law, the Moot Court Honors Program, and the Trial Advocacy & Dispute Resolution Honors Program. John Marshall sends teams to more than 30 moot court and mock trial competitions annually.
The student community at The John Marshall Law School includes more than 50 student organizations engaging in social awareness, community service, legal discussions, and social activities.

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni