Workshops are a popular way for Chicago students who are interested in a particular legal discipline to get involved in cutting edge research while engaging with faculty and visiting lecturers on discussions of scholarship and innovations within the legal profession.

Workshops generally meet once a week for 1.5 or 2 hours for a full academic year, and students earn one credit for actively participating in each session.  Each meeting generally consists of an interactive presentation and discussion of a paper written by a faculty member from Chicago or another institution.  Following Workshop meetings, students frequently have the opportunity to further engage with the faculty member or visiting scholar whose work was the topic of discussion that day through meals and other social events organized by the school.

Students complete readings and prepare questions prior to each session, and some workshop leaders require students to write short responses to be turned in the day or two following each meeting.  In these responses, students offer constructive criticism regarding the author’s main arguments, with the aim of helping the author improve his or her paper.  This criticism can include a discussion of the argument’s validity, overlooked implications or extensions, and the empirical strength of its claims or assumptions, or can simply offer corroborating or conflicting ideas.  A number of workshops also assign seminar papers of 20-25 pages due at the end of the semester.

To learn more about Chicago’s offerings, be sure to check out the Clear Admit Law School Guide to the University of Chicago Law School!

U.S. Law schools profiles include:
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
University of Chicago Law School
Columbia Law School
Georgetown University Law Center
Harvard Law School
University of Michigan Law School
New York University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Stanford University Law School
University of Virginia School of Law
Yale Law School

Each guide includes a detailed overview of every aspect of law school from student body demographics and academics to career placement and life on campus.  Not only will these guides help you save time during the school research process, but they also allow you to easily compare peer programs by presenting key data side-by-side .

Whether you’re a college junior considering applying to law school next fall, an experienced professional looking to enter the legal field or an applicant who’s in the throes of drafting his or her applications for admission in fall 2012, our free guides are the best place to turn for easy-to-read school-specific information.

Visit the “Law School Guides” tab on our blog to get your free guides today.  Best of luck in the law school admissions process!

Berkeley / Boalt
Application Period: September 1 – February 1

Boston College
Application Period: Mid-September – March 1

Boston University
Binding Early Decision Deadlines: December 1
Application Period: September 15 – March 1

Chicago
Early Decision Deadline: December 1
Application Period: September 1 – February 1

Columbia
Early Decision Deadline: November 15
Application Period: September 1 – February 15

Cornell
Early Action Deadline: November 1
Application Period: September 1 – February 1

Duke
Early Decision Deadline: November 4 (Round I) and January 7 (Round II)
Application Period: September – February 15

Emory
Application Period: September – March 1.

Fordham
Early Decision Deadline: October 15
Application Period: September 1 – March 1

George Washington
Early Decision Deadline: December 15
Application Period: October 1 – March 31

Georgetown
Early Decision Deadline: March 1
Application Period: October 1 – March 1

Harvard
Application Period: September 15 – February 1

Illinois
Early Decision Period: October 31
Application Period: September 15 – March 1

Iowa
Application Period: September 1 – March 1

Michigan
Early Decision Deadline: November 15
Application Period: September 1 – February 15.

Minnesota
Early Action Deadline: November 15
Application Period: September 1 – April 1

New York University
Early Decision Deadline: November 15
Application Period: September – February 15

Northwestern
Early Decision Deadline: December 1
Application Period: September 1 – February 15

Notre Dame
Early Decision Deadline: November 1
Application Period: October 1 – February 15

Stanford
Application Period: September 1 – February 1

UCLA
Early Decision Deadline: November 15
Application Period: September – February 1

University of Pennsylvania
Early Decision Deadline: November 15
Application Period: September 1 – March 1

USC / Gould
Application Period: September 1 – February 1

U Texas-Austin
Early Decision Deadline: November 1
Application Period: September – February 1

U Virginia
Application Period: September 1 – March 1

University of Washington
Application Period: October 1 – February 15

Vanderbilt
Application Period: September 10 – March 15.

Washington and Lee
Application Period: September 1 – March 1

Washington University in St. Louis
Application Period: late September – March 1 (recommended deadline; applications accepted after this date on space-available basis)

William and Mary
Application Period: September 1 – March 1

Yale
Application Period: September 15 – February 15

Michael Schill, Dean of the Law School said: “Our goal, quite simply, is to transform legal systems around the world, and push the frontiers of knowledge forward. Law and economics, the most important legal theory of the past 50 years, was born in Hyde Park. With the Law and Economics 2.0 Initiative, we are ensuring our preeminent role for the next 50 years.”

The initiative hopes to contribute to the growth of future scholars interested in the interdisciplinary intersections found between law and economics. Building on Chicago Law School’s investment in this domain, the initiative will help build knowledge that will be applicable in many real-world situations.

For the full press release, go here.

Most of the top schools are already on the road and ready to wrap up in mid-November, so we recommend looking into the travel schedules for programs of interest and planning accordingly. Keeping in mind that these schedules are updated and amended throughout the fall, here are some of the top programs’ itineraries for the weeks ahead:

Berkeley / Boalt:
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/199.htm

Chicago:
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/events/admissions

Columbia:
http://www.law.columbia.edu/jd_applicants/visiting/ontheroad

Duke:
http://www.law.duke.edu/admis/travel/

George Washington University:
http://www.law.gwu.edu/Admissions/JD/Pages/Recruitment_Schedule.aspx

Harvard:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/experience/recruiting.html

Michigan:
http://www.law.umich.edu/prospectivestudents/admissions/Pages/meetus.aspx

Minnesota:
http://www.law.umn.edu/prospective/recruiting.html

New York University:
http://www.law.nyu.edu/admissions/jdadmissions/visitingnyu/offcampusvisitsandlsacforums/index.htm

Notre Dame:
http://law.nd.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/recruitment-schedule

UCLA:
http://www.law.ucla.edu/prospective-students/fall-recruitment-events/Pages/2011-Fall-Recruitment-Events.aspx

University of Pennsylvania:
http://www.law.upenn.edu/prospective/recschedule.html

University of Washington:
http://www.law.washington.edu/Admissions/Recruit.aspx

USC / Gould:
http://lawweb.usc.edu/how/jd/recruitingSchedule.cfm

Vanderbilt:
http://law.vanderbilt.edu/prospective-students/admissions/campus-visit-calendar/index.aspx

Yale:
http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/recruiting.htm

Need more law school information?  Make sure to check in with the Clear Admit Law School Admissions Portal next week for further details.

Chicago is one of the smallest of the leading U.S. law schools, with just 190 students in each class.  Now that Yale Law School has increased the size of its class to over 200 students, only Stanford has fewer students in each class than Chicago.  Students at Chicago report that the small class makes it easy to get to know every other student in the class, at least by sight, but that the school isn’t so tiny as to make the environment seem suffocating.  Some benefits of small class size at Chicago, as well as at other small law schools, include more opportunities for each student to receive individualized attention from instructors and career services staff, as well as a theoretically greater demand among employers for a student with a degree from a small school.  One benefit that is unique to Chicago is the ease with which the administration can organize the popular Wine Mess, the weekly gathering of the entire student body that has been a tradition at the school for decades.

Each Chicago class of 190 is divided into six sections of approximately 32 students each.  Students take all of their 1L courses with their section, which means that sections function as built-in support groups that make weathering the first semester of 1L a little less daunting.  Most first-year courses are made up of three of the school’s six sections, with the exception of Bigelow, the 1L legal research and writing course, for which each class consists of just one section.  Courses are scheduled so that by the end of the first year, each 1L has taken at least one course with every other person in the class.

For more information on the structure of the student body at these and other leading law schools, be sure to consult the Clear Admit Law School Guides!

James Abrams ’87 works as the chief operating officer of Medline Industries, one of the largest privately held medical equipment manufacturers in the U.S. Wendy is on the board of trustees of Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization devoted to protecting waterways around the world.  Both feel that the clinic combines their passions for legal and environmental issues in a meaningful and lasting way. Wendy stated, “It is not just the legal cases that the students will be exposed to while they are working at the clinic. It is the hope that they will continue to use the training they get there long after they leave the University.”

The formation of the clinic initiates the university’s expansion of the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, a move on the school’s part to ensure that all students have access to clinical experience. Describing the motivation behind the new clinic, Dean Michael Schill said, “Clinical experience adds to the Law School’s core analytical training. It can teach students important practical skills, interpersonal skills and group dynamics and, more fundamentally, help them reflect on what it means to be a lawyer. In addition, the subject matter of the clinic is critical to the world that we will leave to our children.”

Both Dean Schill and the Abrams’ believe that the interdisciplinary nature of the clinic will unite faculty and students, strengthening its presence on campus. They envision the clinic expanding in the future, eventually serving as a forum for addressing environmental issues.

To read the full press release, click here.

Chicago’s system is based on a 186-point scale, with the numbers roughly corresponding to letter grades (i.e. 180-186 = the A-range and 174-179 = the B-range).  The curve requires instructors to give an equal number of A-range grades as C-range grades in classes enrolling over 50 students, and to ensure the median grade is a 177, or B/B+.  Seminars are given more leeway, and the median in those classes is usually higher.

Since the unconventional complexity of Chicago’s grading system would be likely to confuse recruiters, the Registrar of the University records the numerical grades as letter grades on students’ official transcript.  This resolves any bewilderment recruiters and interviewers might feel concerning Chicago students’ grades.

For more information about Chicago’s grading system, be sure to read the Clear Admit School Guide to Chicago Law School!

The recent sale of a house in West Humboldt Park Homes, facilitated by Chicago law students Charles Woodworth and Sam Grill, marks the progress this community housing development initiative has made. West Humboldt Park Homes is the result of the combined efforts of the West Humboldt Park Family and Community Development Council and the First Community Land Trust of Chicago, focused on offering affordable housing to low-income families. Mandel’s Housing Initiative has provided legal support for the Park Homes since 2004.

States Jeff Leslie, the Director of the Housing Initiative, “The closing that Charles and Sam put together was no ordinary real estate closing. On top of all the regular documentation that goes into consummating a real estate deal–the deed, title and survey, and so forth–they had to coordinate closing requirements for four different funding sources, including a mortgage lender that was new to the ground lease concept and needed considerable education and reassurance before they would agree to come to the table.”

To learn more about this initiative, please click here.

The program is unique in two ways. First, the university’s $80,000 salary cap depends simply on an annual salary, not on a complex calculated income, thus, making more students eligible. Second, graduates serving judicial clerkships are eligible for this LRAP. Even if they chose not to enter into public service, their loans will be paid for the duration of that clerkship. States the Dean of the Law School, Michael Schill, “The Law School has long been a leader in sending graduates to judicial clerkships. It is part of the DNA of our law school, and this will provide even more students with the opportunity to pursue clerking.”

Chicago’s Public Interest program has grown rapidly this year. In July 2010, the school hired Susan Curry to lead the school’s new Public Interest initiative. Among other programs, the school added new public interest academic courses, formally urged students to complete at least 50 hours of pro bono work before graduation and guaranteed funding for any law student summer legal work in public interest.

To learn more about this new LRAP, please click here.