University of Akron School of Law

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University of Akron School of Law
Established 1921
School type Public
Endowment $133.3 million"million" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 133.3. million
Dean Martin H. Belsk
Location Akron, OH, US
Enrollment 526
Faculty 52 (See List)
USNWR tier Tier 3
Bar pass rate 83.4% in Ohio"%inOhio" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 83.4.%
Annual tuition
Website
Outlines 0 (See List)
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University of Akron School of Law is located in Akron, OH

The University of Akron School of Law is the law school at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. Offering both the J.D. and LL.M. degrees, it was founded in 1921 as the Akron School of Law and merged with the University of Akron in 1959, becoming fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 1961.[1] Since 1921, the school has produced over 6,000 graduates who have gone on to careers in the private and public sectors, including several notable judges and politicians.[2] Located across from E.J. Thomas Hall on University Avenue, the University of Akron School of Law is housed in the C. Blake McDowell Law Center on the northwest portion of the University of Akron campus. It also houses the Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Institute for Professional Responsibility and The University of Akron Center for Constitutional Law, one of only four constitutional law centers established by Congress in the United States.[2] In 2004, the school was ranked second in the National Jurist and the Pre-Law Insider magazines as a best value law school.[3] In 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school's trial advocacy program as seventh best in the nation.[4]

Curriculum[edit | edit source]

The University of Akron School of Law admits traditional three year J.D. students, part-time J.D. students, and also students for the LL.M. Within the J.D. program, Akron Law students can also choose to specialize in one of eight areas of law, which include business, criminal, intellectual property, international, labor and employment, litigation, public law, and tax law.[5]

Joint degree programs[edit | edit source]

The School of Law also offers five joint degree programs, listed below:[6]

The joint degree programs allow credit from classes to count towards both a Master's degree and to the Juris Doctor. In most cases, a joint JD/MA program can be completed in four years.

Intellectual property program[edit | edit source]

The school's program in intellectual property, managed by The Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology, is of note as it is one of two programs to offer the LL.M. in intellectual property in Ohio, and is one of 22 such programs in the United States.[7] A study conducted by IDEA – The Intellectual Property Law Review, ranks Akron’s IP program curricular offerings as tied for fifth in the nation.[8] The law school also publishes the Akron Intellectual Property Journal which is a "scholarly legal publication of The University of Akron C. Blake McDowell Law Center that produces an annual volume of two issues for use by scholars, practitioners, and judges."[9] The Akron Intellectual Property Journal is part of the Akron Law Review, which in 2010, was ranked #39 out of over 200 ABA-accredited and major foreign general, student-edited journals on the Washington and Lee impact rankings (based in citations per issue). This is the fifth consecutive year the Akron Law Review was in the top 50.[10] Each Spring, The University of Akron School of Law hosts the Richard C. Sughrue Symposium On Intellectual Property Law and Policy, featuring many known scholars and practitioners within the field of Intellectual Property. Known past speakers include Robert Stoll, Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO[11] and Chief Judge Paul R. Michel.[12]

Notable Intellectual Property Department Faculty: Jeffrey M. Samuels is the Director of The Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology and the David L. Brennan Professor of Law.[13] Professor Samuels served as the assistant commissioner of patents and trademarks of the United States Patent and Trademark Office from November 1987 to January 1993.[14] Professor Samuels is also on the advisory board of BNA's Patent, Trademark and Copyright Journal and the World Intellectual Property Report.[15] Jay Dratler, is the Goodyear Professor of Intellectual Property at The University of Akron School of Law.[16] He is the principal author of a two-volume treatise, Intellectual Property Law: Commercial, Creative, and Industrial Property (1991), the sole author of another two-volume treatise, Licensing of Intellectual Property (1994), and the principal author of a one-volume treatise, Cyberlaw: Intellectual Property in the Digital Millennium (2000).[17] A Fulbright Fellow, Professor Dratler received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of California (San Diego), and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.[18]

Honors to Law program[edit | edit source]

The University of Akron School of Law recently began a new program whereby undergraduate Honors students at the University of Akron can receive undergraduate admission to the law school. Benefits of the program include mentoring by law faculty and students as well as visiting a law school class at least once per semester. In order to stay in the program students must maintain a 3.4 GPA and score at or above the anticipated median LSAT score of the next class of entering full-time law students.[19]

Admission statistics[edit | edit source]

The acceptance rate at Akron Law in fall 2009 for full-time students was 37.7%, or 581 offers of admission out of 1,541 applicants. The median LSAT score and GPA of the 117 full-time students entering in fall 2009 were 156 and 3.45, respectively. Twenty-four states as well as China and Vietnam were represented in the class entering in fall 2009. In 2012, US News and World Report has ranked Akron just outside of the Top 100 law schools in the nation, at #127.[20]

New building[edit | edit source]

Trustees at the University of Akron have approved $540,000 in design fees to construct a new facility to house the School of Law. The new facility, which would cost $23.6 million in total, would be funded with $10 million in donations and tuition and $13.6 million in state money. While the plan is not yet set in stone, Martin Belsky, the dean of the law school, has said that "I believe it's 90 percent sure" that the construction will occur.[21]

The plan calls for the demolition of the Buckingham Building in order to accommodate the two-story, Template:Convert project.

Alumni[edit | edit source]

After graduating from Kent State University, Ohio congresswoman Betty Sutton received her J.D. from Akron law. In 2006, she defeated Craig L. Foltin for Ohio's 13th congressional district and was successfully re-elected in 2008. In the 110th Congress, Sutton was a member of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, and in the 111th Congress, Sutton is a member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The current mayor of Akron, Ohio, Don Plusquellic, received his J.D. from Akron law and was a private practice attorney at the time of his election in 1987.[22]

More than 160 graduates of the law school have gone on to serve in state and federal judicial positions, and several of them have attained high repute. Alice M. Batchelder received her J.D. from Akron in 1971 and is the longest current serving federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, having been appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1991.[23]

Deborah L. Cook received her J.D. from Akron in 1978. Having previously served as a justice for the Supreme Court of Ohio from 1995 to 2003, she was appointed by George W. Bush in 2003 to serve on the Sixth Circuit alongside Batchelder.[24] They were both touted by the media as possible nominations of George W. Bush for the Supreme Court,[25][26] and Cook was seen as a possible McCain appointment, had he been elected President.[27]

Among the school's graduates who have gone on to be United States district court judges are James S. Gwin, Peter C. Economus, Samuel H. Bell, and John R. Adams.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "ABA Accredited since 1961" Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  2. 2.0 2.1 School of Law Indicators of Excellence, Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  3. "Two Magazines Rank UA Law School Among Best Values in U.S." Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  4. U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings 2010 Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  5. Specialized Study Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  6. Joint Degree Programs Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  7. "LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law" index Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  8. "The School of Law's IP program is tied for fifth in the nation in study of IP courses." Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  9. "About the Akron Intellectual Property Journal" Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  10. "Akron Intellectual Property Journal"
  11. "2010 Sughrue Symposium on Intellectual Property Law and Policy"
  12. "2009 Sughrue Symposium on Intellectual Property Law and Policy"
  13. "Jeffrey M. Samuels profile"
  14. "Jeffrey M. Samuels profile"
  15. "Jeffrey M. Samuels profile"
  16. "Jay Dratler"
  17. "Jay Dratler"
  18. "Jay Dratler, Jr."
  19. "Honors to Law Program" Retrieved August 6, 2010
  20. Admissions Statistics: Fall 2009 Entering Class Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  21. "UA moves forward with plans for new law building" - Ohio.com Retrieved December 17, 2009
  22. Don Plusquellic's bio at the Office of the Mayor Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  23. History of the Sixth Circuit, "Alice M. Batchelder" Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  24. History of the Sixth Circuit, "Deborah L. Cook" Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  25. USA TODAY: "For divided high court, two potential legacies" Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  26. The Washington Post: "President To Name Nominee For Court" Retrieved June 17, 2009.
  27. LegalNewsline: "Washington observers weigh in on potential Supreme Court picks" Retrieved March 4, 2009.

External links[edit | edit source]