Levin College of Law

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Levin College of Law
Established 1909
School type Public
Parent Endowment $1.24 billion
Dean Dean Robert Jerry
Location Gainesville, Florida, USA
Enrollment 1,153 (approx.)
Faculty 128 (approx.)
USNWR ranking Tier 1
Bar pass rate 81.2% (Jul 07)
Annual tuition $7,786 (Florida resident), $27,419 (Non-resident)
Homepage www.law.ufl.edu

The Fredric G. Levin College of Law is the law school of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Contents

History

The College of Law was founded in 1909 and is Florida's flagship law school. It was first housed in Thomas Hall and then in Bryan Hall from 1914-1969. The college became desegregated on September 15, 1958, and its faculty became desegregated shortly thereafter. In 1969 it moved to its current location in Holland Hall, which is named after the former Florida Governor, U.S. Senator, and UF Law alumnus Spessard L. Holland (LLB 1916). Holland Hall is located in the northwest section of the UF campus. In 1984, Bruton-Geer Hall, named after the parents of UF Law alumnus Judge James D. Bruton (LLB 1933) and his wife Quintilla Geer Bruton, was added to the law school.

The College of Law was renamed the Levin College of Law in 1999 after prominent Pensacola trial lawyer and UF Law alumnus Fredric G. Levin (JD 1961) donated $10 million to the school, a sum that was matched by $10 million from the state of Florida to create a $20 million endowment. (Levin was noted for bringing a class-action lawsuit against the tobacco industry in the 1990s).

The law school underwent a major renovation between 2004 and 2005, creating new academic space and greatly expanding the law library, which was named the Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center after the former Florida Governor, U.S. Senator, and UF Law alumnus Lawton Chiles (LLB 1955). The Legal Information Center is among the largest law libraries in the Southeast. A large elegant reading room within the Legal Information Center was named after former Florida Supreme Court Justice and UF Law alumnus Stephen C. O'Connell (LLB 1940).

In September 2005, Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke at the dedication of the renovated facilities. In September 2006, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited the College of Law to speak and to dedicate a classroom in honor of her friend and UF Law alumnus Chesterfield Smith (LLB 1948).

Construction began on a new courtroom facility in August 2008 and it is expected to be completed in June 2009.[1] The facility, which was made possible by an additional $5 million donation from the Levin family[2] will be named the Martin Levin Advocacy Center after UF Law alumnus Martin H. Levin (JD 1988). The facility will be 20,000 gross square feet, two stories tall, and will include a fully-functional trial and appellate courtrooms.[1] The new courtroom is designed to incorporate new technology to allow students to understand the role of technology in modern practice. Additionally, the facility will include offices, meeting/seminar rooms, and support spaces for legal clinics.[3]

Academics

The College of Law offers a three-year, full-time program leading to a Juris Doctor degree. It also has several graduate law programs, including an LL.M-S.J.D. degree program in tax law and LL.M. programs in international taxation, comparative law, and environmental law. The Levin College of Law is also well known for its commitment to diversity. Over 20% of the incoming class are minority students and about half of the students are female.[4]

According to the 2009 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, the Levin College of Law ranks 46th overall among J.D. programs, 2nd in tax law LL.M. programs, and 14th in environmental law.

The J.D. ranking dropped from #41 in 2007. The dean of the law school characterized the drop as predictable, temporary, and due to a statistical computation based on figures that do not accurately reflect the size of the student body, primarily due to the elimination of Spring entering classes. [1]. The large number of students as compared to the number of faculty has also prevented the law school ranking from climbing into the top 10 of all public law schools. However, the Levin College of Law has recently trimmed the size of the incoming class from nearly 450 to 300 students, which should also improve its ranking by lowering the student to faculty ratio.

The college only offers admission in the fall semester (spring admissions were discontinued in 2006). Its 2008 entering class had a median GPA of 3.61 and a median LSAT score of 160 (in 2005 it was 161).

Required first-year courses are torts, professional responsibility, criminal law, contracts, legal research and writing, constitutional law, civil procedure, property, and appellate advocacy. Students are also required to take legal drafting prior to graduation. It is recommended, though not required, that students also take evidence, estates and trusts, corporations, and trial practice.

Students can choose to pursue their J.D. in conjunction with another graduate degree, including a master's degree, Ph.D, or M.D. in one of the university's 33 dual-degree program. Students can also complete specific requirements in addition to those required for the J.D. and receive a certificate showing specialization in estate planning and trusts, family law, intellectual property law, environmental and land use law, or international, and comparative law.

The College offers one-year courses of study leading to the degree of LL.M. in taxation or in international taxation. Nearly all students in the LL.M. in the taxation program are graduates of American law schools; the LL.M. program in international taxation is open to graduates of U.S. and foreign law schools. In a typical year, about 90 students are enrolled in the tax LL.M programs. The College of Law also offers a S.J.D in taxation, a doctorate. Nearly all courses in the program are taught by full-time faculty. The College employs more full-time tax professors than any other law school in the United States, including several distinguished tax law experts. The faculty and students of the graduate tax programs publish the Florida Tax Review.

The college's comparative law program is offered to graduates of foreign law schools who seek to increase their understanding of the U.S. legal system.

Centers and institutes

The College of Law is home to a number of institutes including the Center for Governmental Responsibility, the Center for Race and Race Relations, and the Elder Law Center.

Extracurricular activities

The College of Law has over 40 active student organizations, including:

  • Organizations devoted to interest in a specific area of law (criminal law, military law, business law, public interest law, tax law, etc.)
  • Political and social organizations (Law School Democrats, Law School Republicans, National Lawyers Guild, Federalist Society, American Constitution Society)
  • Community service organizations for law students to use their legal skills to help the community (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)
  • Organization for students with a common background (Black Law Students Association, Jewish Law Students Association, Christian Legal Society, St. Thomas More Society, Lambda Legal, Law Association for Women, Spanish-American Law Students Association).

The College of Law has a mock trial team, which competes nationally. Additionally, it has four moot court teams:

The College of Law publishes five law reviews:

The John Marshall Bar Association (JMBA) is the Student Bar Association at the College. Its main focus is organizing social activities for law students. Membership is optional.

Campus

The architectural style of Bruton-Geer Hall, completed in 1984, is best classified as brutalism; concrete features prominently in its design. The renovation of Holland Hall was completed in 2005 at the cost of $25 million and features brick and concrete.

The grounds of the College of Law contain several pieces of artwork. The newest additions are three metal sculptures by Jim Cole of the Rhode Island School of Design representing the three branches of government: The Legislative and The Executive (installed 2005) and The Judiciary (installed 2006). These sculptures also function as benches. The lobby of the law school library contains a sculpture made by Cole in the form of a chair entitled The Lobbyist.

Also contained on the grounds of the college are a series of large, intertwined metal rings, which have the appearance of being partially underground. They are known as "the Cheerios."

Deans of Levin College of Law

Years Dean
1909—1912 Albert J. Farrah
1912—1915 Thomas Hughes
1915—1947 Harry R. Trusler
1948—1958 Henry A. Fenn
1959—1970 Frank E. Maloney
1971—1980 Joseph R. Julin
1981—1988 Frank T. Read
1988—1996 Jeffrey E. Lewis
1996—1999 Richard A. Matasar
1999—2003 Jon M. Mills
2003—present Robert Jerry

Alumni

Prominent alumni include:

Other


  • In the past 40 years, four presidents of the American Bar Association were graduates of the college, more than any other law school for that time period. Since 1950, some 60 percent of Florida Bar Association presidents were graduates of the college.

References

  1. ^ a b Facilities Planning & Construction - Project Pages
  2. ^ UFF Press Release: 2/21/2006 - Gifts to fund $5.2 million advocacy center of UF law school - University of Florida Foundation
  3. ^ http://www.admin.ufl.edu/committees/taps/minutes/2006-2007/Feb132007.pdf
  4. ^ UF Law diversity statement

External links


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Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 5 October 2008, at 23:22.

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