Boston College Law School (BC Law) is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a 40-acre (160,000Â m2) wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts.
With approximately 800 students and 125 faculty members, the Law School is one of the largest of BC's seven graduate and professional schools. Admission to BC Law is highly selective. In 2015, Above the Law ranked BC Law as the #16 law school in the country based on a ranking that focuses on job placement at top firms and costs of attendance. Reflecting its Jesuit heritage, BC Law has established programs in human rights, social justice and public interest law. Its faculty played a part in arguing for the repeal of the Solomon Amendment, presenting oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court in Rumsfeld v. FAIR.
According to BC Law's 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 85.4% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.
History
Although provisions for a law school were included in the original charter for Boston College, ratified by the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1863, Boston College Law School was formally organized in the 1920s and opened its doors on September 26, 1929. It was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1932 and the Association of American Law Schools in 1937. Originally located in the Lawyer's Building opposite the Massachusetts State House in central Boston, it moved to the main Boston College campus in 1954 and to its present 40-acre (160,000Â m2) campus, the home of the former Newton College of the Sacred Heart, in 1975.
Nicknames
Stemming from the nickname of Boston College athletics teams, the term "Legal Eagle" is sometimes used to refer to students and alumni of Boston College Law School. The term Triple Eagle, which technically designates a recipient of any three degrees from Boston College, is usually used to refer to graduates of Boston College High School, Boston College, and BC Law. Boston College Law School has been referred to as the "Disney Land of Law Schools."
Curriculum
BC Law offers several programs abroad including the Semester in London Program and the Semester in The Hague Program with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The law school also has exchange programs with Bucerius Law School, the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, and numerous other law faculties throughout the world.
Ranking
Ranking Summary
Above the Law: 16th; U.S. News & World Report 2017: 26th; National Law Journal Go-To Law Schools: 23rd; Top Law Schools 2015: 34th
Due to Boston College student placement in the top law firms in the country, the Princeton Review rankings place Boston College in the number 7 position for "Best Career Prospects". Boston College is also ranked number 5 for "Professors Rock (Legally Speaking)." In 2015, "Above The Law" ranked Boston College Law School 16th overall in the country.
Regarding recruiting at the top law firms in the country, since 2007 the National Law Journal has ranked BC Law in the top 15 law schools because of the large number of graduates the school places in the top American law firms. Harvard was the only other Boston school that placed in the top 20 for recruiting.
The U.S. News & World Report 2016 Law School Rankings placed Boston College Law School 30th in the country. BC Law's legal writing program ranked 9th in the nation and its tax program 23rd.
Above the Law, a legal blog that focuses on BigLaw, ranked Boston College Law School 16th in the country in 2015, based on a ranking that focuses on job placement at the top large law firms.
Law reviews
Boston College Law School has two main, student-run publications: Boston College Law Review ("BCLR") and the Uniform Commercial Code Reporter-Digest ("UCC Reporter-Digest"). In Spring 2017, the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, and the Journal of Law and Social Justice published their last issues and consolidated into the Boston College Law Review.
The Boston College Law Review is the Law School's main flagship journal and was ranked 22nd in the 2017 Washington & Lee Law Review Rankings. Starting in Fall 2017, it will publish eight issues per year. It endeavors to publish high-quality pieces written by students and scholars on a wide variety of legal issues.
The Uniform Commercial Code Reporter-Digest is published by Matthew Bender & Company, a division of LexisNexis. It provides annotations on numerous cases relating to the Uniform Commercial Code, thereby serving as a helpful research tool.
Boston College Law School also maintains an online publication, the Intellectual Property and Technology Forum, covering issues of copyright, trademark and patent law.
Libraries
In a new building opened in 1996, the Law Library is located on the Boston College Law School campus in Newton, and contains approximately 500,000 volumes covering all major areas of American law and primary legal materials from the federal government, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the European Union. The library also features a substantial treatise and periodical collection and a growing collection of international and comparative law material. The library's Coquillette Rare Book Room houses works from the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries, including works by and about Saint Thomas More.
Research centers & institutes
- Center for Human Rights and International Justice
- Business Institute, Boston College
- Center for Asset Management
- Center for Corporate Citizenship (CCC)
- Center for East Europe, Russia and Asia
- Center for Ignatian Spirituality
- Center for International Higher Education
- Center For Investment Research And Management
- Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC)
- International Study Center
- Irish Institute
- Jesuit Institute
- The Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy
- Small Business Development Center
- Urban Ecology Institute
- Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics
- Women's Resource Center
Employment
According to BC Law's official 2014 ABA-required disclosures, 80.4% of the Class of 2014 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. BC Law's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 11.4%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2014 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
The median private sector starting salary is $145,000, and the median public service starting salary is $48,000, although these numbers are based on self-reporting statistics.
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at BC Law for incoming students in the 2013-2014 academic year is $64,591. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $245,864.
Noted people
- Francis X. Bellotti, JD 1952, former Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, former Attorney General of Massachusetts, founder of Arbella Insurance
- Edward P. Boland, JD 1936, former United States Congressman; author of the Boland Amendment
- Garrett J. Bradley, JD 1995, member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 2000 - present)
- Scott Brown, JD 1985, former United States Senator (served 2010 - 2013)
- William M. Bulger, JD 1961, President of the Massachusetts Senate, President of the University of Massachusetts.
- Mike Capuano, JD 1977, United States Congressman
- Paul Cellucci, JD 1973, former Governor of Massachusetts, former US Ambassador to Canada
- Robert W. Clifford, JD 1962, Maine Supreme Judicial Court justice
- Silvio Conte, JD 1949, former United States Congressman
- Mike Connolly, JD 2009, member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 2017 - present)
- Bill Delahunt, JD 1967, United States Congressman
- John Dooley, LLB 1968, Vermont Supreme Court justice
- Bob Downes, JD 1968, Alaska Superior Court Judge
- James B. Eldridge, JD 2000, member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 2002 - present)
- Michael S. Greco, JD 1972, President, American Bar Association (2006â€"2007)
- Margaret Heckler, JD 1956, former United States Congresswoman, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services, former US Ambassador to Ireland
- Philip H. Hilder, JD 1981, former attorney-in-charge of the Justice Department's Houston office of Organized Crime Strike Force, (1987-1990)
- Paul Hodes, JD 1978, United States Congressman
- Jared Huffman, JD 1990, United States Congressman
- John Kerry, JD 1976, Secretary of State (2012- ),United States Senator, 2004 Democratic candidate for President of the United States
- Kerry Kennedy, JD, human rights activist, writer and daughter of Robert F. Kennedy
- Stephen F. Lynch, JD 1991, United States Congressman
- Dan Malloy, JD 1977, Governor of Connecticut
- Ed Markey, JD 1972, United States Senator (served 2013 - present), United States Congressman (served 1976 - 2013)
- Shannon Miller, JD 2007, Olympic gymnast
- Marilyn Mosby, JD 2007, State Attorney for City of Baltimore (2014â€"Present).
- Francis Patrick O'Connor, JD 1953, Associate Justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for 16 years, the first from Boston College Law School
- William Orrick III, JD 1979, District Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- Charles Redding Pitt, JD 1977, Former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
- Grier Raggio, JD 1968, Democratic candidate in 32nd congressional district of Texas
- James A. Redden LLB 1954, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court; former Attorney General and State Treasurer of Oregon
- Charles E. Rice JD 1956, author, legal scholar, and professor of law
- Thomas Reilly JD 1970, Attorney General of Massachusetts, 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate
- Manuel RodrÃguez-Orellana JD 1975, Author (memoir), Professor of Law (retired), Puerto Rican Independence Party (Senator 2000)
- Marian T. Ryan JD 1979, Middlesex County (MA) District Attorney
- Warren Rudman, JD 1960, former United States Senator and New Hampshire attorney general
- Larry Ruttman, JD 1958, author
- Thomas Salmon, JD 1957, former Governor of Vermont
- Bobby Scott, JD 1973, United States Congressman
- Francis X. Spina, JD 1971, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice
- Michael A. Sullivan, JD 1985, Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Richard Thompson, Member of the Maine House of Representatives
- Patric Verrone, JD 1984, President of the Writers Guild of America West
- Kevin White, LLB 1955, Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, from 1968â€"1984
- Diane Wilkerson, JD 1981, first African-American Massachusetts state senator
- Debra Wong Yang, JD 1984, United States Attorney for the Central District of California
- Gerald T. Zerkin, JD 1976, Federal Public Defender for Zacarias Moussaoui
See also
- List of Boston College people
- Presidents of Boston College
References
External links
- Official website
