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Chicago-Kent College of Law

Coordinates: 41°52′43″N 87°38′32″W / 41.87861°N 87.64222°W / 41.87861; -87.64222
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Chicago-Kent College of Law
Parent schoolIllinois Institute of Technology
Established1888
School typePrivate
DeanAnita K. Krug
LocationChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Enrollment764 (659 full-time, 105 part-time)[1]
Faculty74 full-time[2]
USNWR ranking108th (tie) (2024)[3]
Bar pass rate90.37%[1]
WebsiteChicago-Kent College of Law

Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois.[4]

Chicago-Kent was founded in 1888 by Justice Joseph M. Bailey.[4] Today, it employs more than 140 faculty members and hosts more than 700 students in its Juris Doctor program, Master of Laws, and joint degree programs.[5] The school is recognized for its three-year legal writing curriculum[6] and offers J.D. concentrations in business law, criminal litigation, environmental and energy law, intellectual property, labor and employment, and privacy law.[7]

History

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Chicago College of Law was founded in 1888 by Appellate Judge Thomas Moran and Judge Joseph Bailey. The classes started in the judges' chambers to prepare men and women for the newly instituted Illinois bar examination. A year later, in 1888, the Chicago College of Law was incorporated. In 1891, Emma Baumann graduated from Chicago College of Law, becoming the first woman to earn a law degree from the school. Ida Platt, in 1894, graduated with honors and also became the first black woman admitted to the Illinois bar.[4]

During the same period, Marshall D. Ewell, former dean of Northwestern University Law School, returned to academia to found Kent College of Law, which was named after Chancellor James Kent, author of Commentaries on American Law, a classic in early American legal scholarship. Within ten years, the Chicago College of Law and Kent College of Law merged to form Chicago-Kent College of Law.[4] The law school's chief publication is the Chicago-Kent Law Review, which publishes one volume of three issues each year.[8] The law review has received contributions from U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, and author Michael Crichton.[8] Students at Chicago-Kent publish five other legal journals on an annual basis, including the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property and the Seventh Circuit Review.[9]

The law school has a notable history of firsts, including the establishment of the first chapters of Lambda Epsilon, later Phi Alpha Delta, the world’s largest legal fraternity, and the creation of the Chicago-Kent Law Review, which began as the Athenaeum Law Bulletin in 1923, one of the nation's first law reviews.[4]

Chicago-Kent moved several times during its history, including to the 116 North Michigan Avenue building in 1912 and the 10 North Franklin Street building in 1924, which served as its home for the next 50 years, prior to its final relocation at 565 West Adams Street in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. In 1969, Chicago-Kent merged with the Illinois Institute of Technology to prepare students to face the challenges of a complex society.[4]

The law school pioneered the three-year legal writing and research program in 1978 and established the first in-house, fee-generating law school clinic in 1976. The law school's trial advocacy program was established in 1971 and the Moot Court Honor Society in 1978. In 1984, it became the first law school to make the computer an integral part of the study of law.[10] Many of the applications of technology now taken for granted in the law school classroom were pioneered at Chicago-Kent.

In 1989, Chicago-Kent established a chapter of the Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society that encourages excellence in legal education by fostering a spirit of careful study and recognizing students, lawyers, judges, and teachers for their outstanding legal scholarship.[4]

Rankings and honors

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The 2023 edition of U.S. News & World Report[6] ranked Chicago-Kent College of Law:

The law school's trial advocacy teams have a long tradition of excellence at both national and regional competitions, and have won the National Trial Competition, the premier trial advocacy competition in the United States, in 1988, 2007, 2008, and 2015.[11]

Some of Chicago-Kent's past competition wins and accolades include being finalists in Syracuse Law's National Trial League, national quarterfinalists and regional champions in the National Trial Competition, and quarterfinalists in the Queens District Attorney's National Trial Competition. The law school's students have also been regional finalists in the American Association for Justice Student Trial Competition and quarterfinalists in the University of South Carolina Law's Trials and Tribulations National Trial Competition. In addition, Chicago-Kent's students have won the Best Advocate award in several competitions, including the South Texas Mock Trial Challenge and the All-Star Bracket Challenge.[11]

In the 2020-2021 competition year, Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy teams were particularly successful, winning the Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition XII and being regional champions in the National Trial Competition. They also had semifinalists in the National Ethics Trial Competition and the Drexel Battle of the Experts, as well as quarterfinalists in the South Texas Mock Trial Challenge and the Stetson National Pre-Trial Competition.[11]

Degree programs

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Chicago-Kent College of law, in conjunction with the Office of International Programs, and the Illinois Institute of Technology's Stuart School of Business, offer the following programs:

Institutes and centers

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  • Center for Access to Justice & Technology
  • Center for Information, Society, and Policy
  • Center for Open Government
  • Global Law and Policy Initiative
  • IIT Center for Diabetes Research and Policy
  • Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future
  • Institute for Law and the Humanities
  • Institute for Law and the Workplace
  • Institute for Science, Law and Technology
  • Jury Center
  • The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) and Oyez Project are headquartered at Chicago-Kent

Notable alumni

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Notable faculty

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Employment

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According to Chicago-Kent's official ABA-required disclosures, 89.9% of the Class of 2015 obtained employment nine months after graduation.[18] Chicago-Kent's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 20.9%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[19]

Costs

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The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Chicago-Kent for the 2013–2014 academic year is $64,867.[20] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $239,727.[21]

Publications

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  • Chicago-Kent Law Review
  • Chicago-Kent Journal of Environmental and Energy Law
  • Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal
  • Illinois Public Employee Relations Report
  • Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property
  • Seventh Circuit Review
  • The Journal of International and Comparative Law
  • Satyam: The Chicago-Kent College of Law's Journal on South Asia and the Law

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chicago-Kent College of Law: Student Body Profile". Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  2. ^ "Chicago-Kent College of Law: Full-time Faculty Listing". Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  3. ^ "Illinois Institute of Technology". U.S. News & World Report – Best Law Schools. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Chicago-Kent History". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Consumer Information (ABA Required Disclosures)". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent) Law School Overview". U.S. News & World Report L.P. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "Areas of Study". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "About". Chicago-Kent Law Review. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  9. ^ "Law Review and Legal Publications". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  10. ^ "Chicago-Kent College of Law: Center for Law and Computers". www.kentlaw.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Trial Team | Chicago-Kent College of Law". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  12. ^ "J.D. Program | Chicago-Kent College of Law". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  13. ^ "LL.M. Programs | Chicago-Kent College of Law". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  14. ^ "Joint Degree Programs | Chicago-Kent College of Law". kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  15. ^ Miller, Bryan (August 13, 1992). "What Does Maria Pappas Want?". Chicago Reader. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  16. ^ "Larry R. Rogers, Jr. Installed As President Of ITLA". WFMZ.com. June 8, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  17. ^ "25 Aug 1983, 41 - Chicago Tribune at". Newspapers.com. August 25, 1983. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  18. ^ "Employment Outcomes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 8, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  19. ^ "Chicago-Kent College of Law Profile". Archived from the original on July 15, 2014.
  20. ^ "ABA Standard 509 Consumer Information". Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  21. ^ "Chicago-Kent College of Law Profile". Archived from the original on July 15, 2014.
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41°52′43″N 87°38′32″W / 41.87861°N 87.64222°W / 41.87861; -87.64222