Tulane University Law School

Tulane University Law School, established in 1847, is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. The Law School is centrally located on the main university campus in uptown New Orleans, in a picturesque neighborhood of residences, both large and small, as well as restaurants, bookstores, and other commercial establishments. The campus itself and most surrounding neighborhoods have recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Not surprisingly, however, unparalleled opportunities abound to become involved in the rebuilding and renewal of virtually all aspects of the city.

The Law School curriculum offers a complete selection of common law and federal subjects. In addition, Tulane offers electives in the civil law, with the result that students have the opportunity to pursue comparative education in the world’s two major legal systems. The breadth and depth of the curriculum permit students to survey a broad range of subject areas or to concentrate in one or more. Specifically, Tulane Law School's Environmental Law and Sports Law programs are among the best nationwide, and its Maritime Law program is widely considered the best in the world.

Facilities
The Law School’s 160,000-square-foot building, John Giffen Weinmann Hall, was completed in 1995. Designed to integrate classrooms, other student spaces, excellent computer facilities, faculty offices, and a state-of-the-art library that contains both national and international collections, the building is centrally located on Tulane University’s campus.

Immediately adjacent to Weinmann Hall is the Law School’s Career Development Office. Within minutes of the Law School building are the university’s Howard-Tilton Library, housing over one million volumes; the brand-new Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life; various university dining facilities; the university bookstore; the Reily Student Recreation Center; the Freeman School of Business; the Newcomb Art Gallery; and various auditoriums and performance venues.

In all, Tulane University's uptown campus occupies over 110 acres (0.4 km²), facing St. Charles Avenue directly opposite Audubon Park. The rear of the uptown campus reaches South Claiborne Avenue, and it is divided by Freret Street. The campus architecture consists of several styles, including Richardsonian Romanesque, Elizabethan, Italian Renaissance, Brutalist Modern, and Ultramodern styles. Though there isn't a coherent building design across the entire campus, most buildings make use of similar materials. The front campus buildings use Indiana White Limestone or orange brick for exteriors, while the middle campus buildings are mostly adorned in red St. Joe brick, the staple of Newcomb College buildings. Loyola University is directly adjacent to Tulane, on the downriver side. The uptown campus is known for its many large live oak trees and architecturally historic buildings.

Academic Program
Tulane Law School ranks 47th in the nation, according to the 2008 edition of U.S. News & World Report, and it ranks 5th in environmental law.

Six semesters in residence, completion of 88 credits with at least a C average, and fulfillment of an upper-level writing requirement and a 30-hour community service obligation are required for graduation from the JD degree program. The first-year curriculum comprises eight required courses and one elective. The first-year Legal Research and Writing Program is taught by instructors with significant experience as lawyers and writers, each assisted by senior fellows.

After the first year, all courses are elective, except for a required Legal Profession course. All first-year and many upper-class courses are taught in multiple sections to allow for smaller classes. The upper-class curriculum includes introductory as well as advanced courses in a broad range of subject areas, including international and comparative law, business and corporate law, environmental law, maritime law, criminal law, intellectual property, taxation, and litigation and procedure, among others.

At the graduate level, the Law School offers a general LL.M. program and an SJD program, as well as specialized LL.M. programs in maritime law, Energy and Environmental Law, American Business Law, and International and Comparative Law.

Tulane Law offers five optional concentration programs that allow JD students to receive one certificate of completion of successful studies in European Legal Studies, Environmental Law, maritime law, Sports Law, or Civil Law. Tulane’s Eason-Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, its Maritime Law Center, and its Institute for Water Policy & Law add depth to the curriculum. Tulane also offers strong curricula in intellectual property law, constitutional law, and business, corporate, and commercial law. Tulane conducts an annual summer school in New Orleans and offers summer-study programs abroad in England, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, and Greece. It offers semester-long exchange programs with select law schools in a number of countries throughout the world.

The Law School offers six live-client clinical programs: civil litigation, criminal defense, juvenile litigation, domestic violence, environmental law, and legislative and administrative advocacy. In addition, there is a Trial Advocacy program, and third-year students may engage in externships with federal and state judges, with a local death penalty project, or with certain administrative agencies. The school was the first in the country to institute a pro bono program requiring that each student complete community service work prior to graduation. For the next few years, students will likely engage in community service work related to the rebuilding of New Orleans subsequent to Hurricane Katrina.

JD/MBA program
Tulane benefits from having a top law school and a top business school (A.B. Freeman School of Business) located immediately next to one another, both of which consistently rank among the top 50 in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report. This has facilitated the growth of Tulane's JD/MBA program. In the '06-'07 school year, Tulane boasted of having 25 joint JD/MBA candidates. In March of 2007, Tulane announced that it had hired a new business law professor, whose objectives would include "maximiz[ing]...the growth of the Law School's JD/MBA joint degree," and building ties between the law school and Freeman School of Business.

Student Activities
Journals published or edited at Tulane Law School include:
 * Tulane Law Review
 * Tulane Environmental Law Journal
 * Tulane Maritime Law Journal
 * Journal of Law and Sexuality
 * Tulane European and Civil Law Forum
 * Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law
 * Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property
 * Sports Lawyers Journal, published by the national Sports Lawyers Association.

An active moot court program holds trial and appellate competitions within the school and fields teams for a variety of interschool competitions. The Law School has a chapter of the Order of the Coif. The Student Bar Association functions as the student government and recommends students for appointment to faculty committees. Over 40 student organizations are active at Tulane, including Tulane Law Women, Black Law Students Association, La Alianza, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Environmental Law Society, and several legal fraternities. The Tulane Public Interest Law Foundation raises funds, matched by the Law School, to support as many as 30 students each summer in public interest fellowships with a variety of organizations.