Emory University School of Law

Introduction

Emory University School of Law is a top law school offering a practical, disciplined approach to the study of law. Emory Law is known for faculty who are experts in their respective areas of law and dynamic teachers in the classroom; a rigorous curriculum attuned to the needs of the legal profession; countless opportunities for hands-on learning through externships, clinics, and simulation courses; and an environment of support and cooperation that encourages challenging the status quo.

The Atlanta metropolitan area and Emory University provide exceptional resources for Emory Law students. Emory is internationally recognized for its outstanding liberal arts colleges, graduate and professional schools, and one of the Southeast’s leading health care systems. With a population of more than 5 million people, the Southeast’s largest city provides countless opportunities for legal networking, externships, and summer jobs. Atlanta ranks third in the United States for number of Fortune 500 headquarters, and the regional offices of nearly every federal agency are nearby.

With 20 percent of Emory Law’s alumni located in Atlanta, students can take advantage of Emory Law’s connections in the community to meet and learn from attorneys, judges, and others who will help launch their legal career in Atlanta, as well as in other major cities like Chicago, New York, Houston, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, and Washington, DC.

Emory University School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association, is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, and has a chapter of the Order of the Coif.

Curriculum

The basic program of study involves three years of full-time study leading to the JD degree. The fall semester runs from late August to mid-December; the spring semester begins in early January and ends in mid-May.

Emory Law empowers students to discern their legal path right from the start of their legal education. In the first semester, Legislation and Regulation introduces students to the central role of legislatures and administrative agencies in the practice of law today. The course serves as a primary building block for Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Legislation, and a number of specialized, upper-level courses. In the spring of their first year, students will have the opportunity to take a first-year elective so they can explore an area of possible legal interest or get a head-start on an area that already fascinates them. Elective courses vary each year and provide a strong foundation for more specialized legal study.

In their second year, students will begin to chart their path—they will have unique goals for their practice area, work setting, and geographic location. Emory Law supports students along their individual journey and provides personalized guidance, resources, and help throughout their legal education. Emory Law’s unique approach to hands-on learning, composed of skills classes, clinics, externships, public interest opportunities, and professional development programs, will help students explore their options and begin to make decisions about their future. Students will complete their second year with a one-week immersion in advocacy through the Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques.

In their third year, students will enhance their knowledge of the law through continued practice-oriented coursework and hands-on experiences to fully prepare them for the legal profession. They will also focus on mentoring opportunities under the coaching of a dedicated 3L Career Center adviser.

Library and Physical Facilities

Emory School of Law is located in Gambrell Hall, part of Emory’s 630-acre campus in Druid Hills, six miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

Gambrell Hall contains classrooms, faculty offices, administrative offices, student-organization offices, and a 325-seat auditorium. The school provides wireless Internet access throughout its facilities. Gambrell Hall also houses a state-of-the-art courtroom with computer connections for judge, counsel, and jury; a document camera; a DVD player; videoconferencing; and a four-camera operation with feeds to remote locations.

The Hugh F. MacMillan Law Library sits adjacent to Gambrell Hall and is designed for easy student access. Students learn both the techniques of computer-assisted legal research and traditional research methods. Students also may use the library’s computer labs that offer Apple and PC computers.

Special Programs

Emory Law combines a practical and disciplined approach toward the study of law with a commitment to providing students with hands-on learning opportunities that engage them in the many roles the law plays in our society. Students engage with the law through learning opportunities that create graduates who are ready to apply their knowledge to make an impact in real and significant ways, as lawyers and as citizens of the world. Emory Law teaches the practice of law through our outstanding programs in trial techniques, intellectual property, child advocacy, and environmental law, as well as through expanded emphasis on transactional skills. Emory Law’s centers of excellence in law and religion, feminism and legal theory, and transactional law are interdisciplinary, integrative, and international in approach.

Modeled after the National Institute for Trial Advocacy’s program for teaching practicing lawyers, Emory Law’s Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques is the largest in the country and is recognized as one of the nation’s finest. The program’s teaching methodology focuses on integrating the second-year law student’s knowledge of substantive evidence with practical trial skills through a “learn-by-doing” format. Trial experience is supplemented by a textbook, lectures, and discussions. During sessions in the spring semester, students develop theories for particular witness examinations, decide on appropriate approaches to bring out the facts consistent with their theories, prepare witnesses, and conduct direct and cross-examinations using current courtroom technology in the use of exhibits.

Through Emory Law’s Externship Program, students have the opportunity to experience what it’s like to work in a public defender or prosecutor’s office, government agency, nonprofit organization, judge’s chambers, or in-house counsel’s office in the Atlanta metro area. An accompanying weekly class guides students through this experience while they earn academic credit, with topics in one of eight practice areas taught by an instructor with experience in that area.

Emory Law is acclaimed for combining doctrine and practice in its rigorous curricular program, serving as the model for transactional education programs across the country. Through the Center for Transactional Law and Practice, students have the opportunity to acquire a strong foundation in business law doctrine, become financially literate, and practice contract drafting and other critical deal skills. The center provides a road map for every student interested in studying transactional law—from those who want to learn only the basics to those who want to go further and earn the Transactional Law and Skills Certificate.

Students also may gain practical experience in intellectual property and corporate/commercial law by participating in TI:GER® (Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results), a program that unites law, business, engineering, and science PhD students from Emory and Georgia Tech in learning how to take innovative ideas from the lab to the marketplace.

Emory Law engages students in both substantive knowledge of the law and the practical application of skills learned in the classroom through our nationally acclaimed legal clinics, which include

• the Barton Child Law Public Policy and Legislative Clinic, working to promote and protect the well-being of neglected and abused children;
• the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic, representing children charged with delinquent acts;
• the Barton Appeal for Youth Clinic, providing holistic legal representation of youthful offenders in the juvenile and criminal justice systems;
• the International Humanitarian Law Clinic, focusing on upholding the rule of law on behalf of detainees and on educating and training officials on humanitarian law in war-torn countries;
• the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, offering a practical clinical education to the aspiring environmental attorney;
• the Volunteer Clinic for Veterans, assisting those who have served our country with the legal issues that they face, including claims for service-connected disability; and
• the Emory LGBTQ Legal Services, connecting pro bono attorneys and volunteer law students with low-income LGBTQ clients who have legal needs that are not currently being addressed in the community.

Emory Law capitalizes on the presence of other strong campus programs by combining coursework and programs to create unique and synergistic programs of study. The law school offers joint-degree programs with Emory’s Goizueta Business School, Candler School of Theology, School of Public Health, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Admission

The law school accepts beginning students for the fall term only. Prior to enrollment, a student must have earned a bachelor’s degree from an approved institution. Applications for admission must be received by Emory no later than March 1. Early applications are encouraged. Many factors are considered in making admission decisions. Of particular importance are academic accomplishments and LSAT scores. Extracurricular activities, work experience, level of quality and difficulty of undergraduate courses, performance in graduate school, and letters of recommendation are also considered. We encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups, and such applicants should provide the Dean of Admission with specific information about their background or accomplishments that would be of particular interest. Applicants are encouraged to visit Emory Law to meet with the Office of Admission, observe a class (when available), and tour the law school. Upon acceptance, applicants are required to submit a nonrefundable $1,000 tuition deposit to reserve a space in the entering class.

Student Activities

Emory Law publishes several online and print journals—Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal, Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review (online only), Emory International Law Review, Emory Law Journal, and Journal of Law and Religion—and more than 40 percent of the second- and third-year students are involved in journal research, writing, and editing.

Students also participate in moot court and mock trial. Each first-year student prepares a brief and presents an oral argument. In addition, many second- and third-year students compete in intramural and national moot court competitions.

Emory Law’s 19 practice societies are made up of faculty, student leaders, alumni, and career strategy advisors who bring practitioners to campus for networking, panels, and professional development events each year. Emory Law encourages students to sample different societies and to join those that pique their career interests.

There are approximately 40 student organizations reflecting a broad range of special interest and social groups as well as a very active Student Bar Association.

Career Services

Emory Law’s Center for Professional Development & Career Strategy serves as the professional link among students, alumni, and employers, coordinating a full range of services for the employment search process.

Beginning with the first year of study, the full-time career services staff provides one-on-one advising appointments, training on job-search skills, educational programming about the wide range of career paths available to Emory Law students, and development of career resource materials. They work closely with employers to introduce them to Emory Law’s highly skilled graduates and create networking opportunities that transition students into their chosen career paths.

Many Emory graduates join private law firms after graduation. Others work as judicial clerks, enter government service, or work for banks, corporations, or public interest organizations.

The majority of Emory’s students stay in the Southeast. Approximately 20 percent work in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Smaller percentages work in the Central, South Central, and Western regions.