Ave Maria School of Law Law School

Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law Law School History

Ave Maria School of Law was established in 1999 and is a private institution. The 11-acre campus is in a suburban area near the Detroit metropolitan area. The primary mission of the law school is to educate lawyers with the finest professional skills, characterized by the harmony of faith and reason, and the Catholic intellectual tradition. Students have access to federal, state, county, city, and local agencies, courts, correctional facilities, law firms, and legal aid organizations in the Ann Arbor area. Facilities of special interest to law students include a renovated facility with a comprehensive library. Classrooms and library seating are equipped with power and Internet connectivity, and classrooms have state-of-the-art teaching technologies. There is housing for students in Ann Arbor and neighboring communities; and a wide variety of housing options are offered. All law school facilities are accessible to the physically disabled.

Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law Law School Academics

Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 8 credits may be applied.

Clinics include the Women’s Immigrant Rights Clinic (4 credits), Asylum Clinic (4 credits), Patent Law Clinic (2 credits), and Advanced Clinic (1 to 2 credits). Completion of first-year courses is required. Seminars include First Amendment, Bioethics, and National Security Law. Upper-level students are eligible to enroll in several 2-credit seminars, which are generally limited to a maximum of 16 students. The Externship Program allows students to complement their classroom experience with work experience in a variety of legal settings, including working for a state or federal judge, assisting at a local prosecutor’s office, or working for a government agency. Externships are offered for 1 or 2 credits per semester; students may enroll in a maximum of 2 credits per semester with an overall maximum of 4 credits. Externships are available to upper-level students with a minimum GPA of 2.667. Under the supervision of a faculty member, students may pursue directed research up to 2 credits per semester for an overall maximum of 4 credits. Students may participate in the Volunteer Tax Assistance Program. The distinguished Speaker Series brings a number of local and national speakers to reflect on their roles in the profession. The Ave Maria Lecture is an annual address from a nationally recognized public figure. Students are permitted to enroll in summer study-abroad programs with advance permission. The Academic Support Program offers activities and services throughout the year designed to help students perform to the best of their abilities. It is staffed by a full-time attorney. While the Academic Support Program offers services to all students, one-on-one programs are designed for at-risk students to provide targeted assistance. The law school has recently hosted annual meetings of the Society of Catholic School Scientists and University Faculty for life. The most widely taken electives are Trial Advocacy, Employment Law, and Trusts and Estates.

To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 90 total credits, of which 60 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 1.0 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure I and II, Contracts I and II, Criminal Law, Moral Foundations of the Law I and II, Property I and II, Research, Writing, and Advocacy I and II, and Torts I and II. Required upper-level courses consist of Business Organizations, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Federal Taxation, Jurisprudence, Law, Ethics and Public Policy, Professional Responsibility, and Research, Writing, and Advocacy III. The required orientation program for first-year students is a week long and includes programs to develop effective study strategies, meetings with faculty and administrators, and exposure to perspectives on legal study and practice.

To graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0, must have completed the upper-division writing requirement and a minimum of 6 full-time semesters, and must have the recommendation of faculty.

Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law Law School Unique Programs

Library

The law library contains 117,104 hard-copy volumes and 5319 microform volume equivalents, and subscribes to 1027 serial publications. Such on-line databases and networks as CALI, CIS Universe, Infotrac, Legal-Trac, LEXIS, Mathew Bender, NEXIS, OCLC First Search, WESTLAW, Wilsonline Indexes, Digital Congressional, and U.S. Supreme Court (40 total on-line database) are available to law students for research. Special library collections include Canon Law and Bioethics. Recently, the library installed SMART whiteboard in seminar rooms. The ratio of library volumes to faculty is 4182 to 1 and to students is 353 to 1. The ratio of seats in the library to students is 1 to 1.

Special Consideration

The law school recruits minority and disadvantaged students through visits to historically black colleges and universities, mailings to minority students, participation in events sponsored by minority organizations, attendance at minority student conferences, and hosting an annual program for high school students “A Pathway to Law.” Requirements are not different for out-of-state students. Transfer students must have one year of credit, have a minimum GPA of 3, have attended an ABA-approved law school, and provide transcripts and a letter of good standing from an ABA-approved law school.

Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law Law School Admissions

In the fall 2007 first-year class, 1543 applied, 786 were accepted, and 127 enrolled. The median LSAT percentile of the most recent first-year class was 46; the median GPA was 3.15 on a scale of 4.0. The lowest LSAT percentile accepted was 16; the highest was 98.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. The most important admission factors include academic achievement, letter of recommendation, and character, and personality. No specific undergraduate courses are required. Candidates are not interviewed.

The application deadline for fall entry is April 1. Applicants should submit an application form, LSAT results, transcripts, a personal statement, TOEFL score, if applicable, a nonrefundable application fee of $50, and 2 letters of recommendation. Notification of the admissions decision is on a rolling basis. The latest acceptable LSAT test date for fall entry is June. The law school uses the LSDAS.

Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law Law School Financial Aid

All of current law students receive some form of aid. The average annual amount of aid from all sources combined, including scholarships, loans, and work contracts, is $44,775; maximum, $51,990. Awards are based on need and merit. Required financial statement is the FAFSA. The aid application deadline for fall entry is June 1. First-year students are notified about their financial aid application at time of acceptance.

Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law Law School Students

About 35% of the student body are women; 17%, minorities; 2%, African American; 7%, Asian American; 7%, Hispanic; and 1%, Native American. The majority of students come from the Midwest (50%). The average age of entering students is 25; age range is 21 to 43. About 49% of students enter directly from undergraduate school, 5% have a graduate degree, and 50% have worked full-time prior to entering law school. About 4% drop out after the first year for academic or personal reasons; 84% remain to receive a law degree.

The primary law review is the Ave Maria Law Review. Internal moot court competitions include the St. Thomas More Moot Court Competition (first-year students), the Ave Maria Intramural Appellate Competition, and the Ave Maria Intramural Trial Competition. The law school participates in several competitions annually, including the State of Michigan Moot Court Competition, the ABA National Client Counseling Competition, and the Herbert Wechsler Criminal Law Moot Court Competition. Law student organizations, local chapters of national associations, and campus organizations include Business Law Society, Women Lawyers Association, Minority Law Students Association, Delta Theta Phi, Phi Alpha Delta, Federalist Society, Law Partners, Lex Vitae Society, and Intellectual Property Group.

The law school operates on a traditional semester basis. Courses for full-time students are offered both day and evening and must be completed within 5 years. There is no part-time program. New students are admitted in the fall. There is no summer session. Transferable summer courses are not offered.