School of Law

Columbia University in the City of New York, School of Law History

Columbia University School of Law was established in 1858 and is a private institution. The 36-acre campus is in an urban area in the Morningside Heights section of northwest Manhattan. The primary mission of the law school is to serve as one of the world’s leading centers of research and scholarship regarding law and its role in society. Students have access to federal, state, county, city, and local agencies, courts, correctional facilities, law firms, and legal aid organizations in the New York area. The city of New York offers students a broad range of opportunities. The law school recently completed a $133 million expansion and renewal project. Across the street from Greene Hall, the law school’s main building, is William C. Warren hall, home to the Columbia Law review, Morningside Heights Legal Services, and the Center for Public Interest Law. Housing for students includes on-campus apartments, available to both single students and couples; the Off-Campus Housing Office (OCHA) helps students find off-campus housing. All admitted first-year students who apply for housing by May 1 are guaranteed some type of university housing for all 3 years of the J.D. program. About 98% of the law school facilities are accessible to the physically disabled.

Columbia University in the City of New York, School of Law Academics

In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M. and S.J.D. Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 10 credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./ M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration), J.D./M.A., M.Phil., or P (Juris Doctor/Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy), J.D./M.F.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in theater arts), J.D./M.I.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of International Affairs), J.D./M.P.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Public Administration), J.D./M.P.H. (Juris Doctor/Master of Public Health), J.D./M.S. (Juris Doctor/Master of Science in journalism or urban planning), and J.D./M.S.W. (Juris Doctor/Master of Social Work).

The School of Law offers concentrations in corporate law, criminal law, entertainment law, environmental law, family law, international law, labor law, litigation, media law, securities law, sports law, tax law, torts and insurance, constitutional law, human rights law, labor law, history and philosophy of law, health care and the law, and education law. Clinics such as child advocacy, law and the arts, environmental law, human rights, lawyering in the digital age, mediation, nonprofit organizations/small business, and prisoners and families offer client-based experiences to upper-class students for 5 to 7 points. 130 seminars are offered annually in such areas as Constitutional Law, Corporate Law, and Human Rights for 2 points (generally). Admission to a seminar is by lottery. Additional training through internships is available through arrangements with city agencies and consumer advocacy groups; clerkships with criminal, appellate, and federal court judges; and the pro bono service requirement. Research may be done as part of the legal writing requirement. Credit may be earned in journal work, independent, or supervised research. Law school lectures regularly bring leading figures from business, politics, entertainment, and areas of the law and judiciary to Columbia. Columbia established a Dean’s Breakfast Series in which distinguished alumni from the law school come and meet informally with small groups of students. There is a 4-year double degree program with the University of Paris, giving students a J.D. and Maitrise en Droit; a 3-year J.D./D.E.S.S. with the Institut d’Etudes Politique Sciences, a 4-year program with the University of London, giving students a J.D. and LL.B., a 3-year program with the University of London where students receive a Columbia J.D. and University of London LL.M., and a 3-year program with the Institute for Law and Finance (Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt) where students receive a Columbia J.D. and Institute for Law and France LL.M. Moreover, there are semester abroad programs in Argentina France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, and Switzerland. Students may also elect to initiate a study abroad program in additional countries. The most widely taken electives are Corporations, Federal Income Taxation, and Evidence.

To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 83 total credits, of which 35 are for required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Critical Legal Thought, Foundation of the Regulatory State, Foundation Year Moot Court, Law and Contemporary Society, Law and Economics, Law and Social Science, Lawyering Across Multiple Legal Orders, Legal Methods and Legal Writing and Research, Legislation, Property, The Rule of Law: perspectives on Legal Thought, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of a minimum of 2 writing credits earned, a pro bono service requirement (40 hours in second and third years), and Profession of Law (focusing on professional ethics). Clinics are electives. The required orientation program for first-year students lasts 2 days and starts before the Legal Methods course begins. Topics covered include student services, law school and university administrative matters, computer training, and financial aid information. Several social events for students and faculty take place on campus and around New York City.

In order to graduate, candidates must have completed the upper-division writing requirement and satisfied degree requirements (including pro bono service) and a course in professional responsibility and ethics in the third year.

Columbia University in the City of New York, School of Law Unique Programs

Library

The law library contains 1,092,534 hard-copy volumes and 235,424 microform volume equivalents, and subscribes to 6472 serial publications. Such on-line databases and networks as CALI, CIS Universe, DIALOG, Infotrac, Legal-Trac, LEXIS, LOIS, Mathew Bender, NEXIS, OCLC First Search, RLIN, WESTLAW, Wilsonline Indexes, Jutastat, CCH, PLC Global, UN ODS, TIARA TREATIES, BNA, China Law and Practice, Constitutions of the World (Oceana), Foreign Law Guide, Hein Online, Indexmaster, Inter-Am Database, Arbitration Online, LLMC digital, Making of Modern Law, PACER, BNA International/Intellectual Property, and others. are available to law students for research. Special library collections include a notable collection on foreign law, Roman law, and a large rare book collection of more than 30,000 volumes, Perlin/Rosenberg Papers, as well as papers from the Nuremberg Trials and the South African Treason Trials, and a gift of the papers of Telford Taylor, who was the main U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials fame, and Herbert Wechsler, author of the Model Penal Code. Recently, the library expanded electronic subscriptions and provided wireless access within the library, expanded local book storage space in an adjacent building with a capacity of 110,000 volumes, and increased the shipment of books to an off-site storage. The reference staff (all with J.D.s and M.L.S.s) taught the Legal Research program for second-year students. The ratio of library volumes to faculty is 11,148 to 1 and to students is 880 to 1. The ratio of seats in the library to students is 1 to 4.

Special Consideration

The law school recruits minority and disadvantaged students through outreach efforts, counseling initiatives, and national database searches with invitations to apply. Requirements are not different for out-of-state students. Transfer students must have one year of credit, have attended an ABA-approved law school, and have completed the first year with distinction at an ABA-approved law school or at an accredited Canadian law school.

Columbia University in the City of New York, School of Law Admissions

In the fall 2007 first-year class, 8020 applied, 1143 were accepted, and 378 enrolled. Figures in the above capsule and in this profile are approximate. Forty-eight transfers enrolled in a recent year. The median LSAT percentile of the most recent first-year class was 99; the median GPA was 3.67 on a scale of 4.0. The lowest LSAT percentile accepted was 50; the highest was 99.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and take the LSAT. No specific undergraduate courses are required. Candidates are not interviewed.

Applicants should submit an application form, LSAT results, transcripts, a non refundable application fee, and 2 letters of recommendation. Notification of the admissions decision is December through April. Check with the school for current application deadlines. The law school uses the LSDAS.

Columbia University in the City of New York, School of Law Financial Aid

In a recent year, about 79% 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, was $47,000; maximum, $65,000. Awards are based on need as are financial aid grants; a small number of merit-based awards are also offered. Required financial statements are the FAFSA and Need Access application. Check with the school for current application deadlines. First-year students are notified about their financial aid application at time of acceptance.

Columbia University in the City of New York, School of Law Students

About 45% of the student body are women; 30%, minorities; 10%, African American; 18%, Asian American; 7%, Hispanic; and 7%, international students. The majority of students come from New York (20%). The average age of entering students is 24. About 33% of students enter directly from undergraduate school and 11% have a graduate degree.

Students edit the Columbia Law Review, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, Columbia Journal of Transactional Law, Columbia Journal of Asian Law, American Review of International Arbitration, Columbia-VLA Journal of Law and the Arts, Columbia Business Law Review, Columbia Journal of Gender and the Law, Parker School Journal of East European Law, Columbia Journal of European Law, Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, and National Black Law Journal. Students also edit the newspaper Columbia Law School News and the yearbook Pegasus. The Moot Court Committee sponsors the Harlan Fiske Stone Honor Competition and the Jerome Michael Jury Trials. Students also participate, with distinction, in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Other competitions include the Frederick Douglass National Competition and Native American Law Students Moot Court Competition. Law student organizations, local chapters of national associations, and campus organizations include Columbia Law School Women’s Association, American Civil Liberties Union, Columbia Workers’ Rights Coalition, Society for Chinese Law, Civil Rights Society, Environmental Law Society, Columbia Society of International Law, American Civil Liberties Union, Federalist Society, and National Lawyers Guild.

The law school operates on a traditional semester basis. Courses for full-time students are offered days only. There is no part-time program. New students are admitted in the fall. There is no summer session. Transferable summer courses are not offered.