Welcome from DEAN JOHN C. JEFFRIES, Jr.
What makes the University of Virginia Law School special?
Like all the leading law schools, Virginia features gifted
faculty, outstanding students, an exciting intellectual
atmosphere, and career opportunities across the nation
and around the globe. In these respects, Virginia is
among the nation’s best. But what makes Virginia
special? What does Virginia offer that others perhaps
cannot?
First is the quality of the student experience. Virginia
learned long ago that a superb legal education doesn’t
have to be three years of hell week. On the contrary,
students learn best when the intellectual environment
is supportive and collaborative, both in the classroom
and in relations with fellow students. The best possible
testimony to the quality of life enjoyed by Virginia
students is their loyalty to the Law School once they
leave. Last year, the percentage
of graduates who gave
to Virginia was the highest of any law school in the
nation. And the most recent classes gave
in the greatest numbers. That is a resounding vote of
confidence by the people who know us best. It is not
a product of clever marketing or fancy brochures, but
of the actual lived experience of Virginia students and
the intense loyalty that experience creates.
Second, the University of Virginia School of Law and
the students who live and learn here maintain a balanced
commitment to professional success and public service.
The Law School’s annual Conference
on Public Service & the Law is one of the largest and most comprehensive
events of its kind. It is conceived, organized, and led
entirely by students. Each year, the Conference brings
hundreds of students and dozens of guest speakers to
Charlottesville to celebrate public service in all its
many forms. Additionally, pro bono programs and public-interest
fellowships promote public service activities by students,
and a newly enlarged loan-forgiveness
program enables
graduates who wish to enter public service to do so regardless
of compensation.
Third, in recent years the Law School has begun to provide
an introduction to business analysis, as well as a superb
education in law. Traditionally, law schools aimed at
litigation. Every major law school, including Virginia,
offers a huge array of courses, clinics, and projects
that point toward the resolution of legal disputes in
the courtroom. For many of our graduates, however, law
practice is largely transactional. In that environment,
lawyers function as business counselors and advisers,
as well as experts on legal risk. To facilitate the success
of our graduates in business law, Virginia offers introductory
courses in the basics of business analysis and follow-up
courses that examine government regulation of corporations,
securities, and the capital markets with unprecedented
sophistication and insight (Program
in Law & Business).
Additionally, Virginia has recruited distinguished business
executives to offer mini-courses that recreate complicated
business transactions. By these means, Virginia makes
the basics of a business education available within the
standard three-year law school curriculum.
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Students come to Virginia with a wide variety of intellectual
interests, personal styles, and professional ambitions.
They leave with the same variety of interests, styles,
and ambitions, augmented by a vastly increased capacity
to influence others, and bound together by a shared experience
that most will remember and cherish throughout their
lives.