Stanford Law School (also known as Stanford Law or SLS) is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law. It employs more than 80 faculty and hosts over 500 students who are working towards their Juris Doctor (J.D.) or other graduate legal degrees such as the Master of Laws (LL.M.) and the Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.), giving it the smallest student body of any law school in the top 15 of the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking.

Stanford Law School has a small average class size of just 170, and maintains the nation's first Supreme Court litigation clinic.^[4] Recently, together with Harvard and Yale, it enacted "grade reform", eliminating traditional letter grades for students.

Stanford Law graduates include several of the first women to occupy Chief Justice or Associate Justice posts on supreme courts: current Chief Justice of New Zealand Sian Elias, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and the late Chief Justice of Washington Barbara Durham. Other justices of supreme courts who graduated from Stanford Law include the late Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist, current Montana Supreme Court Justice Brian Morris, retired Chief Justice of California Ronald M. George, retired California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno, and the late California Supreme Court Justice Frank K. Richardson.

History[link]

Stanford first offered a curriculum in legal studies in 1893, when the university hired its first two law professors: former President Benjamin Harrison and Nathan Abbott.^[5] Abbott was given control over the program, and assembled a small faculty over the next few years. The law department was almost exclusively composed of undergraduates at this time, and included a large number of students who might not have been welcome at more traditional law schools at the time, including women and Hispanic, Chinese and Japanese students.

In 1900, the department moved from its original location in Encina Hall to the northeast side of the Inner Quadrangle. The new facilities were much larger and included Stanford’s first law library. Beginning to focus more on professional training, the school implemented its first three year curriculum, and became one of 27 charter members of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).^[6] In 1901 the school awarded its first professional degree.

Starting in 1908, the law department began its transition into an exclusively professional school when Stanford's Board of Trustees passed a resolution in 1908 to officially change its name to law school. Eight years later Frederic Campbell Woodward would be appointed the first dean of the school, and in 1923 the school was accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA).^[7] Stanford's law program officially transitioned into a modern professional school in 1924 when it began requiring a bachelor's degree for admission.

The 1940s and 1950s brought a great deal of change for the law school. Even though World War II caused the school's enrollment to drop to less than 30 students, the school made quick efforts at expansion once the war ended in 1945. A move to a new location in the Outer Quadrangle, and the 1948 opening of the law school dormitory Crothers Hall (the result of a donation by Stanford law graduate George E. Crothers), allowed the school to grow, while the publication of the Stanford Law Review started building the school a national reputation. The decision that Stanford should remain a small law school with a very limited enrollment was made during this period. For the third time in its history, the law school relocated in the 1970s, this time to its current location in the Crown Quadrangle.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the law school aimed to become more diverse. A great deal of new and progressive student organizations established themselves, several of which focused on legal issues which largely affected Chicanos and women. The first female and black professors were hired at the school during this period, and the school sought to academically diversify its student body by collaborating with the Stanford Business School to create a joint-degree program. In March 2011, Stanford was listed with an "A-" in the "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.^[8]

Earning national recognition in the 1980s and 1990s, the law school made efforts to make its curriculum more progressive. Classes were offered focusing on law relating to technology, the environment, and intellectual property, and international law, allowing students to specialize in emerging legal fields. Additionally, the school’s clinical program was established starting with the public interest East Palo Alto Community Law Project. By the dawn of the 21st century, the law school had created many new opportunities for its students to specialize and get involved in community projects. Over the past few years, a new focus on interdisciplinary education has emerged.^[9]

Academics and admissions[link]

Stanford Law School is known for its uniquely low student-to-faculty ratio, with first-year classes counting approximately 170 students.^[10]

The academic program is flexible and includes a diverse array of courses and clinics. First-year students (or 1L's) are required to take criminal law, civil procedure, contracts, torts, and legal research and writing during the fall quarter, and constitutional law, property, and federal litigation during the winter quarter. Upper-level courses range from white-collar crime to Supreme Court simulation seminar. SLS also boasts a clinic program that allows student to get hands-on experience. The Supreme Court Clinic has successfully brought over twenty cases before the Court, making it one of the most active Supreme Court practices of any kind.^[11] Because of its proximity to other top academic programs on campus, there has been a growing focus on joint-degree programs and classes within the other professional schools.

Students run about thirty student organizations and publish seven legal journals. The most influential journal is the Stanford Law Review. Advocacy skills are tested in the Kirkwood Moot Court competition.

The Robert Crown Law Library at Stanford holds 500,000 books, 360,000 microform and audiovisual items, and more than 8,000 current serial subscriptions.

In August 2008, Stanford Law School changed its grading system, which no longer relies on traditional letter grades, joining Yale Law School, the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and Harvard Law School. Students now receive one of four grades: honors, pass, restricted credit, or no credit.^[12]

Stanford has a chapter of the Order of the Coif, a national law school honorary society whose stated purpose is to encourage legal scholarship and advance ethical standards of the legal profession.^[13]

Between 4,000 and 5,000 students apply for admission each year. Selection is competitive: the median undergraduate grade point average of admitted students is a 3.9 and the median LSAT score is 170 (out of 180).^[14] Beyond numbers, Stanford places considerable emphasis on factors such as extracurricular activities, work experience, and prior graduate study. About three quarters of the members of each entering class have one or more years of prior work experience and over a quarter have another graduate degree. In 2006, Stanford Law School's acceptance rate was 8.7%, one of the lowest in the nation.^[15] The Law School also accepts a small number of transfers each year.

Bar passage rates[link]

Based on a 2001-2007 six-year average, the California State bar passage rate for Stanford Law students was 88.8%.^[16] In July 2010, 98% of Stanford law students taking the bar for the first time passed.^[17]

Post-graduation employment[link]

Based on a 2001-2007 six-year average, 98.7% of Stanford Law graduates were employed 9 months after graduation.^[16]

Programs and centers[link]

• Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP)
• Rule of Law Program
• Stanford Program in International Law
• Stanford Program in Law, Economics & Business
• John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics
• Stanford Program in Law, Science & Technology (LST)
• Martin Daniel Gould Center for Conflict Resolution Programs

• Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance
• Center for E-Commerce
• Center for Internet and Society (CIS)
• Center for Law and the Biosciences
• Gould Negotiation and Mediation Teaching Program
• Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation (SCICN)
• Stanford Criminal Justice Center
• Stanford Center for Computers and the Law (CodeX)
• Stanford Law Review

In January 2011, Stanford was given an "A" (#4) in the "Best Public Interest Law Schools" listing by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.^[18]

Notable alumni[link]

Upon graduation, most students join law firms and about a quarter of the class clerks for a judge.^[19] Stanford alumni practice in 50 countries and 49 states, and are partners at 94 of the 100 largest law firms in the United States.^[20] Despite its small size, Stanford has produced the fourth-most professors of law in the United States, according to a 2009 study^[21] and the fourth-most clerks to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a 2000 finding.^[22]

• Michael Arrington (1995), Internet journalist and entrepreneur
• Wayne Edward Alley (1957), Judge of the Western District of Oklahoma
• D. Brook Bartlett (1962), Judge of the Western District of Missouri
• Max Baucus (1967), U.S. Senator
• Carlos Bea (1958), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Xavier Becerra (1984), U.S. Congressman (1984–present)
• Riley Bechtel (1977), billionaire, Chairman and CEO, Bechtel Corporation
• Jeff Bingaman (1968), U.S. Senator (1983–present)
• Joshua B. Bolten (1980), White House Chief of Staff (2006–2009)
• Raymond Bonner (1967), investigative reporter for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune
• Craig Platt (1981), high-profile criminal defense attorney
• Brooksley Born (1964), first woman named to the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary
• Rudi M. Brewster (1960), Judge of the Southern District of California
• Amanda Brown, author of Legally Blonde
• Laurie Smith Camp (1984), Judge of the District of Nebraska
• Paul G. Cassell (1984), Judge of the District of Utah
• Richard Harvey Chambers (1932), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Deborah K. Chasanow (1974), Judge of the District of Maryland
• Chen Show Mao (1992), Member of Parliament, Singapore
• Dana K. Chipman (1986), Judge Advocate General of the United States Army
• Warren Christopher (1949), 63rd U.S. Secretary of State
• Frank Church (1950), U.S. Senator (1957–1981)
• Robert Cochran (1974), creator of the television shows 24 and La Femme Nikita
• Samuel Conti (1948), Judge of the Northern District of California
• Walter Early Craig (1934), Judge of the District of Arizona
• James Crown (1980), President of Henry Crown and Company
• Nelson Cunningham, Cofounder of Kissinger Associates, former Special Advisor to the President for Western Hemisphere affairs
• David C. Drummond (1985), Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Google
• Edward C. DuMont (1986), nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Obama
• Benjamin Cushing Duniway (1931), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Barbara Durham (1968), Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court (1995–1998)
• Fred Dutton (1949), Special Assistant to U.S. President John F. Kennedy, managed Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign
• William Donlon Edwards (1939), U.S. Congressman (1963–1995)
• John Ehrlichman (1951), infamous figure in the Watergate scandal
• Sian Elias (JSM 1972), Chief Justice of New Zealand
• Gary Feinerman (1991), Judge of the Northern District of Illinois
• Raymond C. Fisher (1966), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Ivan K. Fong (1987), General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security
• Stephen C. Ferruolo (1990), Dean of University of San Diego School of Law^[23]
• Ronald M. George (1964), Chief Justice of California (1996–2011)
• Matt Gonzalez (1990), Ralph Nader's 2008 vice presidential running mate, former president of San Francisco Board of Supervisors
• Joan B. Gottschall (1973), Judge of the Northern District of Illinois
• Thomas Poole Griesa (1958), Judge of the Southern District of New York
• Cynthia Holcomb Hall (1954), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Maya Harris, Vice President for Peace and Social Justice at the Ford Foundation
• Denis Hayes (1985), Founder, Earth Day Network
• Roderick Hills (1955), former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1975–1977) and Cofounder of Munger, Tolles & Olson
• Shirley Hufstedler (1949), first United States Secretary of Education (1979–1981) and Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1968–1979)
• Procter R. Hug, Jr. (1958), Judge and former Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Harry Lindley Hupp (1955), Judge of the Central District of California
• Susan Yvonne Illston (1973), Judge of the Northern District of California
• Michael Jacobson (1981), Senior Vice President and General Counsel, eBay Inc.
• Reuben Jeffery III, Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State and former Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission
• Gilbert H. Jertberg (1922), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Michael Klarman (1983), Constitutional Law scholar and Harvard Law School professor
• Fred Kunzel (1927), Judge of the Southern District of California
• Charles A. Legge (1954), Judge of the Northern District of California
• David F. Levi (1980), Judge of the Eastern District of California
• John S. W. Lim (1983), Judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals (1999–2006)^[24]
• Fred von Lohmann, Senior Copyright Counsel at Google
• Greg Lukianoff, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)
• Rebecca Love Kourlis (1976), Executive Director at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System
• Dahlia Lithwick (1995), Senior Editor at Slate
• Lawrence Tupper Lydick (1942), Judge of the Central District of California
• David Margolick, Contributing Editor at Condé Nast Portfolio, former Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair
• Cheryl Mills (1990), Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• Carlos R. Moreno (1975), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California (2001–present)
• Dick Murphy, 33rd Mayor of San Diego, California
• William Neukom (1967), first General Counsel at Microsoft, president of the American Bar Association
• Ronald Kenneth Noble, Secretary General of Interpol and law professor
• William Albert Norris (1954), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Sandra Day O'Connor (1952), first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1981–2006)
• Mark Oldman, Cofounder of Vault.com and wine critic
• S. James Otero (1976), Judge of the Central District of California
• Halil Suleyman Ozerden (1998), Judge of the Southern District of Mississippi
• Penny Pritzker (1984), billionaire and CEO of Pritzker Realty
• Chuck Reed (1978), Mayor of San Jose, California
• William Rehnquist (1952), Chief Justice of the United States (1986–2005)
• Anthony Romero (1990), Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (2001–present)
• John Roos (1980), United States Ambassador to Japan (2009–present)
• John Rolly Ross (1926), Judge of the District of Nevada
• Marc Rotenberg, President and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
• Pamela Ann Rymer (1964), Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Catherine Sandoval (1990), Professor at Santa Clara University School of Law and first Hispanic commissioner in the California Public Utilities Commission
• James V. Selna (1970), Judge of the Central District of California
• Fern M. Smith (1975), Judge of the Northern District of California
• Christina A. Snyder (1972), Judge of the Central District of California
• Gus Jerome Solomon (1929), Judge of the District of Oregon
• William A. Sutherland (1898), former California State Assemblyman
• Charles M. Teague (1931), former U.S. Representative from California
• Peter Thiel (1992), founder of PayPal
• Bruce Rutherford Thompson (1936), Judge of the District of Nevada
• John D. Trasviña (1983), President of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)
• John Van de Kamp (1959), 28th California Attorney General
• Harry Usher, General Manager of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee
• Vaughn R. Walker (1970), Judge of the Northern District of California
• Bill Walton (never graduated), former NBA basketball player
• James Ware (1972), Judge of the Northern District of California
• Carlos Watson (1995), television host and journalist
• Stanley Alexander Weigel (1928), Judge of the Northern District of California
• W. Richard West, Jr. (1971), Founding Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
• Katharine Weymouth (1992), Publisher of the Washington Post
• Lance B. Wickman (1972), General Counsel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Michael G. Wilson (1966), Producer of James Bond films
• David Keith Winder (1958), Judge of the District of Utah
• Delbert E. Wong (1949), first Chinese-American judge in the continental United States
• Dennis Woodside (1980), Vice President of UK, Benelux and Ireland of Google