Southern Illinois University School of Law

Southern Illinois University
School of Law

The School of Law's main entrance
Established 1972
School type Public
Dean Cynthia Fountaine
Location Carbondale, Illinois, USA
Enrollment 375 Full-Time approximate
Faculty 28
USNWR ranking 149[1]
Bar pass rate 88% (2012)
Website www.law.siu.edu

Southern Illinois University School of Law (SIU Law) is one of three public law schools in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, it is the only law school in the southern region of Illinois.

About the School of Law

The Southern Illinois University School of Law’s mission to serve the public good began in 1972, when it was established by the Illinois state legislature. Its first class started in August 1973. Presently the school resides in the Lesar Law Building, named for its first dean Hiram H. Lesar. The School of Law offers the Juris Doctor degree, Master of Laws degree, and Master of Legal Studies degree in both full-time and part-time programs.

Amongst other specializations, the School of Law offers a specialization in Intellectual Property (IP) Law.[2]

Employment

According to SIU Law's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 70.5% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[3]

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at SIU Law for the 2014-2015 academic year is $35,152 for Illinois residents and $57,802 for out-of-state students.[4]

Center for Health Law and Policy

The Health Law Program at the Southern Illinois University School of Law was developed in the early 1980s to advance education and research regarding critical issues in health law and public policy and medical ethics.[5] After dedicating more than twenty years to teaching, research, and service activities addressing healthcare regulation, patient safety and medical liability, bioethics, public health, mental health, and food and drug law, the SIU School of Law formally established the Center for Health Law and Policy in 2004.[5]

Student Organizations

The School of Law offers its students the opportunity to join an array of student activities such as Law Journal, Moot Court Society, and Trial Advocacy Society. There are also a number of student interest groups.

Journals

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The Southern Illinois University Law Journal is a student-edited journal that publishes articles designed to assist the legal community and to stimulate critical discussion of current legal, policy, and social issues. The Journal publishes three issues per year.

Journal of Legal Medicine offers in-depth discussion of topics related to legal medicine, health law and policy, professional liability, hospital law, food and drug law, medical legal research and education, and a broad range of related topics.[6] The journal is published quarterly by the American College of Legal Medicine in cooperation with the Southern Illinois University School of Law.

Clinics

The Civil Practice/Elderly Clinic provides a full range of civil legal services to those 60 and over. These services include the drafting of simple wills and powers of attorney, assistance with securing public benefits and entitlements including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Veteran's benefits. In addition, the clinic handles family law (divorce, etc.) matters, consumer problems, and public utilities problems.

The Domestic Violence Clinic provides legal representation to victims of domestic violence in Jackson, Williamson and Union counties. In an average order of protection case, students will interview the client, prepare the client for a hearing, appear before the court in a contested or uncontested hearing, prepare an order for the court, and follow through with the necessary steps to make the order enforceable.

Students enrolled in the Juvenile Justice Clinic work with an experienced clinic attorney and perform legal services and duties to minors for whom the clinic attorney has been appointed guardian ad litem.

Rankings

As of 2015, SIU School of Law is ranked 149 in the US News Rankings of Best Law Schools.[10] This places SIU in "the top three-fourths of the law schools that were eligible to be ranked."[11]

In 2012, National Jurist ranked SIU School of Law as one of the best value law schools in the nation with a grade of "A-."[12]

Notable Alumni

References

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