About Us

Major University Resources, Small College Feel

The success and stature of the Brandeis School of Law are grounded in a commitment to excellence in preparing lawyers for productive careers. With the resources of the University of Louisville behind it, the law school is able to provide world-class faculty, strong programs and top-notch academic support. Yet, with one of the 10 best student-faculty ratios in the nation, it operates and feels more like a small college.

Smaller class sizes foster close interaction between students and faculty, nurture a culture of collegial learning and provide opportunities for individualized attention. The law school, by design, has actually downsized its student body in recent years in order to increase selectivity while maintaining diversity.

The Brandeis School of Law strives to promote collegiality and professionalism. Its culture is based on civility and respect for all students and faculty, avoiding "paper chase" or "cutthroat" law school stereotypes. The school also seeks to admit and support a diverse law school population and provides opportunities to share and discuss differing opinions.

A Distinguished Faculty
The Brandeis School of Law has 30 full-time faculty members and numerous part-time or adjunct teachers. Twelve of the full-time faculty are women and five are minorities.
The faculty gives a high priority to excellence in teaching and accessibility to students. They are also a community of active scholars who earned their law degrees at such schools as Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Stanford, Michigan, New York University, Virginia, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Iowa and the University of Louisville.

Recent faculty works have been published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (England), Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Northwestern Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review and the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, among others.

River City of Opportunity
An exciting, vibrant metropolitan area with a population of almost one million, Louisville offers lots of hospitality and charm. Situated on the Ohio River, it is an ideal place to live for single adults or families, with a low cost of living for a metropolitan area, a nationally recognized public school system and much to see and do, from the cultural arts to sports.

There are museums, theaters, an orchestra, a zoo, outdoor festivals, live music and clubs, restaurants, coffee houses and shopping malls, and more than 100 beautiful parks in which to camp, hike or just relax. The city really comes alive each spring, when the Kentucky Derby Festival attracts more than a million visitors from all over the world.

For more information, go to the Web sites of Louisville Magazine or the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A Metropolitan Research Institution
The University of Louisville is a metropolitan research institution with an attractive, comfortable main campus in the heart of Kentucky's largest city. The Health Sciences Center, home to University of Louisville Hospital and the schools of medicine, dentistry and nursing, is located downtown in the Louisville Medical Center.

The university has been a part of Louisville's history for more than 200 years, contributing to its economic success and providing a valuable place of study for future physicians, lawyers, business leaders, educators and other professionals. U of L's growing reputation as a research institution is attracting top faculty from across the country-and students benefit from interacting with and learning from these researchers and scholars.

Distinctive Programs
The study of law is an experience in discovery, discourse and discipline. At the Brandeis School of Law, students find the excitement of new ideas, the challenge of intellectual exchange and the rigor of critical analysis. The school's rich curriculum provides a comprehensive education in legal doctrine, practical skills and professional values, as well as opportunities for interdisciplinary study. Students also have the opportunity to enhance their program of legal study through international study and clinical externships.

Dual Degree Programs
The Brandeis School of Law offers several dual degree programs designed to enhance the student's understanding, skills and career opportunities in both areas of study. Each requires application and admission to both participating schools.

Master of Business Administration/Juris Doctor (MBA/JD)
Master of Science in Social Work/Juris Doctor (MSSW/JD)
Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in Humanities (JD/MAH)
Juris Doctor/Master of Divinity (JD/M.Div.)
Juris Doctor/Master of Political Science (JD/MAPS)
A Strong Tradition of Student Success
The Brandeis School of Law has a strong track record in moot court and professional skills competitions. Students are also actively involved in writing for and publishing the University of Louisville Law Review and the Journal of Law and Education. Graduates of the Brandeis School of Law have achieved an employment rate above the national average and regularly score above the statewide average on the Kentucky bar examination.

Participation in numerous student organizations also enhances student success, providing access to a lively intellectual community. Students are active in the International Law Society, Environmental Law Society, Federalist Society, Lambda Law Caucus, Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys, Women's Law Caucus, Black Law Students Association, Christian Law Society, Student Bar Association, the Foundation for Equal Justice and several legal fraternities.

Service in the Real World
As one of America's first five law schools to incorporate public service into the required curriculum, the Brandeis School of Law assures that every student's education includes a chance to work outside classroom walls, dealing with real people and real problems with professional supervision and mentoring.

Every student is required to perform a minimum of 30 hours of law-related public service prior to graduation. Nationwide opportunities include service in legal clinics, assisting in death penalty litigation, working on domestic violence issues, serving as court advocates for children, working with victims of rape, and dealing with environmental issues.

Through these experiences, students develop legal skills, professional values and an understanding of the real issues faced by the community. The vast majority of students say that participation in their public service project has led to an interest in doing pro bono work after graduation.

Each year, Brandeis students donate more than 4,000 hours of law-related work to local, state and national organizations through this program.

Clinical Externships
Through the clinical externship program, upper-level students perform law related work and gain practical experience under the supervision of faculty and members of the bar. Students who meet the required prerequisites can choose from the following clinical experience.

Judicial Externship - Students will be afforded an opportunity to observe the legal system from the perspective of the judge.
Legal Aid Clinical Externship - Students will study and practice in legal skills: including interviewing, investigation, counseling, negotiation, and courtroom behavior, with the goal of developing a model of lawyer decision-making.
Criminal Justice Externship - Students may be assigned to one of the following agencies: Public Defender, Jefferson County Attorney, or Commonwealth Attorney.
Tax Externship - Students will work with the local office of the Internal Revenue Service and will also study an overview of tax procedure and receive instruction in computer assisted tax research.
Domestic Violence Externship - At the Center for Women and Families, students will study statutes concerning family violence and procedures fro seeking remedies and will participate in intake meetings with clients and court appearances involving protective orders, divorce, custody, visitation and dependency.
Student Profile
The varied backgrounds and interests of new students add an important dimension to the Brandeis School of Law. Each entering class brings its own unique perspective and contributions to the school. The profile of the 143 students in the fall 2003 entering class includes the following:

Average student age - 27
Universities represented - 70
Non-minorities - 87%; Minorities - 13%
Women - 57%; Men - 43%
Kentucky residents - 75%; Non-residents - 25%
Day Division - 70%; Evening Division - 30%
Career Services
The Career Services Office helps Brandeis Students and alumni in their job search efforts through general information sessions and individual counseling. Students are equipped for the job search process through education, information and access to experienced staff.

Brandeis School of Law graduates have achieved an employment rate above the national average, with 98 percent of the graduating class of 2002 finding jobs within six months of graduation. Nearly two-thirds of those graduates received job offers before graduation.

Career Services provides on-campus interviews for summer and full-time employment in addition to individual job search assistance.

Academic Support, Technology and Facilities
The Brandeis School of Law is housed in Wilson W. Wyatt Hall, a gracious colonial style building overlooking the formal entrance to the U of L campus. Two additions have been made to the original, which was designed by architect Jens Frederick Larson: a library wing completed in 1974 and a new classroom and office wing added in 1982. The integrated complex provides a spacious environment for research, teaching and learning.

The school's law library houses a collection of more than 300,000 volumes and microform volume equivalents, carefully selected to aid student instruction and promote research. The library also receives original briefs of the U.S. Supreme Court-a rare distinction for a law school and a practice originated by Justice Brandeis that continues today.

The law library also features a wireless network and two computer labs exclusively for law students' use. Students conduct research using Westlaw, LexisNexis and other electronic services. The Brandeis School of Law has incorporated instructional technologies into four of its eight classrooms and continues to make significant investments in academic computing.

Financial Aid and Scholarships
The Brandeis School of Law participates in all federally authorized student loan programs and annually commits more than $600,000 to financial aid in the form of recruiting, academic, research, need-based and activity scholarships or awards. Many scholarships are funded by law firms, corporations, alumni and other friends of the law school. All applicants are automatically evaluated for possible scholarship or award eligibility.

A Supportive Family of Alumni
The Brandeis School's nearly 5,500 living alumni serve the legal profession, the business community and allied professions in 49 states and six foreign countries. Local alumni also volunteer their time and expertise in a mentoring program for students and as coaches for moot court competitions.

The school's alumni include the chief justice and deputy chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, members of the U.S. Senate and the Kentucky legislature, and judges in a host of national and state administrative tribunals. Brandeis alumni also include past governors of Kentucky, a past president of the American Bar Association, a past commander of the U.S. Strategic Air Command, the dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law, and the director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Nearly one-third of all Kentucky lawyers and more than half of all Louisville lawyers are graduates of the Brandeis School of Law.

The Brandeis Legacy
Established in 1846, the Brandeis School of Law is one of the nation's oldest law schools in continuous operation and one of the first to require pro bono service as a mandatory part of each student's legal education. That dedication to public service is the heritage of Louis Dembitz Brandeis, a Louisville native, an influential justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939, and a generous benefactor to the law school. The school was named in his honor in 1997.

A nationally renowned business lawyer, Brandeis was also well known for his pro bono work and his efforts to achieve economic, social and political justice. He was one of the most devoted supporters of the law school in his native city, donating his personal library, his personal papers, his money and his time.

While serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, Brandeis aided the school in obtaining the papers of another great figure in Supreme Court history, John Marshall Harlan of Kentucky. He also arranged for the school to receive original briefs filed with the Court, a practice that is still honored today.

Before his death, Brandeis bequeathed much of his estate to the University of Louisville and arranged for his last remains to be buried beneath the school's classical portico.

Brandeis envisioned his "home town" law school becoming a national model in legal education. He believed that law schools should:

Promote interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship (illustrated by his own famous "Brandeis briefs")
Keep classes small, so that teaching and learning can take place in an atmosphere of collegiality
Cultivate an ethic of public service
Be a laboratory for the development of public policy
Today, the Brandeis School of Law strives to embody Brandeis' vision and provide a legal education based on the principles of professionalism, collegiality and the highest integrity.

An Invitation
All prospective students, alums and friends are invited to visit the Brandeis School and to tour its acclaimed facilities. Wilson W. Wyatt Hall is located at 2301 South 3rd Street, at the picturesque "oval" on the Belknap Campus.