With the new year, the University of Virginia School of Law is expanding its offerings to students and alumni. This semester, the school is offering a wide array of courses, including Dignity Law, Comparative Family Law, Trade Secret Law, and more. In addition, the school is establishing its Center for Empirical Studies in Law. The Center will train the next generation of lawyers in empirical techniques.
Additionally, the school has a new home with state-of-the-art technology and a grand architectural structure. This building will also feature a brand-new Children’s Law Training Center. Incoming law students will join faculty in fourteen locations across the Midlands.
The school will also launch a Cybersecurity Legal Task Force. Several law professors are working to improve outcomes for juveniles facing potential incarceration. In April, the law school held its first Cybersecurity Legal Institute. This event was sponsored by the LawTech Center. The Center has recruited a national leader in cybersecurity, Karen Painter Randall. She will lead the task force.
Moreover, the law school has launched a program to provide free tax assistance to low-income residents. This program is supported by the Konduros Fisherman Fund, which has donated more than $1 million to the school. In addition, the law school is planning to open its Veterans Legal Clinic, which will provide free legal help to Veterans and their families.
Another major project underway at the school is its collaboration with the City Bar Justice Center. This internship program will allow students to work on social justice issues while gaining hands-on experience with clients. The program has been renamed the Palmetto LEADER. It will crisscross the state to provide legal support to those who need it most.
Incoming law students are some of the most academically accomplished in the school’s history. The new faculty include Jaclyn Cherry, who will return to teaching after a long hiatus, and Bennett Nelson, who joined the school as professor of law in 2007. They will also be joined by Associate Dean for Equity and Diversity, Jan Baker.
This year, the School of Law welcomed 213 new first-year students. They came from as far away as California and Rhode Island. This is the largest enrollment in the school’s history. The student body is also the most diverse.
The law school is focusing on gender non-conforming people, which is a topic that will be explored in a series of thought-provoking programs. The faculty will also host a series on women in the workplace. The law school will encourage students to utilize all of the resources available to them.
This fall, the law school is celebrating its 150th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the school will hold a symposium. The symposium will be held November 2-4. It will include a trip to the site of a landmark court case, Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, and will feature U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito as a keynote speaker.
The University of Virginia School of Law has been recognized for its contributions to the public interest. In addition to its scholarship and research, the school has also been recognized for its efforts to assist low-income individuals. For example, the Law School’s Roadmap Scholars Initiative was developed to help low-income undergraduates apply to leading law schools.