About the University of St. Thomas School of Law

Mission Statement

The University of St. Thomas School of Law, as a Catholic law school, is dedicated to integrating faith and reason in the search for truth through a focus on morality and social justice.

Recent Achievements

• The University of St. Thomas School of Law was granted full accreditation by the American Bar Association in February 2006.  We had anticipated that the vote on full accreditation would be taken at the ABA annual meeting in August 2006.  After St. Thomas moved so successfully through the process, the ABA voted to grant full accreditation six months sooner than expected.
• According to the NALP annual report, the University of St. Thomas School of Law graduates are employed at a higher rate than the national average for recent graduates.  At the time of the report, 113 of our 120 graduates, representing 94.2% of the class, were employed or in graduate school.  National statistics will not be released until July 2007, but so far our statistics appear to be above the national average again. 
• Several of our programs have received national recognition recently:   In its “Best Graduate Schools 2006 issue, U.S. News and World Report magazine ranked the University of St. Thomas School of Law in the top 20 legal writing programs in the country.  In 2005, the Mentor Externship Program was recognized twice by the American Bar Association for its unique and outstanding contributions to professionalism in the legal community.  In June, the program received the coveted E. Smyth Gambrell Professionalism Award which recognized projects contributing to the understanding of professionalism among lawyers.  And in April, the Mentor Externship program was also one of three national finalists for the American Bar Association award on innovations in teaching professionalism. 

Our Students

Fall 2006 Entering Class

Median LSAT: 156                   75% LSAT: 159 25% LSAT: 153	Men: 57% Women: 43% Minorities: 14%
Median GPA: 3.42 75% GPA: 3.71 25% GPA: 2.91	States Represented: 20 Students with Advanced Degrees: 8 Universities Represented: 71

 

Grading System

Although specific degree requirements may be found in the School of Law catalog, the general grading system for the University of St. Thomas School of Law is as follows:
 
A  (Excellence) 4.0 quality points 
A-  3.7 quality points 
B+ 3.3 quality points I Incomplete
B   3.0 quality points R     Registered, no credit
B-  2.7 quality points S Satisfactory
C+ 2.3 quality points W Withdrawal
C   (Minimal Performance)  2.0 quality points 
C-  1.7 quality points 
D+ 1.3 quality points 
D   (Unsatisfactory) 1.0 quality points 
D-  0.7 quality points 
F   0.0 quality points 

First year classes (except for Lawyering Skills) must have a class average that falls between 2.75 and 2.85. All Second and Third Years courses that have 45 or more students enrolled must have a class average between 2.95 and 3.05.  Faculty for all other upper level courses (with less than 45 students) are encouraged to use these guidelines, but it is not mandatory.

Academic Awards

Dean’s List

A student is placed on the Dean’s List when his/her semester G.P.A. is in the top 15% of the class. 

Dean’s Award for Academic Performance

A student receives a Dean’s Award when he/she has the top grade in an individual course.

Programs

Law Journal: Fides et Iustitia

The University of St. Thomas Law Journal embodies the school's unique mission by publishing excellent legal scholarship that inspires ethical and moral decision-making with an emphasis on social justice. The Journal hosts a series of on campus symposia designed to advance the mission and explore the theme reflected in its Latin subtitle, translated "faith and justice."

The semiannual symposia supply the bulk of the material for each issue. The format promotes meaningful exploration of an intriguing legal issue and encourages substantial collaboration between Law Journal and faculty members. Law Journal members are chosen each year through a closed brief write-on competition.

Moot Court

The University of St. Thomas Board of Advocates oversees an active program providing students with opportunities to participate in interscholastic and intramural moot court, client counseling, negotiation and trial advocacy competitions.   Last year the board sponsored nine interscholastic moot court teams that traveled to six competitions throughout the United States. Four of the teams placed at the semi-finalist level or better:
• At the Evans Constitutional Moot Court competition at the University of Wisconsin, UST placed second.  The team also received second place for best respondent’s brief.
• UST was a regional semi-finalist at the Jessup International Law Moot Court in Washington DC.
• At the McGee Moot Court Competition hosted by the University of Minnesota, a team from UST finished as a quarterfinalist.
• The team participating in the Fredrick Douglass BLSA Moot Court finished as a quarterfinalist. 

In the two years that the Board of Advocates has been involved in negotiation competitions, UST has placed first and second in the regional round of the ABA Law Students Division’s Negotiation Competition in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, respectively.  The 2005-2006 team was invited to, and participated, in the Competition at the national level.

All second-year students are eligible to compete in the tournament competition in which members of the interscholastic teams are selected.  Because the University of St. Thomas Moot Court Team is selected in the spring of each year, interscholastic moot court will not appear on the resume of second year law students.

Clinical Program
UST has a unique multidisciplinary clinic. Law students work side-by-side in the clinic with students from other UST graduate programs, such as professional psychology and social work. UST Law students gain practical legal training by performing legal tasks under the supervision of experienced lawyers employed as clinical instructors. UST Law students also learn to take a broad, humanistic approach to assessing and meeting the needs of clients. Students are selected to participate in clinic through a competitive process.

Mentor Externship Program

The mentor externship program is a critical piece of the University of St. Thomas Law School's mission and vision. The mentor program has three primary goals.  Students receive an experiential look at the practice of law.  The program teaches students the highest ideals of professionalism.  Finally, it fosters an intergenerational conversation between law students and experienced attorneys.

Through the Mentor Program, each student is paired with a practicing attorney or judge who introduces them to the practice of law and the profession. Students participate in a variety of experiences.  Students interested in litigation may attend depositions or observe trials. Mentors may invite students to join them at a bar association meeting or a legislative hearing.  Transactional attorneys may invite students to negotiations or help them review legal documents. Throughout the year students and their mentors discuss what they have observed as well as larger issues of professional development.  It is the hope of the UST Law community that the Mentor Program will foster the habit and skill of reflective lawyering resulting in better rounded attorneys.

University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy (a student organization)

During the past year, a group of students founded an organization that will publish the University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy.  The mission of this student organization is to advance the ideals embodied in the mission statement of The University of St. Thomas School of Law through the exploration of conservative legal thought, public policy and social justice.