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School of Law named to best value list
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The UM School of Law dedicated its new building addition at a ceremony held Sept. 18. The $14.8 million addition adds nearly 46,000 square feet to the original law building, which was built in 1961 and last renovated in 1978.
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The University of Montana School of Law has landed at No. 6 on a list of best value law schools in the nation.
The list was compiled by The National Jurist, a magazine that reaches an estimated 100,000 law students. It appears in the September 2009 issue in an article titled “Best Bang! for your buck.”
The UM law school was lauded for its $10,273 in-state tuition, its bar-passage rate of 95 percent and its 95.7 percent employment rate after graduation.
The best value ranking comes just as the School of Law celebrates the completion of its new building addition.
“We are proud to share this ranking with you,” UM law school Dean Irma Russell said. “The National Jurist runs rigorous comparisons of data to make its determinations. If the Jurist analysts experienced our beautiful new building — set in the splendor of Montana’s mountains — and the profound educational experience at The University of Montana law school today, I am confident they would rank us No. 1 on the list.”
The $14.8 million addition adds nearly 46,000 square feet to the original law building, which was 57,500 square feet before the new addition. Construction began in early 2008, and the building was ready for students when classes started Aug. 31. An official dedication took place on Sept. 18.
“This addition gives the people of Montana a law school building they can truly be proud of,” Russell said.
The new construction adds three floors and a lower level, plus attractive new entrances to the facility with overhanging balconies. The addition includes classrooms with better acoustics, current technology and audio-visual equipment. It also provides better access for students and visitors with disabilities, as well as additional small- and mid-sized classrooms to accommodate the increasing number of elective courses needed to prepare lawyers for legal specialties.
More space also is provided for the school’s clinical program, including its land use, Indian law, criminal defense and mediation clinics. This space includes client interview rooms, student workrooms and office space. The revamped building also contains an expanded law library with current technology to serve the needs of students, faculty, the judiciary, lawyers and the public.
The UM School of Law was founded in 1911. The current building was constructed in 1961, and its last major renovation was in 1978.
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