Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
MottoScientia, Ars, Officium
Knowledge, Skill, Duty
Parent schoolDrexel University
Established2006 (2006)
Parent endowment$722 million (2016)[1]
DeanDaniel M. Filler
LocationPhiladelphia, PA
USNWR ranking80th (2024)[2]
Websitedrexel.edu/law

The Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law[3] (previously the "Earle Mack School of Law") is the law school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[4][5] Established in 2006, it offers Juris Doctor, LLM and Master of Legal Studies degrees and provides for its students to take part in a cooperative education program.[6][7][8][9]

History

In 2005, Drexel University announced its plans to create a new law school adjacent to the Drexel University Main Campus W. W. Hagerty library in West Philadelphia. That same year Drexel received approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to start the school.[10] The decision to launch a law school with cooperative education in a city with five other law schools was based on a demand for graduates with immediate experience, with the president of Drexel University, Constantine Papadakis, saying that employers "like to hire a graduate and have them immediately be useful."[11] The School of Law joins Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Rutgers University, and Widener University to become the sixth law school in the Delaware Valley. The School of Law is the first new law school to be opened by a doctoral university in a 25-year period nationwide.[12]

The School of Law building during construction in 2006

The School of Law's inaugural class began classes on August 16, 2006. Due to a shortage of construction materials in 2006, caused in part by the need in the gulf coast due to Hurricane Katrina, construction on the building was delayed, resulting in classes being held on Drexel University's Main Campus and within the Jenkins Law Library and the auditorium of the National Constitution Center.[13] The first class was expected to be composed of 120 students; ultimately, the inaugural class consisted of 183 students with an incoming median GPA of 3.4 and a median LSAT score of 156.[14][15] On May 1, 2008, the Drexel University College of Law was renamed the Earle Mack School of Law in honor of Earle I. Mack, a Drexel University alumnus, after a donation of $15 million dollars.[16]

In 2013, the school's name was changed from Earle Mack School of Law to Drexel University School of Law to create new fund-raising opportunities by opening the naming rights.[17]

In 2014, it received a $50 million gift from Thomas R. Kline, a trial lawyer in Philadelphia, and was renamed after him.[18] The gift, which was the single largest in Drexel University's history and the fifth largest received by a law school, was designated for the support of scholarship and to enhance the school's Trial Advocacy Program.[3] The gift includes the conveyance of an historic building designed by Horace Trumbauer. Thomas R. Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy will move into the building and be used for courtroom simulations, Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs, and development of the Master of Laws (LLM) program.[3]

Academics

The school offers Juris Doctor, LLM and Master of Legal Studies degrees, as well as joint-degree programs for those pursuing a degree through Drexel University's LeBow College of Business, School of Public Health, Department of Psychology and Center for Public Policy.[6][7][8][19] It received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association in February 2008 enabling the first graduating class, 2009, to take the bar exam upon graduation.[20] The school offers optional concentrations in business and entrepreneurship law, criminal law, health law, and intellectual property law and as of 2019 has 134 full and part-time faculty members.[12][21] The School of Law is the first to have enrolled all of its students in the Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section.[22][23] The students also have automatic membership to the Jenkins Law Library.[24] In addition to admittance to the Law Library students also publish a Law Review, Drexel Law Review, which is published semiannually.[25] In August 2011, after three years of being provisionally accredited, the American Bar Association granted the School of Law full accreditation.[26]

Cooperative education

The front glass panels of the School of Law building

Like Drexel University's cooperative education program, the School of Law offers cooperative education for its students. The School of Law is the second law school in the country to have a co-op program for law students, the first being Northeastern University.[11] The first co-op cycle for the school started in September 2007 and over ninety area corporations, law offices, judiciary positions, non-profit organizations, and government offices offered internship positions.[27][28][29]

During their first year at school students concentrate on basics such as legal writing and contracts before starting their first six-month co-op cycle.[30] In order to be eligible to participate in the program students must complete their first year with a minimum GPA and satisfy any job orientation that is required. While on co-op students are required to work at least 20 hours a week at their position and take an additional 3 credit hours in either a class or an approved academic program.[31]

Beginning with the class that enrolled in 2014, all students are required to complete at least one co-op placement or a clinical placement in addition to providing a minimum of 50 hours of pro bono service.[32]

Rankings

In 2022, U.S. News ranked Drexel the 78th best law school in the country.[33]

From 2006–2011 the School of Law went "unranked" on the U.S. News & World Report as provisionally accredited law schools cannot be ranked.[34] On the 2020 list of "Best Law Schools" by the U.S. News & World Report the School of Law was ranked 93 out of 201 schools. The law school's Trial Advocacy program was ranked 11th; the Health Law program was ranked 23rd, the Clinical Training program was ranked 40th and the Legal Writing program was ranked 14th.[35] In July 2013, the School of Law had an 81.9% Pennsylvania Bar Examination passage rate for 1st time test takers.[36] In July 2014, the School of Law had an 87.5% Pennsylvania Bar Examination passage rate for 1st time test takers.[37]

Career Planning

Placement

According to Drexel's official 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 80.6% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[38] The school was scored among the top 25 law schools in the U.S. for job outcomes, based on employment outcomes for the Class of 2016 by Law School Transparency.[39] The National Law Journal ranked the school 30th in the U.S. for its employment outcomes, based on its placements for graduates in the Class of 2016.[40]

ABA Employment Summary for 2019 Graduates[41]
Employment Status Percentage
Employed - Bar Passage Required
 
 80.6%
Employed - J.D. Advantage
 
 9.7%
Employed - Professional Position
 
 3.0%
Employed - Non-Professional Position
 
 0%
Employed - Undeterminable
 
 0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time
 
 2.2%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred
 
 0%
Unemployed - Not Seeking
 
 0%
Unemployed - Seeking
 
 3.0%
Employment Status Unknown
 
 1.5%
Total of 134 Graduates

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Drexel for the 2014–2015 academic year is $62,842.[42] The website Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $234,910.[43] Based on cost of attendance and financial aid data (that the law school is required by the American Bar Association to disclose to prospective students), the average accumulated debt for students who graduated in 2013 was $98,820.[44]

Facilities

In 2005, the Philadelphia Planning Commission approved Drexel's then estimated $13 million temporary law school.[45] Construction on the temporary law school building began in the fall of 2006 and was completed during the winter term. The $14 million building opened for classes on January 8, 2007.[13]

The 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) complex features a moot courtroom, a two-floor library, a two-story atrium for meetings and casual conversation, faculty/staff offices, and several rooms available for students to meet and work. The building also shares Drexel's campus-wide wireless Internet access.[46]

The law school also has a second building, the Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy located at 1200 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. This building features a mock courtroom built to scale to replicate real trials for students.[47]

References

  1. ↑ "Drexel Performance Outperforms, in Top 11 Percent". November 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Drexel University (Kline)". Best Law Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 D'Annunzio, P.J. (18 September 2014), "Drexel Renames Law School After Kline Donates $50 Mil.", The Legal Intelligencer, retrieved 2015-01-10
  4. ↑ "School of Law Receives Unprecedented $50 Million Gift from Thomas R. Kline - Kline School of Law". Kline School of Law (Press release). September 17, 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  5. ↑ Joel Mathis (September 18, 2014). "Drexel Renames Law School After Thomas R. Kline". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  6. 1 2 "Courses and JD Requirements". Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  7. 1 2 "LLM in American Legal Practice". Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  8. 1 2 "Master of Legal Studies Program". Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  9. ↑ Key, Peter (2005-04-21). "Drexel outlines law school plan". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  10. ↑ "Drexel University Board of Trustees Authorizes University to Open College of Law". BusinessWire. 2005-09-28. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  11. 1 2 Pfeiffer, Sacha (2005-10-20). "New co-op law school will compete with Northeastern". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  12. 1 2 American Bar Association (2019-12-04). "Drexel University - 2019 Standard 509 Information Report". ABA. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  13. 1 2 Blumenthal, Jeff (2006-09-15). "First response to Drexel law school exceeds expectations". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  14. ↑ Blumenthal, Jeff (2007-11-02). "Drexel's law school hopes to be accredited by summer". Philadelphia Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  15. ↑ Dubey, Aditi (2006-08-11). "College of Law to open next week". The Triangle. Archived from the original on 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  16. ↑ "Drexel U. names law school". Philadelphia Business Journal. 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  17. ↑ Moran, Robert (2013-12-18). "At Drexel law school, a donor's name comes down". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  18. ↑ Mondics, Chris (19 September 2014), "Trial lawyer Kline gives $50M to Drexel law school", The Philadelphia Inquirer, retrieved 2015-01-10
  19. ↑ "Joint Degree Programs". Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  20. ↑ Neil, Martha (2008-05-07). "Drexel Gets Higher Profile Due to ABA Provisional Accreditation". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  21. ↑ "Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law". U.S. News & World Report. 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  22. ↑ Dubey, Aditi (2007-03-09). "Philadelphia Bar Association recognizes Drexel CoL". The Triangle. Archived from the original on 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  23. ↑ "Philadelphia Bar Association Recognizes College of Law". Drexel Daily Digest. 2007-03-08. Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  24. ↑ "The Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University: Jenkins Law Library". Earle Mack School of Law. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  25. ↑ "Drexel Law Review". Earle Mack School of Law. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  26. ↑ Blumenthal, Jeff (2011-08-05). "Drexel's law school gets full ABA accreditation". Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  27. ↑ "Law Co-op Education: Overview". Earle Mack School of Law. 2007-04-11. Archived from the original on 2007-04-03. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  28. ↑ Baxter, Brian (December 15, 2006). "Founding Father: Carl Oxholm III, GC of Drexel University". Law.com. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
  29. ↑ "The Earle Mack School of Law Co-op Program: Co-op Partners". Earle Mack School of Law. 2010-03-16. Archived from the original on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  30. ↑ Blumenthal, Jeff (2006-04-28). "Drexel law school surpasses goal for 1st class admissions". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  31. ↑ "Law School: Co-op Highlights". Earle Mack School of Law. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  32. ↑ "JD Degree and Graduation Requirements for the Class of 2017". Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  33. ↑ "Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law".
  34. ↑ Blumenthal, Jeff (2011-03-24). "After scandal, Villanova Law falls in U.S. News rankings". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  35. ↑ "Best Law Schools". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  36. ↑ "PA Bar Exam Statistics" (PDF) (PDF). Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
  37. ↑ "PA Bar Exam Statistics" (PDF) (PDF). Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  38. ↑ "Class of 2019 Employment Outcomes". Kline School of Law. 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  39. ↑ "LawS School Transparency".
  40. ↑ "National Law Journal ranking".
  41. ↑ "Class of 2019 Employment Outcomes". 8 April 2021.
  42. ↑ "Costs of Attendance for First Year Students". Archived from the original on 2014-06-18.
  43. ↑ "Drexel University Profile".
  44. ↑ "Drexel University - 2013 Standard 509 Information Report" (PDF). Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  45. ↑ Blumenthal, Jeff (September 29, 2005). "Drexel Trustees Approve New Law School". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  46. ↑ "The Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University: Law Building". Earle Mack School of Law. 2010-03-11. Archived from the original on May 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  47. ↑ "Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy". Kline School of Law. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2022-01-20.

39°57′19″N 75°11′25″W / 39.9554°N 75.1904°W / 39.9554; -75.1904

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