KU Law Viewbook | 2025-2026

University of Kansas School of Law

Viewbook 2025-2026

A law school WHERE VALUE MATTERS.

At KU Law, we don’t define value in traditional terms. Instead, we ask what we can give our students that will help them succeed anywhere they imagine.

We’ll equip you with the deep knowledge and practice-ready skills to achieve your goals. With programs in areas as diverse as corporate law, international law, public interest law and others, Jayhawk lawyers have been exploring new horizons near and far for more than 145 years.

You’ll build connections with nationally recognized legal scholars. You’ll form lasting bonds with your classmates. And you’ll find a home in a top 10 college town.

Ready to discover the value of a degree from KU Law? your travel guide.

We support our students like no other law school

Law school is an adventure, but at times it can be a long road. Here at KU Law, we believe you can be successful, but only if we do our part by supporting you the best we can. That is why we have a series of programs designed to help you overcome the emergencies, the financial barriers and the health and wellness challenges many law students face. We do this in a number of ways, but always with the intention of putting you in the best position possible.

• Every student assigned a faculty advisor

• Dean’s Fellows program

• Alumni mentoring program

• Three to one student mentoring program

• Academic skills and support

• Emergency funds for students

• Need-based scholarship fund

• Mental health counseling

• Professional clothes closet

• Public interest stipend

GETTING STARTED

The first-year experience

First-year Lawyering

class size is 18 to 22 students.

The KU Law program starts with a five-day Lawyering Boot Camp. Our faculty will provide you with the essential tools to excel in law school, then take you on a deep dive into the case law that forms the basis of a legal education. From how to read a case to how to properly outline a class, you will be ready for success.

CURRICULUM

The first year of law school sets the foundation for your legal career. KU Law faculty with extensive practice experience prepare you for intellectual and practical challenges in law school and beyond. The program begins with a core curriculum of doctrinal classes. You’ll learn Contracts, Constitutional Law, Property and other key subjects. Adding to that base, our first-year Lawyering Skills and Foundations in Law classes provide a full spectrum of preparation, from writing to training in negotiation, mediation, professionalism and other skills.

SMALL CLASS SIZES

What makes it all work? Small class sizes. Nearly half of your first-year classes meet in small sections. These small working groups allow for personal interaction with professors and an informal learning environment that encourages in-depth discussion and critical analysis. The trend continues for second- and third-year classes, with a median class size of 15.

FIRST-YEAR CLASSES

Upper-level courses and concentrations SPECIALIZE WITH PURPOSE

You’ve conquered your first-year requirements. Now you have access to more than 100 upper-level courses in a variety of practice areas. You have learned legal analysis and legal writing; now we want to provide you with the knowledge base and advanced skill sets you will need to excel in a career in law. At KU Law we have tracks for students to go in just about every area of law. Here are just a few we are known for.

CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL

The school’s faculty in business and commercial law includes internationally known scholars. Our professors have special expertise in areas such as entrepreneurship, corporate governance, securities regulation and commercial finance, as well as international trade, investment and dispute resolution.

PUBLIC INTEREST & GOVERNMENT

To prepare students to practice public law, KU Law offers a curriculum of gateway and substantive courses in several major public law areas. Skills simulation courses in this area include First Amendment Advocacy and the Public Policy Practicum. Students in the Sixth Semester in D.C. program can explore government and policy externships in our nation’s capital.

law.ku.edu/academics

10 JOINT DEGREES

Including Social Work, Business, Public Administration and Journalism

4 LAW DEGREE PROGRAMS

J.D. | 2-Year J.D. for Foreign-Trained Lawyers | L.L.M. in American Legal Studies | Doctor of Juridical Science

8 CERTIFICATES

Including International Trade & Finance, Business & Commercial Law, Advocacy Skills and Social Justice

GENERAL PRACTICE

#25 Environmental Law #17 Legal Writing #29 Dispute Resolution

U.S. News & World Report 2025

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Many KU Law students seek to serve the needs of their community by entering into general practice. Students will study a broad range of classes including advocacy, trusts and estates, commercial law and other related coursework.

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

The law school offers an array of courses in environmental, energy and natural resources law. Students can enroll in introductory survey courses and advanced seminars. KU Law also offers the Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Law Certificate.

CRIMINAL

Second- and third-year students can expand their knowledge through classes on constitutional criminal procedure and hands-on learning opportunities. Specialized courses cover topics including capital punishment, juvenile law and mass incarceration.

Social justice lawyers work to challenge the systems that create unequal status hierarchies and thus give tangible meaning to democratic ideals in the everyday lives of marginalized individuals and communities. At KU Law, students immerse themselves in related coursework and by experiencing internships and externships at public interest and legal aid organizations locally and nationally.

INTERNATIONAL

KU Law offers a first-class program in international and comparative law. At its core is a menu of courses in the areas most relevant to practice around the world, including international business and commercial law, intellectual property law, environmental law and dispute resolution.

LITIGATION

KU Law prepares its students for the courtroom with simulation classes taught by both faculty and practitioners. Once grounded in the fundamentals, students can get live courtroom experience with our many clinics and externships.

Nearly 80% of upper-level classes

have 25 or fewer students.

Hands-on learning opportunities LEARN FROM EXPERENCE

Sixty years ago, KU Law started its first clinic: the Paul E. Wilson Project for Innocence. Today, students have access to an experiential learning program that includes live-client clinics, field placements and skills simulations. You can take and defend depositions, write and argue mock appellate briefs, represent state and federal inmates in post-conviction appeals, and more — all under the direction of clinical faculty, practicing attorneys and judges.

ADVOCACY COMPETITIONS

Competition is fun and challenging and helps build your skills. At KU Law, you can participate in moot court, mock trial and transactional law competitions. In your second year, you can enter the in-house moot court competition, drafting an appellate brief and arguing before a mock “U.S. Supreme Court.” Top teams form the Moot Court Council and represent KU Law at national and international competitions.

6TH SEMESTER IN D.C. PROGRAM

Interested in policy and change? 6th Semester in Washington, D.C. students spend their 3L spring semester living, learning, working and connecting in our nation’s capital. Through externships at many of D.C.’s leading institutions, the program opens doors for students in Washington and beyond. Students have secured placements at organizations such as the EPA, NAACP, Department of Homeland Security, PBS, Senate Judiciary Committee and Department of Justice.

law.ku.edu/6th-semester

is ranked among the top 30 KU Law’s Moot Court Program

For the tenth consecutive year, most successful programs in the country.

500 seats available in hands-on learning

clinical or field placement spot, with more than 100% of eligible students can take a courses for students in 2024-2025.

Richard Weber, L’24

Medical-Legal Partnership

Kristen Andrews, L’23

Field Placement | The University of Kansas Health System at KU Medical Center

“Through the Medical-Legal Partnership, I was exposed to different legal areas and people, giving me a healthy dose of what I might expect upon graduation.”

Field Placement Program | Externship with Kansas Athletics

“During my time with Kansas Athletics, I improved my legal research and writing skills. But perhaps more importantly, I improved my ability to navigate unfamiliar areas of law and think outside the box when answering legal questions.”

Sam Mousa, L’27

Field Placement Program | 4th Judicial District

Attorney’s Office in Colorado Springs

“The District Attorney’s Office has given me an invaluable experience, characterized by autonomy, responsibility and mentorship. I was able to do meaningful work that contributed to high-profile trials. I have been given countless tools to help prepare for a career in litigation, including an offer to return during my 2L summer.”

Real-world practice

Translate classroom theory into real-world practice in one of our clinical and field placement programs. We’re talking real clients, real cases and real opportunities to make a difference for individuals and communities. Not only will you be testing your knowledge and gaining confidence — you’ll be showing employers you’re ready to hit the ground running.

CLINICS

• Legal Aid Clinic

• Project for Innocence

• Veterans Legal Support Clinic

• Tribal Judicial Support Clinic

FIELD PLACEMENTS

• Criminal Prosecution

• Elder Law

• 6th Semester in D.C.

• Judicial

• Medical-Legal Partnership

SKILLS SIMULATIONS

KU Law skills simulations provide training in advanced litigation, contract drafting, First Amendment advocacy, legal research, trial advocacy and more. Veteran attorneys teach Deposition Skills, Due Diligence in Business Transactions and Jury Selection workshops, providing guidance and feedback as you practice with your peers. Taught in the same way top firms train new associates, these courses offer hands-on experience developing litigation and business law skills.

EXPERT FACULTY

Your professors at KU Law are scholars and lawyers recognized nationally and abroad as leaders in their fields. Many have written the casebooks used in their classrooms and, frequently, at law schools across the country. With decades of experience in practice and in the classroom, they will constantly challenge and engage you.

Raj Bhala

They will also offer advice and guidance as you navigate the challenges of becoming a lawyer. Faculty offices surround and open into the heart of Green Hall: the Wheat Law Library. You’re never more than a few steps away from your teachers and mentors, and their doors are always open to students.

U.S. law schools for rank among the top 25% of all

KU Law faculty members scholarly impact.

Jean Phillips

Clinical Professor of Law Director, Project for Innocence

31 Years teaching law and supervising clinical students

70+

Direct appeals, constitutional challenges and actual innocence cases won with assistance of students in the Project for Innocence

8.8-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.

Know your professors.

best college town in the U.S., Lawrence is ranked the #6

according to Livability (2019).

Unmistakably Lawrence

When you come to KU Law, you don’t just get an outstanding legal education — you get to live in a top 10 college town with hundreds of things to do. It’s large enough to give a big-city vibe, but small enough to make you feel right at home. A stunning hilltop campus overlooks the Kansas River and a vibrant downtown, where you can discover concert venues and streetcorner musicians, browse locally owned art galleries and boutiques, and satisfy your craving for just about any food imaginable.

Ideally located between the state capital and Kansas City, Lawrence gives you quick access to shopping, entertainment and an international airport. This geographic advantage also equates to outstanding employment opportunities, 20 minutes west in Topeka (the seat of state government) and 40 minutes east in Kansas City (home to major corporations, law firms and a tech-fueled start-up culture).

VISIT KU LAW

As

FIND YOUR TEAMMATES

Friends, traditions, organizations

You and your classmates are on this journey together, becoming fast friends and forming relationships that will last long after you leave Green Hall.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

KU Law students take full advantage of opportunities outside of the classroom. You can get involved in student government, intramural sports and student organizations. There are dozens of student interest groups at the law school alone and more than 600 across campus. More than social clubs, many of these groups contribute dollars and hours of service to the KU and Lawrence communities.

TRADITIONS

A history more than 145 years in the making has produced a legacy of traditions and pastimes at KU Law: camping out for prime student seats at Allen Fieldhouse, where the Kansas Jayhawks dominate in basketball; inspiring your classmates and professors to donate thousands of dollars to area families in need; and testing your legal citation prowess in a fast-paced relay that pits small sections against one another in friendly competition. KU Law traditions bond students together across classes and generations: Thanksgiving Food Drive; Pub Night fundraiser for women’s charities; Diversity in Law Banquet; Barber Emerson Bluebook Relays and the Walk to “Old” Green Hall.

SO MANY CHOICES

KU Law student groups cover a wide range of interests and affinities. A few options: Black Law Students Association l Energy & Environmental Law Society l First-Generation Professionals l Hispanic American Law Student Association l International Law Society l Military & Veterans Society l OUTLaws & Accomplices l Sports Law Society l Women in Law

top-notch recreation facilities and miles

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

One-to-one career planning

Your path to success starts the day you enter Green Hall. The Career Services Office takes an intensive one-to-one approach, developing a career strategy that is unique to you and your aspirations.

While most graduates enter legal practice with law firms, government agencies and corporations, others seek out nontraditional careers with consultancies, nonprofits and startups. Through individual and group programming, the Career Services

Office will help you discover the breadth of amazing opportunities available to you and develop a detailed plan for launching the career you want.

Our office will connect you with the powerful network of KU Law graduates practicing throughout the region, across the country and around the world — opening doors that will assist you in securing your first job and throughout your career.

DISCOVER

President/CEO of UnidosUS, nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization

the

JANET MURGUIA, L’85

CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

EXPLORE

Earns 3 KU degrees, building Jayhawk network that opens doors

legal careers with public interest organizations, KU Law grads have enjoyed successful such as the ACLU, Amara Legal, Kansas Appleseed, Kansas Holistic Defenders, Kansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Western Missouri.

IMAGINE

EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS

10 months of graduation. had full-time, long-term legal jobs within 97% of KU Law graduates in the Class of 2024

Career Services helps you make connections

Summer Stipend

Exploration

A J.D. opens doors to a diverse array of career paths, and we help you learn about them. The Career Exploration Series invites panelists from a variety of practice areas to discuss their jobs in sessions specifically for 1Ls. Additionally, nearly 100 representatives — from large and small firms to state and federal agencies, nonprofits, corporations and more — converge at KU Law for the fall career and recruitment fair. They provide insights into the many legal careers available to you, and the connections you make can lead to summer and post-graduate employment.

Program

Students gain practical experience with summer internships, but sometimes great internships, particularly those in public service, are unpaid or low-paid. For that reason, KU Law has enlisted the help of donors to provide stipends for students pursuing these opportunities.

In summer 2025, KU Law distributed more than $100,000 to support students interning at public interest organizations including prosecutors’ offices, public defense agencies, government agencies, courts and non-profits across the country.

Many credentials pair well with a law degree and help our graduates find jobs. KU Law offers an innovative Credential Stipend Program to help cover the costs of these additional credentials, including preparing for and taking certification exams. In the past few years, students have used this stipend to pursue credentials in data privacy, chartered financial analyst, sustainable business strategy, and to prepare for the Patent Bar and Customs Broker exams.

Job Searches Support for Out-of-State Interviewing Speed Mock

Each year, the Career Services Office commits funds to assisting our students who are looking for jobs outside of Kansas and the Kansas City area. A Travel Stipend Program supports students wanting to attend job fairs or interviews across the country. Stipends can cover expenses including travel, lodging and mileage reimbursement. No matter where you want to go, the KU Law Career Services Office is ready to invest in helping you make your career goals a reality.

Spring is a busy time for first-year law students, in part because the summer job search season is in full swing. During interactive networking events, KU Law brings together dozens of successful alumni to work with students and help them hone their interviewing skills. You will connect with potential mentors in a wide range of practice areas during the CSO’s Speed Mock Interview sessions and other career development programs with KU Law alumni.

100%

overall employment for Class of 2024 within 10 months of graduation. $0.00

FREE: that’s the cost of KU Law’s Bar Prep Program for all students, offered in partnership with Themis and thanks to the generostiy of donors.

#24

Ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 top 50 public law schools. #50

Ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 top law schools. 90% or better

Overall employment + full-time grad school for KU Law graduates 11 years in a row.

$40,000

Amount of donor-funded stipends given to support students pursuing internships in rural and smaller markets in Kansas in summer 2025.

JAYHAWK FLIGHT

Go anywhere

Josh DeMoss, L’17 Foreign Service Officer

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Embassy | Beijing, China

“KU Law launched my career across continents. The world class education prepared me for international service, and I’ve found supportive KU Law alumni everywhere — from America’s Heartland to major international cities. Whether practicing law at home or serving abroad, KU Law’s network has your back.”

PATTERNS

Wherever you end up, the Jayhawk lawyer network will be there to welcome and support you. More than 8,000 KU Law alumni live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories and numerous foreign countries.

International & Comparative Law Program

KU Law offers a first-class program in international and comparative law. At its core is an extensive menu of courses in the areas most relevant to practice around the world, including international business and commercial law, intellectual property law, environmental law and international dispute resolution.

Our professors are scholars and lawyers recognized nationally and abroad as leaders in their fields. With decades of experience in practice and in the classroom, faculty challenge and engage students in small class settings.

Conferences and guest lectures, study abroad opportunities, international moot court programs, active student organizations and a friendly, cosmopolitan environment round out the experience.

In addition to the three-year Juris Doctor (J.D.) program, KU Law offers a Two-Year J.D. for Foreign-Trained Lawyers, a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in American Legal Studies and a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.).

FREE BAR PREPARATION

Bar prep is expensive; KU Law has you covered

At graduation, most law students borrow and spend several thousand dollars to enroll in a private bar prep course to prepare for the bar exam. At KU Law, we’ve taken care of that by partnering with Themis Bar Review to offer KU Law’s Bar Prep Program, which is funded by KU Law alumni.

At no cost to them, all KU Law students receive:

• Post-graduation Themis Bar Review course

• Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam preparation course

• Themis first-year and upper-level Law School Essentials materials

• First-year diagnostic exam

• Option to enroll in Extended Bar Exam Prep course for J.D. credit

• Assistance from KU’s bar preparation director

Your KU Law degree empowers you to succeed in your career and on the bar exam. KU Law’s Free Bar Prep Program will help you clear that final hurdle without additional financial pressure.

#6 BEST VALUE

KU Law is ranked as the #6 Best Value Law School in the country by National Jurist Magazine, a rating that considers affordability, employment and bar exam success.

#28 RANK FOR FIRSTTIME BAR PASS

92.2% of the KU Law Class of 2024 passed the bar exam on the first attempt — the 28th best first-time bar pass rate in the country.

September

Sept. 1 // Application available. law.ku.edu/apply

Ongoing // Check Admissions events to find out if a KU Law rep will be visiting your area. KU Law also attends virtual recruiting events in the fall. law.ku.edu/admissions-events

October

Oct. 1 // Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available. fafsa.gov

Fall 2025

Ongoing // Virtual Info Sessions.

Meet with the Office of Admissions online. Join us for regularly scheduled information sessions this fall. law.ku.edu/connect

February

Feb. 20 // Priority deadline for admission and scholarship consideration.

GETTING HERE

Important dates & deadlines

March

March 1 // Priority date to file the FAFSA. File earlier if you can.

March 27-28 // Admitted Students Weekend

If you’ve been admitted, register for Admitted Students Weekend.

April

April 7 // First seat deposit due

June

June 15 // Second seat deposit due.

June/July

Schedule a visit. law.ku.edu/visit

Start looking for housing. law.ku.edu/housing

August

Attend orientation and start classes.

law.ku.edu/apply

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