J. Reuben Clark Law School
The J. Reuben Clark Law School [1] is located on the campus of Brigham Young University. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The school is named after J. Reuben Clark, once an apostle of the Church who served in the First Presidency from 1951 until his death in 1961.
Clark was a prominent American attorney at law and dedicated civil servant. He was appointed Assistant Solicitor, then Solicitor in the United States Department of State, and Under Secretary of State for U.S. president Calvin Coolidge. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from November 1930 to February 1933.
The BYU Law School was founded in 1973. The students learn in an intellectually and spiritually invigorating community where students look forward to using their legal skills in service throughout the world. "The development of moral character and enlightened devotion to the rule of law are hallmarks of a BYU Law School education." [2] The Law School is accredited by the American Bar Association, is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, and has a chapter of the Order of the Coif.
BYU comes in at No. 20 overall in the 2024 Best Colleges in America rankings from The Wall Street Journal and College Pulse, joining the likes of Princeton, MIT, Yale, Stanford and Harvard in the top 25.
Some facts about the Law School:
- The Howard W. Hunter Law Library contains more than 450,000 volumes and volume equivalents, wireless Internet, individual study desks.
- The Law School has a diverse Student Body: More than 70 percent of each entering class has second language ability; 20 states and 6 foreign countries represented; 53 undergraduate institutions represented. Approximately half of the students have lived abroad for at least a year engaging in various work, education, and volunteer activities. In 2018, 52 percent of the entering class were women.[3]
- Supreme Court Clerkships: Fifteen United States Supreme Court Clerkships.[4]
- Employment Statistics: 81.7 percent employment rate at graduation for class of 2024.
- Externships: Students are placed in externships in almost every type of legal office and in a wide range of practice areas. Externs are routinely placed in: law firms, corporations, judge’s chambers, public interest agencies, and government offices. More than a third of the students participate in International opportunities.[5]
Joint Degree Programs
The J. Reuben Clark Law School offers the Juris Doctor degree and an LLM in comparative law for foreign trained attorneys. The School also offers the following joint degree programs with the Marriott School of Business:
- JD/MBA in law and business administration
- JD/MPA in law and public administration
- JD/MACC in law and accounting
Journals
The J. Reuben Clark Law School produces the following journals:
- BYU Law Review
- BYU Education and Law Journal
- BYU Journal of Public Law
The School's Mission
The educational objectives stated by the Law School are to ...
- •Prepare students for meaningful careers and contributions in the diverse settings of a global legal market by focusing on the key competencies of a legal education grounded in legal theory, enhanced by experiential learning, and enlightened by the laws of God. A BYU legal education will:
- Afford students opportunities to develop leadership, transactional, and litigation skills.
- Equip students with cross-cultural competence, preparing them to engage and communicate effectively across difference.
- Inspire students to acquire and maintain the highest levels of professionalism, civility, and ethics.
- Embrace a whole-building approach, engaging every member of the BYU Law community in developing the professional competencies, character, and diversity of our students’ gifts.
- •Develop and facilitate world-class, innovative scholarship, and engage in respectful, civil dialogue that welcomes a diversity of voices and beliefs in an environment of intellectual honesty, academic freedom, and abiding faith.
- •Invite all members of our community to develop a service-oriented mindset and provide opportunities to use legal skills to aid those in need.
- •Instill respect for the U.S. Constitution, human rights, and the rule of law.[6]
The School also sponsors the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
Read about J. Reuben Clark.
