Mississippi College School of Law

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Mississippi College
School of Law
MottoMotion to succeed
Parent schoolMississippi College
Established1930
School typePrivate
Parent endowment$44 million [1]
DeanPatricia Bennett
LocationJackson, Mississippi, US
32°18′11″N 90°11′14″W / 32.302952°N 90.187332°W / 32.302952; -90.187332Coordinates: 32°18′11″N 90°11′14″W / 32.302952°N 90.187332°W / 32.302952; -90.187332
Enrollment554 (FT)
Faculty25 (FT & Deans, etc)/10 (PT)
USNWR ranking178th[2]
Bar pass rate83% (July 2012)[3]
Websitelaw.mc.edu
ABA profileMississippi College School of Law

Mississippi College School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school. MC Law is one of only two law schools in the state of Mississippi, and is the only law school in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi. The school is a professional school of Mississippi College, founded in 1826. It is also colloquially referred to as MC Law, or MC Law School.[4][5]

History[]

The law school was founded in 1930 as the Jackson School of Law. In 1975, the law school was acquired by Mississippi College. In 1980, subsequent to the merger between Mississippi College and the law school, MC Law gained full ABA accreditation.[3] MC Law is one of two law schools in the state of Mississippi, and the only law school in the capital, Jackson. MC Law is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

On May 15, 2020, the council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar met remotely and determined this school and nine others had significant noncompliance with Standard 316.[6] This Standard was revised in 2019 to provide that at least 75% of an accredited law school’s graduates who took a bar exam must pass one within two years of graduation.[6] The school was asked to submit a report by Feb. 1, 2021; and, if the council did not find the report demonstrated compliance, the school would be asked to appear before the council at its May, 2021 meeting.[6] Compliance with the 75% standard had not been demonstrated by statistics released by the ABA at the end of April, 2021, which showed the college with a 73.83% pass rate for 2018 graduates, compared with 72.64% for 2017 graduates.[7] However, the council found on May 18 that the college had demonstrated compliance based on data for 2019 graduates, for whom the pass rate was 79.2%.[8]

Campus[]

The Mississippi College School of Law is located in the heart of the historic sector of downtown Jackson, within walking distance of City Hall, the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Federal District Courts, the Governor’s Mansion, and a number of government and private law firm offices.

In December 2005, MC Law completed a massive construction and renovation project, which more than doubled the size of the original campus. A new classroom building was added along with an auditorium building. The Law Library occupies three floors in the Law School’s West Wing, and contains one of the largest Mississippi collections of legal books, journals and microforms including statutes, court reports, digests, encyclopedias, treatises, loose-leaf services, periodicals and government documents. Beginning in 2013, the Law Library is also the repository of the Mississippi Legislature’s video archive footage. The main campus for Mississippi College is located about 15 miles to the west in Clinton, Mississippi.

Academics[]

The 2020 entering class had an enrollment of 150, with an LSAT median of 148 and a median GPA of 3.22. The average age at enrollment is 257. 59 colleges and universities are represented, along with 16 states.

In addition to offering courses in common law, Mississippi College School of Law also offers a certificate in Louisiana Civil Law, which prepares the recipient for practice in the state of Louisiana by offering courses such as Successions and Donations, Obligations, Louisiana Civil Procedure, and Civil Law Property. MC Law is one of the only law schools to offer Civil Law training in addition to its Common Law curriculum.[9]

MC Law has more than 25 full-time faculty members in all major disciplines of law, with more than 20% of the faculty holding a PhD or equivalent degree, and more than 50% of the faculty with an LL.M. or Masters in a specialized field.[10] The Law School provides a national certificate programs for Civil Law training, and hosts six centers, the Mississippi College Law Review, and a Moot Court program. The Law School also offers an externship program with more than 50 students at any one time placed in externships, and more than 85% of MC Law students completing an externship or working part-time in the legal field prior to graduation. In addition, since 2010, the Law School offers a one-year LL.M. degree in U.S. legal studies for students holding law degrees from foreign law programs. In 2020, MC Law students posted a bar passage statistic in the state of Mississippi of higher than 86% first time passage rate.

In addition, each summer, MC Law offers students study abroad programs in France, Cuba, Germany, Mexico, and South Korea. MC Law was one of the first U.S. law schools to offer a program in Cuba.

Employment[]

According to MC Law's official 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 71.0% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment within nine months after graduation.[11]

Costs[]

Fall/Spring (30 HRS.)
Tuition $33,870
Fees $1,640
Books & Supplies $1,500
Room & Board $12,375
Transportation $3,600
Personal/Misc. $4,050

Total $55,155[12]

2020 entering class[]

  • Enrollment : 150
  • High LSAT : 168
  • Median LSAT : 148
  • GPA Median : 3.22
  • Average Age  : 25
  • Women : 47%
  • Minorities : 20%
  • Out of State students : 51%
  • Undergraduate Schools Represented : 59

Notable alumni[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Data" (PDF). www.usnews.com. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  2. ^ "2020 USNWR Rankings (2019 Release)". Spivey Consulting. 6 March 2019.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Error". officialguide.lsac.org. Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Ranking" (PDF). www.usnews.com. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "10 law schools are out of compliance with bar passage standard, ABA legal ed section says". Stephanie Francis Ward, ABA Journal, May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  7. ^ "What comes next for law schools with two-year bar pass rates below 75%?". Stephanie Francis Ward, ABA Journal, May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  8. ^ "Florida Coastal's teach-out plan rejected again; another school demonstrates compliance on bar pass rates". Stephanie Francis Ward, ABA Journal, May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2013-01-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2013-01-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) MC Law: Faculty and Staff Profiles
  11. ^ "Employment Statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04.
  12. ^ "Tuition and Financial Aid". Archived from the original on 2016-01-11.
  13. ^ "Jenifer B. Branning". Mississippi State Senate. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  14. ^ "Mississippi ACLU Head Jennifer Riley-Collins Announces Run for Attorney General". yallpolitics.com. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  15. ^ "Joey Fillingane". Ballotpedia. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  16. ^ "Fillngane Law Firm". FillinganeLawFirm.com. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  17. ^ "State of Mississippi Judiciary". courts.ms.gov.
  18. ^ "Joseph Lee". Ballotpedia.
  19. ^ "She came from the Deep South and became a 'rock' in the R.I. attorney general's office".
  20. ^ "Hall of Fame". MSTop50.com. Retrieved October 4, 2017.

External links[]

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