Antioch School of Law

Last updated
Antioch School of Law
Warder Mansion.jpg
Active1972 (1972)–1986 (1986)
Location
2633 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C., U.S.

38°55′26.4″N77°2′9.96″W / 38.924000°N 77.0361000°W / 38.924000; -77.0361000

Antioch School of Law was a law school in Washington, D.C. which specialized in public advocacy. The school now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL). [1] [2]

Contents

The school was located in the historic Warder Mansion on 16th Street NW and its law library a block away on Crescent Place NW in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., near Meridian Hill Park.

Founding and educational philosophy

Antioch School of Law was run under the auspices of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, [1] long a pioneer in educational innovation, which, at various points in its history, operated as many as 32 separate entities in several states, [2] as well as abroad as part of the Antioch Network.

The school was established in 1972 by Edgar S. Cahn and Jean Camper Cahn, [1] longtime champions of the legal rights of low-income and minority persons. The Cahns were also instrumental in establishing the federal Legal Services Corporation during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson. They served as the first deans of the school, and envisioned a law school focused on training highly skilled attorneys dedicated to public interest advocacy. During its first school year, it had 145 students enrolled, taught by 15 faculty members. [3] Of those 145 students, 30 percent were women and 33 percent were people of color. [4] The school was fully ABA accredited for the class of 1977 (who entered in 1974), and operated until 1988.

The school pioneered a comprehensive law clinic education model espoused by Edmond Cahn, a law professor at Columbia University and Edgar's father in the 1930s. His concept was to train lawyers like doctors in a clinical model, as opposed to the pure Langdell Case method use by Harvard and most other law schools, and to use those lawyers in training to provide legal services to those unable to afford lawyers. Edgar and Jean brought his ideas to life in Antioch's teaching law firm, a combination Legal Services office and law school. Since then, clinical legal education has now been acknowledged by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools as being an essential part of a complete legal education, and has been incorporated to some degree into the curriculum of virtually every law school in the United States.

The school, in fact, was envisioned as more than a law school. It was to be a public interest law firm with teacher-lawyers and student-advocates providing pro bono legal services to the poor and others who were unable to obtain representation. [5] The intent was to create an intense combination of learning and practice. New students also spent their first eight weeks, later reduced to two weeks at the school living with families in Washington's slums to get an understanding of the legal needs and institutional barriers of the people whom the students would soon be representing. This was part of the school's effort to inculcate in its students the passion to eradicate injustice in society. When it closed, Antioch School of Law had handled over 10,000 public-interest cases. [6]

From the beginning, Antioch's approach to admissions was far less test-score oriented than most other law schools. The Cahns said they wanted "good" students as well as "bright" ones. They sought students who were more mature and had life experience which demonstrated competency and capacity to initiate and complete tasks in support of social justice. The class gender balance in the incoming class of 1975 was 50/50 men to women, (average female law school admissions at the time was less than 10%) and about 35 percent persons of color and other minorities, with an average age in the late 20s with many students who had successful pre-law school careers. They recognized that not only do those who lack a conventional cultural or educational background have the potential to become good lawyers, they often, uniquely, have the motivation and life experiences to become great advocates for change and social justice. Antioch provided many students an opportunity to attend law school that they probably would not have been afforded otherwise.

In addition to its professional degree program, which led to the Juris Doctor degree, permitting graduates to seek licensure as attorneys in all American jurisdictions, the school also initially offered an advanced degree program leading to the Masters of Law (LLM) in Trial Advocacy and later a Masters in the Arts of Teaching (MAT) in clinical legal education. In addition, Antioch School of Law offered an M.A. in Legal Studies, one of the first law schools to do so in the 1980s and a number of paralegal programs.

Closing

By the early 1980s, faced with growing financial challenges, and a diminished federal funding commitment to its educational approach, Antioch was forced to scale back its operations. [1] In September 1985, Antioch University President Alan G. Guskin said that the law school would need to close within two years unless it could raise $2.5 million within 60 days. [7] [8] The main Antioch University campus had been spending $4 million each year, a cost it decided it could no longer sustain. [7]

In 1986, after the announcement of the law school's impending closing, Antioch Law students and alumni mounted a spirited grassroots campaign. The District of Columbia City Council authorized the establishment of the District of Columbia School of Law, as the District of Columbia’s publicly funded law school.

Facing ongoing financial troubles and ongoing accreditation challenges, on March 27, 1996, the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia voted 10–2 to absorb the law school and rename it the District of Columbia School of Law. [9] [10] Although it had no formal connection to Antioch, the District of Columbia School of Law specifically adopted Antioch's mission and curriculum, including the clinical legal education components, employed many of its faculty, and afforded Antioch School of Law alumni full rights as alumni of the new law school. Renamed in 1998, what had constituted the professional degree curriculum of Antioch School of Law now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, a fully accredited institution with several hundred students, and with one of the nation's most highly regarded clinical legal education programs. [1]

Initially, the LL.M. in trial advocacy program was adopted as it existed by George Washington University Law School, and operated under that school's aegis. In the ensuing years, however, the program was gradually diminished, and now exists only in truncated form as a three-credit, six-day offering known as the College of Trial Advocacy, and in various other courses in advanced advocacy skills and dispute resolution, at George Washington.

In the winter of 2009, the Chancellor of Antioch University set as a priority the exploration of reopening the Antioch School of Law.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law school in the United States</span> School offering post-graduate education in law

A law school in the United States is an educational institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Law School</span> Private law school in New York City, New York, U.S.

Columbia Law School (CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. It was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The university was known for its legal scholarship dating back to the 18th century. Graduates of the university's colonial predecessor, King's College, include such notable early-American legal figures as John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, who were co-authors of The Federalist Papers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanford Law School</span> Law school of Stanford University, California, U.S

Stanford Law School (SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% in 2021, the second-lowest of any law school in the country. Since October 2023, Robert Weisberg has served as its dean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgetown University Law Center</span> Private law school in Washington, D.C., US

The Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over 2000 students. It frequently receives the most full-time applications of any other law school in the United States.

The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland Law in the Baltimore-Washington legal and business community. Founded in 1816, it is one of the oldest law schools in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University at Buffalo Law School</span> State University of New York, School of Law

The University at Buffalo School of Law is a graduate professional school at the University at Buffalo. Founded in 1887, and affiliated with Niagara University until 1891, it is the State University of New York (SUNY) system's only law school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Mitchell College of Law</span> Private law school in St. Paul, Minnesota

William Mitchell College of Law was a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, from 1956 to 2015. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. On December 9, 2015, Hamline University School of Law merged into William Mitchell College of Law, and became the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwestern Law School</span> Private law school is Los Angeles, California

Southwestern Law School is a private law school in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and enrolls nearly 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an art deco National Register of Historic Places landmark built in 1929. Southwestern is an independent law school with affiliation to the undergraduate program at California State University, Northridge.

The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law is the law school of the University of the District of Columbia, a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It is named after David A. Clarke and was established in 1986 when, in response to a local grassroots campaign, the Council of the District of Columbia decided to take over the Antioch School of Law, whose parent institution Antioch University had decided to close it in the face of increasing financial problems. The school was formally merged into the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.

The Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal education and public interest law programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington University School of Law</span> Law school in St. Louis, Missouri, US

The Washington University School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867, the law school was originally located in downtown St. Louis, and relocated in 1904 to the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antioch University New England</span> Campus of Antioch University in New Hampshire

Antioch University New England is a private graduate school located in Keene, New Hampshire, United States. It is part of the Antioch University system, a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) institution that includes campuses in Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; and Santa Barbara, California. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The most well-known campus was Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which is now independent of the Antioch University system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne State University Law School</span> Public law school in Detroit, Michigan, US

Wayne State University Law School is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), online master of studies in law, and minors in law degree programs. Wayne Law's more than 12,000 alumni include judges, justices, law firm partners and government officials working in every major market in the United States and at least 17 countries.

Stephen Martin Kohn is an attorney for Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, a Washington, D.C., law firm specializing in employment law. The author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing, Kohn is recognized as one of the top experts in whistleblower protection law. He also has written on the subject of political prisoners and the history of the abrogation of the rights of political protestors.

The University of Dayton School of Law (UDSL) is a private law school located in Dayton, Ohio at Keller Hall. It is affiliated with the University of Dayton, which is a Catholic university of the Society of Mary. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antioch University Santa Barbara</span>

Antioch University Santa Barbara (AUSB) is a private liberal arts university in downtown Santa Barbara, California. It is part of the Antioch University system that includes campuses in Keene, New Hampshire; Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; and Yellow Springs, Ohio, also home to Antioch College. Antioch University has operated in Santa Barbara since 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard University School of Law</span> Law school in Washington, DC

Howard University School of Law is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldest historically black law school in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar S. Cahn</span> American lawyer and activist (1935–2022)

Edgar Stuart Cahn was an American law professor, a counsel and speech writer to Robert F. Kennedy, and the creator of TimeBanking. He co-founded the Antioch School of Law with his late wife, Jean Camper Cahn. Cahn has also held positions at the University of Miami School of Law, Florida International University, the London School of Economics, and a visiting fellow at the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. In later life, Cahn devoted most of his professional effort to TimeBanks USA, now TimeBanks.Org, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization he established in 1995.

Precious Jewel Freeman Graham was an educator, social worker, and attorney. She was professor emeritus of social work and legal studies at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. She was the second black woman to serve as president of the World YWCA. She was named to the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Camper Cahn</span> American lawyer

Jean Camper Cahn was an American lawyer and social activist who helped establish federal financing of legal services to the poor. Cahn was the first director of the National Legal Services Program in the O.E.O. and later founded the Urban Law Institute at George Washington University. In 1971, she co-founded the Antioch School of Law with her husband and law associate Edgar S. Cahn.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "School of Law History". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 "History". Antioch University. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "Antioch School of Law Offers New Concept in Legal Education". The Washington Post. Asbury Park Press. September 10, 1972.
  4. ↑ "Law School Of Antioch Gains Praise". Springfield News-Sun. November 14, 1972.
  5. ↑ Madison, Nathaniel (February 6, 1986). "Antioch Chief Stays Decision on Law School". The Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio). p. 3.
  6. ↑ Langer, Emily (January 30, 2022). "Edgar Cahn, Humanitarian Who Championed Legal Services for Poor, 86". The Boston Globe. p. A25.
  7. 1 2 Neus, Elizabeth (October 19, 1986). "Financial struggles continue at Antioch". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 22.
  8. ↑ Madison, Nathaniel (December 4, 1985). "Antioch Chief Delays Decision on Law School". Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio). p. 32.
  9. ↑ Madison, Nathaniel (March 28, 1986). "D.C. university to take over Antioch law school". The Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio). p. 3.
  10. ↑ "Antioch Law School gets new name in fight to stay alive". Associated Press. News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio). March 28, 1986. p. 8-B.
  11. ↑ https://www.mcguirewoods.com/people/t/george-j-terwilliger-iii
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.