University of Cincinnati College of Law

Last updated
University of Cincinnati
College of Law
Motto Juncta Juvant (Latin)
"Strength in Unity"
Parent school University of Cincinnati
Established1833;192 years ago (1833)
School type Public law school
Dean Haider Ala Hamoudi
Location Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
39.12905°N 84.52010°W
USNWR ranking71st (tie) (2025) [1]
Website law.uc.edu OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
ABA profile Standard 509 Report

The University of Cincinnati College of Law is the law school of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Contents

History

The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously operating law school in the United States — after Harvard, Virginia, and Yale — and the first in the nation's interior. In 1900, it was a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools. [2] Then-dean (and future 27th President of the United States) William Howard Taft (1880) merged it with the University of Cincinnati in 1896. Its notable alumni include two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Willis Van Devanter and Taft, who was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his presidency. Additionally, Jimmy Nippert, the namesake of the university's Nippert Stadium, was a student at UC Law at the time of his death in 1923. [3]

University of Cincinnati Law School (2022) Building@1.5x UC LAW.png
University of Cincinnati Law School (2022)

Until August 2022, the College of Law was located at the corner of Clifton Avenue and Calhoun Street in the Heights neighborhood of Cincinnati. Since August 2022, the College of Law has been located in a new building on the corner of Martin Luther King Drive W and Campus Green Dr. The new premises were named the 11th best law school campus in the country by preLaw Magazine. [4]

Academics

Degrees Offered

The Juris Doctor (JD) degree is offered, along with four joint degree programs, including a JD/MBA with the Lindner College of Business, a JD/MA Womens Gender & Sexuality Studies (first in the nation) with UC’s Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, a JD/Master of Community Planning with the  School of Planning in the prestigious College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, and a JD/MA or JD/PhD with the School of Public and International Affairs.  

Cincinnati Law also offers a Master of Laws (LLM) in the US Legal System for international attorneys. Graduate certificates in US Law are also available.

U.S. News & World Report, listed University of Cincinnati College of Law as the No.78th law school out of 196 in Best Law Schools. in the nation in 2024. [5]

UC Law is home to several journals including the Human Rights Quarterly, University of Cincinnati Law Review, the Immigration and Nationality Law Review, and The Freedom Center Journal (FCJ), a joint publication between the law school and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Haider Ala Hamoudi Dean and Nippert Professor of Law, College of Law Dean Haider Hamoudi.png
Haider Ala Hamoudi Dean and Nippert Professor of Law, College of Law

Deans

Dean [6] [7] Years Served
Timothy Walker 1833–1843
William S. Groesbeck 1844–1869
Charles L. Telford
Maskell S. Curwen1850–1868
Rotated among faculty1869–1873
J. Bryant Walker1873–1874
Rufus King 1875–1880
Jacob D. Cox 1880–1897
William Howard Taft 1897–1900
Gustavus H. Wald1900–1902
William P. Rogers1902–1916
Albert B. Benedict1916–1926
Merton L. Ferson1926–1946
Frank S. Rowley1946–1952
Roscoe L. Barrow1952–1965
Claude S. Sowle1965–1969
Samuel S. Wilson1969–1970
1973*
1974–1978
Edward A. Mearns, Jr.1970–1973
Victor E. Schwartz1973–1974*
Jorge L. Carro1978–1979*
Gordon A. Christenson1979–1986
Thomas Gerety1986–1989
Joseph P. Tomain1989–1990*
1990–2005
Louis D. Bilionis2005–2015
Jennifer S. Bard2015–2017
Verna L. Williams2017–2019**
2019–2022
Michael Whiteman2022–2023**
Haider Ala Hamoudi2023–present

*Acting
**Interim

Employment

According to University of Cincinnati's 2022 ABA-required disclosures, 80% of the Class of 2022 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. [8]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "University of Cincinnati". U.S. News & World Report – Best Law Schools. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  2. ↑ "History". University of Cincinnati College of Law. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Complete story of how UC's Nippert Stadium got its namesake".
  4. ↑ "PreLaw magazine Spring 2022".
  5. ↑ "University of Cincinnati Main Campus". premium.usnews.com.
  6. ↑ "College of Law Deans". University of Cincinnati College of Law.
  7. ↑ "Haider Ala Hamoudi named dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law". 9 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Standard 509 Disclosure".

39°07′45″N84°31′12″W / 39.12905°N 84.52010°W / 39.12905; -84.52010

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