Notre Dame Law School, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
Image by Ken Lund
The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 23rd among the nation’s "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News & World Report. Notre Dame Law ranks 16th in graduates attaining Supreme Court clerkships in recent years.
Notre Dame Law School is distinguished as having the nation’s only year-long study-abroad program approved by the American Bar Association. The program, which takes place in London, also offers a summer session open to all law schools.
Admission to NDLS is highly selective. For the class entering in the fall of 2012, 676 out of 2,852 applicants (23.7%) were offered admission, with 177 matriculating. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2012 entering class were 161 and 167, respectively, with a median of 166. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.43 and 3.80, respectively, with a median of 3.66.
Notre Dame Law School is located in Eck and Biochini Halls, two buildings connected by a suspended walkway. The conjoined buildings were designed by famous American architect Charles Donagh Maginnis and the buildings serve as a prominent example of collegiate Gothic architecture. The Kresge Law Library, is located Biochini Hall, while most of the Class Rooms are in Eck Hall. Funding for the law library was provided by American businessman S.S. Kresge, the founder of what is now Sears Holding Corporation. The two buildings were effectively doubled in a recent, historically-sensitive expansion project (there was no corresponding increase in enrollment). The Law School also hosts a Legal Aid Clinic in South Bend.
