The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania University in 1799, the law program at UK began operations in 1908; it was one of the nation's first public law schools. In 1913, the college became the first in the nation to institute a trial practice program, and is host to the tenth-oldest student-run law review publication in the United States. According to UK Law's official disclosures to the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, nearly 86% of the Class of 2020 successfully obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners. Per '' U.S. News & World Report'', UK Law is the 67th best law school among all public and private universities in the nation, and the highest-ranked law school in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky pass rate for the July 2021 Kentucky Bar Exam was 83%, 11% higher than the overall Kentucky pass rate. For first-time takers the pass rate was 83%, 6% higher than the overall first-time taker pass rate in Kentucky.

Academics

The Rosenberg College of Law offers a three-year, full-time program leading to a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. Students in addition can choose to pursue their J.D. in conjunction with another graduate degree, such as a master's degree. The college offers a dual degree program that includes many different fields of study that includes: JD-MA, JD-MBA, JD/MHA ( Master of Health Administration), and JD-MPA. Required first-year courses for 1Ls are

tort A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with cri ...

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

contracts A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

legal research Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a prob ...

and

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and regulations along with some standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or ca ...

, and

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

. All first-year students are required to complete the historic 1L

oral argument Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ...

at the conclusion of their first year in their Legal Writing course acting as a hallmark event in each students legal career and their very first oral argument.

History

The University of Kentucky College of Law began operations in 1908. It was housed in a structure now known as the Gillis Building from 1927 to 1936. In 1936, the college moved into the newly built Lafferty Hall. Lafferty Hall was named after William T. Lafferty, the first dean of the College of Law. In 1913, the College of Law began publication of the ''Kentucky Law Journal''. The KLJ is the tenth-oldest student-run law journal in continuous publication in America. In 1925, the college was approved by the

, and it was elected to the Order of the Coif in 1931. The College of Law again relocated to its current building located on South Limestone in 1965. That building underwent a major renovation and expansion during 2017–2019, during which the building was taken down to its structural core and completely reconfigured. On February 1, 2017, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. spoke at the College of Law and served as the first speaker of the judicial conference and speaker series hosted by UK Law as part of the Heyburn Initiative.Heyburn Initiative

Retrieved April 13, 2022. Most recently, on Sept. 21, 2017, Justice

Neil Gorsuch Neil McGill Gorsuch ( ; born August 29, 1967) is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court ...

, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States spoke at UK Law and provided advice to UK Law students in small intimate groups. Serving as only the most recent U.S. Supreme Court Justice to speak at the College of Law, going back to 1989 UK Law hosted the sixth biennial Judge Mac Swinford Lecture where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the lecture."The Review, Spring 1989" (1989)

Retrieved April 13, 2022. The five prior notable speakers of that series at UK Law were Judge Robert Keeton (1980), U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist (1982), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (1984), and Former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell (1986). The college was renamed the J. David Rosenberg College of Law in 2019 after prominent Ohio corporate lawyer and alumnus J. David Rosenberg (J.D. '73), donated $20 million to the college. The gift was the third largest single donation in university history and earned him the name rights to the school, it also went toward further strengthening the academic excellence of the College of Law by supporting scholarships for outstanding students and efforts to recruit and retain world-class faculty.

Deans

* William T. Lafferty (1904–1922) * Charles J. Turck (1922–1928) * Alvin E. Evans (1928–1933) * Frank Hall Randall (1933–1935) * Alvin E. Evans (1935–1949) * Elvis J. Stahr (1949–1951) * William Lewis Matthews, Jr. (1951–1952) * Elvis J. Stahr (1952–1959) * William Lewis Matthews, Jr. (1959–1971) *

Robert G. Lawson Robert "Bob" G. Lawson is a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region ...

(1971–1973) * George W. Hardy III (1973–1976) * Thomas P. Lewis (1976–1981) * Robert G. Lawson (1982–1988) * Rutherford B. Campbell Jr. (1988–1993) * David E. Shipley (1992–1998) * (acting) Robert G. Schwemm (1998–1999) * (acting) Eugene R. Gaetke (1999–2000) * Allan W. Vestal (2000–2008) * (acting) Louise E. Graham (2008–2009) * David A. Brennan (2009–2020) * (acting) Mary J. Davis (2020–2021) * Mary J. Davis (2020–2024) * (acting) Paul E. Salamanca (2024–present)

Law building

Constructed in 1965, the University of Kentucky College of Law Building houses the Alvin E. Evans Library, classrooms, and faculty offices. The Alvin E. Evans Library is the largest law library in the Commonwealth and contains approximately 470,000 volumes, along with a vast array of electronic materials. It also provides access to all "U.S. reported court decisions, statutes and administrative materials" along with international materials. A 2002 study suggested that if a new College of Law structure was to be constructed, it should relocate closer to downtown Lexington. The suggested site was a block or two north, on Scott Street near the College of Education. A plan for five structures and two courtyards was abandoned because of funding difficulties. Instead, the school decided to renovate and expand its current building, a $56 million project, with state bonds paying $35 million on the condition that tuition not go up as a result. The renovation and expansion was completed in 2019.

Employment

According to University of Kentucky's official 2023 ABA-required disclosures, 86% of the Class of 2023 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners. University of Kentucky's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 2.3%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2023 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, books and living expenses) at University of Kentucky for the 2024–2025 academic year is $52,318 for residents and $78,798 for non-residents.

Notable alumni

* Andy Barr '01, U.S. Representative * Steve Beshear '68, former Kentucky governor * Edward T. Ned Breathitt '50, former Kentucky governor * Stephen Bright '74, advocate and law school lecturer *

John Y. Brown Sr. John Young Brown (February 1, 1900 – June 16, 1985) was an American Attorney at law, attorney and politician. He was a state representative for six two-year terms, serving one as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1932 and as ma ...

'26, former U.S. Representative * John Y. Brown, III '92, former Secretary of State of Kentucky * David L. Bunning '91, U.S. District Judge * Karen K. Caldwell '80, U.S. District Judge * Albert B. "Happy" Chandler '24, former governor of Kentucky, U.S. Senator and Commissioner of Baseball *

Ben Chandler Albert Benjamin Chandler III (born September 12, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, United States representative for from 2004 to 2013. A United States Democratic Party, Democrat, ...

'86, U.S. Representative * Jennifer B. Coffman '78, U.S. District Judge * Bert T. Combs '37, former governor of Kentucky and Federal Judge * Joe Craft '76, businessman and philanthropist * Mike Duncan '74, chairman of the Republican National Committee * Karl Spillman Forester '66, U.S. District Judge * Joseph Robert Goeke '75, Senior Federal Judge * John G. Heyburn II '76, U.S. District Judge * Joseph Martin Hood '72, U.S. District Judge * Fitz Johnson, '98, Georgia Public Service Commissioner * James E. Keller '66, Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court *

'63, law professor * Earl F. "Marty" Martin '87, president of Drake University * Mitch McConnell '67, U.S. senator * Morgan McGarvey, U.S. Representative * Jim Newberry '81, former mayor of Lexington, Kentucky * John C. Roach '92, former Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court * Timothy N. Philpot '77, former Kentucky state senator and family court circuit judge in Fayette Co. * Mary C. Noble '81, former Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court * Hal Rogers '64, U.S. Representative * Ernesto Scorsone '76, former Kentucky state senator and court circuit judge in Fayette Co. * Aurelia Skipwith, '15, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service * Janet Stumbo '80, Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court * David Tandy '98, former member of the Louisville Metro Council * Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove '89, U.S. District Judge * Ed Whitfield '69, U.S. Representative * Henry Rupert Wilhoit, Jr. '60, U.S. District Judge

Extracurricular activities

The College of Law has numerous active student organizations, including: *Organizations devoted to interest in a specific area of law (i.e., international law, tax law, public interest law, sports & entertainment law, business law, criminal law, intellectual property law). *Political and social organizations (OUTLaw, American Constitution Society, etc.) * The Kentucky Student Chapter of the

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...

*Community service organizations ( Street Law, law wellness initiative, volunteer income tax assistance (VITA), etc.) *Organization for students with a common background (Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, Black Law Students Association, Christian Legal Society, Latino Law Student Association, Law Student Veterans Organization, etc.) The College of Law has a mock trial team, which competes nationally. Additionally, it has several

moot court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In many countries, the phrase ...

teams. Both mock trial and

teams are historically responsible for the College of Law's tradition of excellence in trial advocacy. The Rosenberg College of Law publishes the following

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also provide ...

s: *The ''Kentucky Law Journal'' (KLJ), the university's historically renowned flagship publication, which has had a continuous publication since 1881, making it the tenth oldest law review in the United States *The ''Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Law (KJEANRL)'', a multi-disciplinary journal of law, science, and policy

Images

File:LIMESTONE ENTRANCE.jpg, Entrance File:Law Library.jpg, Law Library File:Judicial Court Room.jpg, Judicial court room File:Main Floor Staircase.jpg, Main floor staircase

References

External links

College of Law
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

1799 establishments in Kentucky Natural resources law