The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (ASU Law) is one of the professional

graduate schools Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The school is located in the Beus Center for Law and Society on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus. The

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

was created in 1965 as the Arizona State University College of Law upon recommendation of the

Arizona Board of Regents The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) is the governing body of Arizona's public university system. It provides policy guidance to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona, and their branch campuses. History ...

, with the first classes held in the fall of 1967. The school has held

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

accreditation since 1969 and is a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

. The school is also a member of the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

. In 2006, the law school was renamed in honor of retired

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Justice

Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...

. ASU Law is ranked 30th overall in the nation by '' U.S. News & World Report'', the 12th-highest

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

law school, and the higher-ranked law school of the two in Arizona.

History

The school was previously located in Armstrong Hall, adjacent to the Ross-Blakley Law Library on ASU's Tempe campus. In 2012, the school announced plans to relocate to

Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus (ASU Downtown) is a public research university in Phoenix, Arizona. It is one of five campuses of Arizona State University. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research act ...

. The first classes held in the new building, the Beus Center for Law and Society, were in the fall semester of 2016. The new law building cost $129 million, paid for with construction bonds, private donations and the city of Phoenix, which provided land and $12 million. The building is named for Phoenix attorney Leo Beus, who donated $10 million to the law school in 2014. Apart from the law school, the Beus Center also houses the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, The McCain Institute for International Leadership, the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute, Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, the Arizona Justice Project, and the ASU Alumni Law Group. Best Choice Schools ranked the Beus Center the 6th most impressive law school building in the world.

Employment

According to ASU's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 84.3% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-advantage employment nine months after graduation. ASU Law ranks No. 19 in the nation and No. 5 among public law schools for successful postgraduate job placement in great lawyer jobs. As a regional school, the vast majority of ASU graduates find employment in Arizona after graduation. Of the 204 graduates in 2013, 172 were employed in Arizona, with five in California and four in Texas. Additionally, ASU has an underemployment score of 12.7% on lawschooltransparency.com, and 8.8% of graduates are employed in school-funded positions. According to ASU's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 88.8% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-advantage employment nine months after graduation. According to ASU's official 2020 ABA-required disclosures, 87.4% of the Class of 2020 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-advantage employment nine months after graduation.https://law.asu.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/aba-employment-questionaire-2020.pdf The class of 2020 had 175 students obtain jobs in Arizona within nine months of graduation. The remaining 22% of the class who obtained jobs within nine months of graduation did so outside of Arizona, including 16 jobs in California, 6 in Washington D.C., and 5 jobs in foreign countries.

Costs

For the 2020–21 academic year, the yearly tuition for residents is $28,058, and the tuition for non-residents is $47,302. In 2016, the school had the highest bar passage rate in Arizona, with 77% of first-time test takers passing, compared with 74% for

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and 25% for

Arizona Summit Law School The Arizona Summit Law School was a for-profit law school in Phoenix, Arizona, that operated from 2005 to 2018. The law school was known until 2013 as the Phoenix School of Law, and was a part of the InfiLaw System of independent, for-profit ...

. The state's total passage rate was 64% for first-time test takers and 53% overall.

Clinical programs

The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law has 13 clinics, which offer students opportunities to practice law in a variety of settings with people who have real legal problems. Under the supervision of faculty members who are experts in their subject matter, students manage real cases and represent clients in hearings and trials before courts and administrative agencies, assist in the commercialization and monetization of new technologies, and mediate cases pending in the judicial system. * Civil Justice Clinic * First Amendment Clinic * Immigration Law & Policy Clinic * Indian Legal Clinic * Lodestar Mediation Clinic * Lisa Foundation Patent Law Clinic * Post Conviction Clinic * Prosecution Clinic * Public Defender Clinic * Technology Ventures Services Group

Centers and other academic programs

* The Center for Law, Science & Innovation is focused on the intersection of law with science and technology. Its 26 faculty fellows together with numerous associated faculty, students, and research fellows explore law and policy in a world of rapidly changing technologies, through scholarship, education, and policy dialogue. * The Center for Law & Global Affairs supports and inspires research, education and practice regarding emerging forms of transnational governance that extend beyond the traditional paradigms of international law. The center supports research and scholarship, develops courses and experiential learning programs, designs and manages international projects and engages in outreach with academic, policy and community partners. * The Indian Legal Program was established in 1988 to provide legal education and generate scholarship in the area of Indian law and undertake public service to tribal governments. The program was founded by professor William Canby, Jr. who served as director until his appointment to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

. * The Barrett and O'Connor Center opened in 2018 to solidify the University's contacts with the capital city. The center houses ASU's Washington, D.C.-based academic programs, including the Washington Bureau of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Rule of Law and Governance program, the Capital Scholars program, and the McCain Institute's Next Generation Leaders program, among many others. In addition to hosting classes and internships on-site, special lectures and seminars taught from the Barrett & O'Connor Washington Center are connected to classrooms in Arizona through video-conferencing technology. The Barrett and O'Connor center is located at 1800 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006, very close to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. * The ASU California Center is located in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, and serves as a gateway to the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

market for ASU graduate students. The Center offers classes for the College of Law, among other graduate programs at ASU.

Notable lecturers and professors

* Angela M. Banks * Paul Bender, constitutional scholar *

Sarah Buel Sarah M. Buel (born 1953) is an American lawyer and anti-domestic violence activist. In 1994 she was designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project. Early life and education She earned a bachelor's degree in libe ...

Ehsan Zaffar Ehsan Zaffar is a civil rights advocate, educator and policymaker and the founder of the Los Angeles Mobile Legal Aid Clinic ( LAMLAC), which helped to pioneer the delivery of mobile legal care to vulnerable populations in California and across ...

Andrew Hurwitz Andrew David Hurwitz (born October 1, 1947) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He served as a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court from 2003 to 2012. Education and clerkships Hurw ...

, Judge,

John Clint Williamson John Clint Williamson (born August 8, 1961) is an American diplomat, lawyer, and educator who has served in a variety of senior-level roles with the United States Government, the United Nations, and the European Union. Biography Ambassador Willi ...

, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues *

Scott Bales William Scott Bales (born July 20, 1956) is the former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court in 2005 by Governor Janet Napolitano through Arizona's merit selection system. He was elected by his fellow justices ...

, Chief Justice (Ret.), Arizona Supreme Court *

Michael J. Saks Michael J. Saks is a professor of law at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University; he holds a secondary appointment in the department of psychology.

, fourth most cited scholar in the field of Law and Social Science. * Allan H. "Bud" Selig, former

commissioner of Major League Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

Law journals

* '' Arizona State Law Journal'' * '' Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology'' * ''Law Journal for Social Justice'' * ''Arizona State Sports and Entertainment Law Journal'' * ''Corporate and Business Law Journal''

Notable alumni

Michael Daly Hawkins Michael Daly Hawkins (born February 12, 1945) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Early life and education Born in Winslow, Arizona, Hawkins received his Bachelor of Arts degree ...

('70) – Senior Judge,

* Roslyn O. Silver ('71) – Chief Judge,

United States District Court for the District of Arizona The United States District Court for the District of Arizona (in case citations, D. Ariz.) is the U.S. district court that covers the state of Arizona. It is under the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The District was esta ...

* Harriet C. Babbitt ('72) – former

U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States The following is a list of people who have served as United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States, or the full title, "United States Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States", with the rank and status of ...

and Deputy Administrator of the

U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...

* H. Bartow Farr, III ('73) - former law clerk to Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

Ruth McGregor Ruth Van Roekel McGregor (born April 4, 1943) is an American lawyer and former justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Legal education and experience McGregor received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa in 1964, a Master of Arts from t ...

('74) – former Chief Justice,

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice i ...

Ed Pastor Edward Lopez Pastor (; June 28, 1943 – November 27, 2018) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 1991 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arizona's ...

('74) – U.S. Congressman,

Arizona's 4th congressional district Arizona's 4th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is currently represented by Republican Paul Gosar, who lives outside the district in Flagstaff. It stretches from the periphery of Phoenix t ...

* Charles G. Case II ('75) – former Judge,

United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona is the United States bankruptcy court in Arizona; it is associated with the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Judges * James Marlar, Chief Judge * Redfield T. ...

Barry G. Silverman Barry G. Silverman (born October 11, 1951) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Education and early career Born in The Bronx, New York, Silverman attended Phoenix's Central High ...

('76) – Judge,

Terry Goddard Samuel Pearson Goddard III (born January 29, 1947) is an American attorney and politician. He served as the Mayor of Phoenix from 1984 to 1990, on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District from 2001 to 2003 and as the 24th Attorney General ...

('76) – former

Arizona Attorney General The Arizona Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorn ...

* Michael D. Ryan ('77) – former Justice,

Tena Campbell Marilyn Bernie "Tena" Gresky Campbell (born December 11, 1944) is an American jurist, lawyer, and former school teacher. She is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Education and ca ...

('77) – Senior Judge,

United States District Court for the District of Utah The United States District Court for the District of Utah (in case citations, D. Utah) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Utah. The court is based in Salt Lake City with another courtroom leased in thstate courtho ...

* Phil Gordon ('78) – former Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona * Douglas L. Rayes ('78) – Judge,

Grant Woods J. Grant Woods (May 19, 1954 – October 23, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as Attorney General of Arizona from 1991 until 1999. Woods was a moderate-to-liberal Republican who served as John McCain's chief of staff w ...

('79) – former

* Rebecca White Berch ('79) – Chief Justice,

* Richard D. Mahoney ('79) – former

Arizona Secretary of State The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. The secretary also serves as actin ...

Fred DuVal Fred Price DuVal (born May 24, 1954) is an American businessman, civic leader, education leader and author. He is president of DuVal and Associates, a senior advisor to Dentons Law, an advisor to Macquarie Infrastructure, Chairman of Excelsior M ...

('80) – chairman,

Rick Romley Richard M. "Rick" Romley (born April 28, 1949) is an American lawyer and politician. As a Republican, he served as the County Attorney for Maricopa County, Arizona from 1989 to 2004 and again in 2010. Early life A veteran of the Vietnam War, ser ...

('81) – former

County Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

for

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

George McCaskey George Halas McCaskey is the current chairman of the National Football League's Chicago Bears. He replaced his brother Michael McCaskey as chairman in 2011. Biography McCaskey, the eighth-oldest child of Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey and E ...

('81) – chairman,

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

* Michael J. Ahearn ('82) – chairman and former CEO,

First Solar First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thi ...

Steven E. Carr Steven E. Carr is an American attorney, entrepreneur, and social activist. He is notable for being the only American elected to the Standing Commission of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Standing Commission is the highest ...

('84) – First and only American ever elected to the highest governing body of the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...

David Yerushalmi David Yerushalmi (born 1956) is an American lawyer and political activist who is the driving counsel behind the anti-sharia movement in the United States. Along with Robert Muise, he is co-founder and senior counsel of the American Freedom Law Ce ...

('84) – Co-founder and Senior Counsel of the American Freedom Law Center * Ann Scott Timmer ('85) – Justice,

* John Lopez IV ('89) – Justice,

Joe Rogers Joe Rogers may refer to: *Joe Rogers (politician) (1964–2013), Lieutenant Governor of Colorado 1999–2003 *Joe Rogers (businessman) (1919–2017), American businessman, co-founder of Waffle House * Joe Rogers Jr. (born 1950/51), American busines ...

('89) – former

Lieutenant Governor of Colorado The lieutenant governor of Colorado is the second-highest-ranking member of the executive department of the Government of Colorado, United States, below the governor of Colorado. The lieutenant governor of Colorado, who acts as governor of Colorad ...

Bridget S. Bade Bridget Anne Shelton Bade (born October 8, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist from Arizona. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She was formerly a United States magistrate judge o ...

('90) – Judge,

9th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District o ...

, former

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

for the District of Arizona. *

Gloria Navarro Gloria Maria Navarro (born May 2, 1967) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Early life and education Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Navarro earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 from th ...

('92) – Judge,

United States District Court for the District of Nevada United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

Rachel Mitchell Rachel Hope Mitchell (born 1967) is an American attorney serving as the County Attorney for Maricopa County, Arizona since April 2022. She was appointed to the position following the resignation of Allister Adel and won the 2022 special electi ...

('92) – Prosecutor who questioned Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...

's hearing for confirmation to the

. *

Diane Humetewa Diane Joyce Humetewa ( ; Help:IPA/English born December 5, 1964)Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings ...

('93) – Judge,

* James Hamm ('97) – private criminal justice consultant, qualified in courts as an expert on prison policy and procedure, time computations * Jerod E. Tufte ('02) – Justice,

North Dakota Supreme Court The North Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court of law in the state of North Dakota. The Court rules on questions of law in appeals from the state's district courts. Each of the five justices are elected on a no-party ballot for ten year te ...

Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Lea Sinema (; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician and former social worker serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona since January 2019. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent in ...

('04) –

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, former U.S. Representative from

Arizona's 9th congressional district Arizona's 9th congressional district was created as a result of the 2010 Census. The first candidates ran in the 2012 House elections, and the first representative was seated for the 113th Congress in 2013. Formerly located in the Phoenix are ...

Courtney Ekmark Courtney Ekmark (born April 8, 1995) is an American basketball player who played college basketball at Arizona State University. She played her first two collegiate seasons for the University of Connecticut. By the time she became eligible to pla ...

('20) – played basketball on two

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

teams before transferring to ASU in 2016; enrolled in O'Connor in 2017 and played for the Sun Devils

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandra Day O'connor College Of Law Arizona State University Law schools in Arizona Educational institutions established in 1965 1965 establishments in Arizona Education in Tempe, Arizona Buildings and structures in Tempe, Arizona Universities and colleges in Maricopa County, Arizona