Rutgers Law School is the law school of
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest
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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. program enrolls approximately 350 law students. Although Rutgers University dates from 1766, its law school was founded in Newark in 1908. Today, Rutgers offers the J.D. and a foreign-lawyer J.D., as well as joint-degree programs that combine a J.D. with a graduate degree from another Rutgers graduate program.
According to Rutgers Law School's 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 93.7% of the Class of 2016 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required or JD-advantage employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners.
History
Rutgers Law School is the oldest law school in New Jersey. Rutgers Law School has its roots in three law schools. The first was founded October 5, 1908 as the New Jersey Law School, the second, the South Jersey Law School founded in 1926 by
Collingswood, New Jersey
Collingswood is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located east of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough ...
mayor and businessmen Arthur E. Armitage and a group of South Jersey lawyers, and the final was Mercer Beasley School of Law, named for
Mercer Beasley, a former
New Jersey Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...
Justice and founded in 1926 by several prominent Newark attorneys.
The New Jersey Law School was founded as a for-profit law school by Richard D. Currier, a New York lawyer and graduate of Yale and
New York Law School
New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...
. Currier was joined by Charles M. Mason, a New Jersey attorney, who served as dean until his death in 1928. The school originally had only three faculty members 30 students with classes on the 4th floor of the
Prudential Insurance Home Office in Newark for their first classes. In December 1908, the school was moved to a large Victorian townhouse at 33 East Park Street also in Newark. From its founding, women were to be admitted on "equal basis to men."

After World War I, the New Jersey Law School saw increase in enrollment and by 1927, enrollment had peaked to more than 2,300 students, making it the second largest law school in the United States. In 1927 the school moved to the former Ballantine & Sons Ale Brewery at 40 Rector Street.
In 1934, Mercer Beasley School of Law and Newark Institute of Arts and Sciences merged to form the University of Newark and two years later, the New Jersey Law School joined establishing the University of Newark Law School. Combining the resources of the schools was designed created a stronger institution however the law school experienced a major decline in enrollment due to World War II and therefore was in a precarious financial condition.
In 1946, the University of Newark merged with
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
and the law school was renamed the Rutgers University School of Law. In 1950, the South Jersey Law School in Camden, New Jersey, merged with
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
. The school was divided between the Newark Division and the South Jersey division based in Camden, with the dean and law school administration based in Newark. During the 1950s and 1960s the law school expanded in size creating the largest law library in New Jersey and its faculty tripled in size. In 1963, the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
was hired as a law professor and served on the faculty until 1972. Ginsburg developed some of the concepts that led to the founding of the Women's Rights Litigation Clinic by Professor
Nadine H. Taub, who was its director for many years, and the
Women's Rights Law Reporter
The ''Women's Rights Law Reporter'' is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Rutgers School of Law—Newark. The journal was originally founded by Anne Marie Boylan out of her apartment in Newark, New Jersey. ...
the first American legal journal dedicated women's rights.
In 1967, the South Jersey Division was split and created as a separate unit, creating two law schools: ''Rutgers School of Law – Camden'' and ''Rutgers School of Law – Newark''. In 1968, following the Newark riots of 1967, the faculty created the Minority Students Program (MSP) one of the first law school affirmative action programs in the country, with the goal of increasing African American student enrollment. In 1978, the law faculty voted to admit students regardless of race and revamped the Minority Students Program to focus on socio-economically disadvantaged students
in response to the Supreme Court's decision in
Bakke. In ''Doherty V. Rutgers School Of Law-Newark'' the
3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the MSP in a lawsuit from a white student alleging discrimination. Throughout the 1970s the Newark campus was a center of activism and law students nicknamed it "The People's Electric Law School." Its graduates from this period include United States Senators
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
and
Bob Menendez
Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American former politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 2006 until his resignation in 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...
. After eliminating its evening program in 1955, in 1975, the law school restarted an evening program on Camden and Newark campus.
From 1965 to 1978 the Newark division of the law school was located on Akerson Hall. In 1978, it moved to a skyscraper at 15 Washington Street which was renamed in honor of billionaire media baron
Samuel I. Newhouse, Sr., a 1916 graduate of the law school. In January 2000, the school moved to the Center for Law and Justice, a newly constructed 225,000-square-foot, six-story building at 123 Washington Street in Newark. In 2015, Rutgers School of Law–Newark and Rutgers School of Law–Camden were unified into a single, jointly administered Rutgers Law School with two campuses.
Admissions
In 2018, Rutgers had a 48% acceptance rate, with 2,535 applications for admission and 1,237 offers. The for the 2018 admitted students, the
LSAT
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension and logical reasoning. The test is ...
75% - 25% was 158-153 and the UGPA 75% - 25% was 3.61 - 3.08. Rutgers' admissions process offers applicants a choice between competing for admission based primarily on traditional measures such as LSAT scores and college GPAs, or, alternatively, on the basis of an applicant's life experience, with a lesser (though still significant) emphasis placed on traditional factors. Factors that may be considered in the Rutgers admissions process include, but are not limited to, work experience, personal accomplishments, and other aspects of the applicant's personal background.
Rutgers' admissions process is particularly significant when contrasted with the efforts of some law schools to maximize the undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores of their incoming classes, while increasing the number of part-time students whose GPA and LSAT scores are not counted toward rankings, in order to improve their standing in popular law school ranking publications.
Academics
The J.D. program at Rutgers requires a total of 84 credits to graduate. The 1L curriculum requires traditional courses in Torts, Contracts, Property, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Legal Analysis, Writing and Research Skills.
All required courses are graded on a standard 2.95 - 3.1 GPA curve. 1Ls are grouped in small sections of roughly 30 people, who take all of the same required classes together. Though two or three sections are generally combined for required courses, each student has a 'small section' class where their section of 30 or fewer people is taught a required subject by a tenured faculty member. Students may choose to attend classes on either a full-time or part-time basis.
Journals
The law school has nine student journals:
*''
Rutgers University Law Review
''Rutgers University Law Review'' is an American law review created in 2015 from the merger of ''Rutgers Law Review'' and ''Rutgers Law Journal''. It is edited and published by students at Rutgers Law School.
History
In 2015 Rutgers School of ...
'' (a merger of ''
Rutgers Law Review
The ''Rutgers Law Review'' was a quarterly, scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, published by an organization of second- and third-year law students at the former Rutgers School of Law–Newark, in Newark, New Jersey. It was the flagship l ...
'' and ''
Rutgers Law Journal
The ''Rutgers Law Journal'' was a quarterly, student-run law review published at the former Rutgers School of Law–Camden, in Camden, New Jersey. It was the flagship law review among the three accredited law journals at Rutgers School of Law– ...
'')
*''
Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal The ''Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal'', founded in 1969 at Rutgers School of Law–Newark, is the world's oldest and longest running academic journal dealing with the interaction of law and technology. It is a student-run, law review
...
'', the first journal in the country to address the interaction between computers, technology and the law.
*''
Women's Rights Law Reporter
The ''Women's Rights Law Reporter'' is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Rutgers School of Law—Newark. The journal was originally founded by Anne Marie Boylan out of her apartment in Newark, New Jersey. ...
'', the first journal in the country to focus on women's rights. Co-founded by then–Rutgers Professor
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
and Professor Nadine H. Taub.
*''
Rutgers Journal of Law and Public Policy
The ''Rutgers Journal of Law & Public Policy'' is a student-run legal journal at Rutgers School of Law. It covers the interaction of law and various areas of public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-ma ...
'', previously known as the ''Rutgers Journal of Law and Urban Policy'', focuses on current public policy issue in the United States.
*''Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion'' was founded in 1999 and is one of the few journals on law and religion.
*''Rutgers Law Record'', the first online law journal in the United States.
*''Rutgers Race and the Law Review'' was founded in 1996 and is the second journal in the country to focus on the broad spectrum of multicultural issues.
*''Rutgers Business Law Review'', formerly known as the ''Rutgers Bankruptcy Law Journal''.
*''Rutgers International Law and Human Rights Journal'', is one of the newest journals at Rutgers Law School.
The Business Law Review and International Law and Human Rights Journal were accredited in December 2019.
Costs
Tuition and fees at Rutgers law School for the 2016-2017 academic year is $27,011 (full-time, in-state) and $39,425 (full-time, out-of-state).
Rankings
According to the ''
U.S. News & World Report'' Law School Rankings for 2024, the law school is ranked tied for 109th overall, with its part-time program ranking 28th overall out of 70 schools. The ''U.S. News'' rankings are based on successful placement of graduates, faculty resources, academic achievements of entering students, and opinions by law schools, lawyers and judges on overall program quality; however, ''U.S. News'', per its data for 2019, has separately ranked the law school 9th in the country where full-time graduates who borrowed for law school and entered the private sector had the highest salary-to-debt ratio.
The
National Law Journal
''The National Law Journal'' (NLJ) is an American legal periodical founded in 1978. The NLJ was created by Jerry Finkelstein, who envisioned it as a "sibling newspaper" of the ''New York Law Journal''.
Originally a tabloid-sized weekly new ...
ranked the law school 47th on its 2015 list of the Top 50 Go-To Law Schools. It was the only law school in New Jersey to appear on that list, which reported that 10.1% of the law school's 2014 graduates were hired directly by one of the country's top 250 law firms.
The law school ranks 41st in the nation in the 2019
Above the Law Rankings, which weighs graduate employment, quality of graduate jobs, education cost, alumni feedback, student debt, and the number of alumni serving as federal judges.
Finally, the law school is ranked 30th according to
Business Insider
''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
's 2014 'Top Law Schools in America' list.
List of notable alumni
*
J. Mercer Burrell (1890–1969),
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...
and civil rights attorney who represented the
Trenton Six
*
David A. Christian (born 1948, class of 2011), retired
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
captain and former candidate for United States Senate, class of 2011
*
Louis Freeh (born 1950), former FBI director, class of 1974
*
Sunil Krishna Garg (born 1952), visual artist and sculptor
*
Bob Menendez
Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American former politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 2006 until his resignation in 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...
(born 1954, class of 1979), former US senator from New Jersey and convicted felon
*
Scott P. Myren (class of 1988), associate justice, South Dakota Supreme Court
*
Ozzie Nelson
Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and bandleader. He originated and starred in ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', a radio and television series with his wife Harriet Nelson, ...
(1906–1975, class of 1930), actor, filmmaker, musician and bandleader, who originated and starred in ''
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was b ...
''
*
Hazel R. O'Leary (born 1937, class of 1966), former
United States Secretary of Energy
The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the United States presidential line of succession, presidential line of succession. The po ...
*
Zahid Quraishi (class of 2000), New Jersey federal district judge
*
Jacqueline C. Romero (class of 1996), US attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
*
Esther Salas
Esther Salas (born December 29, 1968) is a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey sitting in Newark, New Jersey. She previously served as a United States magist ...
(class of 1994), New Jersey federal district judge
[Sopko, George]
"Judge Esther Salas to Receive Colby’s Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award"
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...
, November 7, 2024. Accessed December 26, 2024. "A graduate of Rutgers College and Rutgers Law School (Newark), Judge Salas is the recipient of the Hispanic National Bar Association 2016 Latina Judges of the Year Award and the 2023 William J. Brennan Jr. Award."
*
Robert Torricelli (class of 1977), former
United States senator
The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress.
Party affiliation
Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
from New Jersey
*
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
(class of 1976), US senator from Massachusetts
*
Robin Wiessmann (class of 1978), director of
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
People associated with Rutgers Law School
File:Elizabeth_Warren_Nov_2_2012.jpg, Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
, US Senator 2013–present
File:Louisfreeh.jpeg, Louis Freeh, FBI Director 1993 - 2001
File:Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_2016_portrait.jpg, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
(faculty 1963 to 1972) (deceased)
File:Ozzie_Nelson_-_Radio_Mirror,_February_1937_(cropped).jpg, Ozzie Nelson
Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and bandleader. He originated and starred in ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', a radio and television series with his wife Harriet Nelson, ...
, actor (deceased)
File:Hazel_O%27Leary.jpg, Hazel R. O'Leary, US Secretary of Energy
1993 - 97
File:Arthur_Harry_Moore_circa_1926.png, A. Harry Moore, Longest serving Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...
in the 20th century
(deceased)
File:Lynne_Stewart_(cropped).JPG, Lynne Stewart
Lynne Irene Stewart (October 8, 1939 – March 7, 2017) was an American defense attorney who was known for representing controversial, famous defendants. She herself was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terro ...
, criminal defense attorney convicted and disbarred for providing material support to terrorists (deceased)
File:Robert_Menendez_official_Senate_portrait.jpg, Bob Menendez
Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American former politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 2006 until his resignation in 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...
, US Senator 2006–2024
File:Peter_Rodino.jpg, Peter W. Rodino, one of the longest serving members of US Congress from New Jersey
(deceased)
File:Gary_Francione.jpg, Gary L. Francione, founder of animal law
Animal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the naturelegal, social or biologicalof nonhuman animals is an important factor. Animal law encompasses companion animals, wildlife, animals used in entertainment and animals raised ...
(faculty 1995 - present)
File:Nicholas_Katzenbach_at_White_House,_6_May_1968.jpg, Nicholas Katzenbach
Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach (January 17, 1922 – May 8, 2012) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. He had previously served as United States Deputy Attorney Genera ...
, US Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State.
The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
1966-69 and US Attorney General
The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...
1965-66
(faculty 1950-51) (deceased)
File:PaulaLaddey1921.png, Paula Laddey, Newark suffragist, admitted to bar in 1913
(deceased)
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Rutgers University colleges and schools
Law schools in New Jersey
Law schools in the New York metropolitan area
Education in Camden, New Jersey
Education in Newark, New Jersey
2015 establishments in New Jersey
Universities and colleges established in 2015