The Georgia State University College of Law is a

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, ...

located in downtown

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. Founded in 1982, it is accredited by the

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 ...

and is 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) no ...

Georgia State University College of Law Building

In addition to the

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree, the college offers joint degree programs with other colleges at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

. The college offers a full-time and a part-time program. The cost of tuition at GSU Law for the 2018–2019 academic year is $17,050 for residents and $36,659 for non-residents.

History

As far back as the early 1970s, Georgia legislators and academic leaders debated establishing a new law school. The Georgia State University College of Law finally was sanctioned by the state’s Board of Regents in 1981 and

Ben F. Johnson Benjamin Franklin Johnson, Jr. (September 30, 1914 – July 1, 2006) was a member of the Georgia State Senate from 1962 to 1969, Dean of the Emory University School of Law from 1961 to 1973, and Dean of the Georgia State University College of Law ...

became its first dean. The college enrolled 200 students in its inaugural year, taught by six professors. Most students were part-time, and many took classes at night, because they had full-time jobs during the day. The college’s first seven graduates were hooded in December 1984. By the end of its first decade, full-time faculty had grown to 31, nearly half of whom were women.

Rankings

Georgia State University College of Law is currently ranked as the 78th best law school by '' U.S. News & World Report'' (2022). The College of Law also boasts a strong Health Law program (currently ranked 3rd nationally) and a large part-time program (ranked 17th nationally). The school was ranked 42nd by Above The Law in 2019 using metrics that focus more on student outcomes rather than inputs. Additionally, GSU was named by '' Princeton Review'' in its 2013 edition of The Best 168 Law Schools.

Tuition

The cost of tuition at GSU Law for the 2018-2019 academic year is $17,050 for residents and $36,659 for non-residents.

Admissions

In 2021, incoming Georgia State law students had a median GPA of 3.55 and a median LSAT score of 160.

Clinical programs

The school has a number of legal clinics, such as the Phillip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, which serves low-income taxpayers.

Study abroad

The school operates the Summer Academy in International Commercial Arbitration, a five-week, six-credit hour study abroad program based in Linz, Austria. the Buenos Aires Summer Program in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

(jointly sponsored with the Florida International University College of Law); and the Summer Legal and Policy Study in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Employment

According to Georgia State's official 2018 ABA-required disclosures, 71.5% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. Georgia State's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 13.4%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2018 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.

Notable alumni

* Judiciary ** Shawn LaGrua, J.D. 1987 - Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia ** John "Trea" Pipkin III, J.D. 2005 - Judge,

Georgia Court of Appeals The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia. History Founding of the court The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, suggesting that the ...

Barbara Swinton Barbara Cook Green Swinton (born May 25, 1960) is a judge on the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. She was appointed to the appellate court by Governor Mary Fallin on September 14, 2016, to replace Judge Bill Hetherington, who retired from Distr ...

, J.D. 1991 - Judge,

Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals is an intermediate appellate court in the state of Oklahoma. Cases are assigned to it by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the state's highest court for civil matters.

Cynthia J. Becker Cynthia Becker Mello (born February 26, 1957) is a former Georgia Superior Court Judge on the DeKalb Superior Court, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, from 2000 until March 1, 2015. She presided over several high-profile cases, including the crimi ...

, J.D. 1987 - Judge, DeKalb County Superior Court **

Bill Hamrick William "Bill" Grady Hamrick III (born October 6, 1964) is the Georgia Statewide Business Court Judge. Judge Hamrick was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp on August 3, 2022 and confirmed by the Georgia Legislature on September 14, 2022 to be the S ...

, J.D. 1991 - Superior Court Judge, Coweta Judicial Circuit; former member of the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

(D-30); incoming Georgia State-wide Business Court judge ** Charles M. Eaton Jr, J.D. 2012 - Superior Court Judge, Atlanta Judicial Circuit; former member of the Georgia Public Service Commission * Government ** Glenn Richardson, J.D. 1984 - Former Speaker of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

(2005-2010) ** Cynthia Coffman, J.D. 1991 - 38th Attorney General of Colorado **

Keisha Lance Bottoms Keisha Lance Bottoms (born January 18, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 60th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2018 to 2022. She was elected mayor in 2017. Before becoming mayor, she was a member of the Atlanta City ...

, J.D. 1996 - Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Senior Advisor to the President; former

Mayor of Atlanta Here is a list of mayors of Atlanta, Georgia. The mayor is the highest elected official in Atlanta. Since its incorporation in 1847, the city has had 61 mayors. The current mayor is Andre Dickens who was elected in the 2021 election and took o ...

; former member of the Atlanta City Council **

Steve Tumlin Raymond Stevens "Thunder" Tumlin Jr. (born April 17, 1947) is an American politician. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives representing District 38, which encompasses parts of Cobb County. He became mayor of Marietta, GA in 2 ...

, J.D. 1988 - Mayor of

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

** Curt Thompson, J.D. 1993 - Former member of the Georgia State Senate (D-5); former member of the Georgia House of Representatives (69th District) **

Rich Golick Richard Marshall "Rich" Golick (born September 18, 1966, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is former a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in the U.S. state of Georgia. Golick is a Republican, and represented District 40, which encompassed parts o ...

, J.D. 1997 - Former member of the Georgia House of Representatives (40th District) **

Trey Kelley Othel Doyle Kelley (born July 23, 1987) is an American politician and lawyer. He served as the Republican Majority Whip of the Georgia House of Representatives until July 2021 from House District 16, covering much of Bartow, Haralson, and Pol ...

, J.D. 2014 - Current member of the Georgia House of Representatives (16th District) **

Sam Park Samuel Lauderdale Park (born October 1, 1985) is an American politician and lawyer, who was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in the 2016 elections.Matt Ramsey, J.D. 2005 - Former member of the Georgia House of Representatives (72nd District); House Majority Whip (2013-2016) ** Stephen Dickson, J.D. 1999 - 18th Administrator of the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

Nika Rurua Nikoloz (Nika) Rurua ( ka, ნიკოლოზ (ნიკა) რურუა; 17 March 1968 – 4 December 2018) was a Georgian politician, and a member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of Minister of Culture and Monument Protectio ...

, J.D. 2001 - Former member of the

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(country) * Other notable alumni **

Claudia Brind-Woody Claudia Lavergne Brind-Woody (born January 30, 1955) is an American business executive. She is the Vice President and Managing Director of intellectual property at IBM. Early life and education Around 1956 Brind-Woody was a toddler in Sou ...

, J.D. 1999 - IBM executive **

Stan Case Stanley Wright Case (November 1952 – November 22, 2011) was an American lawyer and broadcast journalist. He was best known as the news anchor of CNN Radio from 1985 to 2011. Early life and education A native of Prague, Oklahoma, Case gra ...

, J.D. 1996 - News anchor of

CNN Radio CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour United States cable news, ...

(1985-2011) **Jimmy Faircloth, J.D. 1990 - Lawyer in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

- Pineville,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, former executive counsel to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives ...

. **

Emily Jacobson Emily Phillipa Jacobson (born December 2, 1985, in Dunwoody, Georgia) is an American Olympic sabre fencer. She won a bronze medal in the 2003 Pan American Games, and was 2004 Junior World Champion in women's saber. Background Jacobson was born ...

, J.D./MBA 2014 - Olympic saber fencer *Notable faculty **

Paul A. Lombardo Paul A. Lombardo is an American legal historian known for his work on the legacy of eugenics and sterilization in the United States. Lombardo’s foundational research corrected the historical record of the 1927 U.S. Supreme Court case of ''Buck v ...

, Professor of Law - Senior Advisor to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues ** Thomas W. Thrash, Professor of Law (1986-1997) - Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

References

External links

College of LawAcademic Programs and CentersGeorgia State University
{{authority control Law schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia State University