Facilities
Lewis & Clark Law School lies on 20 acres of property adjoining 645-acre Tryon Creek State Park, near the southern boundary of Portland. The Paul L. Boley Library, John Gantenbein Building, and Chester McCarty Classroom Building, all designed by noted architect Paul Thiry, were completed in 1970. The William Swindells Legal Research Center, designed by the Portland firm of Broome, Oringdulph, O’Toole, Rudolf, and Associates, opened in 1977. The Louise and Erskine Wood Sr. Hall, opened its doors officially in January 2002.
Boley Library was renovated in 2001; the Gantenbein Building was renovated in 2017; and classrooms in the McCarty Building were renovated in 2017 and 2018.
Paul L. Boley Library
Named for a prominent local attorney and patron of the law school, Lewis & Clark’s law library is the largest in Oregon and the second largest in the Northwest. The 48,000 square-foot structure, which holds the library stacks as well as study spaces, has a uniquely designed roof supported with 10 hyperbolic parabolas that form the ceiling of the building. Large floor to ceiling windows look out onto the campus and the forest of Tryon Creek State Park. The library houses the equivalent of over 500,000 volumes and holds reference materials and periodicals standard to all law libraries.
John Gantenbein Building
Named for Dean Calvin U. Gantenbein’s son, who maintained the family tradition of generous support for the school, this building was originally constructed as a lounge for students. With a fireplace and comfortable couches, the common space remains a popular gathering place. The building presently houses Admissions and the Career Service Center, as well as lockers, and showers.
Chester McCarty Classroom Building
Named in honor of Major General Chester E. McCarty ’29, a Lewis & Clark trustee, this monolithic concrete building houses four large classrooms.
William Swindells Legal Research Center
Named in honor of industrialist and Lewis & Clark trustee William Swindells, this 40,000 square-foot building is an administrative hub of the law campus and is built with floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the beautiful forest of Tryon Creek State Park. It contains the Office of the Registrar, faculty and administrative offices, the development and alumni office, seminar rooms, the student lounge, the law bookstore, and a café.
Louise and Erskine Wood Sr. Hall
Named in honor of Louise and Erskine Wood Sr., longtime supporters of the law school, this beautiful building features large windows and generous use of natural wood. It houses nine study-group rooms, vast study space for students, classrooms and seminar rooms, computer labs, and offices for faculty, library staff, and student law reviews and journals.