Welcome
Welcome to Lewis & Clark Law School – virtually!
In our new normal of sheltering in place, our admissions team has put a wealth of virtual resources at your fingertips. It’s the next best thing to being here in person.
Lewis & Clark Law School is a very special place. For those of you who are about to be lawyers, here is your first lesson: do not accept this statement at face value – even if it comes from the Dean! Demand proof that our law school is special. Here are my supporting facts:
- Student retention: 97% of our first-year students come back, and 99% of our upper division students graduate. Our students come here, they stay here and they succeed.
- Faculty retention: Our faculty are devoted to Lewis & Clark students. Other than retirements, I can count on one hand number of faculty who have chosen to leave Lewis & Clark.
Why?
Two Reasons: Collegiality and Mutual Respect. These concepts are woven into the fabric of our school. You will feel this difference on day one. Alumni from all decades tell me how our law school supported them and helped them during tough times.
This does not mean that Lewis & Clark Law school is easy – it is not. Your education will be rigorous. Your professors will challenge you every day to think harder, to think deeper, to question your initial assumptions, to solve problems and prepare you for a rewarding law career.
Our students compete with themselves to do well – not with each other – you will work hard but in a supportive environment.
Bottom line: we are a community and we will do everything possible to make you successful.
Along with a vigorous classroom experience, we offer a vast array of practical skills: clinics, externships, moot courts, & advanced skills classes, giving you opportunities to learn and practice skills of arguing, negotiating, counseling, litigating and drafting. We believe that experiential learning and practical skills training lay a great foundation for post-graduate success.
Most of you seek law school with an ultimate goal to launch a rewarding career. Here too, we excel, with employment rates for recent graduates in the 90th percentile.
Our dedicated career services office begins working with you in your first days as a first-year student, helping you obtain a job on your chosen career path – and in your chosen location. Furthermore, all 1Ls are connected to a personal mentor network of peers, faculty and alumni.
Our alumni practice in every field from litigation to family law to criminal law to tax law to environmental and public interest law and more.
Our alums serve in government – they are federal judges, state court judges, senators, congressmen, state legislators and governors. They lead NGOs that protect the environment, fight for social justice, advocate for better laws. They serve some of our largest corporations as well as our small businesses. They become partners in national and international law firms.
Our alumni are engaged in supporting current students as they fund scholarships, serve as mentors, and hire graduates.
Finally, your great law school experience will take place on a beautiful campus on the edge of a forest set in the midst of the one of the best cities in the nation – Portland. From that vibrant urban center, you also have easy access to the outdoors: ocean, mountains and forest.
What’s important is that you find the right fit in a law school – and we hope that our virtual visit will help you see that Lewis & Clark Law is your right fit.
I look forward to welcoming you when we can safely gather again. Until then, stay well and stay connected!
Warmest regards,
