University of North Dakota School of Law

Law school in Grand Forks, North Dakota, US

The University of North Dakota School of Law is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota at the University of North Dakota (UND) and is the only law school in North Dakota. It was established in 1899. The law school is home to approximately 240 students and has more than 3,000 alumni. It has one of the smallest student populations among the American Bar Association accredited law schools.

The UND School of Law was founded in 1899. The first dean of the law school was Guy C. H. Corliss, who served as the first Chief Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court.

In 2018, the median GPA for incoming UND Law students was 3.13, while the median LSAT score was 148. In 2018, the School of Law received 275 applications for its J. D. program, of which 176 were accepted and 62 were enrolled. In recent years, the school has increased its student diversity through partial tuition waivers for members of minority groups as well as transfers from Charlotte and Arizona Summit School of Law. In addition, the school attracts a number of international students from Canada, Norway and other countries.

In its 2015 ranking of American law schools, U. S. News & World Report ranked UND Law 144 out of approximately 194 accredited law schools.

UND Law has a formal Curricular Mission Statement to guide changes to its educational program. In 2013–14, the school reconfigured the required first year curriculum, adding a new Professional Foundations course.

In 2013, the North Dakota legislature approved $11.4 million for a major addition and renovation to the existing building. Construction started in Summer 2014 and was completed in Fall 2015, with the dedication and ribbon cutting taking place on October 9.

The three story Thormodsgard Law Library adjacent to the School of Law building at UND is named in honor of Olaf H. Thormodsgard, who was Dean of the University of North Dakota School of Law from 1933 to 1962. The library underwent a renovation in 2003 that added mobile compact shelving. The upgrade increased the shelf space for the library's growing collection of legal materials (which includes a core collection of 312,000 volumes). Following a 15 month renovation a new wing opened. The Law School Transparency estimated debt financed cost of attendance for three years (2013) is $113,029 for residents and $163,484 for nonresidents.