Marquette University Law School

Marquette University Law School is the law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Milwaukee Law Class, MULS is housed in Eckstein Hall on Marquette University's campus in downtown Milwaukee.

Marquette University is a Catholic institution operated by the Jesuit order. The law school's mission includes a commitment to the Jesuit idea of cura personalis ("care of the entire person"), a duty to promote diversity, and a goal of encouraging its "students to become agents for positive change in society." As of the 2016 17 academic year, the school has 575 enrolled students and 98 faculty members and administrators, including 30 full time faculty members, 10 "deans, librarians, and others who teach," and 58 part time faculty members.

Marquette University Law School was born out of Marquette University's 1908 acquisition of the Milwaukee Law Class and the Milwaukee University Law School. First known as the Marquette University College of Law, the school added a day division to the two predecessors' evening programs. The first dean was James Graham Jenkins, a retired judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In 1916, the first edition of the Marquette Law Review was published, and in 1923, the college's name was changed to Marquette University Law School. A year later, the school moved into Sensenbrenner Hall. A law review article at the time described the building's interior: "four large lecture rooms and a large Moot Court room" and a "third floor [to] be occupied entirely by the library capable of holding 50,000 volumes." The law school became a member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1912 and received American Bar Association approval in 1925. The evening program was suspended in 1924 as part of the accreditation process, and was not restored for decades. It was under Dean Robert Boden that the modern law school emerged. He took over as acting dean in June 1965, and served as dean until his death in 1984. During those nearly 20 years, the size of the full time faculty tripled, the student body nearly doubled, and the law library doubled the size of its collection. Boden also oversaw a significant increase in the physical plant of the law school, making two major additions to Sensenbrenner Hall. In fall 2010, the school moved into the new Eckstein Hall. The school also recently received the two largest gifts in its history: $51 million from alumni Ray and Kay Eckstein for Eckstein Hall, and $30 million from real estate developer Joseph Zilber, the bulk of which will endow scholarships. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia spoke at the September 8, 2010 dedication ceremony. and the Bradley Foundation. Zilber and Sheldon Lubar contributed provided funding for scholarships, research and other law school programs. Eckstein Hall is located on the eastern end of the Marquette campus, two blocks from the Milwaukee County Courthouse and a mile from the Federal Courthouse. At 200,000 square feet, the building is four stories tall. It includes a four story "library without borders," two mock courtrooms, a four story atrium (the Zilber Forum), a cafeteria, a workout facility, a conference center, classrooms and faculty offices. The classrooms were all designed as "smart classrooms" with projectors, cameras, audio recording, and individual microphones built into classroom seating.

Marquette University Law School offers two degrees, the Juris Doctor (J. D.), the largest program, and the LL. M in Sports Law program, for foreign attorneys only. The school's National Sports Law Institute, established in 1989, is affiliated with the LL. M. program and also conducts other activities. The school has five clinical programs as of spring 2012: Mediation Clinic, Unemployment Compensation Advocacy Clinic, Restorative Justice Clinic (part of the Marquette University Law School Restorative Justice Initiative), Prosecutor Clinic (placement at the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office), and Public Defender Clinic (placement in the Trial Division of the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office in Milwaukee). U. S. News & World Report placed Marquette #8 among 14 alternative dispute resolution programs ranked in 2013. Marquette offers seven joint degree programs: J. D./M. B. A. and J. D./M. B. A. in Sports Business (with the College of Business Administration); J. D./M. A. in Political Science and J. D./M. A. in International Affairs (with the Department of Political Science); J. D./M. A. in Bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin; J. D./M. A. Social and Applied Philosophy and J. D./M. A. History of Philosophy (with the Department of Philosophy).

For the class entering in 2023, the school accepted 45.51% of applicants, with 40.46% of those accepted enrolling. The average enrollee had a 155 LSAT score and 3.61 undergraduate GPA.

For the fall 2023 entering J. D. class, there were 195 enrolled students (189 full time and 6 part time). The Law School's websites lists some 40 student organizations.

Based on data on the Class of 2015 submitted to the American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 62% of graduates obtained full time, long term positions requiring bar admission (i. e., jobs as lawyers), within 9 months of graduation. Marquette Law's Law School Transparency under employment score is 22.9%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2014 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non professional, short term, or part time job nine months after graduation.

In its 2024 Best Law Schools rankings, U. S. News & World Report ranked the law school 71st in the nation, and 11th for its part time program.

Tuition for the 2016 2017 academic year is $43,530 for full time J. D. students and $1,725 per credit for part time J. D. students. In a typical year some one third of students receive merit based scholarships. The Law School Transparency estimated debt financed cost of attendance for three years is $231,690.

Marquette University Law School publishes four law journals: the flagship Marquette Law Review, the Marquette Sports Law Review (sports law), the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review (intellectual property law) and the Marquette Benefits & Social Welfare Law Review (evolved out of the former Marquette Elder's Advisor). The Marquette Sports Law Review was the first biannual scholarly journal devoted entirely to issues in sports law. The Marquette Elder's Advisor, established in 1999, was one of only two student edited elder law reviews in the nation until its evolution into the Benefits and Social Welfare Journal. The Marquette Law Review was established in 1916 and is published quarterly. As of 2015, it ranked 134th among student edited general law journals in a combined score based on citation impact factor and currency factor. Among specialized student edited law journals, the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review ranks 318th, the Marquette Sports Law Review ranks 500th, and the Marquette Elder's Advisor ranks 653rd under the same citation impact methodology. Mike Gousha, Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy, hosts On the Issues with Mike Gousha, an interview program that presents national and local public figures before an audience of faculty, students, and interested members of the general public.