Facts About William and Mary Law School

William and Mary Law School is a public legal education institution and is the United States’ oldest law school. William and Mary Law School is a component of the larger educational framework of the College of William & Mary, the oldest American university and second-oldest American college.

It is placed off of the main William and Mary campus, near Colonial Williamsburg. US News & World Report rankings currently place William and Mary Law School at the #28 spot among all of the law schools in the United States, a position it occupies with Chapel Hill Law School. Moreover, William and Mary Law School is also placed at the #10 position among the best public university-offered law programs in the United States by US News & World Report. The current dean of William and Mary Law School is Davison M. Douglas.

William and Mary Law School class size at present is 625. Historically, the creation of William and Mary Law School is attributed to the encouragement provided by Thomas Jefferson, a one-time William and Mary student. The first professor of law at William and Mary Law School, George Wythe, before assuming the position provided legal training to two futures U.S. Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, one Chief Supreme Court Justice, John Marshall, and one Secretary of State, Henry Clay.

William and Mary Law School students can take an array of specially targeted programs. These include the Human Rights and National Security Law Program, the Election Law Program, and the William and Mary Property Rights Projects.