Eager to retain the Antioch School of Law's mission, curriculum, clinical programs, and some personnel for the benefit of the city, in 1986 Antioch School of Law students, alumni and local legal and civic leaders mounted a successful grassroots campaign to persuade the Council of the District of Columbia to pass legislation that re-established the school as the District of Columbia School of Law (DCSL).[7] The Council of the District of Columbia later passed legislation merging the School of Law with the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.[1] In 1998 President Clinton signed legislation renaming the School after former D.C. Council Chair David A. Clarke, a civil rights leader and long-time advocate for the law school and its mission.[1]
The District of Columbia School of Law was awarded provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1991, while the David A. Clarke School of Law was awarded provisional accreditation shortly after its renaming in 1998.[1] It was awarded full accreditation by a unanimous vote of the ABA House of Delegates on August 8, 2005.[1]
On May 15, 2020, the council of the American Bar Association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar met remotely and determined this school and nine others had significant noncompliance with Standard 316.[8] This Standard was revised in 2019 to provide that at least 75% of an accredited law school's graduates who took a bar exam must pass one within two years of graduation.[8] The school had been asked to submit a report by Feb. 1, 2021; and, if the council did not find the report demonstrated compliance, the school would be asked to appear before the council at its May, 2021 meeting.[8] By August 2020, the School of Law was able to demonstrate compliance, asserting the class of 2018 had a two-year bar passage rate of 75.3%, and its class of 2019 was showing progress toward a 75% pass rate.[9] The August council also specifically found that the school was in compliance with Standards 501(b) and Interpretation 501–1, which deal with admissions policies and practices.[9] However, in late 2022, the school was again found out of compliance for having an actual 67.24% pass rate for the class of 2019.[10] The school indicated the 2019 results were an anomaly.[10] The ABA determined the school was back in compliance by March 2023.[11]
However, as of early 2024, based on statistics for 2021 graduates, the school had a two year passrate of just 57.14%.[12]
UDC Law enrolled 247 students for the 2018–19 academic year[2] and 63% of J.D. students were racial minorities.[2]
In 2018, UDC received 584 applications, of which 207 (35.4%) were offered admission. Of those 207 admitted, 61 (29.5%) matriculated.[2] The median LSAT score for students enrolling in UDC in 2018 was 147, and the median undergraduate GPA was 2.92.[2]
UDC Law students can earn their J.D. in three years as full-time students or in four years as part-time students.[14] The school also offers a two-year LL.M. program with concentrations in Clinical Education, Social Justice, and Systems Change.[15]
Each first-year UDC Law student is required to perform a minimum of 40 hours of community service with a DC non-profit or government agency as part of the Community Service Law and Justice course.[16] After completion of the first year, all UDC Law students are eligible for paid summer public interest fellowships.[17] UDC Law also has an externship program that allows students to earn academic credit for closely supervised law-related work done in conjunction with the UDC Law's Externship Course.[18] In addition, UDC Law has a service-learning program that facilitates law student, staff and faculty service at family detention centers in Texas and elsewhere.[citation needed]
However, the heart of UDC Law's experiential program is its legal clinics, and all upper-division students are required to take two clinical classes.[19]
For 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked UDC Law in the category #180-196 out of 196 ABA accredited law schools, being in the bottom 7.69% of those schools, at most.[4]
According to UDC Law's 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 38.8% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time long-term JD-required employment nine months after graduation. Most of the graduates employed worked for law firms of 2-10 attorneys or the government.[20]
The 2018–2019 tuition rates for full-time students are $12,838 for District residents, $18,756 for metropolitan area residents, and $24,674 per semester for non-District residents. Tuition rates for part-time, visiting and non-matriculating students are $402 per credit hour for D.C. residents, $601 per credit hour for metropolitan area residents, and $802 per credit hour for non-District residents. The total cost of attendance (including the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at UDC Law for the 2018–2019 academic year is estimated to be $55,301 for full-time students who are D.C. residents and $78,973 for full-time students who are non-residents.[2] The total debt for graduates as calculated by Law School Transparency is $158,946.[22]
^ abcdef"School of Law History". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
^"Student Organizations". University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 5 Jan 2018.
^"Panel Member Biography, Tim Reiser". The U.S. – Vietnam Relationship and War Legacies: 25 Years into Normalization. Washington, DC: The Stimson Center. July 15, 2020.
