Friday, January 17, 2020
At the heart of Liberty University School of Law is its unyielding commitment to view law as vocation—a high and noble calling on one’s life. From this lens, we channel our time, talent, and treasure to develop lawyers with a passion for law and a purpose for life.
Over this year, I have been thrilled to see our alumni and students’ dedication to this commitment realized again and again. The Class of 2018 finished 7th in the nation out of 204 law schools (top 3%) in bar passage. Our 2019 graduates followed this exceptional achievement with a 92% bar pass rate across 13 jurisdictions. Since 2015, Liberty Law graduates have enjoyed a cumulative average pass rate on Virginia’s July Bar Exams of 87.5% – perennially one of the toughest in the country.
Our competitive skills teams continue to excel. Annually, our students win regional and national titles in competitions, and over the last two years, we have been ranked 3rd and 4th nationally in the ABA Competitions Championship. We remain true to the real strength of a Liberty Law degree – the proper blending of theoretical knowledge with practical skills.
Liberty Law was also named the law school with the sixth-lowest debt after graduation by the U.S. News and World Report in 2019, and through our generous scholarship program and the increasing success of our graduates’ job placements, we are confident that Liberty graduates have a degree to serve them for life but a debt load that will not.
As our law school matures and grows in size and stature, changes are a constant. In the last two years, Professors Mantilla, Martins, Todd, and Tompkins have all earned tenure. We have lost Professors Harp, Sandez, and Udobong to other professional endeavors and retirement, and most recently Professor Boz Tchividjian announced that he is returning to practice in Florida. Finally, Professor Scott Thompson has turned over the reigns of our beloved Lawyering Skills Program to Professor Grant Rost, but remains coaching and teaching full-time for the law school.
In the following newsletter, you will get to read about some of these events, and how our students are following their passion for law to think about current issues and use law to glorify God. You will also get to read about some of the amazing work being done by our alumni and the way that they are using their Liberty Law degree to change the world.
Our graduates are influencers in the profession as they inspire the profession, innovate the practice, and impact their communities.