Indiana University Maurer School of Law-Bloomington

Overview ³

175 years of growth and change have shaped the character and reputation of Indiana Law.

The school opened in 1842 as the first state university law school in the Midwest. Upon founding the Law school, university trustees stated their intention to create a school that would be "inferior to none west of the mountains" that would prepare students to combine superior scholarship with ethics.

On Dec. 5, 1842, Professor David McDonald gave his first lecture to the class of the new Law Department of Indiana University, the ninth law school in the nation and first state law school in the Midwest. There is no record of how many students were in that first class, but there were five in the first graduating class in 1844.

Through the early years, the Law Department flourished under the direction of McDonald and other distinguished jurists, and following the Civil War enrollment soared, graduating 32 in 1871, more than half of the total graduates of the university.

In 1889, the trustees reestablished the law department as a law school, naming David D. Banta as its first dean. The Association of American Law schools was formed in 1900, and Indiana Law was one of the 25 charter members of this group. The law school enrollment stood at 125 students in 1900, and there were three faculty and a law library of 4,000 volumes. In 1908, Indiana Law moved to Maxwell Hall, where it would remain until the mid-1950s.

Student-Faculty Ratio ⁴

8.3:1

Admission Criteria ⁵

	LSAT	GPA
25th-75th Percentile	153-163	3.36-3.82
Median*	161	3.71

The above LSAT and GPA data pertain to the fall 2016 entering class.

Director of admissions	Ann Killian Perry
Application deadline	March 1

The above LSAT and GPA data pertain to the 2016 entering class.

*Medians have been calculated by averaging the 25th- and 75th-percentile values released by the law schools and have been rounded up to the nearest whole number for LSAT scores and to the nearest one-hundredth for GPAs.

Admission Statistics ⁶

Approximate number of applications	1633
Number accepted	680
Percentage accepted	41.6%

The above admission details are based on 2016 data.

Law School Cost ⁷

Tuition and fees Full-time	$32,551 per year (in-state) $53,301 per year (out-of-state)
Room and board	$12,466
Books	$1,800
Miscellaneous expenses	$4,078

Class Ranking and Grades ⁸

Student performance is graded and credited according to the following scale:

Grade	Grade Points Per Hour of Credit
A, A+	4.0
A-	3.7
B+	3.3
B	3.0
B-	2.7
C+	2.3
C	2.0
C-	1.7 (No credit grade; course must be repeated if required)
F	0.0 (No credit grade; course must be repeated if required)

Where appropriate, the following marks shall be used: W - (Withdraw al) I - (Incomplete) S - (Satisfactory) P - (Pass) HT – (Hours taken)

Within one week of the date of submission of a grade for a written examination to the Recorder, the instructor may identify the student and adjust the grade to reflect other relevant aspects of the student's performance in the course.

If a student withdraws from a course without the required approval, the grade of "F" shall be entered for that course. If the student withdraws with approval, the mark of "W" shall be entered.

After the grades for a semester or term have been reported by the Recorder to the University's Office of the Registrar, no grade or mark received for that semester or term other than the mark of "I" may be changed without the approval of the Dean.

Grade Normalization (Curve)⁹

The tables below display the cumulative grade point average (to three decimal places) a student needs (left column) in order to claim the class standing expressed in the percentile (right column). These tables include grades earned through the Fall semester of the 2016–2017 academic year. The table for the Class of 2018 includes expected August 2017, December 2017, and May 2018 graduates.

Law students are evaluated on a 4.0 system

A-	4.0
A-	3.7
B+	3.3

Class of 2018 (Current Second Year Students):

Class standing	Cumulative GPA
Minimum GPA required top 1% of the class	3.877
Minimum GPA required top 2% of the class	3.788
Minimum GPA required top 3% of the class	3.779
Minimum GPA required top 5% of the class	3.755
Minimum GPA required top 10% of the class	3.688
Minimum GPA required top 15% of the class	3.616
Minimum GPA required top 20% of the class	3.581
Minimum GPA required top 25% of the class	3.533
Minimum GPA required top 30% of the class	3.500
Minimum GPA required top 33% of the class	3.478
Minimum GPA required top 40% of the class	3.440
Minimum GPA required top 50% of the class	3.376

Class of 2017 (Current Third Year Students):

Class standing	Cumulative GPA
Minimum GPA required top 1% of the class	3.943
Minimum GPA required top 2% of the class	3.848
Minimum GPA required top 3% of the class	3.818
Minimum GPA required top 5% of the class	3.752
Minimum GPA required top 10% of the class	3.677
Minimum GPA required top 15% of the class	3.645
Minimum GPA required top 20% of the class	3.604
Minimum GPA required top 25% of the class	3.571
Minimum GPA required top 30% of the class	3.538
Minimum GPA required top 33% of the class	3.527
Minimum GPA required top 40% of the class	3.484
Minimum GPA required top 50% of the class	3.399

Honors ¹⁰

Honor	Percentage of Class Receiving
Order of the Coif	The English Order of the Coif was the most ancient and one of the most honored institutions of the common law. It was an association of lawyers who for centuries had the sole right to appear as barristers in the Court of Common Pleas. The Order takes its name from the word used to designate the cap all the members of the Order were compelled to wear. This cap or coif was originally of white lawn or silk, forming a close-fitting hood. Later when wigs came into fashion, the coif was changed to a circular piece of white lawn fastened to the top of the wig. The real decline in the power and influence of the Order came through the appointment of King's counsel but despite efforts to change it, the Order remained the sole body of accepted practitioners at the Common Pleas Bar down to the Judicature Act. The American Order of the Coif is the outgrowth of an earlier society known as Theta Kappa Nu, founded in 1902 for the purpose of promoting scholarship among American law students. In 1912 the society was reorganized as the Order of the Coif "to foster a spirit of careful study and to mark in a fitting manner those who have attained a high grade of scholarship." Election to the Order is restricted to the top ten percent of the graduating Senior class. The chapter at the Indiana University School of Law elects its new members each July from the class comprised of those who graduated in May of the same year and December and August of the prior year. Transfer and part-time students typically are not eligible for election to the Order of the Coif because of grading comparison difficulties with the rest of the class.
Order of Barristers	At Indiana University-Bloomington School of Law, ten graduating third year students are selected each year for induction into the Order of Barristers. The students come from both the trial and appellate advocacy programs. The selection of inductees on the trial side is made by Professor Alex Tanford based on performance in the trial advocacy course and/or participation on an extramural trial competition team. On the appellate side, eligibility for induction is limited to those students who participated in at least one extramural moot court competition during their years in law school. The selection of inductees on the appellate side is made by a committee of law faculty members based on nominating statements, submitted by the eligible students, which summarize their accomplishments in both intramural and extramural moot court competitions.
Dean's Honors	A student may earn Dean's Honors in the fall or spring semesters (not in the summer) if all of the following are met: A grade point average for the semester in the top 30% of one's class for that semester; and Completion of at least 12 credit hours of law school work during a semester, for which at least 9 credit hours are graded. First year students must complete the prescribed first year sequence of courses. Joint degree students must complete at least 9 credit hours of graded law courses during a semester, and total at least 12 credit hours. Second semester third-year students must complete at least 11 credit hours of which at least 9 are graded. The academic work for a semester must be completed on a timely basis. Dean's Honors will not be given retroactively or when an "incomplete" has been removed.
summa cum laude	Top 1% (99th 100th percentile)
magna cum laude	Top 10% (90th -98th percentile)
cum laude	Top 30% (70th -89th percentile)

Awards ¹¹

Name of Award	Awarded for/to
Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award	For teaches constitutional law
Gavel Award	For outstanding contribution to the graduating class

Journals ¹²

Indiana Law Journal

Select students are invited to join the staff of the Indiana Law Journal during the summer following their first year of law school. Invitations are extended based on first-year academic performance and a writing competition that takes place at the end of the first year. The ILJ publishes original articles by a distinguished and diverse selection of authors that have included United States Chief Justice William Rehnquist and U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman. Students select, edit, and verify the accuracy and form of cited sources in the articles. The journal also publishes several student-written articles.

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

The Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design is the first journal devoted specifically to the emerging field of constitutional design. This new field examines the ways in which basic legal ordering (the law that creates the fundamental power structures of a given country) shapes and is shaped by political, economic, and cultural conditions. This online journal publishes a range of different materials, including not only traditional articles and student notes, but also taxonomies of design options on particular subjects, explorations of specific drafting issues in particular countries, and reflections by those with experience in constitutional drafting and design. The goal of the Journal is to help develop this emerging field by providing information and ideas to both scholars and practitioners of constitutional drafting.

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies publishes articles by distinguished legal scholars focusing on issues of globalization and international law. Each issue generally contains articles by authors from many different countries. Select students are invited to join the staff during the summer following their first year of law school. Invitations are extended based on first-year academic performance and a writing competition that takes place at the end of the first year. Students edit and proofread articles, and verify the accuracy and form of cited sources. The journal also publishes several student-written articles.

IP Theory

IP Theory is a peer-edited on-line intellectual property law publication hosted by the Law School's Center for Intellectual Property Research. It is neither law journal nor blog; it is a different sort of publication designed to occupy a niche between the two. IP Theory serves as a forum for:

• Essays or opinion pieces that are more concise (and more lightly footnoted) than typical law review articles
• Book reviews
• Reviews of literature, either IP scholarly literature or literature in allied fields

IP Theory is indexed as an open-access journal, and available through the usual subscription services (e.g., Westlaw). The journal is peer-edited. Faculty peers solicit and select content. Student editors are selected by their peers and the faculty advisor.

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

The Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality is an online journal established in May 2011.

The purpose of the Journal is to serve as an interdisciplinary academic forum for scholars, practitioners, policy-makers, and students to contribute to society's understanding of legal and policy issues concerning race, religion, gender, and class.

Membership in the Journal consists of second- and third-year students who have exhibited a demonstrated commitment to social equality through relevant discipline, employment, or volunteer work and who have had exemplary performance in their first-year studies.

Moot Court ¹³

The Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition is a student-run program in written and oral appellate advocacy. The majority of the second-year class participates in this annual competition, which is also open to third-year students who have not previously competed owing to study abroad or joint-degree programs.

Clinical Programs ¹⁴

The Law School offers seven in-house live-client clinics, taught by clinical faculty with extensive practice experience. Each clinic gives you hands-on experience helping real clients while you develop skills as responsible, ethical, and thoughtful lawyers. Each clinic is tied to a classroom component.

• Community Legal Clinic
• Conservation Law Clinic
• Disability Law Clinic
• Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic
• Intellectual Property Law Clinic
• Non-Profit Legal Clinic
• Viola J. Taliaferro Family and Children Mediation Clinic

Placement Facts ¹⁵

Starting Salaries (2015 Graduates Employed Full-Time)

Private sector (25th-75th percentile)	$55,000 - $115,000
Median in the private sector	$85,000
Median in public service	$54,100

Employment Details

Graduates known to be employed at graduation	44.9%
Graduates known to be employed ten months after graduation	78.8%

Areas of Legal Practice

Graduates Employed In	Percentage
Law Firms	48.5%
Business and Industry	17%
Government	14.6%
Public Interest Organizations	5.3%
Judicial Clerkships	10.5%
Academia	4.1%
Unknown	0%

Externships/Internships ¹⁶

The Law School’s externship program complements the school’s clinical program and projects. Every semester, students head out to work for academic credit in non-profit organizations, with judges and government offices, and in public policy organizations throughout Indiana. In the summer, students work at companies, law firms, and other organizations around the globe in a fully funded fellows programs. The Law School also offers a unique third-year semester externship in Washington, D.C., for those students wishing to work with the federal government or a public advocacy organization. Each year, over 300 field placements are offered.

• Criminal Law Externship
• Independent Clinical Projects
• Indiana Legal Services Externship
• Intellectual Property Externship Program
• Judicial Field Placements
• Public Interest Externship Program
• Semester Public Interest Program
• Student Legal Services Externship

Student Organizations ¹⁷

• Advocates for Life
• American Bar Association (ABA) Law Student Division
• American Constitution Society (ACS)
• Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA)
• Black Law Student Association (BLSA)
• Business and Law Society (BLS)
• Christian Legal Society (CLS)
• Environmental Law Society (ELS)
• Family Law Society
• Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
• Feminist Law Forum
• Health Law Society
• Indianapolis Bar Association
• Intellectual Property Association
• International Law Society (ILS)
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS)
• Jewish Law Students Association
• Labor and Employment Law Society
• Latino Law Student Association (LLSA)
• Law and Drama Society
• Law Students for Reproductive Justice
• Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA)
• Older and Wiser Law Students (OWLS)
• OUTlaw
• Outreach for Legal Literacy
• Phi Alpha Delta
• Phi Delta Phi
• Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF)
• Society for Law and the Arts
• Sports and Entertainment Law Society
• Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
• Student Bar Association (SBA)
• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)
• Women’s Law Caucus

References

1. http://www.law.indiana.edu/about/contact-us.shtml
2. http://registrar.indiana.edu/contact/index.shtml
3. http://law.indiana.edu/about/history.shtml
4. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/indiana-university-bloomington-maurer-03054
5. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/indiana-university-bloomington-maurer-03054/admissions
6. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/indiana-university-bloomington-maurer-03054/admissions
7. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/indiana-university-bloomington-maurer-03054/cost
8. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/professional-careers/student-affairs/assets/academic-regulations.pdf
9. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/professional-careers/student-affairs/assets/grades-and-percentile-tables.pdf
10. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/professional-careers/student-affairs/assets/academic-regulations.pdf
11. http://info.law.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2016/04/maurer-teaching-awards-2016.shtml
12. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/build-community/journals/
13. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/build-community/moot-court-and-advocacy/minton-index.shtml
14. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/professional-careers/experiential-education/clinics/
15. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/indiana-university-bloomington-maurer-03054/career-prospects
16. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/professional-careers/experiential-education/externships/index.shtml
17. http://www.law.indiana.edu/what/build-community/organizations/index.shtml