Alumni, student, faculty accomplishments showcase the value of a Brandeis education

The University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law has been named among the nation's top "Best Value Law Schools" by the National Jurist eight times in a row. This ranking takes into account the school's tuition, cost of living expenses, students' average indebtedness upon graduation, percentage of graduates employed after graduation, and bar passage rates.

But it's the accomplishments of our people that really underscore the value of a Brandeis Law degree, from our talented students churning out record public service hours, to our ambitious alumni arguing landmark cases in front of the Supreme Court.

"Entering the UofL Brandeis School of Law, I never expected to follow the 'traditional legal practice.' However, I could have never expected the breadth of opportunities the training offered. Over the past 10 years, I've served as the CFO and General Counsel for a high-growth technology company, seeing revenue growth over 5,000 percent and employment growth to over 750. My experiences and training offer a rounded and analytic foundation for the daily challenges necessary to support the business and guide growth," added Brandeis alum Jim Lacy ('98), CFO and General Counsel at ZirMed.

Other examples of value include:

  • We have the highest bar passage rate in the state, 86.5 percent for first-time candidates (the state average is 79.5 percent);
  • 81 percent of 2014 graduates are employed in either a JD advantage or JD preferred job;
  • Our public service requirements allow students to experience hands-on skills training, including in our Ackerson Law Clinic, which has helped more than 1,200 domestic violence victims. Our 2015 graduating class recorded an astonishing 8,977 hours of public service, or more than 53 hours per student on average.
  • We also offer 19 regular externship opportunities, eight dual degree programs, an entrepreneurship clinic, a Human Rights Advocacy Fellowship and more.
  • Our Law Review ranks in the top 18.1 percent nationally;
  • Our team has won the Kentucky Intrastate Mock Trial Championship two years in a row;
  • Our Entrepreneurship Clinic students Kylie Parker and Jessica Wilkett provided counsel for UofL’s MBA team InScope, which won a national championship for startups during the spring semester.
  • We offer 20 student-run organizations and a range of mock trial and moot court competitions;
  • Our faculty-to-student ratio is 13.9-to-1, which means our students can often get personalized attention from world-class faculty and take advantage of an open-door policy from our Dean.

Faculty

Our faculty are also making an impact at both a local and national level. Professors Enid Trucios-Haynes and Jamie Abrams recently launched the Human Rights Advocacy Project, working with student fellows to ensure Louisville’s vulnerable populations (such as noncitizens and refugees) have access to resources and service providers that can help them overcome legal, medical, educational and social barriers.

Professor Lisa Nicholson served as an Implementation Team Member of Louisville’s Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative, as well as a member of the Police Initiatives WorkGroup. During the fall semester (2015), she received the Presidential Exemplary Multicultural Teaching Award from the University of Louisville.

Professor Les Abramson was appointed to the advisory committee for the Center of Judicial Ethics, part of the National Center of State Courts in Arlington, Virginia, while Professor John Cross spent the semester working with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Professor Russell Weaver gave a speech on transparency at an International Symposium in Paris, an event that coincided with the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP21) Climate Change conference.

Professor Tony Arnold delivered the keynote speech at the HUD/EPA/NADO Sustainable Communities Workshop, and also participated in a roundtable discussion with Prince Charles.

Professor Laura Rothstein gave a number of presentations around the country this year to mark the 25th anniversary of the American Disabilities Act, while Professor Mark Rothstein’s “The Moral Challenge of Ebola,” was awarded Editor’s Choice Paper of the Year by The American Journal of Public Health.

Our faculty, including Professor Laura McNeal and Professor Sam Marcosson, hit the national media circuit to address relevant topics such as implicit bias and same-sex marriage. We’ve had professors invited to Israel, Cuba, Switzerland, France, China and more to speak on topics such as international business, women’s rights and intellectual property.

Alumni

And then there are our alums, more than 6,000 strong. During the summer’s landmark Obergefell case granting same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide, Kentucky’s plaintiffs were represented entirely by Brandeis School of Law graduates, including Laura Landenwich (’07), Dan Canon (’07), Joe Dunman (’12), Shannon Fauver (’03) and Dawn Elliott (’07). These attorneys continue to litigate on behalf of same-sex couples in ensuing cases.

Daniel Cameron (2011) was officially named as Legal Counsel for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in March 2015. In January 2015, Howard Fineman (‘80) was promoted to Global Editorial Director of The Huffington Post.

Melanie Bootes (’99) was promoted to Chief  Legal Officer of KFC U.S. in June 2015, while Lucy Helm (’82) was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel for her work with Starbucks Corp.

In the past year, our alums also:

  • Named as president of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation (G. Brian Wells, 2004)
  • Received a 20/20 Vision Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence (Hon. Jerry J. Bowles, 1982)
  • Named a recipient of the National Bar Association’s 2015 40 Under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates (Lonita Baker, 2006)
  • Sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky (David A. Barber, 1980)
  • Sworn in as Kentucky Bar Association President (Doug Farnsley, 1976)
  • Named Dean of the W. Fielding Rubel School of Business at Bellarmine University (Robert L. Brown, 1974)
  • Launched a program called Project HELP, which recruits volunteer attorneys to work with homeless people who have small legal infractions that keep them from being employable (Bart Greenwald, 1994)
  • Named the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society (Neva-Marie Polley, 1999)

Many of our alums speak to the value of their Brandeis School of Law degree.

"As a Brandeis graduate, I was fortunate to study law from some of the finest legal minds. In addition to providing a strong academic legal foundation, my time at Brandeis also reinforced in me a strong sense of commitment to public service. The friendships and professional connections that were formed at Brandeis opened a world of opportunities in the legal field that I have been fortunate to build upon during my career. I am proud to be a Brandeis graduate and to continue the tradition of public service that Justice Brandeis so ardently endorsed many years ago and upon which the Brandeis School of Law is founded," Polley said.