University of South Carolina School of Law

Established 1867
School type Public
Endowment US$ 80.4 million
Parent endowment US$ 425.2 million
Dean Walter Pratt
Location Columbia, SC, USA
Enrollment 667
Faculty 90
USNWR ranking 3rd Tier
Bar pass rate 92.4%
Annual tuition $17,718 (resident) $35,490 (non-resident)
Website law.sc.edu

The University of South Carolina School of Law, also recognized as South Carolina Law or SC Law, is one of the specialized schools of the University of South Carolina. South Carolina Law was founded in 1867 in Columbia, South Carolina and is the only public & non-profit law school in the state of South Carolina. The school has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1925 and has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1924

History

The debate of starting a law program began as early as 1810 when President Jonathan Maxcy recommended to the board of trustees of South Carolina College (as the University was then known) that the school establish a professorship of the law to lecture to the 2 higher classes. A resolution of the statehouse in 1823 requested the college to consider "the propriety and benefit of establishing a Professorship of Law in that institution, and to report to this house, at the next session, the manner in which such a Professorship may be established, so as to be most beneficial to the community, & least expensive to the State." The trustees replied that a professor should be hired, but that the courses should be presented only to graduates. With that, the matter ended.
When the modern University of South Carolina was formed from South Carolina College in December 1865, the act doing so also authorized the trustees to hire one or more persons to form classes to teach on the law under such terms as the trustees should decide. In 1866, the act was amended to need the trustees to do so on the quickest possible terms.
In January 1867, the trustees offered Chancellor J.A. Inglis the position, but he declined. In 1868, the offer was next made to Col. A.C. Haskell who accepted and held the post until August 1868. The course of study included the different branches of common law and equity, commercial, international, & constitutional law. While the program was meant to cover two years, many students finished it in one. A moot court was also overseen by the professor to train students in the details of actual practice. Four students started in the program, and two graduated in June 1868.
The program lapsed during the 1868-1869 academic year, but resumed the subsequent term under the direction of the Hon. C.D. Melton. The program continued until it was shuttered following the death of a subsequent professor, Chief Justice Franklin J. Moses, in 1877.
The school resumed in 1884 under Col. Joseph Daniel Pope with a two year program that again was often completed in one. Professor Pope was given a small salary and the fees generated from tuition. Special provision was made for the teaching of short courses by leading members of the bar. The school also added minimum entrance standards at that time: An applicant had to be at least 19 years old, have a good English education, and known enough Latin to readily understand legal terms and maxims. Juniors were instructed in the following subjects: "Organization and Jurisdiction of Courts of United States (Supreme, Circuit, and District Courts) and South Carolina (Supreme, Common Pleas, Sessions, Probate, and Trial Justice Courts); Sources of Municipal Law; Domestic Relations; Personal Property, and title to same; Administration, Wills, Contracts, Bailments, Bills and Notes, Principal and Agent, Corporations; Criminal Law, and herein of Torts and nuisances; Public and Private Law, Law of Evidence." Seniors were instructed in the following: "Pleadings and Practice; Law of Real Property; Equity Jurisprudence; Law of Conveyancing; Trial of Title to Land; Maritime Law and Law of Nations; State of Law of the State on subjects not read with the text and lectures of the course; Deeds, Recording, Habeas Corpus, etc." In addition, the juniors were requisite to write essays, while seniors were trained in court details in a moot court.
In 1937, the South Carolina Law Review was established.

Buildings

The law school is now located in the Law Center at 701 South Main Street. Moe's South West Grill, Domino's Pizza and Courtyard Columbia Downtown border on Devine Street the south and Fed/Ex Kinko's and the SC Bookstore are across Greene Street to the north. Assembly Street is on the west, and the Jones Building is on the east. The former DCP [changed from College Mart, which is located in the center of Five Points,] was at the corner of Harden street and Devine street.

Ranking and recognition

The 2011 edition of US News and World Report's Best Law Schools saw South Carolina Law fall to the unranked third tier of schools. In response to the drop in rankings it was announced that that Dean Walter "Jack" Pratt would step down following the 2010-2011 academic year. The 2010 edition of US News and World Report's Best Law Schools ranked South Carolina Law was ranked 87th. South Carolina Law was also ranked #54 overall according to the 2010 ranking by the AALS. The ILRG ranked South Carolina Law #68 overall in its' 2009 ranking of law schools.The ILRG also has numerous other categories and ranks South Carolina law as the #75 most selective law school, #94 for job placement before graduation, #95 for job placement after 9 months, #27 for best bar passer rates among first time takers, and #44 when ranking the school against the state average for bar passage rates. Law & Politics' 2010 ranking of law schools ranked South Carolina Law #38 overall. TLS' ranking of most desirable law schools lists South Carolina as the #10 most desirable law school in the country. Law.com ranks South Carolina law as #94 overall for best job placement & employment trends into "BigLaw". In 2010, The Hylton Rankings place South Carolina Law #90 overall between all law schools. Leiter's ranks South Carolina Law's Professor Owen as #7 among most cited law professors in the field of Tort Law.


South Carolina bar exam passage

In South Carolina, the bar exam is administered twice a year—in July and February. July is the main testing date for those who graduate in May. A much smaller group, generally out-of-state applicants, repeat takers, and December graduates, take the February exam. The South Carolina Supreme Court did not release the pass rate for specific schools' alumni until the July 2007 exam when the court independently listed the pass rate for the University of South Carolina and the Charleston School of Law.
Feb. July
2007 N/A 91.5%*
2008 64.7% 86.4%
2009 76.3% 84.8%
2010 66.7% 83.8%
* - The July 2007 results were revised upwards after the South Carolina Supreme Court threw out a section of the exam because of an error by a bar examiner.

Source - wikipedia.org

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