University of Puerto Rico School of Law

University of Puerto Rico School of Law
Established 1913
School type Public
Dean Vivian I. Neptune- Rivera
Location Puerto RicoRio Piedras, Puerto Rico, USA
Enrollment 695[1]
Faculty 113[1]
Bar pass rate 55%[1]
Website derecho.uprrp.edu
ABA profile UPR School of Law Profile

The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It was founded in 1913 at its present site in Río Piedras, which at the time was an independent municipality and is now part of the City of San Juan. The School of Law has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1945 and by the Association of American Law Schools since 1948.

Academics

The Law School's academic program aims to increase and diversify the learning and development experiences of its students. Thus, half of its 92 credit/hour study program is elective, with course offerings ranging from theoretical to practical in topics pertaining to civil rights, technology, feminism, business, international relations and comparative law, among others. In addition, students are required to participate in a clinical program. The majority of the courses are taught in Spanish.[2]

The Law School has several programs of study.[3]

Graduate: LLM for Latin American and Caribbean lawyers.

Special Programs: The School of Law has students exchange programs with the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Vermont Law School, Florida International University, the University of Connecticut School of Law, the University of Palermo in Argentina, Diego Portales University in Chile, the University of Chile Law School, the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law in Canada, the University of Amberes in Belgium and the University of Carlos III in Madrid. Under these programs, students register at their home institution, but will take a full course load at the host institution. The credits and grades earned during a single semester will be awarded by the home institution according to the standard procedure of the home law school. Students also have a chance to participate in a summer law program at the University of Barcelona, Spain.

Also, the school has a winter exchange program with the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law in Canada, through which students can earn four credits studying Law and Technology or Law, Technology, and Feminism for one week in Canada and two weeks in Puerto Rico.

Clinical Program

In March 1974, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court approved rules for the local courts to allow students to practice law and participate in judicial proceedings. The US District Court followed suit in 1991. Our curriculum requires that students in their last year of study complete a two-semester clinical program.

Admissions

The School of Law accepts students based on their academic excellence percentile. This percentile is tabulated by combining three basic criteria: the student’s Bachelor’s Degree cumulative G.P.A., as per the calculations of the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS), their LSAT results, and their EXADEP results. The three criteria receive the same weight at the time of calculating the numeric ranking. Admission is offered to the best ranking students.

Also, 15 spaces are offered to the applicants selected by the Admissions Committee recommendations, chosen from a group composed of the 60 applicants following the students admitted. Throughout this process, the Committee evaluates the personal statement and writing sample, and any socioeconomic disadvantages, academic achievement, graduate studies, propensity towards academic progress, publications, extracurricular activities, and other aspects which show student’s aptitude for the study of Law.

Post-graduation employment

According to the University of Puerto Rico's 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 18.24% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners.[4] The University of Puerto Rico's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 40.6%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[5]

ABA Employment Summary for 2013 Graduates[6]
Employment Status Percentage
Employed - Bar Passage Required
  
 22.34%
Employed - J.D. Advantage
  
 17.77%
Employed - Professional Position
  
 11.17%
Employed - Non-Professional Position
  
 0.51%
Employed - Undeterminable
  
 0.0%
Pursuing Graduate Degree Full Time
  
 3.05%
Unemployed - Start Date Deferred
  
 2.03%
Unemployed - Not Seeking
  
 10.15%
Unemployed - Seeking
  
 27.41%
Employment Status Unknown
  
 5.58%
Total of 197 Graduates

Faculty

Former gubernatorial candidates Rubén Berríos and Fernando Martín García are among the law school's prominent lecturers.

Other professors include Chloé S. Georas, Glenda Labadie-Jackson, Santos P. Amadeo, José Julián Álvarez González, Michel Godreau Robles, Érika Fontánez Torres, Vivian Neptune, Ana Cristina Gómez, Hiram Meléndez Juarbe, Ernesto Chiesa Aponte, Olga Resumil Ramírez, Efrén Rivera Ramos, Ivette Ramos Buonomo, Luis Muñiz Argüelles, Ana Matanzo Vicéns, Guillermo Figueroa Prieto, Luis González Correa, Carlos Díaz Olivo, Carmelo Delgado Cintrón, Puerto Rico Supreme Court Chief Justice Liana Fiol Matta , Antonio García Padilla , Luis Aníbal Avilés, Demetrio Fernández, and Roberto Aponte Toro.

Visiting speakers have included United States Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and professors Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School, Owen Fiss of Yale Law School and the late Ferdinand Stone of Tulane Law School.

Deans

Some of the deans include:

Facilities

The Law School is housed in a building designed by architect Henry Klumb and inaugurated in 1962, replacing a converted tobacco storage facility which housed the Law school for many years. Built during David Helfeld's incumbency as Dean, it was extensively remodeled under Antonio García Padilla's term as the law school dean.

See also

References

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