Quinnipiac University’s School of Law achieved new rankings in PreLaw Magazine‘s honor roll, emphasizing its experiential learning offerings.
The School of Law puts an emphasis on their “support and inclusive environment.” Kathy Kuar, the associate dean of students, believes this is reflected in the way the school promotes leadership.
Quinnipiac has steadily received an A+ in health law since 2017, with an exception of an A- in 2018. It is one of eight health law programs nationwide ranked by PreLaw magazine.
Health law collaborates with the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine. This partnership exposes future attorneys to policy and advocacy issues regarding the healthcare industry with this collaboration.
The family law program benefits from extensive clinic and externship course opportunities. The program’s Center on Dispute Resolution hosts conferences, workshops and training sessions that introduce future attorneys into innovative and alternative dispute resolution methods.
“It really is uplifting to our culture to be recognized this way,” said Brian Gallini, dean of the school of law.
Five days after the school of law rankings were announced on Quinnipiac Today, more information was released about the school’s experiential learning opportunities, such as the externship courses.
“This is a law school that has historically taken tremendous pride in offering experiential learning opportunities,” Gallini said. “One of our core goals is to graduate practice-ready lawyers and so having a ranking that recognizes our considerable efforts in that space is really rewarding.”
In addition to externships, the School of Law also includes simulation courses and clinics to help develop students’ skills as future lawyers.
The School of Law builds on students’ skills by inviting speakers, such as alumni, to act as mentors.
One speaker, alum Brooke Goff, JD ‘14, founded the largest woman-owned and managed personal injury law firm. Goff committed $500,000 in the name of a scholarship for LGBTQ+ students.
The scholarship stands as one way the School of Law encourages students to lean into the resources that will prepare them for their legal education and their future careers.
“We are here, after all, for our students,” Gallini said. “We hope that it gives them more confidence through our program of legal education to graduate ready to actually practice law.”
More potential students are applying to Quinnipiac’s School of Law.
This year, the school’s applications rose by 11.1%, despite applications being down in the region by 0.9%. Quinnipiac University’s School of Law received 1092 applications in the most recent cycle, 2024. This was the second highest in a decade, beaten only by 1106 applications in 2021.
“It really is incredible,” Gallini said. “It speaks volumes to the sorts of things that are happening in and around our law school.”
There will be additional updates to the School of Law in the next academic year, including hiring two or three new faculty members.
“We are hiring open-rank, open subject areas, but we have particular needs in procedures and commercial law,” Gallini said. “The goal is to strengthen our core offerings.”
Connecticut and 16 other states are exploring new ways for students to achieve their attorney license other than the traditional bar exam. There will be a new bar exam adapted in Connecticut in 2026. The state is the first of the 17 who have agreed to adopt the new exam.
“We’ve got to support our students in taking this new exam here in Connecticut and then all of the other states that have said ‘We’re not going to adopt that exam yet,’” Gallini said. “So we simultaneously have to get our students ready for those jurisdictions as well.”
