Why KU Law?
Greetings and welcome to KU Law
Congratulations on your decision to study law. You are about to embark on the most intellectually challenging, and the most rewarding, educational experience of your life. The knowledge and skills you gain in the next three years will make a difference to your future clients, who will look to you for wise advice and counsel. The decision about which law school you will attend is an important one. I hope you will choose KU.
Become part of a proud history. The University of Kansas was established by a determined group of abolitionists with the personal courage and integrity to take a stand against slavery. They envisioned a free state in which every citizen would have legal rights and the protection of the law. When you walk around Green Hall, you will see composite photographs of generations of law students. From the earliest classes, those pictures include the faces of students of color and women. KU Law is, as it always has been, an inclusive and welcoming place.
Enjoy KU’s collegial learning environment. Your classmates will come from down
the road, across the nation and around the world. You will learn as much from each other as you
will from KU’s outstanding faculty. KU faculty members are nationally and internationally known
scholars and accomplished lawyers. We have served as judicial clerks on the nation’s highest court
and on state and federal trial and appellate courts nationwide. We have represented the United
States and its sovereign states. We have practiced with the best law firms in the country – and
some of us still do. Whether the topic is legal theory or legal practice, constitutional law or
contracts, KU’s intellectual climate for students and professors is open and robust.
Select courses from a broad and varied curriculum and participate in a wide
array of extracurricular learning opportunities. The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist described modern law school curriculum as an “intellectual feast.” It is an apt characterization of KU. Pursue a broad general legal education or specialize through one of our eight certificate programs. Seek a
dual degree. Write for a student-edited journal or join a moot court team. Begin your legal training
by prosecuting criminals or representing inmates, serving in a judge’s chambers, or providing legal
services to the poor. Participate in legislation or law reform in the Legislative Clinic or the Public
Policy Clinic. And do all of this for less than one-third the cost of a comparable private school.
You will receive an excellent, affordable legal education in a supportive learning community at KU.
Become a KU lawyer. Our alumni practice law from Wall Street to Silicon Valley in private
firms large and small. As corporate counsel, they advise business leaders, and as chief executive
officers, they run businesses. They are state and federal judges, appointed officials, elected leaders
and law professors. They can be found in the halls of Congress, on Indian reservations, in law
schools, law offices and government buildings in every state in the nation, and in countries around
the world. When you complete your legal education and take your own place as a member of the
bar — whether your place is in the courtroom, the boardroom, or the classroom, on the bench
or in the statehouse — KU lawyers will be there to welcome you. Make a wise choice: Join KU.
Gail B. Agrawal
Dean and Professor of Law
