Welcome to The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Our defining characteristics are our proud history of exceptional academic quality, our collegiality, our extraordinary tradition of public leadership, and our interdisciplinary approaches to solving social problems.  We are Arizona’s first law school, and for nearly a century have transcended borders and disciplinary boundaries to address the world’s most pressing problems - from the environment, to domestic and international human rights, to intergovernment conflicts, to criminal law and policy, to indigenous peoples’ law and policy, to the legal parameters of business and technology. If all the trees in the law school forest are starting to look the same, consider the “cactus ivy” alternative at Arizona Law. First and foremost, Arizona Law offers outstanding and innovative academic programs, taught by nationally and internationally recognized scholars and gifted teachers. The core of a law school’s greatness is its faculty. The Arizona faculty includes nationally and internationally known authors of leading treatises, widely adopted casebooks, and influential articles in their respective areas. It also includes lawyers who regularly argue cases in domestic and international courts. Recent lateral hires have included nationally known professors from Yale and Emory, among other leading institutions. All are committed to excellence and innovation in teaching, and to preserving what the New York Times calls the University of Arizona’s “cactus ivy” tradition – that is, outstanding education delivered in a congenial environment, where each student matters.

    
Arizona Law is a genuine community for students who value rigorous intellectual exchange.  Our College has been committed for many decades to the educational model of small classes, with attention given to each student’s success.  The College includes only 500 (J.D./LL.M.) students, drawn from the most academically talented applicants, from a wide range of educational and cultural backgrounds, and from over 100 undergraduate institutions. This small student body - one of the smallest among the nation’s top public law schools - enables us to produce an environment that fosters genuine community and intellectual exchange.  All of our first year students participate in one course of no more than 30 students in their first semester, and all have opportunities to take numerous small enrollment classes throughout their upper class years. And unlike many schools today, Arizona Law maintains the small size of its entering classes, rather than boosting class size in the 2L and 3L years. This allows our students to work collaboratively and closely with their classmates and professors throughout their entire time here, and to form relationships that endure their entire professional lives.

Arizona Law has created an innovative curriculum that extends from traditional doctrinal and theoretical materials to cross-disciplinary courses and a rich, hands on clinical curriculum, where students confront actual cases and clients under close faculty supervision.

Every Arizona Law student who seeks a clinical experience can pursue one. We offer four in-house legal clinics (Child Advocacy, Domestic Violence, Immigration, and Tribal Law), and several external clinics (e.g., Criminal Prosecution), a unique Trial Practice Program supervised by the nation's leading author in trial practice, Tom Mauet, and externships with government agencies, the United States Congress, and the judiciary.

We offer specialized LL.M. programs in areas of domestic and international significance:  international trade and indigenous peoples law and policy.  The University of Arizona is a global leader in issues involving Mexico-U.S. relations, and the multiple policy and legal aspects of indigenous peoples' cultures. No other law program in the country - indeed, in the world - offers a similar program of advanced study of both the international and the domestic implications of the rapid economic and legal changes confronting indigenous peoples globally, or involving the multiple legal dimensions of free trade expansion between the U.S. and Latin, Central and South America.

We bring multiple disciplines to bear on legal problems, through nine joint degree programs, including business, economics, philosophy, psychology, women's studies, and Latin American studies, and have established the University of Arizona Rogers Program on Law in Society, which draws from distinguished University faculty in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. University faculty teach at the College, participate in law school colloquia, and help students and faculty examine law and social policy through multidisciplinary lenses. We are one of the leaders in such interdisciplinary programs across the West.

We regularly host world renowned speakers and programs, including United States Supreme Court Justices, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Arizona Supreme Court, Nobel Laureates, and many others. In 2006-2007, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will again be a Distinguished Visiting Jurist who will teach at the College. In 2007-2008, we will host a member of the South African Constitutional Court, and a member of the International Criminal Court. In 2008-2009, Justice Stephen Breyer will lecture at the College; and in 2009, Chief Justice John Roberts will make his first appearance at the College.

Arizona Law leads in student professional opportunities. In terms of placement in public and private sector internships and post-graduation clerkships, success on the Arizona bar exam, community service, and in numbers who have entered academia, become state and federal judges, or members of the United States Congress, Arizona graduates excel.  Nineteen percent of our recent graduates received offers of judicial clerkships in recent years, placing us in the top tier of all law schools in securing these prestigious post-J.D. opportunities.

Arizona Law produces research, teaching, and outreach that serve all communities - both at home and globally. We have a corresponding dedication to achieving diversity in all parts of our educational programs, and are very proud that our talented student body ranks in the top 25 of all American law schools in terms of diversity. The College also has consistently ranked in the top 10 of all law schools by Hispanic Magazine for its hospitable climate for diverse students. Our clinical and specialty programs include the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, a leading center for local to global outreach to indigenous peoples. In an increasingly multicultural society, lawyers must be prepared to work with clients from all walks of life. We begin that training here with a sincere and abiding commitment to equal opportunity for all, in service to our paramount goal of providing equal justice for all.

Arizona Law offers academic excellence that is relatively accessible and that is located in one of the fastest growing economies in the nation. Our tuition level is one of the most affordable, for the greatest educational benefit, among our national, top tier peers. We also have an exceptional placement program that assists our students and graduates in pursuing a wide range of employment options across the nation. The West offers one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, and our graduates leave us to become leaders in the rapidly growing Arizona legal community, in other major economic hubs throughout the West - especially Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle - as well as in Washington, D.C., New York City, and other east coast cities.

Arizona Law’s alumni have been among the most prominent leaders in the legal profession, holding high offices in state and national public government, and throughout the world. Arizona’s alumni have made an indelible mark on national and state legal and political history. Our graduates include former United States Congressman and Presidential candidate Morris K. Udall, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, former Governor and U.S. Ambassador Raul Castro, former Governor Sam Goddard, former United States Senator Dennis DeConcini, former Congressman Jim McNulty, and many other prominent public officials. Current United States Senator Jon Kyl and Congressman John Shadegg also are Arizona alumni. Arizona Law also leads the state in terms of graduates who have become state and federal judges - including members of the Arizona and Nevada Supreme Courts - presidents of the State Bar Board of Governors, successful entrepreneurs, and respected leaders in local, regional and national politics.

Arizona Law values community service as an integral component of professional identity. We have an award winning College Community Service Board, comprised of students, faculty, and administrators, who work closely with local organizations to connect our students with the wider community, and to facilitate public service by all.

We do all of this in a region of unparalleled natural beauty, with distinctive and enriching cultural and legal complexities. Tucson's desert rains, ocotillo, stunning sunsets, and incomparable saguaro cacti provide a truly unique backdrop to educational pursuits. The city is surrounded by several mountain ranges and national park lands, where students hike, bicycle, bird watch, and otherwise enjoy the desert landscape while pursuing their academic pursuits. We are located just sixty miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border, in a state that embraces twenty-five Native tribes. Globalization issues, sensitive environmental issues, and the growing significance of international law, international trade, and contrasting cultural and legal traditions are naturally entwined into our daily experience, as well as our region's history.
Wherever you choose to pursue your legal studies, I hope you will serve our profession and your community with distinction. If you choose Arizona, we will expect you to do both, and we will do everything possible to prepare you for these vitally important roles.

Toni M. Massaro

Dean and Regents’ Professor,
Milton O. Riepe Chair in Constitutional Law

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