Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
Encyclopedia
The Louis D. Brandeis School of Law is the law school
of the University of Louisville
. Established in 1846, it is the oldest law school in Kentucky and the fifth oldest in the country in continuous operation. The law school is named after Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis, who served on the Supreme Court of the United States
and was the school's patron. Following the example of Brandeis, who eventually stopped accepting payment for "public interest" cases, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law was one of the first law schools in the nation to require students to complete public service before graduation.
The school offers six dual-degree programs that allow students to earn an MBA, MSW
, MA
in humanities, M.Div., MA
in political science, and MUP in urban planning while attaining their J.D.
. These classes are offered in conjunction with other University of Louisville departments as well as local colleges.
The school’s law library contains 400,000 volumes as well as the papers of Louis D. Brandeis and John Marshall Harlan
, both Supreme Court Justices and native Kentuckians. It is one of only thirteen Supreme Court repositories in the nation. The law school’s flagship law review is the University of Louisville Law Review.
of instruction that was being developed at Harvard Law School
at the time, instead encouraging students to visit local courts and offering optional mock court sessions. The “school literature even boasted that the faculty consisted of ‘practical lawyers’ and not professional educators.” As a result, prominent faculty members such as James Speed
and Peter B. Muir often eschewed their part-time positions in favor of politics or private practice.
The turn of the twentieth century saw the Law Department finally begin to accept emerging national standards in legal education. In 1909, the school adopted Harvard Law’s casebook method
. In 1911, the school graduated its first female student, N. Almee Courtright. In 1923, the Law Department officially became the School of Law and hired a full-time professor. The following year University of Louisville
President Arthur Younger Ford insisted that students must take some college courses before being admitted to the law school.
Organized by several prominent local attorneys, the part-time professors at the Jefferson School of Law received tuition directly from the students and were responsible for renting classroom space. With students wishing to clerk and part-time professors continuing to practice, both schools were located within walking distance of the courthouse. As the national trend continued towards formal legal education, the Jefferson School of Law found it difficult to manage as a part-time law school. In 1950 the Jefferson School of Law merged with the University of Louisville
School of Law.
. A native Louisvillian, Brandeis planned to make the university a “major center of academic research by creating specialized library and archival collections in such areas as sociology, art, music, and labor.” In addition to time and money, Brandeis also donated his personal papers, books, and pamphlets, numbering over 250,000 items. He was also instrumental in getting Supreme Court briefs and a collection of Justice John Marshall Harlan
’s papers deposited in the law school library.
In honor of Brandeis, the University of Louisville
School of Law changed its name to the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 1997.
The Brandeis Law Library owns a limited edition print of Andy Warhol
’s portrait of Brandeis which is on display in the library's main reading room.
The ashes of Brandeis and his wife Alice Goldmark Brandeis are buried underneath the law school portico. His ashes are buried approximately fifty yards away from Auguste Rodin
’s The Thinker
.
teams, in skills competitions, and on three student-edited law journals. As part of the Samuel L. Greenebaum Public Service Program, the school also requires all students to complete 30 hours of law-related public service. The school has several pre-professional student-run organizations, including the Student Trial Lawyers Association, International Law Society, Student Health Law Association, Environmental Law Society, and The Brand (intellectual property).
In addition to pre-professional student organizations, there are also a number of student-run social and political organizations on campus. A partial list of these includes the Federalist Society
, the American Constitution Society, Lambda Law Caucus, Black Students Association, Asian-pacific Law Students Association, Jewish Law Students Association, Christian Legal Society, and Woman's Law Caucus.
Journal of Law and Education
Journal of Animal and Environmental Law
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
of the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. Established in 1846, it is the oldest law school in Kentucky and the fifth oldest in the country in continuous operation. The law school is named after Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis, who served on the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
and was the school's patron. Following the example of Brandeis, who eventually stopped accepting payment for "public interest" cases, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law was one of the first law schools in the nation to require students to complete public service before graduation.
The school offers six dual-degree programs that allow students to earn an MBA, MSW
Master of Social Work
The Master of Social Work is a master's degree in social workand especiality of sociology.- United States :In the United States, MSW degrees must be received from a graduate school that has been approved by the Council on Social Work Education...
, MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in humanities, M.Div., MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in political science, and MUP in urban planning while attaining their J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
. These classes are offered in conjunction with other University of Louisville departments as well as local colleges.
The school’s law library contains 400,000 volumes as well as the papers of Louis D. Brandeis and John Marshall Harlan
John Marshall Harlan
John Marshall Harlan was a Kentucky lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. He is most notable as the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases , and Plessy v...
, both Supreme Court Justices and native Kentuckians. It is one of only thirteen Supreme Court repositories in the nation. The law school’s flagship law review is the University of Louisville Law Review.
19th and Early 20th Century History
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law began in 1846 as the Law Department of the University of Louisville. For most of the nineteenth century the Law Department remained small and focused on practical education. “As late as the 1870’s the school still supported a faculty of only three professors, each of whom met classes two days per week for four hours.” Classes were held in the late afternoon to allow students to keep daytime jobs as law clerks. The faculty ignored the casebook methodCasebook method
The casebook method, also known as the case method, is the primary method of teaching law in law schools in the United States. It was pioneered at Harvard Law School by Christopher Columbus Langdell...
of instruction that was being developed at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
at the time, instead encouraging students to visit local courts and offering optional mock court sessions. The “school literature even boasted that the faculty consisted of ‘practical lawyers’ and not professional educators.” As a result, prominent faculty members such as James Speed
James Speed
James Speed was an American lawyer, politician and professor. In 1864, he was appointed by Abraham Lincoln to be the United States' Attorney General. He previously served in the Kentucky Legislature, and in local political office.Speed was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Judge John Speed...
and Peter B. Muir often eschewed their part-time positions in favor of politics or private practice.
The turn of the twentieth century saw the Law Department finally begin to accept emerging national standards in legal education. In 1909, the school adopted Harvard Law’s casebook method
Casebook method
The casebook method, also known as the case method, is the primary method of teaching law in law schools in the United States. It was pioneered at Harvard Law School by Christopher Columbus Langdell...
. In 1911, the school graduated its first female student, N. Almee Courtright. In 1923, the Law Department officially became the School of Law and hired a full-time professor. The following year University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
President Arthur Younger Ford insisted that students must take some college courses before being admitted to the law school.
The University of Louisville School of Law and the Jefferson School of Law
Despite these efforts at reform, the students and professors of the School of Law continued to prefer part-time practical education over the national trend towards more formal legal education. This partly reflected the success of and competition from the Jefferson School of Law, which opened in 1905 and offered night classes.Organized by several prominent local attorneys, the part-time professors at the Jefferson School of Law received tuition directly from the students and were responsible for renting classroom space. With students wishing to clerk and part-time professors continuing to practice, both schools were located within walking distance of the courthouse. As the national trend continued towards formal legal education, the Jefferson School of Law found it difficult to manage as a part-time law school. In 1950 the Jefferson School of Law merged with the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
School of Law.
Louis D. Brandeis and the University of Louisville School of Law
Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis was a great supporter of the University of LouisvilleUniversity of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. A native Louisvillian, Brandeis planned to make the university a “major center of academic research by creating specialized library and archival collections in such areas as sociology, art, music, and labor.” In addition to time and money, Brandeis also donated his personal papers, books, and pamphlets, numbering over 250,000 items. He was also instrumental in getting Supreme Court briefs and a collection of Justice John Marshall Harlan
John Marshall Harlan
John Marshall Harlan was a Kentucky lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. He is most notable as the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases , and Plessy v...
’s papers deposited in the law school library.
In honor of Brandeis, the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
School of Law changed its name to the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 1997.
The Brandeis Law Library owns a limited edition print of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
’s portrait of Brandeis which is on display in the library's main reading room.
The ashes of Brandeis and his wife Alice Goldmark Brandeis are buried underneath the law school portico. His ashes are buried approximately fifty yards away from Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
’s The Thinker
The Thinker
The Thinker is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, whose first cast, of 1902, is now in the Musée Rodin in Paris; there are some twenty other original castings as well as various other versions, studies, and posthumous castings. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a...
.
Today
True to its history, the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law has retained a strong focus on practical legal education. The school offers students a chance to gain experience at its law clinic, on moot courtMoot court
A moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...
teams, in skills competitions, and on three student-edited law journals. As part of the Samuel L. Greenebaum Public Service Program, the school also requires all students to complete 30 hours of law-related public service. The school has several pre-professional student-run organizations, including the Student Trial Lawyers Association, International Law Society, Student Health Law Association, Environmental Law Society, and The Brand (intellectual property).
In addition to pre-professional student organizations, there are also a number of student-run social and political organizations on campus. A partial list of these includes the Federalist Society
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist and/or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution...
, the American Constitution Society, Lambda Law Caucus, Black Students Association, Asian-pacific Law Students Association, Jewish Law Students Association, Christian Legal Society, and Woman's Law Caucus.
Publications
University of Louisville Law ReviewJournal of Law and Education
Journal of Animal and Environmental Law
Deans of Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
- 1846—1873 Henry Pirtle
- 1881—1886 William Chenault
- 1886—1890 Rozel Weissinger
- 1890—1911 Willis Overton Harris
- 1911—1919 Charles B. Seymour
- 1919—1921 Edward W. Hines
- 1922—1925 Charles B. Seymour
- 1925—1930 Leon P. Lewis
- 1930—1933 Neville MillerNeville MillerNeville Miller was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1933 to 1937. His father, Shackelford Miller, was Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals...
- 1934—1936 Joseph A. McClain Jr.
- 1936—1946 Jack Neal Lott Jr.
- 1946—1957 Absalom C. Russell
- 1957—1958 William B. Peden
- 1958—1965 Marlin M. Volz
- 1965—1974 James R. Merritt
- 1974—1975 Steven R. Smith (interim)
- 1975—1976 James R. Merritt
- 1976—1980 Harold G. Wren
- 1980—1981 Norvie L. Lay (interim)
- 1981—1990 Barbara B. Lewis
- 1990—2000 Donald L. Burnett Jr.
- 2000—2005 Laura Rothstein
- 2005—2006 David Ensign (interim)
- 2007—present Jim ChenJim ChenJim Chen is the current Dean of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, after recently leaving his position as professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School...
Notable alumni
- William Campbell Preston BreckinridgeWilliam Campbell Preston BreckinridgeWilliam Campbell Preston Breckinridge was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Kentucky, a Member of the Masonic Lodge, and a Member of the Knights Templar. He was the first cousin of Vice President of the United States John C. Breckinridge.He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from...
, former United States House of Representatives member from the Seventh District of Kentucky - Marlow CookMarlow CookMarlow Webster Cook is a former Republican United States Senator from Kentucky.-Early life:Cook moved to Louisville when he was 17. He joined the United States Navy and served on submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during World War II...
, former United States Senator - Chris Dodd, former United States Senator from ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, 1981 - 2011 - Charles R. FarnsleyCharles R. FarnsleyCharles Rowland Peaslee "Charlie" Farnsley , a Democrat, served as mayor of Louisville, Kentucky and as a member of the United States House of Representatives....
, former United States House of Representatives member from the Third District of Kentucky - Howard FinemanHoward FinemanHoward Fineman is an American journalist who is senior politics editor at the Huffington Post. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek’s Chief Political Correspondent, Senior Editor and Deputy Washington Bureau Chief. An award-winning writer, Fineman also is an NBC...
, Editor, Former Newsweek Magazine Editor and Chief Washington Correspondent, Huffington Post Editor - Wilson W. Greene, attorney with Pierce, Herns, Sloan and McLeod, LLC, present day
- Fuller HardingFuller HardingLloyd Fuller Harding was an attorney in Campbellsville, Kentucky, who served in 1942 as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from District 36...
(1915-2010), former member of the Kentucky House of RepresentativesKentucky House of RepresentativesThe Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...
(1942) and Taylor CountyTaylor County, KentuckyTaylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 22,927. Its county seat is Campbellsville. The county is named for President Zachary Taylor, who served from 1849 to 1850. Taylor is a moist county...
county attorneyCounty attorneyA county attorney in many areas of the United States is the chief legal officer for a county or local judicial district. It is usually an elected position...
for twenty-four years - Greg A. Jennings, attorney for the Kentucky Department of Revenue, present day
- Louie B. NunnLouie B. NunnLouie Broady Nunn was the 52nd governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1967, he was the first Republican elected to that office since Simeon Willis in 1943 and the last to hold it until the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003....
, the 52nd governor of Kentucky - Emmet O'Neal (Kentucky)Emmet O'Neal (Kentucky)Emmet O'Neal was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and an ambassador to the Philippines. A member of the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame, his brother was Louisville Mayor Joseph T. O'Neal.-Biography:...
former United States House of Representatives member from the Third District of Kentucky - Greg StumboGreg StumboGregory D. "Greg" Stumbo is the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Stumbo, a member of the Democratic Party, is a former Kentucky Attorney General from 2003 to 2007.-Early Career:...
, former Kentucky Attorney General and speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, present day