Creighton University

• Overview
• Faculty
• Students
• Alumni
• Points of Pride

Founded in 1904, the Creighton University School of Law enrolls about 470 students, who are taught by 63 full and part-time professors, along with 10 legal writing faculty.

• Eric A. Chiappinelli, J.D., serves as dean.
• There are four endowed chairs and two endowed professorships in the School of Law. The endowed chairs are:
  • The A.A. and Ethel Yossem Endowed Chair in Legal Ethics, held by R. Collin Mangrum, S.J.D.
  • The Connie Kearney Endowed Chair in Clinical Legal Education, held by Catherine Mahern, J.D.
  • The McGrath North Mullin & Kratz Endowed Chair in Business Law, held by Edward A. Morse, J.D.
  • The Senator Allen A. Sekt Endowed Chair in Law, held by Ralph U. Whitten, B.B.A., J. D., LL. M.
• Creighton students have the opportunity to take a seminar class taught by Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, G. Michael Fenner and James L. Koley ‘54 Professor of Constitutional Law. Offered every other year, the class provides students the rare opportunity to discuss constitutional law and interact with a Supreme Court justice.
• Creighton’s School of Law hosts lectures by nationally prominent attorneys, government officials and other special presenters. Such speakers as Justice Clarence Thomas (United States Supreme Court), Justice Samuel Alito (United States Supreme Court), Professor Richard De Mulder (Erasmus University, the Netherlands), Honorable Dragoljub Popovic (European Court of Human Rights), The Honorable Michael J. Davis (The United States Intelligence Surveillance Court), Theodore Shaw (Direct Counsel and President of NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund), John Paul Lederach (Notre Dame), Andrew Morriss (Illinois), Charles Ogletree (Harvard), Geoffrey Stone (Chicago) and Kenneth Roth (Executive Director of Human Rights Watch) have presented at the school in recent years.

• Nearly 1,400 students applied for the 2009-2010 freshman class, about eight applications for every seat in the entering class.
• Approximately 62 percent of law students are from states other than Nebraska.
• In 2008-09, the student population was 38 percent female, 62 percent male, and 8 percent minority.
• The Creighton Law School has a student exchange program with Universidad Pontifica Comillas de Madrid, a Jesuit university with a law program, located in Madrid, Spain. Four students from Spain have studied at Creighton Law School since the fall of 2007. In addition, one Creighton Law student studied in Madrid in the fall of 2008.

• Of graduates seeking employment upon graduation in 2008, 57 percent were employed at graduation; 92.5 percent were employed within nine months of graduation; 51 percent were employed in Nebraska; 49 percent were employed out of state and students secured employment in 27 different states. Nationally, 89.9 percent of all graduating law students found employment within nine months of graduation.
• The Nebraska bar pass rate for Creighton’s class of 2008 was 88 percent for first-time test takers. In Iowa, Creighton had a 100 percent pass rate for first time test takers.

• The Creighton University School of Law recently announced the creation of the Service and Justice Fund in honor of Professor Ronald Volkmer, ‘68. The fund supports law school programs that aspire to develop in law students a foundation of moral values for lifelong service in the law and that seek to develop the whole person through discernment, community service and outreach to those in need. These programs include the Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC), the Abrahams Legal Clinics, and the Kutak Loan Repayment Assistance Program.
• The Werner Institute for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, now in its fourth year, is drawing many students to its master’s degree programs as well as offering law students the opportunity to earn a combined juris doctor and master of science degree. The Institute is nationally recognized and has been ranked among the top law school dispute resolution programs.
• Milton R. Abrahams Legal Clinic and the Community Economic Development Law Clinic provide a valuable community service while providing a "hands-on" learning environment for Creighton students. Kevin O’Connell, J. D.’ 09 argued the appeal of Fort Calhoun Baptist Church v. Washington County Board of Equalization, before the Nebraska Supreme Court on November 5, 2008. Mr. O’Connell was, at the time, a student in Creighton’s Community Economic Development Clinic and worked closely with the Clinic Director Milo Alexander in representing the Clinic’s client Fort Calhoun Baptist Church. The oral argument of the case can be heard at the Nebraska Supreme Court website.
• Joseph A. Larson, J. D., ‘09 was selected as a recipient of the 2009 Burton Award for Excellence in legal writing. He was one of only 15 students across the nation receiving the award. His winning entry, "Taming the Wild West: An Examination of Private Student Loan Companies’ Violation of Section 43 (a) of the Lanham Act" was also published in the Creighton Law Review.