Utah Law School Celebrates Opening Of New Building With Audacious Goal: 100% Bar Passage, 100% Professional Employment

Utah Law School celebrated the opening of its new $62.5 million building with Dean Robert Adler announcing an audacious goal:

The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law announced a new initiative this week to reach a goal of 100 percent bar passage and 100 percent professional employment placement among its law school graduates. ...

Adler said the initiative builds on the law school’s already high bar passage rate of 90 percent and professional employment rate of 92 percent —numbers that are significantly higher than other national averages across the country among law students.

“Our students deserve no less,” said Adler. “This initiative will be backed up by very concrete strategies to give students every opportunity and every tool to succeed.”

Adler said the law school will find every law student a practicing lawyer mentor through its mentor U program as part of the 100/100 initiative. Students will also have access to new incubator programs and rural lawyer placement to help graduates connect with employment opportunities in underserved communities. An intensive student-faculity learning opportunity for every student through one-on-one or small group work will also be happening more at the law school, Adler said.

He noted affordability is also part of the 100/100 goal, so students can focus on studying and graduate with less debt. The law school recently funded at $1.4 million endowment to fund scholarships for environmental law students and new scholarship funds to honor law school alumni.