Ave Maria School of Law

Ave Maria School of Law, founded in 1999, is an ABA-accredited Roman Catholic law school located in Naples, Florida.[2]

Ave Maria School of Law
Established1999
School typePrivate
DeanKevin Cieply
LocationNaples, Florida, USA
26.242147°N 81.731321°W / 26.242147; -81.731321
Enrollment255
Faculty28
Bar pass rate52.6% (July 2019)[1]
Websitewww.avemarialaw.edu
ABA profile

History and governance
Dean Emeritus Bernard Dobranski
Dean Emeritus Eugene Milhizer

Thomas S. Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza and former owner of the Detroit Tigers, supports the school through his Ave Maria Foundation and has served as the chairman of the board of governors of the school, which also includes Adam Cardinal Maida, and Frank Joseph Dewane and included, before their deaths, Cardinal Edward Egan, Bowie Kuhn and John Cardinal O'Connor.[3]

Ave Maria School of Law was founded in 1999, and for the first nine years of its existence was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The law school's beginnings lie in discussions between future founding dean Bernard Dobranski and Monaghan. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia assisted in developing the school's curriculum, and in 1999 Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the school's first annual Ave Maria Lecture.[4] Former professors include Robert Bork.[5]

The school moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Naples, Florida, opening in the new location in August 2009.

Kevin Cieply became the third president and dean of the law school in 2014.[6]

Academics and curriculum

Ave Maria School of Law offers a full-time three year Juris Doctor (J.D.) program that complements a traditional legal education based on the Socratic Method with an emphasis on how the law intersects with the Catholic intellectual tradition and natural law philosophy. The curriculum of Ave Maria School of Law includes a three-semester Research, Writing and Advocacy Program as well as several required courses that focus on law and ethics.[7] The school also offers various summer courses.[8] Ave Maria devotes four core classes to the interrelationship between law, ethics, and Catholic moral and social principles.[9]

The school currently has 20 full- and 21 part-time faculty.[10]

Accreditation, bar exam passage, and employment

In 2016, Ave Maria School of Law was sanctioned by the American Bar Association due to lax admissions standards.[11][12] In February 2018, the ABA announced the lifting of the sanctions following remedial actions by the school.[13]

In July 2019, 52.6% of Ave Maria graduates who took the Florida bar exam for the first time passed, vs. a 73.9% pass rate overall.[14]

According to Ave Maria's ABA-required disclosures, 55.7% of the Class of 2018 found long-term full-time employment where a JD is required.[10]

Campus

Ave Maria School of Law is located in northeastern Naples, Florida. The campus consists of six major buildings located on 12 acres (49,000 m2) in the Vineyards community: the Faculty and Administration Building;[15] the Law Library;[16] the St. Thomas More Commons;[17] West and East Halls; and the Clinic/Student Organizations Building. There is an additional 16 villa-style residences available on campus for student/faculty families.[18] Located adjacent to the campus is the Vineyards Elementary School.

The St. Thomas More Commons contains a large classroom for 100+ students, the Moot Courtroom, the Law School Bookstore, the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel, a student lounge and coffee shop, and the Office of Admissions.

The Ave Maria Law Library is located between the Faculty and Administration Building and the St. Thomas More Commons. The collection contains Legal History, Legal Ethics, Bioethics, the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Legal Ethics and Canon Law.[19] The Library's materials can be located and accessed via the law library online catalog.[20] In addition to serving Ave Maria Law members, the school's library is also open to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.[21]

From 1999 to spring 2009, the school was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[22] The school moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Naples, Florida, opening in the new location in August 2009. The move caused a great deal of controversy among the faculty and student body, with some claiming that the move jeopardized the future existence and reputation of the school.[23]

Publications

The Ave Maria Law Review is the only current law journal published by the Juris Doctor students at Ave Maria School of Law.[24] However, the school has previously published a journal in international law,[25] and the school's moot court program publishes a periodical magazine called The Gavel.[26] The Law School External Affairs Office also publishes The Ave Maria School of Law Advocate, a yearly publication reflecting the status of the school and current events.

Rankings

U.S. News & World Report ranks Ave Maria in the fourth tier of U.S law schools.[27]

As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ave Maria School of Law was one of 114 private colleges nationwide to fail a federal financial responsibility test in 2007, 2008, and 2009.[28][29] In a statement about the Chronicle report, the ten-year-old law school said its low asset-to-debt ratio was "typical of recently founded institutions" and "represents no change in our fiscal health and should not be cause for concern". Tom Monaghan also has committed to cover the school's operating deficits until 2017.[30] In 2010, Ave Maria's Dean Milhizer said, "The Law School's finances are very strong and our fundraising results were up in the fiscal year that closed June 30 compared to the past few years. We project this trend will continue and grow stronger in the years to come as our student population increases in size and fundraising results continue to improve." Since the move of the law school in 2009, both enrollment and selectivity of students has increased dramatically from the drop it initially suffered when the move occurred. In 2010, the school's director of external affairs, John Knowles, said the quality of the incoming classes was improving and in 2010 the school's selectivity rate improved to 46 percent—the best in the school's history.[31] Ave Maria School of Law is not affiliated with Ave Maria University, which has not been cited in any federal financial test.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Ave Maria for the 2018-2019 academic year is $66,040.[10]

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gollark: If this ever becomes a "serious" esolang, our interpreter will be COOLER™ than its competitors in some ways.
gollark: Well, yes, I'm not going to, but it's neat.
gollark: Although the spec limits the maximum recursion depth anyway.
gollark: So you can execute [ESOLANG REDACTED] without fear of stack overflows.

References
  1. https://www.floridabarexam.org/__85257bfe0055eb2c.nsf/52286ae9ad5d845185257c07005c3fe1/53ef72befcb1d3ec852584770066a147
  2. "In Alphabetical Order". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  3. "Board of Governors List". Archived from the original on Dec 9, 2012. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  4. "Lectures". Archived from the original on Jun 12, 2010. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  5. "History Timeline—Ave Maria School of Law". Ave Maria School of Law. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Curriculum". Archived from the original on Jul 16, 2011. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2015-04-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2015-04-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Standard 509 Disclosure". abarequireddisclosures.org. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  11. Rasmussen, Kristen (November 21, 2017). "10 Law Schools Sanctioned by ABA for Lax Admissions". Law.com. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  12. "Ave Maria School of Law Public Notice of Specific Remedial Action" (PDF). American Bar Association. August 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  13. Journal, A. B. A. "ABA removes remedial actions requirements for Ave Maria School of Law". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  14. "JULY 2019 GENERAL BAR EXAMINATION". Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  15. "Faculty and Administration Building". Archived from the original on Jul 14, 2014. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  16. "Ave Maria Law School | A Florida Catholic Law School". Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  17. "St. Thomas More Commons". Archived from the original on Jul 14, 2014. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  18. "Housing". Archived from the original on Dec 6, 2010. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  19. "About The Collection". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "Welcome to the Ave Maria School of Law Library!". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  22. "Location". Archived from the original on Jun 12, 2010. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2010-01-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "Law Review". Archived from the original on Jun 12, 2010. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  25. "International Law Journal". Archived from the original on Jun 12, 2010. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  26. "Ave Maria Law | Moot Court Board". avemarialaw-moot-court.avemarialaw.edu. Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  27. "US News and World Report Rankings". Retrieved Apr 20, 2020.
  28. Karen Sloan (August 13, 2010). "Government says law school's financing lags". The National Law Journal. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  29. Goldie Blumenstyk and Alex Richards (August 11, 2010). "149 Nonprofit Colleges Fail Education Department's Test of Financial Strength". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  30. "Naples and Southwest Florida News and Information | Naples Daily News". M.naplesnews.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  31. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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