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Student Services

Student Life

Student Activities and Organizations

The Law School offers more than sixty student organizations that serve a variety of student interests. There are organizations devoted to scholarship and legal practice (e.g., the three student-edited law journals, the Hinton Moot Court, and the student clinic board); there are organizations devoted to legal subjects of interest (e.g., Environmental Law Society, Intellectual Property Law Society), identity groups (e.g., Black Law Students Association, Christian Law Students), community outreach (e.g., Neighbors, Public Interest Law Society), and social activities (e.g., Law School Musical, Wine Mess).

The University of Chicago Law Review, founded in 1933, is one of the country's preeminent legal journals. Managed and edited by students, The Law Review publishes articles and book reviews by leading scholars along with comments written by students. In addition to participating in the editing and publication of legal scholarship, staff members have the unique opportunity to develop their own skills as writers and scholars. The Law Review emphasizes student works; on average, half of each issue is devoted to student comments. In recent years, about 15 percent of the students in each first-year class have been invited to join The Law Review on the basis of either academic performance or excellence in an annual writing competition. Students may also join the staff during their second or third years by completing a publishable comment through the Topic Access program.

The University of Chicago Legal Forum is the Law School's topical law journal. Its student board annually publishes a volume of articles (by academics and practitioners) and comments (by students) that focus on a single area of the law. Recent volumes include Governance and Power; Crime, Criminal Law, and the Recession; Civil Rights Law and the Low Wage Worker. Each fall the Legal Forum hosts a symposium at which the authors of the articles present their work.

The Chicago Journal of International Law is a student-edited forum for discussion and analysis of international law and policy issues. CJIL is committed to publishing timely and concise scholarly work written by academics, judges, practitioners, policymakers, and students. The journal is published twice yearly, in the fall and spring.

The Hinton Moot Court Competition, founded in 1954 and named for Judge Edward W. Hinton (Professor of Law, 1913–36), is open to second- and third-year students. The competition provides students the opportunity to develop skills in brief writing and appellate advocacy. The focus of the preliminary autumn round is on oral argument. After studying the briefs and record of an actual case and participating in several practice arguments with student judges, each competitor must argue both sides of the case to panels of Chicago attorneys. Twelve to sixteen students advance to the semifinal round, where they brief and argue another case. A panel of faculty judges presides over the semifinal arguments and selects the four best advocates. In the spring, the four finalists work in teams on a new case and appear before a panel of distinguished judges. This panel selects the Hinton Moot Court champions and the Llewellyn Cup recipients. Semifinalists from the previous year constitute the Hinton Moot Court Board and organize and run the competition.

The Law Students Association is the student government organization. It is comprised of five representatives from each class, two LL.M. representatives and one 2L transfer representative. The student body elects the President of LSA and the class representatives, and LSA itself then fills the remaining positions. LSA organizes extracurricular activities, funds student groups, and, through student liaisons, communicates student opinion on academic and other matters to faculty committees.

LSA supports a variety of student groups, including:

the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), for students interested in exploring issues of civil liberty;

the American Constitution Society (ACS), a local chapter of a national organization dedicated to maintaining a rigorous exchange of ideas about the law with a focus on its effects on the lives of ordinary people;

Amicus, a group that provides networking and social opportunities for law students' spouses, significant others, and children;

the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, a local chapter of a national organization concerned with the interests of Asian-Pacific students in law school;

the Black Law Students Association, a local chapter of a national organization concerned with the interests of African-American students in law schools;

the Chicago Law Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing funds for Law School students to work on public interest legal projects;

the Christian Legal Society, a group organized to discuss the relationship between legal education, the legal profession, and Christianity;

the Criminal Law Society, which promotes exploration and discussion about the field of criminal law, hosts speakers holds networking events, organizes field trips, provides career services programs, and engages in volunteer community service;

the Dallin H. Oaks Society for student members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints;

the Edmund Burke Society, a conservative debating society;

the Energy Law Society, a group of students interested in educating the community about the entire spectrum of energy law issues and policy;

the Environmental Law Society, to discuss the legal aspects of environmental issues;

the Federalist Society, a local chapter of a national society organized to discuss political issues from conservative and libertarian perspectives;

the Health Law Society, for students with a casual interest as well as those considering a specialty in health law;

the Intellectual Property Law Society, to promote student understanding of intellectual property;

the International Human Rights Law Society, dedicated to learning about and practicing international human rights law;

the International Law Society, an organization for students interested in the many facets of public and private international law;

the Jewish Law Students Association, a group concerned with Jewish issues of legal interest and legal issues of Jewish interest;

the Latino/a Law Students Association, a local chapter of a national organization concerned with the interests of Latino/a students in Law School;

the Law School Democrats and the Law School Republicans, promoting political awareness of issues and topics on the national, state, and local level;

the Law School Musical, an annual student musical with faculty guest appearances;

Law School Trivia, an annual student-faculty trivia tournament;

the Law Women's Caucus, committed to understanding and improving the role of women in law school, the legal profession, and society;

Neighbors, whose members spend two hours a week volunteering in the local community and conduct quarterly service drives;

OutLaw, a group that provides support and sponsors programs regarding the legal status of bisexuals, lesbians, and gay men;

the Public Interest Law Society, for students interested in public service issues;

Scales of Justice, an a cappella singing group;

Spring Break of Service, an organization of students who provide pro bono legal services in areas of need during Spring Break;

the South Asian Law Students Association, concerned with the interests of South Asian students of the Law School;

Street Law, an organization that sends law students to local high schools to teach legal issues;

the St. Thomas More Society, a group that provides spiritual support for Catholic students;

Wine Mess, which organizes the weekly cocktail party for faculty and students;

and the Women's Mentoring Program, a program that pairs local alumnae with current women students.

Athletics

Graduate students at the University have a wide range of opportunities each year to participate in intramural activities, club sports, and instructional classes. All indoor and outdoor athletic facilities are open throughout the year to all students displaying a UChicago card. Spouses and domestic partners of students have access to facilities for a yearly fee. The athletic program provides men and women opportunities for instruction and participation in sports such as archery, badminton, gymnastics, handball, martial arts, racquetball, rowing, squash, sailing, swimming, table tennis, track and field, and weight lifting. There are also hundreds of intramural teams and dozens of Sports Clubs participating in a wide variety of activities, including volleyball, soccer, softball, basketball, and ultimate Frisbee.

Religious Life

A rich diversity of spiritual communities is represented among the student body, faculty, and staff of the University. Together they create a wide variety of religious programming open to all. Through the arts, worship, social action, and study they seek to engage the life of the spirit with the life of the mind.

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel is the center of religious activity for the wider University. Its staff both supports the programs of specific religious groups and itself creates programming of interest to the entire community. World-renowned musicians, clergy, scholars, performers, and activists challenge the University to envision more expansively the role of religion and the bounds of the sacred.

Community service projects encourage students to give concrete expression to their convictions. Interreligious dialogue enables participants to learn more about their own traditions by encountering others.

The independent religious organizations on campus offer innumerable opportunities for worship and fellowship within their own spiritual community. Cooperation flourishes among these organizations. Mutual projects for social uplift, conversations on the substantive issues that confront people of faith in our time—these activities and many more challenge each spiritual seeker to define for him or herself the path of greatest religious integrity.

The Spiritual Life Office (http://spirit.uchicago.edu/), a virtual office of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, serves as the liaison to the University for each religious organization. Some groups maintain houses on the periphery of campus, others are attached to local places of worship, and still others meet independently in Ida Noyes Hall or elsewhere. Dr. Elizabeth J.L. Davenport, Dean of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, serves as Director of the Spiritual Life Office. Descriptions of many of the religious organizations are available at http://spirit.uchicago.edu/about/group.shtml.

The University Ecumenical Service is held in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at 11:30 a.m. every Wednesday, followed by a community lunch in the Swift Common Room, except for the weeks between summer Convocation and the arrival of new students in September. During the Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters, the Joseph Bond Chapel on the main Quadrangle is host to a variety of worship experiences throughout the week. For a current schedule, see http://divinity.uchicago.edu/students/bond.shtml#worship. In addition, diverse religious groups in the neighborhood of the University welcome student participation in their programs and worship.

Career Services

The Office of Career Services offers comprehensive career services to students and graduates of the Law School. We welcome and encourage students and graduates to use the Office of Career Services to explore career options and to learn job search techniques that will serve them well in law school and throughout their professional careers.

Our professional staff members provide extensive individual career counseling to both J.D. and LL.M. students and graduates on all aspects of career planning and job search techniques. The Office of Career Services administers on-campus interview programs, with approximately 350 employers in the fall program, followed by a smaller winter program. The office also co-sponsors or participates in numerous off-campus recruitment programs, conducts outreach to employers, and manages information about non-traditional opportunities for students and graduates. Approximately 1,000 term-time, summer, and permanent jobs are posted annually through our web-based job postings service. In addition to these job search services, the Office of Career Services coordinates the judicial clerkship application process and provides a database of judges to assist students during the application process. Throughout the year, the office conducts numerous informational and skill development programs.

Our Career Resource Center contains a variety of materials to facilitate student self-assessment and to design individual job searches. These materials include books, newspapers, periodicals, proprietary survey information, and online materials including a proprietary database of almost 4,500 employers. We also work with our administrative colleagues to reach out to Law School graduates, both to provide Career Services support to those in need, and to encourage graduates to work with current students as mentors and advisors. We try, in short, to prepare our students to meet the various challenges and opportunities that await them in their professional careers.

Approximately 98 percent of the Class of 2011 found employment within the tracking period: 58.8 percent entered private practice; 10.1 percent obtained judicial clerkships; 7.5 percent entered business; 19.6 percent obtained positions in public service and government; and 4 percent obtained academic positions. During the summer of 2011, about 98 percent of the Class of 2012 were employed in legal positions. The majority of these opportunities were in the private sector, 18 percent of these positions were with public service and public interest organizations, and approximately 2 percent were research assistants with professors. 100 percent of the Class of 2013 obtained law-related employment in the summer of 2011. Approximately 45 percent of this class worked in the public sector, 20 percent were employed at the Law School as research assistants to faculty members or working in one of the Law School clinics, 24 percent of this class worked in the private sector at a law firm or business, 10 percent accepted judicial internships, and the remainder worked in other research positions.

Each year, approximately 30 to 50 students and alumni accept judicial clerkships. Over the past decade, from October Term 2002 to October Term 2012, we have had 27 graduates serve as law clerks for United States Supreme Court justices.

Public Interest Careers

The Law School is committed to training lawyers and scholars who are dedicated to the public good as well as professional excellence. While the institutional support that the Law School offers for students and graduates seeking public interest work is multifaceted, the common goal is to educate, inspire, and support present, former, and future students in their efforts to pursue a career that incorporates a commitment to public service work.

The Office of Career Services is designed to assist students interested in public interest careers by providing a variety of career-related services including individual career counseling as well as informational and skill development programs. The Law School also supports a variety of public interest career-related programs developed by student-run groups including the Chicago Law Foundation and the Public Interest Law Society (PILS). In addition, the resource center in the Office of Career Services houses a combination of hard copy and electronic materials to assist students and graduates who are pursuing public interest opportunities. Public interest-minded students also benefit from a Public Interest Speakers Panel, a faculty mentoring program, and an online index of public interest curricular offerings.  The Office of Career Services is a member institution of PSJD which offers comprehensive, current information on a broad range of pro bono and public service opportunities. The Office of Career Services also maintains a public interest list-serv for students and alumni interested in public service opportunities and information, and coordinates mentoring and networking opportunities between students and alumni.

Each year the Office of Career Services participates in several programs designed to connect students with prospective public interest employers including the Equal Justice Works Career Fair and Conference, the Chicago Area Law School Consortium Public Interest Organization Reception, and the Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference. In addition, some public interest employers participate in on-campus interviewing at the Law School. Additional public interest employers who cannot visit our campus request that resumes be forwarded from first-, second- and third-year students interested in summer or permanent positions. Many of the term-time, summer, and permanent jobs that are posted annually through our web-based job postings service come from public interest employers.

The Law School awards public service scholarships for entering students and public interest fellowships to graduating students, which allows them to spend a year working on public interest legal issues. The Law School also offers guaranteed funding for qualifying public interest summer jobs for first-year and second-year students, and administers a generous loan repayment assistance program for graduates engaged in public service. Through the Law School's Pro Bono Program, law students provide volunteer legal services to individuals and groups that are under-represented in the legal system. Participants not only serve those in need, but also gain valuable legal experience that contributes to their education and professional development. The Law School also fosters public service opportunities for students through the activities of the Law School's Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, the Immigrant Child Advocacy Project, the Exoneration Project, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, a new Environmental Law Clinic, and experiential learning clinics on housing and poverty law and criminal defense and prosecution.

Academic Careers

To support those students interested in careers in academia, the Law School has curricular offerings designed for students to develop their publications portfolio, and a Law Teaching committee to assist students and graduates through the academic search process. In addition, the Law School hosts an annual conference for alumni preparing to go on the law teaching market.

Computer Services

Computer services at the Law School are maintained and continually upgraded by the school's Office of Information Technology and the D'Angelo Law Library. These services are designed to facilitate student work in all areas of legal course work and research.

The Law School maintains and staffs one student computer lab, located on the third floor of the Library. The computers in the lab contain a full complement of software for students needing to do word processing, have email access, and have general Internet access, including legal research through Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw. This lab, or a networked classroom, is used for training students on using the campus network, Internet information sources, the Library's online catalog, Lexis/Nexis, and Westlaw. The lab also provides printers for student printing needs. Student documents are stored on servers maintained by the Law School, allowing students to have fast and easy access to their files from any workstation. These servers are backed up on a regular basis. The 4th, 5th, and 6th floors of the Law Library each contain a pair of public terminals similar to those in the computer lab and a laser printer for student jobs.

Most study areas in the Library are wired for connection to the campus network. Wireless network access is available in many study areas. From these areas, any student with a properly configured laptop computer is able to access the Library on-line catalog, email, the Internet, campus network databases, Lexis/Nexis, and Westlaw without having to use the Student Computer Lab.

Housing and Dining

The University provides a variety of housing units for single and married graduate students. Most are within easy walking distance of the campus or near the route of the Campus Bus Service. In addition, Hyde Park has a number of rental apartments ranging from one to eight rooms in size, both in walkup and elevator buildings. Most law students prefer to live in or near University housing during their first year.

All inquiries concerning University housing should be addressed to the Graduate Student Housing Office, 5555 S. Ellis Ave., Room 108, Chicago, Illinois 60637, 773-753-2218 or fax 773-753-8054. Students are advised to apply early in order to obtain their desired accommodations.

New Graduate Residence Hall

Many  first-year Law School students live in the New Graduate Residence Hall (New Grad). Designed by Edward Durrell Stone in 1963, New Grad is a three-story classical style building located two blocks east of the Law School. It has a capacity for about 125 graduate men and women. Most of the accommodations are single rooms with private baths. The average single room measures eleven by sixteen feet while the average double room measures twenty-one by fourteen feet. Common facilities in this residence are many and spacious. They include 24-hour reception, study and meeting rooms, an email/print kiosk, music practice rooms, laundry and exercise facilities, as well as a cable-TV room, a House lounge, and a community kitchen where residents may prepare their own meals. (There is a nominal cleaning fee associated with the use of the kitchen.) The room rate for 2011-12 was $7,722 or $9,372 per person in a single or a super-single respectively. A semi-single private room—two singles that share a bath—is available at $7,152.

International House

The International House of Chicago was founded in 1932 through a gift from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. It is a coeducational residence for students from around the world. Each year, the House accommodates graduate residents—many from countries other than the United States—who are pursuing academic and professional degrees, preparing in the creative or performing arts, or training with international firms at Chicago institutions. International House promotes understanding and friendship among students of diverse national, cultural, and social backgrounds; provides facilities that can benefit social and cultural development of its residents; and serves as a center of cultural exchange between international students and the greater Chicago community. The building is designed to facilitate informal daily interactions among residents in the House's cafeteria, Tiffin Room, courtyard, library, computer labs, and television lounges. These interactions make a major contribution to achieving the goals of the House. International House seeks residents who are willing to share their time and talent with the House community through its programs and activities.

A variety of rooms varying in size and amenities are available in International House. The average single room rate is $2,230 per quarter for the 2012-13 year. There is no mandatory meal plan. All rooms are furnished and share common bathrooms. More information is available at ihouse.uchicago.edu.

Neighborhood Student Apartments

The University owns and operates more than 1,300 apartments in twenty-eight buildings for the housing of graduate students. There are furnished apartments ranging in size from one and one-half to three and one-half rooms; the unfurnished units range from two to six and one-half rooms. The rates (per student or family) for furnished apartments are from $632 to $1,109 monthly; those for unfurnished are from $627 to $1,776 monthly. Apartments are rented on a twelve-month basis, but special arrangements can be made to terminate the lease as of the first day of an academic quarter. Heat and water are included in all rents. Inclusion of cooking gas and/or electricity varies by building, although they are included in the rent payment for most furnished apartments. The furnished apartments do not include bedding, linens, dishes, silver or kitchen utensils. Both furnished and unfurnished apartments are provided with a stove and a refrigerator, and all apartments have a private bath. For further information, please contact the University's Office of Graduate Student Housing at 773-753-2218 or see http://rs.uchicago.edu/index.shtml.

Meal Service

There are a number of places for students to dine on or near our campus. See http://www.uchicago.edu/students/dining.shtml. Arrangements can be made by law students to purchase Maroon Dollars through the University that can be used in the Arley D. Cathey Dining Commons next to the Law School, and in all other dining facilities on campus. Further information and meal plans can be obtained through the University of Chicago, Housing and Dining Services 773-702-7366, or at http://housing.uchicago.ed/campus_dining_services/.

Child Care

A wide variety of day-care and baby-sitting options are available in the Hyde Park-South Kenwood area. Students with children, especially those who live in University housing, frequently form cooperative day-care networks in their buildings. Many graduate student spouses provide baby-sitting in their homes and advertise their services on campus bulletin boards. During the academic year, The Family Resource Center provides activities for the families of graduate and professional students, as well as referrals for various child care services. More information on the FRC is available at http://grad-affairs.uchicago.edu/services/index.shtml.

Action for Children is a private, not-for-profit agency that provides free personalized assistance to University employees and students seeking child care. Students may contact Action for Children at 773-564-8890 or childcare@actforchildren.org.

Hyde Park has excellent public, private, and parochial schools. Registration for public schools is based on neighborhood boundaries unless the school is a magnet school (open to children city wide via admissions lotteries) or unless a permit to attend is granted by the school. To ensure a place in a private or parochial school, enroll as early as possible (most schools are full by late summer).

For further information on nursery, elementary, and secondary schools, contact the Office of Graduate Affairs, Admin. 226-A, 5801 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, telephone: 773-702-7813.

University of Chicago Student Health Care

Health Insurance Requirements

The University requires all registered students to carry adequate health insurance to cover, among other costs, hospitalization and outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures. Additionally, if the student resides in Chicago during the academic year, the insurance must cover medical care provided in the Chicago area for both emergency and non-emergency medical situations. In keeping with this requirement, each year all insurance eligible students are automatically enrolled in the University Student Health Insurance Plan (U-SHIP). Students may add dependents before the enrollment/waiver deadline. Students wishing to waive out of U-SHIP coverage must provide proof of alternate comparable coverage before the enrollment/waiver deadline. Students who do not waive the insurance by the deadline will remain enrolled in the U-SHIP coverage and are responsible for the annual premium. Detailed information about the U-SHIP plan, including information on the following topics can be found at http://studenthealth.uchicago.edu.

  • Enrollment/Waiver Deadlines
  • Automatic Enrollment
  • Eligibility
  • Coverage during Personal Leave of Absence
  • Coverage during Medical Leave of Absence
  • Binding Coverage
  • Premiums

Immunization Requirements

By State of Illinois law, generally all new students are required to present proof of immunity from measles, mumps, rubella, and tetanus/diphtheria (three shots required for international students). The Student Health Service notifies all new students of the requirement and provides instructions for compliance. Forms and more information are at healthcare.uchicago.edu/page/vaccinations-required-enrollment. They must be returned by mail or in person. They cannot be returned electronically.

During the fourth week of the first quarter of enrollment, students who are not yet compliant are informed that their subsequent registration will be restricted if they have not completed this requirement by the eighth week of the quarter. Students are urged to plan ahead and schedule an appointment as soon as possible to avoid having to get shots during final exams, etc. 

University Policies

The Law School and its students are obliged to abide by the policies set forth by the University. These policies appear in the Student Manual of University Policies, available online at www.uchicago.edu/docs/studentmanual/university. Topics covered include:

  • Civil Behavior in a University Setting
  • Statement of Nondiscrimination
  • Policy on Unlawful Discrimination and Harassment
  • Sexual Assault Policy
  • Campus Violence Prevention Policy and Threat Assessment Team
  • Disability Accommodation Protocol
  • Graduate Student Parents Policy
  • Domestic Partnership Policy
  • Student Employment
  • Alcohol and Other Drugs
  • Networking Services and Information Technology Policies
  • Patent, Software, and Intellectual Property Policy
  • Safety and Appropriate Use of Facilities