Law

Welcome to Colorado Law.  We are a diverse and inclusive community of outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni who help one another succeed. Our selective admissions process keeps our student body small, enabling our faculty, staff, alumni and professional network to invest deeply in each student’s success. Because we take our responsibility to educate and train future lawyers very seriously, our curriculum, research centers, and experiential learning opportunities are designed to prepare students for success in today’s changing legal environment.  

Our students have extraordinary credentials and life experiences. In addition to being intelligent, congenial, hard-working and entrepreneurial, our students are engaged with the community. A plethora of active student organizations, rich externship opportunities and a robust Public Service Pledge Program enable our students to foster Colorado Law’s tradition of service.

Our faculty are national and international leaders in their fields and are committed to helping Colorado Law students develop the legal knowledge, critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills necessary for professional success. Our intentionally designed low student-to-faculty ratio of 6.4 to 1 enables meaningful interaction between faculty and students, giving students abundant opportunities to develop deep substantive expertise and long-lasting professional relationships. 

Our staff is devoted to helping students and alumni succeed. From the moment our students commit to attending Colorado Law and throughout their professional careers, we provide unwavering personal and professional support. Our admissions office welcomes students to the Colorado Law community, and our student affairs office provides support for students as they develop their professional identity and skills. Our career development office helps students secure and retain rewarding employment. Those unsure about their field of interest can rely on our wealth of career exploration opportunities and resources.

Our alumni represent Colorado Law in a variety of professional settings and fields across Colorado and nationwide. They thrive in a variety of professional domains: national law firms, regional law firms, government organizations (both at the federal and state levels), business organizations (often utilizing their legal skills in business roles), and public interest organizations. Not only do our alumni thrive professionally, but they also enthusiastically work with current Colorado Law students in a number of key ways that foster students’ career success.

We are educating students for success. Our relevant and challenging curriculum prepares students to thrive in a variety of sectors and settings. Our three research centers enable students to develop unique connections and insights in today’s most important fields, including: 

• Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law and Policy—the Getches Wilkinson Center.
• Technology and Entrepreneurship/Business—the Silicon Flatirons Center.
• Public Law/Public Service—the White Center. 

In addition, our Schaden Experiential Learning Program and Clinical Program (with nine clinics representing a range of practice areas) allow students to develop and hone their legal skills through extensive real-world experiences while in school.

We invite you to learn more about what makes the Colorado Law experience so special. Please contact us for more information or, even better, come visit us.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know us better.

Sincerely,

Lolita Buckner Inniss, Dean and Provost's Professor of Law

About Colorado Law

The University of Colorado Law School, established in 1892, has a long and proud history as a top public law school. The first students of color entered in 1898. The school became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools, organized in 1901. The first woman graduated in 1908. And the school has been on the American Bar Association's list of accredited law schools since its first publication in 1923.

Today, Colorado Law, housed in the beautiful new "green" Wolf Law Building with one of the largest law libraries in the country, is also one of the most technologically advanced law schools in the country. Most importantly, it provides one of the best comprehensive legal educations in the nation, featuring:

• A favorable faculty-student ratio (6.4:1) that produces class sizes that encourage discussion
• 60 highly published resident faculty dedicated to interacting with students inside and outside the classroom
• First-year students who are placed in small sections for more class participation opportunities and to build relationships with classmates and professors
• Full-time, three-year Juris Doctor (JD) degree, one-year Master of Laws (LLM) degree, one-year Master of Studies in Law (MSL) degree, eight dual degrees, eight certificates, three centers and three journals
• An Experiential Learning Program that integrates lawyering activities, including nine legal clinics, externships, public service pledge and trial and moot court competitions
• Comprehensive program to prepare students for a wide range of careers; many graduates obtain judicial clerkships

Law School Vision

With our roots in Colorado and a global outlook, we are a supportive and diverse community of scholars and students in a place that inspires vigorous pursuit of ideas, critical analysis and civic engagement in order to advance the rule of law in an open, sustainable society.

Our Mission

To be an outstanding public law school that: provides students with a state-of-the-art legal education and prepares them to serve wisely and with professionalism; advances the development of knowledge through scholarship, testing of new ideas, and challenges to the status quo; and serves as a vehicle and catalyst for meaningful public service, all of which deliver high value to our students and have positive impacts—both locally and globally—on the legal profession and society.

Wolf Law Building

The three-story William A. Wise Law Library is housed in the Wolf Law Building.

• Most comprehensive law library in the 12-state Rocky Mountain region, one of the largest in the country, serving as a selective federal government depository
• Six computer stations, five group study rooms, 12 study pods, and 459 total seats
• Access in print or online to more than 500,000 volumes

Student Life

Students who choose the University of Colorado Law School generally seek the very best all-around legal education combined with a great location, a supportive community, top specialties, interdisciplinary study, dedicated faculty, a public service tradition and so much more. Colorado Law is distinguished by the extraordinary quality of its students. As a competitively selective school, its students rank in the top tier, represent a rich blend of geographic and ethnic backgrounds and bring experiences of leadership, career achievement and community service. Although competitiveness among students with such elite qualifications is typical at many law schools, CU Law students have a proud history of putting collegiality first.

Commitment to Diversity

Colorado Law is proud to have been one of the earliest law schools in the nation to graduate lawyers of color. The first students of color entered the University of Colorado Law School in 1898 and the first woman graduated in 1908. Colorado Law's commitment to diversity is evident throughout the Law School. We seek students with not only the academic credentials to excel in a rigorous legal education program, but also a desire to join a diverse community of future lawyers committed to the service of others. Student organizations offer support and networking opportunities.

Academic Support

From the student's first day, Colorado Law invests in her or his academic success. Through the Rothgerber Academic Assistance Program, upper-division law students tutor first-year students in their courses, except Legal Writing. The program is open to all first-year students, and more than 50 percent of the class participates in this free opportunity.

Honor System

Members of the legal profession are held to the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct, and Law School faculty and students are expected to maintain the same level of professional competence and integrity in their work. The Colorado Law School Honor Code, subscribed to by all students, is a system of rules administered by student officers and demands the highest ethical conduct.

Legal Research and Writing

Colorado Law's Legal Research and Writing Program ensures that its graduates are proficient in legal research, analysis and writing, and capable of adapting these skills to varying contexts. All first-year Legal Writing courses are taught by resident legal writing faculty, and legal research and research strategy is guided by professional librarian instructors. Upper-division courses are designated as writing classes and students spend a seminar preparing a substantial paper requiring significant legal research and writing.

Journals

Colorado Law is home to three nationally respected student-led law journals. These journals provide legal research, writing, editorial and publishing experience to competitively chosen second- and third-year law students, with a select number of third-year students serving as prestigious Editorial Board members. Subscribers include government agencies, judicial courts, law school and government libraries, judges, attorneys, faculty and alumni.

• University of Colorado Law Review (founded in 1928)
• Colorado Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law Review
• Colorado Technology Law Journal

Student Organizations

Colorado Law's student organizations reflect the diverse interests and concerns of its active student body. Students increase their knowledge in specific areas, gain leadership experience and work closely with fellow students, faculty, alumni and legal professionals with similar passions. The Student Bar Association serves as the school's student government, represents the interests of law students generally, allocates funding to other organizations and administers the school's honor code with the Honor Council.

• American Bar Association, Law Student Division
• Arab Law Student Association
• Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
• Barristers' Council
• Black Law Students Association
• Breakthrough Student Group
• Business and Tax Law Association
• Cannabis Law League
• Christian Legal Society
• Colorado Disability Justice Alliance
• Colorado Law Animal Legal Defense Fund
• Colorado Law Adventure Club
• Colorado Law Democrats
• Colorado Law Student Parents Group
• Construction and Real Estate Law Association
• Criminal Prosecution Society
• Doman Society of International Law
• Environmental Law Society
• Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
• Health Law Society
• If/When/How
• Immigration Law and Policy Society
• Intellectual Property Association
• International Law Student Society
• International Moot Court
• Jewish Law Students Association
• Juvenile and Family Law Club
• Korey Wise Innocence Project Club
• LatinX Law Student Association
• Military Law Society
• Muslim Law Student Association
• National Lawyers Guild
• Native American Law Students Association
• OUTlaw
• People's Parity Project
• Privacy Law Association
• Public Defense Association
• Public Interest Students Association
• Silicon Flations Students Group
• Space Law Society
• Sports and Entertainment Law Student Association
• Student Bar Association
• Women of Color Collective
• Women's Law Caucus

Career Development

Colorado Law prepares students for a wide variety of careers. The Career Development Office offers students and alumni individualized career counseling and professional development advice to help them identify and achieve their career goals. The office has career counselors with JDs who have many years of experience in a wide range of law practice areas. It maintains state-of-the-art career development and job search resources and helps students prepare for and pursue job opportunities during and after law school.

Services and Programs

• Career Counseling: Each first-year student meets with a career counselor who helps with résumés and job search action plans.
• Employer Outreach: Counselors conduct extensive employer outreach in- and out-of-state.
• Career Fairs/Symposia: The office organizes employer networking opportunities on and off campus.
• On-Campus Interviews: Each year approximately 100 employers come on campus to interview students for summer clerkships, internships and associate attorney positions with law firms and government agencies.
• Résumé Collections: Résumés from interested students are sent to in- and out-of-state employers.
• Brown Bag Speaker Series: Practicing attorneys from the local and national legal community are regularly invited to speak to students during weekly lunch-hour informational sessions about what it's like to work in a variety of legal areas.
• Job Postings: Through a secure web-based system, students and alumni can review current job listings and an online resources library.
• Mock Interviews: Counselors set up appointments with students for practice interviews with the counselors or with volunteer attorneys. Students receive tips and feedback to help them improve.
• Referrals: Counselors help students connect with alumni and other legal professionals as resources for information about a field or practice area of law in Colorado or any other part of the country or world.
• Mentoring and Community Involvement: The office regularly helps students get involved in the legal community by referring them to mentor programs (including the Student Alumni Mentoring Program), bar associations, Inns of Court and other law-related organizations.

Job Opportunities

Colorado Law helps students pursue numerous job opportunities and helps connect them to valuable part-time and permanent legal positions, including:

• Paid internships are academic year or summer, part or full-time positions with law firms, businesses, government agencies and nonprofits.
• For-credit externships are for students working as volunteers for government agencies and non-profits for academic credit under the supervision of a field and faculty supervisor.
• Fellowships provide funding for law students and graduates to work with public service organizations or academic programs.
• Honors programs are prestigious summer and post-graduate programs for students and graduates to work within federal government agencies.
• Judicial clerkships are prestigious paid positions for new graduates working for state and federal judges across the country.

Experiential Learning

Research Centers

Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars. The faculty’s record of scholarly publication is both extensive and frequently cited. Together with the faculty’s commitment to public service, this work has positioned the faculty of Colorado Law to exert important and constructive influences on legal and public policy debates at the local, national, and international levels. 

Colorado Law's three research centers have earned national prominence for their research, publications and leading conferences that debate legal and policy issues, foster practical solutions and innovative ideas, facilitate networking and produce scholarship. Students are an integral part of the centers. Students may work as volunteers, externs or research assistants on research projects, reports, newsletters and events. In addition, students will have unique access to national and local policymakers, researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs and legal practitioners in many areas of the law.

Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law