Villanova University School of Law

Villanova offers a legal education designed to teach the rules of law and their application; to demonstrate how lawyers analyze legal issues and express arguments and conclusions; to inculcate the skills of the counselor, advocate, and decision maker; and to explore the ethical and moral dimensions of law practice and professional conduct.

The Villanova University School of Law and the Villanova School of Business offer a joint-degree program permitting simultaneous study for the Juris Doctor and the Master of Business Administration degrees. The Villanova School of Business is one of the few business schools in the nation whose Master of Business Administration and Department of Accountancy program have been approved by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In the program, credit is given for certain courses by both the School of Law and the School of Business. Through this program, degrees may be completed in less time than it would take to obtain them separately.[5]

The Graduate Tax Program is an interdisciplinary program led by Leslie M. Book conducted under the auspices of the Villanova University School of Law and Villanova's School of Business. The program has over 30 courses, which are also available to JD candidates, who are able to enroll in LL.M. courses as well as participate in the joint JD/LL.M. program.[6] Business students participating in the Graduate Tax Program may earn a Master of Science in Taxation (MST) degree.

According to Villanova's official 2014 ABA-required disclosures, 70% of the Class of 2014 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners.[34]

Pro bono programs, such as the clinics and other projects, provide students with the opportunity to serve the disadvantaged while developing skills and positive relationships with practicing attorneys.[36]

Villanova Law's student body has the opportunity to participate in the "Lawyering Together" program. Through the program, law students are matched with volunteer attorneys who assist clients referred through Philadelphia pro bono organizations.[37] The referring organizations include Senior Law Center, Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (VIP) and the Support Center for Child Advocates.[38]

Sargent graduated magna cum laude in 1973 from Wesleyan, received an M.A. in Medieval Studies in 1975 from Cornell University, and graduated from Cornell Law School in 1978. He began teaching law in 1980, was the Piper & Marbury Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of the Law & Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Maryland School of Law. He has also previously taught law at American University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Baltimore Schools of Law.[39]

In 2006, Dean Sargent worked with the Pepper Hamilton LLP to launch a diversity initiative that included two full tuition scholarships for minority students and hiring two Villanova Law School minority students each year as first-year summer associates and then as part-time law clerks during their second or third academic years.[40] In July 2009, Villanova Law School Dean Mark Sargent resigned, citing medical and personal reasons.[41] A week later, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Sargent was connected with the solicitation of prostitution, although he was never charged.[42] In February 2011, Villanova's newly appointed dean, John Gotanda, revealed that a Law School committee had determined that the under the leadership of the former Dean Mark Sargent, false statistical data including entrance LSAT scores had been reported to the American Bar Association about incoming students for several years before 2010. As a result, the American Bar Association issued a censure to the school[43] A 2-year probation was also issued by the AALS.[44] Villanova began a comprehensive internal investigation and commissioned an independent audit by Ropes & Gray to determine the nature and scope of the false reporting.[45]

Dean John Gotanda became dean at Villanova University School of Law on January 1, 2011, after having previously served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean for Faculty Research, and Director of the J.D./M.B.A. Program.[46] Dean Gotanda received his J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Hawaii Law Review. Before coming to Villanova in 1994 he was a staff attorney with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He also worked as an associate attorney with Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and later with Goodwin, Procter & Hoar in Boston.[47] In February 2016, Dean Gotanda was named president of Hawai‘i Pacific University.

Dean Mark Alexander became dean of the law school on July 1, 2016, due to Dean Gotanda becoming president of Hawai‘i Pacific University. Alexander was previously the Associate Dean for Academics at Seton Hall School of Law. Prior to his Seton Hall Law School role, he clerked for Chief Judge Thelton Henderson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1992 to 1993 and was a litigator with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in San Francisco from 1993 to 1995. Alexander earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from Yale University.[48][49]