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Law School Profile

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UMKC School of Law is fully-accredited by the American Bar

Association and a member of the Association of American Law

Schools. Enrollment options with the law school consist of full

and part-time JD options, dual degree programs, a general

LLM degree program, and specialized LLM degree programs intax and urban affairs.

The law schools academic program aims to provide graduates

with strong lawyering skills as well as practical experience.

Through skills courses, simulations courses, externships,

and clinics, students are encouraged to develop the skills

necessary for the legal world.

UMKC School of Laws E.E. Thompson Courtroom, which was

renovated in 2006, is a prime location for litigation training

and observation. The modern courtroom offers real-time

transcripts and the ability to view both video evidence and

electronic documents on screens at the judges bench, thewitness stand, and the jury box. The school is also home to

the newly-built Arthur H. Stoup Courtroom, which is named for

a graduate who went on to lead the Kansas City Metropolitan

Bar Association and the Missouri Bar Association.

Through the two-semester Legal Writing Program, rst-year

students are given individualized assistance in the form

of written comments and personalized-assignment review

conferences. Upper-level research and writing requirements

further serve to ne-tune skills in this key area.

Clinical offerings, which allow students to work with real

clients, include the Child and Family Services Clinic, the

Guardian ad Litem Clinic, the Entrepreneurial Legal Services

Clinic, the Kansas City Tax Clinic, and The Midwestern

Innocence Project.

A range of externship opportunities are also available to

interested students at federal, state, and local agencies,

including prosecutors ofces, public defenders ofces, judicia

chambers, and government ofces.

Summer study abroad programs include the Ireland program,

which is offered through UMKC School of Law and theSouthern Illinois School of Law, and the summer law school in

China program at the University of Peking.

UMKC School of Law produces The Urban Lawyer, the Journal

of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the

student-run publication, The Law Review. As the worlds

largest circulating urban law journal, The Urban Lawyer,

serves as the ofcial national journal of the American Bar

Associations Section of Urban, State, and Local Government

Law. The publication of The American Academy of Matrimonial

Lawyers was taken on by UMKC Law School at the request of

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The journal

is edited by faculty members, with assistance from students.Students also compose papers on assigned topics, summarize

major articles of interest, and edit lead articles for the twice-

yearly publication.

The Career Services Ofce provides students and alumni with

assistance in all areas of career development including job

search strategies, individual counseling sessions, on-campus

interviews, and more. UMKC School of Law also offers a solo

and small rm practice program and a solo and small rm

incubator program to assist those interested in pursuing small

rm or solo practice.

Networking and social opportunities abound through the

law schools 30 plus student organizations. A sample of the

offerings include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anima

Law Society, Emissaries, the Family Law Society, the J. Reuben

Clark Law Society, the Moot Court Board, Older Wiser Law

Students, and the Public Interest Law Association.

University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

By Teresa Cajot

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Law is a public law school located in the center of Kansas City, Missouri. It

was founded as a private institution by three lawyers, William Borland, Edward Ellison, and Elmer Powell, in 1895. The law school,

which was initially called the Kansas City School of Law, merged with the University of Kansas City in 1938. It took on its current

name in 1963 when it affiliated with the University of Missouri system. The law school relocated to the main campus the University of

Missouri-Kansas City in 1974.

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