College of Law

• Located on DePaul’s Loop Campus at 25 E. Jackson Blvd, the College of Law is only a few blocks from state and federal courts, the Chicago Bar Association headquarters and LaSalle Street, the city’s historic legal and financial center.
• The College of Law’s total Juris Doctorate (JD) enrollment in fall 2018 was 710, and its faculty included 39 full-time professors and just over 100 adjunct instructors. The mix of academics and practitioners offers students diverse perspectives on legal theory, policy issues and development of practical skills.
• Hands-on client experience is available to all law students through the College’s experiential learning programs. The legal clinics focus on areas such as business law; immigration and asylum; civil litigation and criminal appeals; and technology and intellectual property. An innovative Third Year in Practice (3YP) program provides qualifying students with a unique experience engaging in the actual and simulated practice of law during their final year of law school, and the Externship Program places students with various government agencies, members of the judiciary, private law firms, and nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
• The College of Law's six programs of excellence provide myriad opportunities for students in the growing fields of business and tax law; health law; immigration law and human rights; intellectual property law and information technology; family law; and public interest law and public service. The College also is home to eight centers and institutes, many integral to the programs of excellence, that emphasize collaborative learning among students and faculty in advancing the law and serving justice.
• In keeping with its commitment to provide students and faculty with enriching educational and cultural experiences, the College of Law has study abroad and international exchange programs in Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Germany, Spain and Vienna.

• The College of Law, founded in 1912, celebrated its centennial during the 2012-13 academic year. It was DePaul University’s first postgraduate professional school, and among the first law schools in Illinois to admit Jewish and female students.
• Since 1992 the College of Law has been a member of the Order of the Coif, the nation's law school honorary society. Coif membership is nationally recognized as a mark of excellence in legal studies.
• Princeton Review named the College of Law as one of the best 165 law schools in the United States in its 2019 survey of law schools that are accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA).
• In 2019 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s best law school rankings, the College of Law’s health law program ranked 16th in the nation and its and intellectual property law program 28th in the nation. The part-time program ranked 23rd in the nation in the same edition, and the College was listed among the most diverse schools on the Diversity Index.
• In 2017, the National Jurist named DePaul Law one of the best schools for foreign attorneys seeking an LLM.
• In both 2017 and 2018, the College of Law received high marks from PreLaw Magazine, which ranks law schools that provide exceptional offerings in key areas. Current grades include:
• Intellectual Property Law: A+
• Public Interest Law: A+
• Technology Law: A+
• Business Law: A
• Family Law: A
• Human Rights Law: A
• Health Law: A-
• International Law: A-
• Most Diverse Law Schools A-
• Three 2018 graduates were chosen for highly selective JAG appointments, and two others were selected for prestigious post-graduate public interest fellowships: a Dorot Fellowship and a Skadden Fellowship.
  
• Three recent alumni and two students interned at various international criminal tribunals in The Hague, including the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
  

• The JD program offers twelve certificate programs and six programs of excellence in areas such as business and tax law; health law; immigration law and human rights; intellectual property law and information technology; family law; and public interest law and public service.
• The Master of Laws program (LLM) offers specialized training in health law, intellectual property, international law, taxation and U.S. legal studies.
• The Master of Jurisprudence (MJ) program is specifically designed for professionals who do not seek to practice law, but who regularly encounter legal issues in their work and/or would benefit from a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of legal reasoning and doctrine.
• Seven dual degree programs are offered: JD/LLM; BA/JD (3+3 with the Colleges of Communication and Liberal Arts & Social Sciences); JD/MBA (with the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business); JD/MS in Computer Science Technology (with the College of Computing & Digital Media); JD/MA in International Studies (with the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences); JD/MS in Public Services Management (with the School of Public Service); JD/Master in International & European Business Law (with Pontificia Universidad Comillas School of Law in Madrid).

• In 2019, 390 DePaul law alumni were honored by “Super Lawyers IL,” the most of any Illinois law school. Among the top 100 were prominent graduates Robert Clifford, founder and partner of Clifford Law Offices, and Philip Corboy, Jr. of Corboy & Demetrio. Adria East Mossing of Mossing & Navarre and Catherine Steege of Jenner & Block also were among the top 100 Illinois Super Lawyers, as well as the top 50 Women Illinois Super Lawyers.
• The College of Law has more than 15,000 living alumni. Graduates include three former mayors of Chicago and public officials at all levels of government; more than 350 current and retired state and federal judges; some of the nation's top trial lawyers; CEOs, CFOs and executives of worldwide corporations; and nationally recognized advocates for social justice and human rights.
• Prominent graduates include former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and his father, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley; William Bauer, senior judge, Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Robert Harris, public guardian, Cook County; Patricia Mendoza, Cook County circuit judge and former chief counsel, Mexican American Legal Education and Defense Fund; Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO, ComEd; Jack Greenberg, former CEO, McDonald’s Corp.; and the late Benjamin Hooks, former executive director of the NAACP.

Jennifer Rosato Perea has served as the dean of DePaul University College of Law since July 2015. A nationally recognized leader in legal education, Dean Rosato Perea brings a wealth of experience to DePaul as an experienced administrator, a longtime advocate of active learning and professionalism, and a respected scholar. She is one of only a small number of Latina law school deans in the nation. Dean Rosato Perea is an accomplished scholar and expert on family law, bioethics, legal ethics and civil procedure. She has published extensively on diverse legal issues that affect children and families. She has presented nationally and regionally on the future and challenges of legal education before a number of organizations including the Association of American Law Schools and the American Bar Association. Dean Rosato Perea has been recognized and honored for her commitment to diversity and access, including presentations on implicit bias for a variety of legal audiences. In 2015, she received the Honorary Fellow Award from the Illinois Bar Foundation. Prior to joining DePaul, she served as dean at Northern Illinois University College of Law for six years.

Dean Rosato Perea earned a BS with distinction from Cornell University and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.