School of Law—Indianapolis

Located in the dynamic heart of Indiana, the Indiana University School of Law—Indianapolis operates in synergy with government, business, and the community to foster an environment where education flourishes. Founded as the Indiana Law School in 1894, the school has today emerged as a premier educational institution.

At its inception, the school’s purpose was to provide a place where those individuals who were engaged in building Indiana’s vibrant young state capital could seek out the kind of quality legal education otherwise unavailable without great travel and expense. That same vision of excellence remains at the core of the law school today.

Opportunity

The IU School of Law—Indianapolis prepares students for a wide range of diverse and exciting careers. From practicing law to managing corporations, graduates of the law school excel not only in Indiana, but across the country and around the world. Law school alumni have served in the highest offices in government, including the U.S. Vice Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.

The Indianapolis legal and business communities offer opportunities for connections that no other law school in the state can provide. Many of the school’s adjunct professors come from some of the most prestigious law firms in the state. Additionally, an attorney-student mentor program allows students to meet a variety of area attorneys, judges, and business and government leaders in an informal setting.

Internships are available in a vast array of institutions, including banks, corporations, and government offices. Many internships also are available with local, state, and federal courts. Because of its location in an urban setting, the school is able to offer clinical programs designed to complement traditional legal education with experience beyond the classroom. With faculty supervision, students represent real clients in actual cases before Indiana courts through the Criminal Defense, Civil Practice, and Disability Clinics.

Faculty and Curriculum

Faculty members hold Doctor of Jurisprudence, Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from nearly fifty different schools, offering students extensive and diverse views on the law and its career possibilities. Assembled from across the country, faculty members have distinguished themselves with a wide variety of scholarly publications related to state, national, and international legal matters.

Relevant to the needs of today’s law students, the school’s curriculum is traditional in philosophy, yet flexible in content and structure. In addition to the basic core of introductory courses in civil procedure, contracts, criminal law, property, torts, and legal research and writing, the curriculum offers numerous elective courses.

A student may pursue a J.D. degree on a full-time basis in the school’s day division, or on a part-time basis through the evening program. Typically, a full-time student will complete the 90 required hours within three years, while a part-time student will do so within four years.

Joint Degree Programs

Joint degree programs are offered in cooperation with the IU School of Business, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and the Department of Public Health within the IU School of Medicine. These include:

Research Centers and Foreign Study Programs

The school’s Center for Law and Health is one of the few law school programs in the country offering interdisciplinary opportunities for students in law and the health care industry. The Center, which serves as an information resource on health care issues for the bar and health care community, also provides students with an avenue for researching health law reform issues facing Indiana and the nation.

The Program on Law and State Government enhances the ties between the academic community and state government offices, providing a means of exchange of ideas on issues facing state governments, as well as creating opportunities for internships for students within Indiana state government.

The Program in International Human Rights Law is designed to promote legal study and scholarship in international human rights, and to facilitate the placement of students as legal interns at international human rights organizations in this country and overseas. During its first three years of operation, the program coordinated 18 student placements in 16 countries.

Our China Summer Program at Renmin (People’s) University of China School of Law in Beijing includes comparative aspects of Chinese and American law and features trips to local courts and nearby points of interest.

The Program in European law, offered in Lille, France, at the Université de Lille II, includes course work in European Union law, English law, and continental legal systems. Students participate in field trips to legal institutions in four countries.

Student Programs

The school’s two law reviews, the Indiana Law Review and the Indiana International and Comparative Law Review, provide invaluable opportunities for training in the analysis of legal problems and presentation of legal issues.

The Moot Court Program encourages the development of skills in oral advocacy. The Order of Barristers is comprised of the best students in the program, and its members serve on regional and national teams, where they have achieved prominence in competitions.

The school also sponsors a variety of student organizations which focus on a number of discrete legal areas of interest to students. Additionally, the school invites a number of distinguished and well-known speakers to the school. Students hear lectures by legal scholars, historians, well-known practicing attorneys, and jurists from around the country.

Campus Visits and Additional Information