Welcome from the Dean

Congratulations on your decision to pursue legal education at Penn State University and thank you for considering Penn State Law in University Park. We are excited to share more with you about our J.D. program, which offers a rigorous, classic legal education enhanced with experiential learning opportunities both locally and away from campus to provide students with the lawyering skills needed to accomplish their professional goals. 

As you may be aware, Penn State University President Neeli Bendapudi recently announced her recommendation that Penn State University re-unify its two law schools, Penn State Law in University Park and Dickinson Law in Carlisle, PA.

Penn State Law and Penn State University remain committed to providing an outstanding, fully accredited, legal education in University Park to our current and incoming students, including career services, bar exam preparation, and professional development opportunities. In early 2023, a panel of faculty, staff, students, and alumni of both of Penn State’s Law schools will convene to make recommendations for the structure of the united law school. The unified school will be known as Penn State Dickinson Law and its primary location will be in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The panel will make recommendations about the unified school’s curricular programs in both Carlisle and University Park.

Throughout the reunification process, Penn State Law in University Park is dedicated to delivering a program of legal education that meets the expectations of excellence held by our students, faculty, and staff. During the admissions process we are happy to answer your questions about the reunification and will share updates with you as they become available.

As a law student in University Park, you will have all the resources of a world-class public research institution with small classes taught by a faculty of prominent legal scholars and leading practitioners. You can choose to focus your studies in one of our many areas of strength, including advocacy and litigation; antitrust and competition law; arbitration, mediation, and negotiation; corporate law and practice; energy and environmental law; health law; intellectual property; international, foreign, and comparative law; law, science, and technology; national security, military, and veterans; and more.

We recognize the importance of learning by doing and treat the broader world as our classroom. Our 10 clinics and Manglona Lab for Gender and Economic Equity provide you with a wealth of opportunities to explore practice areas and help underserved communities. Our students have worked on real cases considered by the U.S. Supreme Court and have honed their advocacy skills through national and international moot court and trial competitions, including winning the 2019 world championship in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna.

Our home, the state-of-the-art Lewis Katz Building, allows you the freedom to explore the world virtually from our classrooms and interview rooms. Our innovative Externships Everywhere program lets you pursue career opportunities anywhere in the world while participating via our advanced distance-learning technology in classes in University Park.

We are committed to being a welcoming and inclusive environment for every member of our community, and to actively combat bias and inequality at the law school, Penn State, and our broader society.

With this location on Penn State’s University Park Campus in State College, Pa., you will find a place that is vibrant, safe, and diverse, with dozens of active law student organizations and hundreds of university-wide student groups and activities. You will study hard, but when you’re ready for a break, you can take advantage of NCAA Division I and intramural sports, convenient fitness facilities, outdoor activities, arts and cultural events, Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream, and a welcoming environment of more than 46,000 enthusiastic and friendly Penn State students.

They don’t call it Happy Valley for nothing.

As a graduate, you will belong to the powerful Penn State alumni network of more than 740,000 strong all over the globe. I invite you to explore our program further here on our website (pennstatelaw.psu.edu) or in-person through a visit. We look forward to welcoming you.

 

 

Victor Romero
Interim Dean, Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs
Maureen B. Cavanaugh Distinguished Faculty Scholar, and Professor of Law