University of Pittsburgh School of Law

The University of Pittsburgh School of Law was established in 1895 as the Western University of Pennsylvania Law Department. The school was located in a building on Forbes Avenue in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh and was the first law school in Western Pennsylvania. In 1896, the law department became an independent division within the university and began offering a three-year course of study leading to a degree in law. The program had four faculty members, including its dean, and approximately 20 students.

In 1901, the school moved to its current location at Barco Law Building on Forbes Avenue. During this period, many prominent lawyers graduated from the school including Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Hughes and U.S Representative Thomas M. Kunesh. In 1915, the school became affiliated with Pittsburg’s Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and adopted its current name “University of Pittsburgh School of Law” to reflect its new affiliation with Pittsburg’s prestigious university system.

In 1931, the school moved into a newly constructed building at 4200 Fifth Avenue on Pittsburg’s historic North Side which would later be named Barco Law Building after former Dean Henry H. Barco Jr., who served as dean from 1938-1976. During this period many prominent alumni attended or taught at Pitt such as Chief Justice John Marshall Harlan II, former Attorney General Nicholas deB Katzenbach, and former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie.

Today, Pitt Law is one of only two law schools in Pennsylvania that are accredited by both the American Bar Association (ABA) and Association of American Law Schools (AALS). It is ranked among America’s top 100 law schools by US News & World Report and offers a wide range of legal specializations such as Business/Corporate Law, Intellectual Property/Cyberlaw, International/Comparative Law and Environmental/Land Use & Zoning law. The curriculum includes relevant topics such as legal analytics, artificial intelligence, business regulation, health care regulation, media regulation, international trade, dispute resolution, public interest lawyering, legal ethics & professionalism, etc.

University of Pittsburgh School of Law is located in the state of Pennsylvania. As one of the leading law programs, University of Pittsburgh School of Law has a high average LSAT score of 157-161 when recruiting new students. As a return, the median starting salary for law graduates reaches $102,500 per year. See the following table for detailed admissions information and career profiles of University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Admissions: University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s admissions statistics for the Class of 2022 reveal an impressive group of students. The incoming class is composed of approximately 200 students, with an average LSAT score of 162 and a median GPA of 3.63. About 43% are female, and 57% are male. The entering class reflects the diversity of our country with 23% identifying as members of a minority group, including African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and multi-racial students. Additionally, about 25% self-identify as LGBTQ+. The student body comes from 40 different states and territories across the United States as well as many foreign countries such as Canada, China, France, India, Mexico and Nigeria. Moreover, the University is proud to welcome veterans who have served in the U.S. military and have chosen to pursue their legal education at Pitt Law.

Careers: University of Pittsburgh