Dear Students:

Welcome back to Northwestern Law! I hope you enjoyed your summer and are ready to start up the new academic year. I write to bring you up to date on changes that have occurred at the Law School and key developments that await you.

We had a busy and productive three months and look forward to welcoming the incoming classes for Orientation on August 25. The Student Affairs team, with the help of orientation coordinators Amber Bain (JD '08), Richard (R.J.) VanSwol (JD '08), and Sheila Kang (JD-MBA '08), has planned a week of activities, including community service projects, diversity- and team-building workshops, and fun social events. The Student Affairs team in collaboration with the Student Bar Association will also host a Welcome Back Party for all new and returning students. The event will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, in the Law School Atrium. I encourage everyone to come and enjoy the food, drink, and festivities.

In addition, we have made some important changes to this year's academic calendar based on concerns raised about the short length of the 2006-07 inter-session break. After considering many possibilities and polling the returning student body, we have arrived at a solution that we hope resolves many of these concerns.

The spring semester will start five days later on January 8, 2007. We cannot change the Kellogg calendar, however, so students enrolled in Kellogg or cross-listed Kellogg courses will still begin classes on January 3. The new start date for the Law School will alter many dates during the semester, but will not change the dates of Spring Break, which will take place March 10-25, graduation, which takes place on Sunday, May 13, or the 25-day grading period following exams.

Below is a list of the affected days. The academic calendar has also been updated to reflect these changes.

Wednesday, January 3 – First day of Kellogg and cross-listed courses
Monday, January 8 – First day of classes
Friday, April 20 – Last day of classes
Monday, April 23 – Make-up day for MLK Day
April 24–27 – Reading days
April 28–May 9 – Exam period
May 10–15 - Graduation Celebration events
Sunday, May 13 – Graduation Day

I hope you have returned ready to go for an exciting year.

Sincerely,

David E. Van Zandt

Incoming Students Continue Trend of Improved Overall Class Quality*

The quality of our incoming classes continues to improve thanks to our unique admissions program that focuses on applicants experience, interpersonal skills, maturity, and judgment, as much as their academic abilities. The 2006 JD entering class has a median GPA of 3.7 and a median LSAT score of 170.

We understand, however, that succeeding in today's world takes more than a high LSAT score or GPA. In 2006, alumni, students, and staff interviewed 3,800 out of more than 5,000 JD and JD-MBA applicants to determine interpersonal and communication skills; 77 percent of entering JD and JD-MBA students were interviewed. We also interviewed our international LLM, LLM/Kellogg, and LLM Tax applicants, looking for the same qualities as in our JD and JD-MBA applicants. This past year we interviewed 208 out of 776 applicants to the international and LLM programs.

Our message about the importance of work experience is also making an impact. This year nearly 95 percent of the entering JD and JD-MBA students have at least one year of post-undergraduate work experience; 75 percent have two or more years. And all of our LLM and LLM/Kellogg students bring an average of more than three years of work experience to the classroom.

Today Northwestern Law is one of the most geographically diverse law schools in the country. Two-thirds of this year's entering JD and JD-MBA students come from outside the Midwest, making them one of the most regionally diverse first-year classes at any law school. Almost 35 percent of our total entering student body and 5 percent of our entering JD and JD-MBA students this year come from outside the United States. In addition to adding to the diversity of the current student body, it also means that more Northwestern Law students will take jobs outside the Midwest when they graduate, enhancing our reputation as a national law school. This year's class will also be our most ethnically diverse with more than 40 percent being students of color, and we enrolled nearly as many women as men.

In addition to the hard work of everyone on our Admissions team, many of you deserve credit for helping us continue to attract the students we want. The incoming students' interactions with staff, faculty, and current students during their campus visits and Day at Northwestern Law played an important role in their decisions to attend Northwestern.

Of the approximately 230 students in the incoming JD and JD-MBA class, 23, or 10 percent, are JD-MBA students, making our unique three-year JD-MBA the largest program of its kind. Four students are participating in our joint degree program with the Medill School of Journalism, in which they will earn a master of studies in law (MSL) and a master of science in journalism (MSJ), and five students have enrolled in the JD-PhD program.

In our international programs, six students have enrolled in our Two-Year JD Program, designed specifically for lawyers with first degrees in law. Our Executive LLM program in Seoul, Korea, has 21 students this year, and we have 10 students enrolled in the inaugural class of our new Executive LLM program in Madrid, Spain.

Our domestic LLM programs continue to prosper as well. In June, 29 students, up from 22 last year, from 18 different countries joined us for the one-year graduate program in law and business (LLM/Kellogg), in which they earn an LLM from the Law School and a certificate in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management. We also have 98 students from 29 different countries enrolled in our general nine-month LLM program. Additionally, 34 full-time and 10 part-time students have enrolled to earn an LLM through our highly ranked Tax program.

*Incoming class profile as of 8/25/06

Supreme Court Chief and Others to Participate in Endowed Lecture Series

The Hon. John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, will visit Northwestern Law as the 2007 Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar from January 31 to February 2. Before joining the Supreme Court in 2005, Roberts was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Previously, he spent 14 years in private law practice and held positions in Republican administrations in the U.S. Department of Justice and Office of the White House Counsel.

The Honorable Abner Mikva (LLM '91), will deliver the Fall 2006 Pope & John Lecture Series on Professionalism on October 10. Judge Mikva has worked in all three branches of the federal government. He served 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including a stint as chief judge. Before heading to Washington, D.C., as a member of Congress, he served for a decade in the Illinois House of Representatives. He also worked as counsel to President Clinton for a year ending in late 1995.

Samuel Issacharoff , the Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University, and Pamela Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and Associate Dean for Research and Academics at Stanford University, will deliver the spring 2007 Julius Rosenthal Foundation Lecture Series March 27–29.

Student Programs and Events Enrich Law School Community

Students play an important role in shaping life at Northwestern Law. Each year more than 30 student organizations plan and celebrate a variety of events to engage and educate the Law School community. Students not only choose topics and enlist speakers but also develop budgets and raise funds. In 2005-06, students, working with our Firm and Corporate Relations team, raised more than $190,000 from more than 60 firms and corporations to sponsor student events.

I hope you will take the time to attend some of the upcoming Law School events scheduled for this fall. For more information or to post an event, visit Esqwire.

• All School Welcome Back Party - September 7
• Law and Faith Week - September 18-22
• Diversity Week - September 25-29
• Lawyer as Problem Solver - September 27
• Victor G. Rosenblum Memorial Services - September 29
• Fall Leadership Retreat - October 6 and 7
• Federalist Society Week - October 23–27
• Women's Leadership Coalition Week - October 30-November 3
• Public Interest Law Week - November 6-10
• St. Thomas More Society Week - November 13-17

Firm and Corporate Affiliates Help Sponsor Law School Programs

During the 2005-06 academic year, more than 60 law firms and corporations sponsored activities and events, including student programs and continuing legal education courses, as Northwestern Law Firm and Corporate Affiliates. In total, affiliates contributed more than $400,000 in support. As a result, our campus is bustling with programming that further educates and advances the Northwestern Law community by connecting it with the local and national legal community.

The Firm and Corporate Affiliates Program facilitates student fundraising efforts by connecting Firm and Corporate Affiliates directly with our diverse student body for a variety of sponsorship opportunities. Our affiliates ensure that Northwestern Law continues to lead the way in preparing students for productive leadership, professional success, and personal fulfillment in a complex and changing world. Students interested in finding out more about sponsorship opportunities for their events should contact Erin Veazey, Director of Firm and Corporate Relations.

Hundreds of Alumni Returning to Campus for Reunions

In September, we will welcome hundreds of our alumni to campus for Reunion 2006. Members from the classes of 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2001 are invited to return to campus for Reunion Weekend on September 29-30.

On September 29 the Law School will also host Alumni Community Day, a day-long celebration that includes a Memorial Service for Professor Victor G. Rosenblum, a “Fireside Chat” with Dean Van Zandt, tours of the Law School, and an alumni party in the evening.

The Law Alumni Association continues to work closely with the Center for Career Strategy and Advancement to develop great opportunities for students to meet, network with, and learn from our talented and successful alumni. This past year, more than 500 graduates attended events such as Admit Dinners, where newly admitted students in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., had the opportunity to network with young alumni in those cities.

Alumni support through volunteering also continues to flourish. This past spring almost 200 alumni served as judges in the Julius H. and Arlyn Miner Moot Court competitions; more than 350 graduates served as career mentors; more than 600 alumni volunteered as JD and LLM admissions interviewers; and another 230 served as firm and corporate representatives, class signers, and members of the Law Board and Law School Fund Board.

The Class of 2006's Graduating Class Gift effort was also a big success with a participation rate of 86 percent, beating last year's record of 80 percent. They raised just over $65,000, which totaled $77,531 with challenge gifts from me and alumnus, Randall Kaplan (JD '93). In addition, 80 students also made pledges of $600 over the next three years, qualifying them for membership as Young Wigmores in our John Henry Wigmore Club giving society.

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