The nation's first law school, Marshall-Wythe,
enters its fourth century of service
still at the cutting edge of legal education.

William & Mary Law School remembers its roots. The school's original intent retains its simplicity and force: Aspiring lawyers should learn to be constructive citizens and leaders of their communities, states, and nation, as well as skilled legal practitioners. This was Thomas Jefferson's idea for legal training at the College of William & Mary. In 1779 he led the creation of the nation's first law school at the College. George Wythe, a remarkably accomplished and revered member of the Revolutionary generation, was the school's first professor. Among its earliest students was John Marshall, later the great Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Legal training at William & Mary in the late eighteenth century was highly innovative--at the cutting edge. It still is. Our courtroom is among the most technologically advanced anywhere. Our program in legal skills sets the standard nationally for integrated instruction in the nature of the legal profession, writing and research, litigation and transactional skills, and ethics. Our Institute for Bill of Rights Law illuminates compelling public issues.

The Law School relishes its size, small enough for people to know one another by name and large enough to form a critical mass for learning and scholarship. We are a school where powerful teaching and powerful scholarship are prized in practice as well as rhetoric, where collegiality and civility flourish even while high standards of performance are defined and expected, and where the faculty's drive for professional growth and recognition includes time to nurture students, serve the campus community, and serve the larger community as well.

William & Mary Law School maintains its ties to the bar, bench and larger society. In the Jeffersonian tradition of the citizen lawyer, we honor our obligation to participate in resolving leading issues of the day.