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St. Thomas Is Granted Provisional Approval

By Joe Puskarz
American Bar Association

Chicago, Illinois, August 12, 2003 — The House of Delegates of the American Bar Association concurred with the action of the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar during the ABA Annual Meeting, in granting provisional ABA approval to St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The law school operates a full-time law program. The school's mission is to teach law in the context of the Catholic intellectual and moral tradition and educate students who would bring a high degree of competence and compassion for the disadvantaged to the practice of law.

St. Thomas Law School is committed to integrating practical skills into each law course. Students are exposed to the real world of legal practice through the school's three-year mentor program, which draws mentors from all sectors of the legal profession. In addition, students are required to fulfill 50-hours in uncompensated pro bono service through the school's Public Service Program before graduation.

The law school recently opened its doors to its new 108,838 square foot facility. The law library occupies 32% of the total square footage and the technology center includes a 32-station computer lab and a 16-station computer training room.

St. Thomas School of Law admitted its first class in fall of 2001 with an enrollment of 120 students. The 2003-04 academic school year includes 300 students and 16 full-time faculty members. St. Thomas operated a law school from 1923 to 1933, but it was closed under the weight of the Great Depression.

St. Thomas Law School is part of the University of St. Thomas, a comprehensive coeducational Catholic university and the largest private higher education institution in Minnesota. It offers more than 80 majors, seven pre-professional programs and 11 graduate and professional programs.

As of August, 2003, a total of 188 institutions are approved by the American Bar Association: 187 confer the first degree in law (the J.D. degree); the other ABA approved school is the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's School, which offers an officer's resident graduate course, a specialized program beyond the first degree in law. One of the 187 ABA approved law schools (Widener) also has a branch campus. Six of the 187 law schools are provisionally approved: Appalachian School of Law, Ave Maria School of Law, Barry University School of Law, St. Thomas School of Law, University of the District of Columbia School of Law and Western State University College of Law.