10 Reasons to Choose Lewis & Clark Law School
1. You will LOVE where you live and study.
The appeal of Portland is no secret. Our beautiful and progressive city is near both mountains and the ocean—with food, recreation, and entertainment options that abound. And our campus is nestled in a forested park for a unique learning environment. Not to mention, Portland has been named one of the Top 10 places to live after the pandemic and the #2 Best City to live without a car!
2. You get real-world training.
What is learning without hands-on, practical experience? All of our students pursue some combination of an externship, internship, paid clerkship, legal clinic position, pro bono work, law review, or moot court experience. We won’t let you leave without it.
3. You will receive financial assistance.
We strive to make law school attainable for you. Our tuition is below the median of private law schools, and nearly all of our entering students in the past two years have received some sort of tuition relief in the form of scholarships or grants. Our loan repayment assistance and summer stipend programs for public-interest minded students help them to pay off or avoid student debt.
4. You can go anywhere with your degree.
Our alumni practice everywhere from New York City to Washington, D.C., from Alaska to Hawai‘i, from Florida to California, and points in between. They can also be found in more than 44 other countries around the world. Our dedicated Career Services team will help you narrow down what you want to do and where.
5. We will mentor you.
From the beginning, we pair you with alumni, peer, and faculty mentors who can offer wisdom on how to navigate law school and find a job after graduation. Your faculty mentor, in particular, can provide academic guidance, as well as assist with career planning. Later, you can be paired with another alumnus or alumna whose work experience aligns with your short- or long- term goals.
6. Our professors are outstanding teachers who will know you by name.
Excellent teaching is a priority, and our students rave about their professors. Faculty are known for being accessible, and are readily available for questions and conversation, mentoring, and advice on courses and careers. Personal and professional connections last long after law school graduation.
7. Our students are interesting and diverse.
Our students include business executives, biologists, policy makers, musicians, community activists, teachers, and health care professionals. While some are just out of college, others are embarking on a major career change. Most come from outside the Pacific Northwest, and around 25 percent each year are students of color or from other nations. Check out our profile. Also, the atmosphere at L&C is friendly and cooperative. Students regard one another as colleagues and partners and as part of a lifelong network, not as competitors.
8. We give you options.
We offer the flexibility of part-time and full-time programs with day and evening courses. After your first year, you can easily switch programs. This means you can graduate in as little as two-and-a-half years or stretch things out to more than the traditional three.
9. We offer global opportunities.
Even lawyers practicing exclusively in the United States encounter international matters in the course of their work today. That’s why we offer a robust global law curriculum on campus, study abroad programs, and international externship opportunities. Students have gone to China, India, Australia, Kenya, Ghana, Costa Rica, Turkey, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Scotland, and Cambodia in recent years.
10. We’re a recognized national leader.
While rankings aren’t everything, it’s nice to be honored for your work. Lewis & Clark has been nationally recognized for its offerings in several academic programs. Our legal writing, animal law, intellectual property, public interest law, environmental and natural resources law, and part-time programs have all received national or international accolades. And our moot court teams shine in competition.
