We believe that the most effective way to spread the message about what differentiates Wisconsin from other law schools is through you.
We live in a world in which communication is essential and powerful. How and to whom we communicate about our Law School is increasingly critical to our stature and reputation — and ultimately to our ability to maintain our national position. Thus, over the past few years, we have made it a priority to evaluate and improve the ways in which our Law School communicates with external audiences, particularly with our alumni, who are the voices through which our story is best told.
At the core of our communication efforts is our Web site: www.law.wisc.edu, which provides in-depth information for all of our constituents. Our site is important, particularly for prospective and current students, and we are in the process of revising it to provide powerful images, additional content, and a more sophisticated look.
The other focus of our communications strategy is our pair of alumni publications: the Gargoyle magazine and Law in Action newsletter. We provide these publications to current and prospective students, but their main purpose is to give alumni and friends, like you, information about what is happening at the Law School — successful initiatives, new programs, impressive students, faculty honors, alumni news, etc.
According to Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the best- selling book The Tipping Point, messages spread just like viruses do, from person to person. In our case, we want our message to reach lawyers, judges, academics, and leaders in the business and legal communities who can spread the word about the success of our alumni, the excellence of our academic programs, the impact of our clinical programs, and the research and scholarship of our faculty.
We believe that the most effective way to spread the message about what differentiates Wisconsin from other law schools is through you. It is our hope that our publications and our Web site will encourage you to talk about Wisconsin with the top students from your area, with the partners in your firm or colleagues in your organization, and with friends and legal employers.
Here are some of the talking points that describe our Law School and that we'd like to share:
Two Harvard scholars credit the Wisconsin law faculty as a major source in the development of what it means to 'think like a lawyer' in America today.
The UW Law School has a tradition of excellence and is known for its law-in-action approach to teaching and learning the law — an approach that distinguishes us from other law schools. This law-in-action approach is not a marketing tool; it is at the core of our teaching and our scholarship. The UW Law School has pioneered the belief that law must be studied in action as it relates to society and not in isolation. We are as interested in how the law operates in the real world as we are in the "law on the books."
A new book, The Canon of American Legal Thought, by Harvard scholars David Kennedy and William Fisher, identifies the Wisconsin Law School faculty as a major source in the development of what it means to "think like a lawyer" in America today. The book selects the 20 most important works of American legal thought since 1890, and two of the 20 are by University of Wisconsin Law School Professors: Stewart Macaulay and Marc Galanter. As authors Kennedy and Fisher explain, law students "learn to argue alongside Macaulay and Galanter in ways that foreground the gap between 'law in the books and law in action.'" An additional Wisconsin connection is author Kimberlé Crenshaw, who received her LL.M. from the UW Law School as a William H. Hastie Fellow and clerked for Justice Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Our clinical programs, which are among the best in the country, incorporate our law-in-action approach. Modeled on medical school clinics, our programs give law students the opportunity to learn how to be lawyers by being lawyers. Students work under the close supervision of clinical faculty to assist some of Wisconsin's most underserved citizens. In the course of providing real legal services to real clients, they learn the substantive law and procedure and they experience and practice the highest degree of ethical, competent professionalism.
Diversity and equal access to legal education have a long tradition at the University of Wisconsin Law School. The first African-American student was admitted in 1875; the first woman graduated in 1885. We believe that bringing together students with different experiences and views is important to an exceptional legal education, and we have been recognized in the national press as a place where diversity works. Our students represent a variety of backgrounds, ages, interests, races, nationalities, and life experiences. A typical entering class includes 25-30 percent students of color, 45-50 percent women, and students from 30 states and more than 100 undergraduate institutions.
Madison is a sophisticated city and one of the country's most beautiful. It has been consistently named one of the best places to live in the U.S. Madison has the amenities of a much larger city; it offers numerous fine restaurants, professional theater, a symphony, a beautiful arts center, and a host of additional activities associated with the university, including athletic and cultural events. It is culturally diverse and offers a variety of neighborhoods, affordable housing, excellent schools, and safe streets. Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee are within driving distance.
We hope that you will make a point of spreading the word about the University of Wisconsin Law School — a unique school with an important history and an exciting future.