Temple University Beasley School of Law
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Located at the Main Campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, informally referred to as Temple Law School, has operated continuously since its founding in 1895. The school motto is "Real World, Real Law".
Originally named "The Philadelphia Law School of the Temple College", the Law School was renamed "The Temple University School of Law" in 1910. In recognition of a major endowment gift by James E. Beasley '56, a Temple Law graduate and distinguished Philadelphia lawyer, the Temple board of trustees changed the official name of the Law School in 1999 to The James E. Beasley School of Law of Temple University.
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Student Body
The Law School annually enrolls approximately 260 students in the 3-year day division program, and approximately 70 students in the 4-year night division program. Total enrollment is estimated at around 1,050, although this number will fluctuate slightly with transfers (both in and out of the school) and the entrance and exit of visiting students.
Admission for the Fall 2004 entering class was highly competitive, with 4,588 applicants and a 28.1% acceptance rate.
In the 2004 entering class, men and women were represented roughly equally, and the average age of a matriculating student was 25. The 25th/75th percentile of entrants had GPAs of 3.20/3.68, and LSAT scores of 158/163.
Faculty
Temple Law School currently employs 61 full time faculty members and retains numerous local attorneys as adjuncts. Robert J. Reinstein has been dean of the Law School since 1989.
Juris Doctor (J.D.) Curriculum
First year (1L) day division students have a mandatory curriculum for both Fall and Spring semesters. The Fall course load includes Torts, Contracts I, Criminal Law, Legal Decision Making, and Legal Research and Writing I. The Spring course load includes Constitutional Law, Property, Contracts II, Civil Procedure I (Jurisdiction) and Legal Research and Writing II.
The only other mandatory course requirements for graduation are a serial writing course (consisting of several short paper assignments), a research writing course (consisting of a single lengthy and scholarly work), and Professional Responsibility.
Students are left great discretion to choose electives in the their second (2L) and third (3L) year. Popular electives include Business Associations (Corporations), Taxation (Federal), Political and Civil Rights, Intellectual Property, and International Law.
A student must earn a total of 87 credit hours in order to receive the degree of Juris Doctor.
Master of Laws (LL.M.) Program
The Law School offers advanced specialty degrees in Trial Advocacy, Transnational Law, and Taxation. A special LL.M program is available to foreign students who have already earned a law degree in their home country and wish to learn about American Law.
Doctor of Science of Laws (S.J.D.) Program
Integrated Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP)
The Beasley School of Law, named after one of Philadelphia's greatest trial attorneys, is well known for its intensive trial program.
The Integrated Trial Advocacy Program, or ITAP, is a sequence of four classes designed to give students the knowledge and practice to be effective advocates in the courtroom. Law students in the ITAP program are generally in their second year of schooling, although some students choose to take the program in their third year.
During the Fall semester, students take Evidence and Trial Advocacy I concurently. Evidence classes are typically large in size (50-60 persons) while Trial Advocacy classes are typically 12-person sections designed to allow each student adequate time to practice their skills. Students are required to apply the Evidentiary rules and tactics learned in Evidence class to mock trial scenarios in Trial Advocacy I. Scenarios will typically be based on a ficticious case file, and students practice direct examinations, cross examinations, opening and closing arguments, and motions arguments. Many Trial Advocacy professors encourage open objections, where anyone in the class, and not just the opposing counsel, may raise objections during examinations of witnesses. By the end of Trial Advocacy I, each student (paired with another student as co-counsel) will have tried a complete mock case against another pair of students.
During the Spring semester, students take a practical course in Civil Procedure (as opposed to the more academic Jurisdictional Civil Procedure taught to first years) and Trial Advocacy II. During this phase of the ITAP program, students practice arguing motions, qualifying expert witnesses, and conducting depositions. Like Trial Advocacy I, Trial Advocacy II requires that each student (along with another student as co-counsel) try a complete mock case against another pair of students.
Evidence and Civil Procedure classes in ITAP are typically taught by full time faculty members, while Trial Advocacy sections are usually taught by adjuncts who are themselves practicing trial attorneys.
Facilities
The Law School currently occupies three buildings: Klein Hall, Barrack Hall, and the Schusterman Hall Conferrence Center.
Klein Hall opened in 1972, after a fire destroyed Reber Hall, the previous home of the Law School. Within its eight floors, Klein Hall houses numerous lecture rooms, the Law Library, the Moot Court Room, reading rooms, faculty offices, and the offices of Temple's four law journals. The basement level of Klein contains a modest cafe, comfortable sitting areas, classrooms, and a locker room.
In the past, students have criticised Klein hall as overly austere because of its poured concrete construction and lack of decoration. Judge Charles Klein '21, after whom the building was named, is said to have remarked that he was impressed with the law library and its massive open atriums, but that he wondered when the interior would be completed. Perhaps as a result of these criticisms, Klein Hall underwent major renovations begining in Summer 2002. By Summer 2004, much of the interior of Klein had been replaced, creating a well-lit, modern, and comfortable environment.
Barrack Hall opened in 2002, and houses the Admissions Office, Career Services, several classrooms, and student lounges. Barrack Hall is itself a renovated structure containing state of the art technologies, and has won several awards, including the 2003 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award and the The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia's 2002 Award for Adaptive Reuse. The construction of Barrack Hall was made possible by a generous donation from Leonard Barrack '68.
Schusterman Hall made possible by a generous donation from Murray H. Shusterman '36. The building appears to be a renovated chapel, and serves as the Law School's conference center for career fairs, symposiums, and other formal gatherings.
Trial Team
Moot Court
Law Journals
The Law School maintains four (4) law journals: Temple Law Review, Temple International and Comparative Law Journal, Temple Journal of Science Technology and Environmental law, and Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review. The Temple Law Review is published quarterly, and the other journals are published on a bi-annual basis.
External Links
Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law (http://www.law.temple.edu)
History of Temple University's Law School (http://www.law.temple.edu/servlet/RetrievePage?site=TempleLaw&page=About_TULaw)
Pennsylvania Law Schools (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_in_the_United_States#Pennsylvania)
