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From Law School to Congress: These campuses excel at producing lawmakers.
The National Law Journal ^ | January 19, 2015 | Karen Sloan

Posted on 01/18/2015 4:48:39 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

There is no shortage of lawyers on Capitol Hill — they comprise 45 percent of the 114th Congress. But unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, whose nine justices hail from just three elite law schools, a state school law degree won't hamper and may even smooth the way to the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate.

The sitting crop of lawyer-­lawmakers passed through 105 law campuses on their way to Washington. The 20 law schools that sent the most alumni to Congress include some of the country's most prominent — Harvard Law School tops the list with 18, followed by Georgetown University Law Center with 13; the University of Texas School of Law with seven; and the University of Virginia School of Law and Yale Law School with six each.

But there are plenty of surprises outside the top five. St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio is unranked by U.S. News & World Report yet claims among its alumni three members of Congress.

By contrast, Stanford Law School, the University of Chicago Law School, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School — each ranked among the top 10 law schools by U.S. News — have one alumnus each in Congress, according to data compiled by the law librarians at Georgetown and verified by The National Law Journal. Of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 160 are occupied by lawyers. Of the 100 senators, 54 have law degrees.

"I think it's very valuable that you have a range of people from all different law schools, from schools that are thought of as national law schools to schools that are thought of as state law schools," said Georgetown Law dean William Trean­or. "It's important to have different perspectives in Congress. It really adds a lot to the mix."

More than half of the top 20 Congressional feeder law schools are public institutions with strong regional reputations that supply large portions of their home states' congressional delegations. For example, the University of Alabama School of Law, the University of Kentucky College of Law and the University of South Carolina School of Law each have four alumni in Congress, all representing the states where they studied law.

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (left), a Republican 2001 graduate of Kentucky Law, credits a strong alumni network with helping position the school's graduates for leadership. "Not only did I receive a great legal education there, but you meet a lot of people who end up practicing all over the commonwealth of Kentucky and you develop those personal and professional relationships," Barr said. "You continue that throughout your career."

Indiana University Robert H. McKin­ney School of Law is another example of a regional school that serves as a pipeline into Congress. It has four alumni serving there, comprising more than one-third of Indiana's delegation.

McKinney is in an ideal position to produce leaders as the only law school in the capital city of Indianapolis and more than 80 percent of its students come from within the state, dean Andy Klein said. The school has a robust law and state government program, each year placing between 40 and 50 students in externships within state government, he said.

BUILDING NETWORKS

"We train more than 50 percent of the lawyers who practice in the state of Indiana," Klein said. "Our connection to state government and our exclusivity in the capital city means that our graduates hold leadership positions in Washington and throughout the state." In addition to its three House members and U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, also a Republican, Indiana McKinney can claim the governor, attorney general and three of five state Supreme Court justices as alumni.

McKinney works hard to keep alumni involved and invites them back to campus to help inspire the next generation of students, said U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks, a Republican who graduated in 1985 and now serves on the law school's board of visitors.

"Those that graduate, I would say, were always encouraged to give back to law students and to provide them with opportunities," Brooks said. "I've hired a lot of law students as interns in every position I've had. I created an internship program within my congressional office at home for law students."

While delivering McKinney's commencement address last year, Brooks encouraged students to keep in contact with the school and their classmates because they're likely to become the next wave of Indiana leaders.

Once a school has established a pipeline into elected office, it becomes much more attractive to students harboring political ambitions, Treanor said. And no law school has been more effective than Harvard in graduating future members of Congress. Even accounting Harvard's relatively large class size, it still edges out the smaller Yale Law School by percentage of alumni in Congress.

The Senate in particular is laden with alumni from elite law schools — 16 percent of the upper house's members went to either Harvard, Yale or Georgetown.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for example, is a Harvard alumnus. He told The Boston Globe in 2013 that his time there focused his political views and taught him how to spar with liberals. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., graduated from Yale Law.

He told the Yale Law Report in 2008: "What Yale does is create an environment where if you are a focused, disciplined person — whatever your passion is: the environment, human rights, corporate law, constitutional law, you name it, whatever it is — if you have a passion, and you are a self-starter you can create an experience for yourself that is not only empowering but is also liberating."

Georgetown's Washington location is a draw for students interested in government and elected office, Treanor said.

"I was talking the other day to somebody who is applying, and she said she wanted to study in the place where laws are made," he said. "People who are interested in government and the way it works are likely to choose Georgetown. And their experience here — when they see the excitement of Washington and the government — gets them to think that maybe this is a career they want to ­pursue."

Texas' large size and 36 congressional districts provide opportunities for alumni of the state's flagship University of Texas School of Law to seek federal office. Texas Law alumni represent seven of those districts.

Whether the prevalence of lawyers in Congress is a good thing has long been debated — should lawmakers come from a wider range of professions? Barr argues that a foundation in the law offers unique benefits.

"I can tell you that in the debates we have in committee and on the floor, our legal training is very helpful," he said. "We've taken depositions, argued motions in court and learned how to formulate arguments and communicate those arguments. Congress is a place where there is a battle of ideas, and it helps us to persuade and advocate for our position."

And the lawyers in Congress arrived from many different career paths within the profession, Brooks said. She pointed to the lawyers in Indiana's delegation who have worked in private practice, as federal prosecutors and as Indiana's secretary of state, among other jobs. One — Coats — served as U.S. ambassador to Germany.

That said, serving in Washington with three other McKinney alumni has its perks, Brooks said. "It does add a bit of camaraderie among our delegation," she said. "We all passed through those doors."


TOPICS: Parties; U.S. Congress; U.S. Senate
KEYWORDS: attornies; congress; lawyers; tedcruz
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian

Zero was an adjunct law professor. Not part of the regular faculty. One rung lower than an Associate Professor. Its a part time job.

IIRC, I have never heard anyone claim to remember that they had been in his class. He sure had/has some strange or otherwise incorrect views on Constitutional law that he”professed” to have knowledge of.

I don’t believe a job seeker listing Zero as a former law professor would be a resume enhancer. His classroom instruction probably even got some former “students” into courtroom dilemmas if they relied on his legal “expertise.”


21 posted on 01/18/2015 6:34:36 PM PST by Sasparilla (Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum)
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To: Sasparilla

The “nudge, nudge, wink wink” was added for a reason.


22 posted on 01/18/2015 6:55:24 PM PST by A Formerly Proud Canadian ((I once was blind but now I see...))
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian

You betcha.


23 posted on 01/18/2015 7:06:46 PM PST by Sasparilla (Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have a low opinion of “lawmakers”.


24 posted on 01/18/2015 7:14:42 PM PST by Politicalkiddo ( 'We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.')
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Interestingly, China’s government is drawn largely from engineers. As for running for government, an engineer could run and win, but dealing with the asinine bureaucratic drama would cause anyone who could get the job done to quit.


25 posted on 01/18/2015 11:26:46 PM PST by CorporateStepsister (I am NOT going to force a man to make my dreams come true)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Most lawyers get paid for how long they work. So they have no real incentive to end up resolving the issues and problems.


26 posted on 01/18/2015 11:27:25 PM PST by CorporateStepsister (I am NOT going to force a man to make my dreams come true)
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To: CorporateStepsister

A Congress of engineers would say we have FAR too many laws,and regs for things to work and would set out to repeal,all the sludge gumming up the country..


27 posted on 01/19/2015 5:07:51 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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