| University of Florida Levin College of Law | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1909; 116 years ago (1909) |
| School type | Public |
| Dean | Merritt McAlister[1] |
| Location | Gainesville, Florida, U.S. |
| Enrollment | 662 (2023)[2] |
| Faculty | 85 (2023)[2] |
| USNWR ranking | 38th (tied) (2025)[3] |
| Bar pass rate | 90.6% (Florida bar exam, July 2024 first-time takers)[4] 88.55% (2024 first-time takers, all jurisdictions)[5] |
| Website | law |
| ABA profile | Standard 509 Report |
 | |
TheUniversity of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is thelaw school of theUniversity of Florida located inGainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school inFlorida and second oldest overall in the state.
For every entering class in its three-yearJ.D. program, the law school has approximately 200 students.[6] According to the college's official 2024 ABA-required disclosures, 95% of graduates obtained employment in either bar-passage-required or JD-advantage employment within 9 months of graduation and 90% obtained bar-passage-required employment (i.e., as attorneys) within 9 months of graduation, the highest rates of any Florida law school.[7] Levin students achieved the highest passage rate for first-time takers of all Florida law schools on the Florida summer 2024 bar exam.[8]
Many prominent Florida political leaders,public servants, jurists, and law firm managers are among the school's alumni.[9]
The College of Law was founded in 1909 withAlbert J. Farrah as its first dean.[10] It was first housed inThomas Hall, and then inBryan Hall from 1914 to 1969.
The school excluded African Americans.Virgil D. Hawkins was denied admission because he was African American in 1948. He appealed to theFlorida Supreme Court and then the U.S. Supreme Court for relief. The college finallydesegregated in the wake of his fight on September 15, 1958, and admitted an African-American student,[11] and its faculty wasdesegregated shortly thereafter.[citation needed]
In 1969, the college moved to its current location in Holland Hall, which is named after the former Florida Governor, U.S. Senator, and alumnusSpessard L. Holland (LL.B. '16).[12] Holland Hall is located in the northwest section of the university's campus. In 1984, Bruton-Geer Hall, named after the parents of alumnus Judge James D. Bruton (LL.B. '33) and his wifeQuintilla Geer Bruton, was added to the law school complex.[13]
The College of Law was renamed the Levin College of Law in 1999 after prominentPensacolatrial lawyer and alumnusFredric G. Levin (J.D. '61),[14][self-published source?] who donated $10 million to the college, a sum that was matched by a $10 million grant from the state of Florida to create a $20 millionendowment.
The College of Law underwent a major renovation between 2004 and 2005, creating new academic space and expanding the law library, which was named theLawton Chiles Legal Information Center after the former FloridaGovernor,U.S. Senator, and alumnusLawton Chiles (LL.B. '55).[citation needed]
In September 2012, Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas spoke at the College of Law.[15][self-published source?]
A newcourtroom facility was completed in 2009. The facility, which was made possible by an additional $2 million donation from the Levin family,[16] is named the Martin Levin Advocacy Center in honor of UF Law alumnus Martin H. Levin (J.D. '88), and son of Fred Levin.[17] The facility is 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2), two stories tall, and includes a state-of-the-art courtroom.[18][self-published source?] The new courtroom is designed to incorporate new technology to allow students to understand the role of technology in modern practice. Construction began on the second phase of the building (the second floor) in Fall 2010 and was completed in Fall 2011. The second floor includes offices and meeting/seminar rooms.[19][self-published source?]
In 2024, the law school gave an award to a student paper arguing that "We the People" in the US Constitution protects only white people, calling for the removal of voting rights for non-white people, and contending that white people "cannot be expected to meekly swallow this demographic assault on their sovereignty." The author of the paper has publicly called for Jews to be "abolished by any means necessary." The law school's interim dean, Merritt McAlister, defended the decision to honor the student with the award.[20] Later, the student acknowledged that his own grandfather and great-grandparents were Jewish, but claimed the identities of his ancestors were irrelevant to his thinking. Although he remains enrolled, he has since received a trespass order preventing him from setting foot on campus.[21]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Thearchitectural style of Bruton-Geer Hall, completed in 1984, is best classified asbrutalism;concrete features prominently in its design. The renovation ofHolland Hall was completed in 2005 at the cost of $25 million and featuresbrick and concrete.[22]
The grounds of the College of Law contain several pieces ofartwork. The newest additions are three metalsculptures by Jim Cole of theRhode Island School of Design representing thethree branches of government:The Legislative andThe Executive (installed 2005) andThe Judiciary (installed 2006). These sculptures also function asbenches. The lobby of the law school library contains a sculpture made by Cole in the form of achair entitledThe Lobbyist.
Also contained on the grounds of the college are a series of large, intertwined metal rings, which have the appearance of being partially underground. They are known as "theCheerios".
The Levin College of Law offers a three-year, full-time program leading to aJuris Doctor (J.D.) degree. It also offers advanced law degrees, includingMaster of Laws (LL.M.) degree programs intaxation andinternational taxation, in addition to aDoctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in taxation.
According to the 2025U.S. News & World Reportlaw school rankings, the Levin College of Law was tied for 38th.[3] It had been tied for 28th overall amongAmerican law schools in 2024, and 11th among public law schools. It places third inTax Law among all law schools and first among public law schools, tied for No.85 in Clinical Training, tied for No.68 in Intellectual Property Law, and tied for No.66 in Legal Writing. TheU.S. News & World Report ranks the Levin College of Law as the best law school in the state of Florida.[3]
For the class entering in 2022, the school accepted 681 (16.94%) of applicants, with 189 of those accepted enrolling, a 27.75% yield rate. Seven students were not included in the acceptance statistics. The class consists of 196 students. Of scores reported, the medianLSAT score was 169 and the median undergraduateGPA was 3.90. Its 25th/75th percentile LSAT scores and GPA were 162/170 and 3.52/3.97. Eight students were not included in the LSAT calculation and seven not included in the GPA calculation.[23] 33% of the incoming class are racially or ethnically diverse students, and 45% are women. The college currently only offers admission for the fall semester.
Required first-year courses aretorts,criminal law,contracts,legal research andwriting,constitutional law,civil procedure,property, introduction to lawyering, andappellate advocacy. Students are also required to take legal drafting and are recommended to take courses inevidence,estates and trusts,corporations, andtrial practice.
Students can choose to pursue their J.D. in conjunction with another graduate degree, including amaster's degree,Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), orDoctor of Medicine (M.D.) in one of the university's dual-degree programs. Students can also complete specific requirements in addition to those required for the J.D. and earn a certificate indicating specialization inestate planning andtrusts,family law, criminal law,intellectual property law, environmental and land use law, or U.S. law.
The College offers nine-month programs leading to the LL.M. degree in taxation or international taxation. The LL.M. in international taxation is open to graduates of both U.S. and foreign law schools. The College of Law also offers an S.J.D in taxation.
The Levin College of Law hosts five university-wide academic centers.[24] In 1988, Law School professors Sharon Rush and Kenneth Nunn founded the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations.[25] Staff directors and professors from across the university advise the center and collaborate with law professors to research the intersection of race and the law.[25] The Levin College of Law also hosts the Center for Government Responsibility, the state's oldest legal and public policy research institute.[26] Former dean and emeritus professorJon Mills founded the center in 1972 to studyRichard Nixon's cut in funding to public housing and civil rights programs.[27] The Levin College of Law also hosts centers on Children and Families, Estate Planning, and a Race and Crime Center for Justice.[24]
In 2023, the overall bar examination passage rate for the law school’s first-time examination takers was 81.94%. The first-time passage rate for the Florida bar examination was 80.6%. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which theABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 92.83% for the class of 2021.[28][4]
According to the University of Florida's official 2019 ABA-required disclosures: 80.6% of the Class of 2018 obtained full-time, long-term JD-required bar-passage-required employment (i.e. as attorneys) nine months after graduation. In addition, 7.5% obtained full-time, long-term employment where a J.D. is an advantage; 3.75% enrolled in graduate degree programs (predominantly in UF’s LL.M. taxation program, which is ranked third in the country byU.S. News & World Report); and 0.9% had their employment start date deferred or were unknown or not seeking employment.[29] University of Florida'sLaw School Transparency under-employment score is 10.9%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2018 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree (a large number of UF Law graduates pursue LL.M. degrees), or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.[30]
According to UF Law's official disclosures to theAmerican Bar Association, nearly 85% of the Class of 2019 successfully obtained employment as attorneys licensed to practice law.[31]
The 2019-20 semester per credit hour tuition/fee for continuing law students who matriculated before fall 2018, is $743.31 (30 hours = $22,299.30) for Florida residents and $1,296.80 (30 hours = $38,904.00) for non-residents. The 2019-20 semester per credit hour tuition/fee for students who matriculated in fall 2018 and beyond will be part of the block tuition system. The rates are $21,803.76 for Florida residents and $38,039.47 for non-residents.[32]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The College of Law publishes the followinglaw reviews:
The College of Law has over 40 active student organizations, including:
The College of Law has amock trial team, which competes nationally. Additionally, it has sixmoot court teams:
The Fredric G. Levin College of Law has produced numerousUnited States Senators, fifteen members of theUnited States House of Representatives, many state governors, and a couple ofUnited States Ambassadors. In the past forty years, four presidents of theAmerican Bar Association were graduates of the college, more than any other law school for that period. Since 1950, over sixty percent ofFlorida Bar Association presidents were graduates of the college. Numerous alumni have served as judges on the federal bench, and five have served on theUnited States Court of Appeals. Seventeen graduates have served on theFlorida Supreme Court, fifteen of them as chief justice. Eleven graduates have served as presidents of a college or university.[citation needed]
| Years | Dean |
|---|---|
| 1909–1912 | Albert J. Farrah[34] |
| 1912–1915 | Thomas Hughes[35] |
| 1915–1947 | Harry R. Trusler[36] |
| 1948–1958 | Henry A. Fenn[37] |
| 1959–1970 | Frank E. Maloney[38] |
| 1971–1980 | Joseph R. Julin[39] |
| 1981–1988 | Frank T. Read[40] |
| 1988–1996 | Jeffrey E. Lewis[41] |
| 1996–1999 | Richard A. Matasar[42] |
| 1999–2003 | Jon L. Mills[43] |
| 2003–2014 | Robert Jerry[44] |
| 2014–2015 | George L. Dawson (Interim)[45] |
| 2015–2023 | Laura Ann Rosenbury[46] |
| 2023–Present | Merritt McAlister (Interim)[47] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
