The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) for the third year measured how much law schools contribute to the delivery of much-needed legal services through clinics, other experiential courses, and pro bono activities of law students.
In fall of 2018, 84 law schools reported that 16,502 law students in the class of 2018* contributed 3,481,066.11 hours in legal services as part of their legal education, an average of about 211 hours per student. Independent Sector, a nonprofit organization coalition, estimates the value of volunteer time to be $24.69 an hour. Using this number, the total value of the students’ time at these schools is estimated to be in excess of $85.9 million. The schools represent approximately 48 percent of students in American Bar Association accredited law schools in the class of 2018.
In the same survey, 83 schools reported that 51,627 law students in all class years (1L-3L) during the academic year 2017-18 contributed 4,266,319.83 hours in legal services, an average of approximately 82.6 hours per student. Using the Independent Sector value of volunteer time, the value of these services is estimated to be in excess of $105.3 million.
Many schools indicated that some hours go uncounted or are difficult to track so actual contributions were probably higher. The project also did not include hours contributed by students in law school master degree programs such as an LL.M.
Law students contributed hours through a variety of efforts, including externships at legal aid and community organizations, law school clinics, and law student organization led projects. These hands-on or experiential learning opportunities enabled students to apply classroom teachings to legal problems under the supervision of lawyers and professors. Students received practical experience in law and communities received critical legal services.
Law students contributed hours to hundreds of efforts serving thousands of clients, including the following examples:
The following schools contributed information for the survey:
University of Akron School of Law
American University, Washington College of Law
University of Arkansas School of Law
Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School
Baylor University School of Law
Boston University School of Law
Brooklyn Law School
University at Buffalo School of Law, SUNY
University of California, Davis, School of Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Irvine School of Law
California Western School of Law
Capital University Law School
The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology
City University of New York School of Law
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University
Columbia Law School
University of Connecticut School of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
Duke University School of Law
Florida State University College of Law
Fordham University School of Law
The George Washington University Law School
Georgetown University Law Center
University of Georgia School of Law
Georgia State University College of Law
Harvard Law School
Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law
University of Illinois College of Law
Indiana University, Maurer School of Law
University of Iowa College of Law
Lewis and Clark Law School
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
University of Maine School of Law
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Marquette University Law School
University of Massachusetts School of Law – Dartmouth
The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
University of Miami School of Law
The University of Michigan Law School
University of Minnesota Law School
University of Mississippi School of Law
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
New York University School of Law
University of North Carolina School of Law
North Carolina Central University School of Law
Northeastern University School of Law
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law
The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law
University of Oklahoma College of Law
University of Oregon School of Law
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The Pennsylvania State University – Dickinson Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law
The University of Richmond School of Law
Roger Williams University School of Law
St. Mary’s University School of Law
St. Thomas University School of Law
University of San Diego School of Law
Seattle University School of Law
Seton Hall University School of Law
University of South Carolina School of Law
Southern Illinois University School of Law
Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law
Southwestern Law School
Stanford Law School
University of Tennessee College of Law
Texas A&M University School of Law
Texas Tech University School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law
University of Toledo College of Law
Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Tulane University Law School
University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law
Vanderbilt University Law School
University of Virginia School of Law
Washington and Lee University School of Law
Wayne State University Law School
West Virginia University College of Law
Western New England University School of Law
Willamette University College of Law
William & Mary Law School
University of Wisconsin Law School
A report on the class of 2016 is available here.
A report on the class of 2017 is available here.
*Class of 2018 numbers include all three years of law school in a J.D. program.
