The John Marshall Law School in Chicago has one of the best trial advocacy programs in the nation. That’s according to the 2016 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools, which ranked John Marshall’s trial advocacy program No. 16.
“This recognizes John Marshall’s commitment to skills training and our requirement that all students complete a trial advocacy course before graduation,” said Professor Susann “Sunny” MacLachlan, director of John Marshall’s Center for Advocacy & Dispute Resolution.
John Marshall returns to the top 20 ranking on the heels of several wins at national and regional competitions by John Marshall’s trial advocacy teams. So far this year, John Marshall teams have taken first in multiple contests, including the American Bar Association Client Counseling Competition. John Marshall recently was named national champion in the Closing Argument portion of the National Animal Law Competition (NALC) held at Harvard Law School. Following the win, the competition’s spokesperson noted how John Marshall has “dominated the Closing Argument” at Harvard.
John Marshall trial advocacy teams have made a name for themselves at the NALC. Since 2008, John Marshall has either won or placed in the finals at the competition every year except one. The animal law teams have made it to the final rounds of the national closing argument competition in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and now 2015.
John Marshall has long emphasized the significance of trial advocacy. Each spring, with the Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association, John Marshall hosts the annual Criminal Justice Trial Competition. The competition, now in its 25th year, brings 20 top law school teams from across the country to Chicago to compete.
John Marshall is ranked nationally in the top 20 in three specialties by U.S. News. John Marshall’s legal writing program was named No. 5 and its intellectual property program No. 17 in the country this year.
