History
Originally named the Northern Indiana Law School, Valparaiso Law School began operations with nine students (including two women) on November 11, 1879. Tuition was set at $10 per term. It was one of the first in the nation to admit both men and women. Colonel Mark L. DeMotte became the school's first dean and was one of the original three faculty members. During his appointment, he developed the core curriculum that remained in use at Valparaiso until its closure.[8]
Despite difficult economic times and amidst an economic depression, the Northern Indiana Law School remained and experienced growth during its second decade.[9] At the turn of the century, 21 years after its founding, the school had an enrollment of 170 students and was reportedly the largest law school in Indiana.
In 1905, the law school became part of Valparaiso University and was thus officially renamed the Valparaiso University School of Law/Valparaiso University Law School. Following consultation and inspection with the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, the law school expanded its curriculum, received its ABA accreditation in 1929, and was admitted into AALS in 1930. It was the thirty-eighth oldest ABA-accredited law school in the United States.[10] A 1925 graduate, Frances Tilton Weaver, became the youngest woman to be admitted to practice before both the Indiana Supreme Court and the Illinois Supreme Court. She practiced law in Chicago until moving with her husband back to Valparaiso to practice law with her father, Ira Tilton, who in nearly six decades in Valparaiso had served as a schoolteacher, city attorney, and judge, as well as head of the local Democratic Party.[11]
In 2013, long-term law school dean Jay Conison resigned to accept a position at the relatively new Charlotte School of Law. His replacement was the former associate dean of DePaul Law School, Andrea Lyon, who in 1979 had been the first woman lead counsel in a death penalty case.[12] While the law school's practical skills training received a high ranking from the National Jurist Magazine, and the Prelaw Magazine cited its innovation, the school faced financial issues and censure from the ABA in October 2016.
Valparaiso School of Law was censured by the ABA in October 2016 for violating ABA Standards 501(a) and 501(b).[13] Those standards require that "a law school shall maintain sound admission policy and practices" and "shall not admit an applicant who does not appear capable of satisfactorily completing its program of legal education and being admitted to the bar". Since 2010, Valparaiso met declining applications with reduced admissions standards to maintain the size of the school's student body. In 2010, the entering class had a median LSAT score of 150 and a median GPA of 3.31. By 2015, Valparaiso's entering class had a median LSAT score of 145 and a median GPA of 2.93.[14] Valparaiso's bar passage rates plummeted as a result. In 2013, 77% of graduates taking the Indiana bar exam and 71% of graduates taking the Illinois bar exam passed on the first attempt. But in 2014, only 61% of graduates taking the Indiana bar exam and only 63% of graduates taking the Illinois bar exam passed on the first attempt.[15] In November 2017, the ABA lifted the sanction of public censure on Valparaiso School of Law, stating that the school had demonstrated compliance with ABA Standards 501(a) and 501(b).[16]
In March 2017, the university hired Ogilvy Public Relations to handle the law school's termination or downsizing. In November, the university announced that no students would be admitted for the year beginning in 2018. On March 21, 2018, the law school announced Dean Lyon's resignation effective June 1 and that she would continue to teach as a professor.[17] Three months later, in June, the Valparaiso University submitted to Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) a non-binding letter of intent to transfer the Valparaiso University School of Law to MTSU. MTSU's president clarified with media sources that the law school was not being purchased or merged into MTSU but was "much like a gift".[18] Although MTSU's trustees were in favor of the move, it was rejected by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in October[19] and the school announced its pending closure as it ensured that currently enrolled students would have an opportunity to complete their education.[5]
