History

The University of North Carolina, School of Law is in its 165th year. It is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation's first state supported university. The North Carolina constitution specifically authorized a state university in 1776, and the North Carolina General Assembly chartered the university on December 11, 1789. In 1793, the cornerstone of the first building was laid, and that building, Old East, is now a National Historic Landmark. The University's first student, Hinton James, arrived from Wilmington, North Carolina, on February 12, 1795. The University of North Carolina was the only public university to confer degrees on students before 1800. Unlike most Southern colleges and universities, it remained open during the Civil War but closed from 1870-75.

William H. Battle founded the School of Law in 1843. Battle was a North Carolina Superior Court judge when he founded the School and later sat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 1845, the School of Law named him as a professor of law. The School of Law began as a private institution and remained somewhat independent until 1899, when it was incorporated into the UNC-CH. In 1900, former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice James C. MacRae became the School's first Dean. The School of Law became a charter member of the American Association of Law Schools in 1920, and has been approved by the American Bar Association since 1928. Also in 1928, the School of Law established its chapter of the Order of the Coif.

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, the physical location of the School of Law, was completed in September 1968. The building was significantly expanded from approximately 100,000 square feet to 160,000 in 1999. At present, planning is underway for either a new building or another expansion of the present facility.

The School of Law's current student enrollment is 699. All students are full-time students. The entering class in 2007 consisted of 241 students. The School of Law has 46 full-time faculty members, five of whom are clinical faculty members who teach in the Research, Reasoning, Writing and Advocacy (RRWA), the Externship Program and one in the Clinics. The School has an additional 47 adjunct faculty members plus 17 who teach in the RRWA Program and 13 who teach Trial Advocacy each year.

The current and 13th Dean of the School of Law is John Charles Boger, who was appointed in the summer of 2006 after a national search. There are approximately 9500 living alumni of the School, which include governors, judges, business leaders, congressmen, U.S. senators, state and local officials and educators. Forty percent of all attorneys who practice law in North Carolina are UNC School of Law graduates. Law alumni live and work in 97 of 100 North Carolina counties, in all 50 states and 17 foreign countries. Four of the five most recent governors of North Carolina are Carolina Law graduates, and of the 443 judges in the state, 159 (36%) are alumni. Following the 2006 election, six of the seven North Carolina Supreme Court Justices are graduates of the School of Law.