History

UNC School of Law is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation's first state supported university. The N.C. constitution authorized a state university in 1776, and the N.C. 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, N.C., on February 12, 1795, making this the only public university to confer degrees prior to 1800. 

William H. Battle founded the School of Law in 1843. He was a N.C. Superior Court judge when he founded the school and later sat on the N.C. 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 university. In 1900, former N.C. 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.