Washington and Lee University School of Law - History

History

The Lexington Law School, the precursor to W&L Law, was founded in 1849 by Federal Judge John White Brockenbrough and is the 17th oldest active law school in the United States and the third-oldest in Virginia. The Law School was not integrated into Washington and Lee University (then known as Washington College) until after the Civil War when Robert E. Lee was president of the university. In 1866, General Lee annexed the School of Law to the university and appointed Judge Brockenbrough as the first Dean. In 1870, former Virginia Attorney General John Randolph Tucker was appointed to the faculty and later became Dean followed by his son Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. In 1900, the law school moved into the newly built Tucker Hall in memory of Dean Tucker. Tucker Hall also housed the law school's first law library—the Vincent L. Bradford Law Library. After significant periods of growth, the law school moved into new Tucker Hall after the original building was destroyed in a fire and the law library was rebuilt with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. In 1920, W&L Law joined the Association of American Law Schools. The Washington and Lee Law Review began publication in the Autumn of 1939 and is still in regular publication. After World War II, enrollment increased despite a period of low enrollment during the war. In 1950, the School of Law established its chapter of the Order of the Coif, one of only 80 such chapters in the country. The School of Law admitted its first female students in 1972, and opened its current home, Sydney Lewis Hall, in 1977. In 1992, the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Wing was added to Sydney Lewis Hall and the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library at a dedication ceremony attended by Justice Powell and presided over by Chief Justice William Rhenquist. In 2008, Dean Rodney Smolla instituted the new third-year program. This new and unique program turned the entire third year into an experiential curriculum which emphasizes practice, professionalism, and service. The program became compulsory for W&L Law students in 2011. On December 21, 2011 Washington and Lee University School of Law announced Nora Demleitner as the new Dean, the first woman to hold the position and the 17th overall since 1849.