24-Law Viewbook

#CHANGEMAKERS WELCOME

WELCOME TO THE JOURNEY.

TAKE THE FIRST STEP At Roger Williams University School of Law you will find a vibrant and supportive community, dedicated to academic excellence and real-world advocacy. Our unique programs and experiences are designed to set you on the path to develop the skills, knowledge, and network that will enable you to make meaningful change.

Your journey to become a #CHANGEMAKER STARTS HERE.

ADVOCATE. PRACTICE.

FIND YOURSELF HERE

BE. GROW. BELONG.

CREATE POWERFUL COMBINATIONS

MAKE CONNECTIONS

DISCOVER RHODE ISLAND

“ Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

– Ruth Bader Ginsburg

WELCOME TO THE JOURNEY.

TAKE THE FIRST STEP At Roger Williams University School of Law you will find a vibrant and supportive community, dedicated to academic excellence and real-world advocacy. Our unique programs and experiences are designed to set you on the path to develop the skills, knowledge, and network that will enable you to make meaningful change.

Your journey to become a #CHANGEMAKER STARTS HERE.

DISCOVER RHODE ISLAND

Your journey at Rhode Island’s only law school will be transformative.

Our prime locations in Bristol and Providence will provide you with opportunities to make an impact—in the classroom, on campus, and within communities.

CHARMING BRISTOL RWU Law’s main campus is located on the picturesque coast of Mount Hope Bay in Bristol. In 2024, Bristol was ranked #5 among the 50 safest college towns in America by Research.com. Bristol’s small-town feel boasts all the amenities of a coastal community: waterfront dining, quaint shops, bike paths, and access to nature and nearby beaches.

DYNAMIC PROVIDENCE Our experiential campus provides direct access to the excitement and opportunities of Providence—Rhode Island’s capital and the hub of its legal, business, and cultural communities. In 2024, CNN Travel ranked Providence #2 on its inaugural list of America’s Best Towns to Visit. Vogue magazine refers to Providence as the “charming East Coast creative capital to visit now.”

“Being the only law school in the state, RWU has a wide range of externship programs and deep connections with local law firms, courts, and universities.”

– Elisabeth D’Amelio L’24, M’24, Dual Juris Doctor and M.A. in Cybersecurity

At RWU Law “... everybody knows your name, whether it’s a librarian, your professor, or the dean.”

– Princeton Review, student quote

MONICA TEIXEIRA DE SOUSA, on first-generation students “ Every year I have students who talk to me about being the first in their families to go to college, and about how difficult the law school experience is for them at times. I believe that law schools need to do more to support these students; to really make them feel welcome, that they belong.”

MAKE CONNECTIONS

– Professor Teixeira de Sousa teaches Property, Family Law, Race and the Foundations of American Law, and Education Law

RESPECTED SCHOLARS, STUDENT-FOCUSED RWU Law is a community that values connection; you will learn from and network with faculty that are approachable, respected scholars with real-world experience. According to Princeton Review data, our faculty are ranked highly by students for both accessibility and quality of teaching nationwide. Our faculty will challenge you, but they will also support you.

Nationwide rankings—in 2024, RWU tied for:

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FACULTY ACCESSIBILITY

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QUALITY OF TEACHING

SUSAN HEYMAN, on mentorship “As a faculty member, I’m not just an educator—I’m a mentor who cares about each student’s unique experiences and aspirations. With open office hours, individual meetings, and personalized feedback, I strive to create a collaborative and supportive environment. My goal is to ensure that each student feels valued, empowered, and connected to our community so they reach their fullest potential.”

– Professor Heyman teaches Contracts, Business Associations, Sales, and White Collar Crime

At RWU Law, you will combine traditional classroom experience with real-world learning in clinics, pro bono work, and other experiential opportunities to deepen your legal education.

These powerful combinations give you every opportunity to step into your legal career with in-depth experience and broad exposure to your practice area of choice.

A full listing and complete description of courses can be found at law.rwu.edu/go/courses

100

%

CREATE POWERFUL COMBINATIONS

of RWU Law students perform 50 or more hours of pro bono legal service.

GUARANTEED CLINICAL EXPERIENCE RWU Law guarantees every qualified student at least one substantial clinical experience. The majority of students take advantage by completing two or more of these real-world learning opportunities.

Clinical Externships

CLINICS

» New York Pro Bono Scholars Program

In-house usiness Start-up Clinic »B » Coastal Resilience Law & Policy Clinic » Criminal Defense Clinic » Immigration Clinic » Prisoners’ Rights Litigation Clinic » Veterans Disability Appeals Field Clinic Pro Bono Clinics and Projects » ACI Civil Legal Assistance » Eviction Help Desk » Expungement » Street Law » Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

In 2024, total pro bono hours equaled 17,000 hours. 50% of the class doubled their required pro bono hours.

» Corporate Counsel Clinical Externship Program » Environmental and Land Use Clinical Externship Program » Government Clinical Externship Program » Judicial Clinical Externship Program

» Prosecution Clinical Externship Program » Public Interest Clinical Externship Program SEMESTER-IN-PRACTICE Our innovative Semesterin-Practice Program enables you to train full-time—either in one of our pre-established local placements, our Washington, DC Semester– in-Practice, or in a new remote placement of your choosing.

JOINT DEGREES » Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration » Juris Doctor/Master of Science in Criminal Justice » Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in Cybersecurity » Juris Doctor/Master of Science in Historic Preservation » Juris Doctor/Master of Science in Labor Relations and Human Resources (in partnership with URI) » Juris Doctor/Master of Marine Affairs (in partnership with URI)

ME NH

VT NY

MAP SHOWING NORTHEAST LOCATION MA

CT NYC

Boston

Providence

RI

RWU Law Newport

MAKING LEGAL EDUCATION FINANCIALLY ACCESSIBLE Building on our 30-year legacy as Rhode Island’s only law school, as well as our mission to advance social justice and the rule of law, RWU Law is committed to making law school accessible to more people. We are the best-priced, ABA-accredited, private law school in the Northeast. In addition, RWU Law offers scholarships to qualified students up to and including full tuition to qualified applicants.

“ At RWU Law, we mentor and train the changemakers of tomorrow. Our students and graduates work to make the world a better place—one client and one project at a time.

They harness the law’s transformative power to pursue and achieve justice.”

– Dean Gregory W. Bowman

YOU BELO

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING

At RWU Law, we work hard to live our mission. We are far from perfect, but we continuously strive to build a community where students feel valued. When you join us you will have an opportunity to contribute to our community and become an agent of change. Your voice will matter here.

ONG HERE.

“ It’s important to me to be in a diverse environment where I can be myself. What I found at RWU Law was an environment that wants people to feel comfortable and that is willing to do all it can to help students succeed.”

– 2L Ruth Dimanche

BE. GROW. BELONG.

STUDENTS LEADING THE WAY RWU Law’s Student Bar Association is focused on the student experience by representing all law students. All students, as early as their first year, have a chance to run for a position within SBA or within one of the over 30 students groups that are currently active in the community.

CLASS PROFILE

BY THE NUMBERS* 951 APPLICATIONS

67%

620 ADMITTED

32%

FEMALE

MALE

155 ENROLLED

1%

UNDISCLOSED

CREDENTIALS Percentile

LSAT

GPA

75th Percentile

154

3.65

Median

150

3.3

25th Percentile

147

2.93

28%

STUDENTS OF COLOR

34%

FIRST GENERATION

11% LGBTQ+

Bloomberg Law recognized our “Race and the Foundations of American Law” course as a top-scoring program in Innovation + Justice

*Class of 2026

5%

VETERANS

26

AVERAGE AGE

SOCIAL JUSTICE IS IN OUR DNA

Social Justice has been a central part of our school’s mission from its inception. It is embedded into our curriculum and core programming.

Whether you plan to be a corporate attorney or a public defender, you will learn how the law impacts the world and the individual communities within it.

LEADING THE WAY

Representatives from over 94% of ABA law schools have participated in RWU Law’s monthly webinars on incorporating diversity issues into their curriculum.

FIND YOURSELF HERE

RACE AND THE LAW RWU Law is one of only a few law schools in the United States to have reformed its core legal curriculum, requiring all students to take the same foundational course on Race and the Foundations of American Law. You will engage deeply in these topics and build a shared understanding of how our legal system was created, how it truly works, and how it can be changed.

OUR ALUMNI RWU Law alumni are #CHANGEMAKERS. With the foundation of a strong legal education and hands-on experience, they excel in the field of their choice. We invite you to join their ranks and become a changemaker at RWU.

LAW.RWU.EDU/ALUMNI

“ One of the great things about working with NOAA is the diversity of the issues we handle. It pairs my love of the ocean with my background in science and law. There are lots of big issues out there; we are not going to solve all of them today—but we are having a significant impact and it’s work that I can feel proud of.”

Jackie Rolleri L’11 Special Counsel to the General Counsel National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA) Oceans and Coasts Section

“All roads of my remarkably rich journey as a legal professional lead back to the extraordinary training that I received at RWU Law. The faculty’s commitment to high academic standards, coupled with a culture of compassion and respect, gave me the confidence to aim high and dream big dreams.”

Hon. Melissa DuBose L’04 US District Court for the District of Rhode Island

“ One of the best parts of my RWU Law experience was the exposure I received to the criminal justice system; the real-world legal experience showed me how incarceration impacts people’s personal and financial lives. I learned how to help.”

“There was no full-service, pro bono legal or policy center for Indigenous rights east of the Mississippi. At RWU Law, we began asking faculty questions around Indian law and were met with curiosity and openness.”

Taino J. Palermo L’22 and Raymond Two Hawks Watson L’22 Co-founders The Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights (CIPR)

ADVOCATE. PRACTICE.

Brett Beaubien L’16 The Law Office of Brett V. Beaubien, LLC

WHERE DO OUR

#CHANGEMAKERS COME FROM?

WA

VT NH

ME

ND

MT

MN

OR ID

SD

MI

UT CA

AZ

IL CO

KS

NM

WV

VA

MD

DE

KY NC

TN SC

AR MS

TX

RI

NJ

OH

IN

MO

OK

CT

PA

IA

NE

NV

MA

NY

WI

WY

AL

GA

LA FL

TAKE THE NEXT STEP. lawadmissions@rwu.edu Contact Us

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Our students come from across the country representing

different states @rwulaw

10 Metacom Avenue Bristol, Rhode Island 02809-5171 USA (401) 254-4555 lawadmissions@rwu.edu law.rwu.edu

Roger Williams University School of Law is approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark Street, 19th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, (312) 988-6738, legaled@americanbar.org.

RWU Law is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Roger Williams University and Roger Williams University School of Law do not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis in admission to, access to, employment in, and treatment in its programs and activities.

Any questions may be referred to Roger Williams University’s Title IX Coordinator, Student Life Office, title-ix@rwu.edu, telephone: 401-254-3161, web: rwu.edu/NDT9 or the Office of Civil Rights, Boston Office, U.S. Department of Education, 8th Floor, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109-3921, telephone: 617-289-0111.