CAMPAIGN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
W&L SCHOOL OF LAW
Washington and Lee School of Law is dedicated to providing a rigorous education that develops broad-minded, highly skilled, and honorable lawyers. Beyond classroom excellence, W&L Law offers unmatched experiential learning opportunities. Students represent actual clients through community-based lawyering, cultural immersions, rigorous externships, and clinical opportunities under the guiding hands of faculty experts. W&L Law emphasizes personalized attention from professors, both inside and outside the classroom, as a cornerstone of its educational approach. In the competitive landscape of legal education, scholarships and other forms of financial support are essential for attracting toptier students.
PATH TO PUBLIC INTEREST (PPIP) PROGRAM
$200,000 ANNUALLY
$4 MILLION TO FULLY ENDOW AND NAME PPIP
ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
$100,000 MINIMUM TO ESTABLISH A NAMED SCHOLARHIP
$1.25 MILLION TO FULLY ENDOW A NAMED SCHOLARSHIP
Attracting the strongest applicants is at the heart of W&L Law’s capital campaign and stands as the campaign’s greatest priority. Named scholarship endowments start at a $100,000 minimum gift. Each year, W&L Law scholarship endowments provide 5 percent of invested dollars in scholarships to one or more law students. A gift of $1.25 million will capitalize an endowed full scholarship and provide full tuition for one student.
As the credentials of our incoming classes rise, we continue to see increased financial need in our population of admitted students. About 25% of every law class qualifies as Pell-grant-eligible at their undergraduate institutions, and more than 90 percent of W&L Law students receive some level of financial aid each year. Endowed scholarship investments enable W&L Law to recruit exceptional students, elevate the caliber and reputation of each incoming class, and enhance the school’s academic profile.
The PIPP program provides financial support for current students and graduates interested in or serving in public interest and government positions. Public Interest Summer Stipends provide up to $5000 per student each summer to support work in qualifying public interest positions. These positions include a wide variety of government and non-profit jobs, such as judicial clerkships, and opportunities in public defenders or prosecutors’ offices, and in higher education administration. These grants also fund the reimbursement of transportation and lodging expenses related to finding, interviewing for, and securing legal aid and public interest positions. In addition, grants support unpaid summer positions, short-term monthly stipends for recent graduates working in temporary positions while awaiting bar results, and loan repayment for alumni working in public interest and government positions during the first ten years following graduation. For many of our students, the PIPP program is a true difference-maker in their ability to pursue public interest law and clerkships.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH FUND
$50,000 ANNUALLY
$1,000,000 TO ENDOW PROGRAM
Professor Josh Fairfield is the William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law and Director of Artificial Intelligence Legal Innovation Strategy at W&L. Professor Fairfield is nationally known for his work at the intersection of law and technology, specializing in digital property, electronic contracts, big data privacy, and virtual communities. Through Professor Fairfield’s leadership, the AI Law Institute at W&L Law was established in 2025 to help the legal profession navigate the rapidly evolving intersection of artificial intelligence, legal ethics, and professional responsibility. The mission of the Institute is to bridge the gap between a lawyer’s ethical duties in using AI tools and their obligation to achieve technological competence as AI becomes central to modern legal practice.
The Institute prepares law students, faculty, attorneys, and judges to understand the inner workings of AI systems, enabling them to use machine learning effectively, safely, and defensibly. This includes examining how AI training data, model design, and user interactions influence outcomes, as well as teaching lawyers how to reduce the risks of AI hallucinations, bias, misinformation, privacy breaches, and manipulation. By equipping the profession with this knowledge, the Institute supports the development of responsible AI governance and empowers legal professionals to deploy AI with confidence, ethical clarity, and strategic insight.
MOOT COURT EXTERNAL COMPETITIONS & STUDENT STIPENDS FOR PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES
$60,000 ANNUALLY
$1.25 MILLION TO FULLY ENDOW AND NAME PROGRAM
The W&L Moot Court program is student run and funded from the Dean’s annual budget. Funds raised for this program support student travel, lodging, and registration for competitions, expanding opportunities for students to compete and build critical lawyering skills. W&L Law School’s Moot Court teams have made appearances in recent years at the Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition, the Global Antitrust Competition, and the National Black Law Students Association Competition. Funds raised for this program will also provide grants for law students to attend professional conferences, seminars, and fellowships.
BAR PASS PREPAREDNESS FUND
$50,000 ANNUALLY
$1 MILLION TO FULLY ENDOW PROGRAM
The 125 members of the W&L Law Class of 2025 sat for the bar exam in 21 different jurisdictions. Their pass rate was 93 percent nationally, a significant increase over prior years. To ensure continued success, W&L Law encourages students to enroll in an individualized bar preparation course, especially given that our students take the exam in so many different states. These intensive, six-week classes are supplied by bar preparation vendors and can cost $1,700-$3,500 depending on the vendor and the state where the exam is taken. W&L Law is committed to the success of every student, so the Law School provides funds to help students who cannot afford a course. The request for bar preparation aid was $32,000 in 2024 and increased to $88,000 in 2026. With more than a quarter of current W&L Law students qualifying for Pell grants as undergraduates, the need for this financial assistance will continue to increase.
3L IMMERSION PROGRAM
$175,000 ANNUALLY
$3.5 MILLION TO FULLY ENDOW AND NAME PROGRAM
Our curriculum for the 3L year has evolved over time, allowing W&L Law to continue to offer a “liberal arts” approach to legal education. We hear from alumni and employers time and again that W&L Law graduates are well prepared to practice law, not just to pass the bar exam. One avenue for this professional preparation is the 3L Immersion Program. Immediately following their 2L year, W&L Law students must undertake a two-week intensive course focused on either transactional or litigation practice. Through the litigation immersion, students develop trial practice skills, following a single case from initial client interview to the end of bench trial. In the transactional immersion, students undertake a complex legal acquisition, working with clients and opposing counsel to draft contracts and negotiate a business purchase. Alumni and expert practitioners from a variety of fields—along with members of our full-time faculty — serve as instructors for the Immersion Program, providing current perspectives and valuable feedback.
CAREER STRATEGY STUDENT-ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
$50,000 ANNUALLY
$1 MILLION TO FULLY ENDOW AND NAME PROGRAM
A priority of W&L Law’s Office of Career Strategy (OCS) is increasing opportunities for our current law students to engage and network with alumni from a wide range of graduating classes and across many fields of practice. In 2026, OCS will sponsor two engagement trips for students to Washington, D.C. and New York, with plans to expand this program to more locations in years to come. Students currently are charged a fee to attend these event-packed trips, but for a significant number of students, the cost can be a limiting factor. This fund supports travel and lodging expenses in order to increase student access and participation.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE PROGRAMMING FOR LAW STUDENTS
$32,000 ANNUALLY
$750,000 TO FULLY ENDOW PROGRAM
W&L Law has placed new focus on providing students with a variety of academic success programs to ensure high levels of achievement in law school. These offerings include guest speakers and academic workshops, mental health guidance, time management programs, and the pre-orientation “Winning 1L” program. This program is designed to support students, including veterans, who are coming back to the classroom after a significant pause in their education. However, Winning 1L is open to all incoming students, and in August 2025, about 30 percent of the incoming 1L class participated in the program. This holistic Law School readiness program offers academic skills, wellness preparation, study tactics, and time management skills that pay dividends for students throughout their W&L Law experience. The Winning 1L Program, and all academic excellence support programs, are provided at no cost to students.
EXPERIENTIAL EXTERNSHIPS IN LAW
$32,000 ANNUALLY
$750,000 TO FULLY ENDOW PROGRAM
The WILF Program (Working in Law Full-Time) provides housing and travel stipends for select students who work in semester-long law jobs around the country. Funding also assists students who are required to travel to and from Lexington as part of the General Externship program. Each year, around 40 W&L Law students participate in experiential externships and WILF, gaining valuable experience in the private sector, public defense, prosecution, and the judiciary.