page_title: Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law / History
caption_attribution_description: English: PUCPR Escuela de Derecho, Ave. Las Americas, Bo. Canas Urbano, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando al sur (IMG 2736B)
context_page_description: The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law is settled in an area of 124 acres in the City of Ponce, Puerto Rico on the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico main campus. It was established in 1961.
context_section_description: It was the first private law school established in Puerto Rico. The law school is located in the Spellman Building and was founded in 1961 by Monsignor Fremiot Torres Oliver. The law school received the accreditation from the Puerto Rico Superior Education Council of Puerto Rico on 13 April 1964. The American Bar Association granted provisional accreditation on 13 April 1967, and final accreditation on August 1972. The Law School offers the course of study leading to the J.D. degree through a three-year full-time day and a four-year part-time evening programs. The law school admits students for its fall (August) and spring (January) sessions. It offers two Joint Degree Programs, the J.D./M.B.A. and J.D./M.P.A. with the University graduate programs.
  The School of Law houses a major research library with a collection of about 207,095 volumes and extensive computer-assisted research capabilities including Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw, and MICROJURIS.COM with wireless access to the Internet from anywhere in the law school campus. It is the home of the Revista de Derecho Puertorriqueno which is a student and faculty edited law review published since 1961. The School of Law is noted for its Legal Service Clinic and Externship programs that offer to its students the opportunity to serve the community and the poor in need of legal services. The Legal Clinic and Externship programs provide an excellent opportunity for training our students in advocacy, administrative and judicial proceedings both at the local as well as the federal level.
  Students at the School of Law enjoy all of the resources of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. The University offers an array of physical activities including fitness classes; weight training; jogging track; basketball and outdoor pool. It also benefits from its location in the City of Ponce, Puerto Rico home of magnificent museums, churches, theaters and cultural attractions.
  The law school has the most active national law student organizations in Puerto Rico, with local chapters of The Federalist Society, the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the American Association of Trial Lawyers.
  The interim dean is Fernando Moreno Orama.
  On May 15, 2020, the council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar met remotely and determined this school and nine others had significant noncompliance with Standard 316.  This Standard was revised in 2019 to provide that at least 75% of an accredited law school’s graduates who took a bar exam must pass one within two years of graduation.  The school has been asked to submit a report by Feb. 1, 2021; and, if the council does not find the report demonstrates compliance, the school will be asked to appear before the council at its May, 2021 meeting.
caption: PUCPR School of Law in Ponce, Puerto Rico
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