Career Strategy

About VLS Candidates

Welcome To Villanova University School of Law

Since the Law School’s founding in 1953, more than 7,000 alumni have taken their place in society. Among them are federal judges, members of the executive branch of government, members of Congress, law faculty, business leaders, two recent mayors of Philadelphia, and the first woman elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as well as thousands of attorneys practicing law across the nation in the biggest cities and the smallest towns. Villanova Law graduates have excelled in commerce, trial practice, government, non-profit leadership, and legal education.

Preparing Our Students For Leadership

Villanova Law students learn not only to be successful legal practitioners, but also to be responsible leaders in their communities and profession.

Villanova Law has always been highly selective in its admissions policy and rigorous in its academic standards. Therefore, the Law School accepts only those students with a high probability of success in legal study and who display the promise of dedication in their professional lives.

Accordingly, the faculty and students of Villanova Law form an exciting intellectual community. While our faculty members are recognized nationally and internationally for outstanding legal scholarship and significant contributions to the study and practice of law, they are teachers first.

The curriculum is broadly based and designed to prepare students for the rapidly changing needs of modern law practice. Faculty members also guide Villanova Law students to develop critical analytical abilities and an understanding of professional ethics.

Practice skills also receive serious attention at Villanova Law. Students cultivate the skills of written and oral expression through an intensive first-year legal writing program  taught by committed full time instructors who bring their years of practice experience to the classroom. These skills are further enhanced through the required upper-level moot court program, as well as courses focused on practical writing and complex research topics. In addition, Villanova students acquire other fundamental lawyering skills-including counseling, negotiation, advocacy, mediation, dispute resolution, conciliation, and mature judgment.

Significant hands-on clinical and externship opportunities complement the wide variety of traditional and simulation courses, allowing students to apply classroom lessons to real-world client representation. Villanova has infused new energy and resources into its clinical programs, which permit students to represent actual clients under close faculty supervision. Externships provide valuable off-site experience with federal and state judges, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.

Preparing Our Students For Exemplary Service & Teamwork

Villanova is rooted in the Catholic tradition, which inspires the Law School to provide a professional education that emphasizes honesty, integrity, and responsibility. An Augustinian institution, Villanova also seeks to reflect the spirit of St. Augustine by respect for individual differences and by adherence to the principle that mutual love and respect should animate every aspect of the Law School’s life. Villanova Law earnestly welcomes individuals of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives. This tradition of inclusion dates back to the founding of Villanova University after anti-Catholic and anti-Irish riots forced the Augustinians to flee the city of Philadelphia.

Villanovans are therefore imbued with a commitment to service and compassion for those in need. Students are taught that pro bono legal service to the poor should be part of their careers, both as law students and lawyers. The Lawyering Together Program, for example, teams students with alumni in the representation of pro bono clients. The ethic of boundless service to all clients in need pervades every professional commitment undertaken by a Villanova lawyer.

Villanova lawyers are also distinguished by their collegiality and ability to form strong relationships with all they encounter. The principles of civility, mutual respect, and dignity of all persons are self-evident in the supportive Law School community. This unusual sense of spirit and fellowship among fellow Villanovans ensures that individuals can thrive together in an environment free from destructive competitiveness that can wreak havoc in any professional community.

In short, a Villanova lawyer is an exemplary professional and leader.

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