Historic photo of Sterling Law Building

Look & Listen

Discover the past, present, and future of Yale Law School and the remarkable people who have left their mark on the School. View photos and videos as well as other content added throughout our bicentennial year.

Explore historical slideshows with vintage photographs from the School’s history. Watch video profiles of extraordinary alumni who are making lasting contributions in every sector across society as they discuss what a Yale Law School education meant to them.

On our podcast Inside Yale Law School, hosted by Dean Heather K. Gerken, former deans discuss the challenges and successes of their deanships, their pathbreaking scholarship, and how the Law School is continuing to redefine legal education to help our graduates meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Yale Talk: Leading the Way in Legal Education for 200 Years

Yale Talk: Leading the Way in Legal Education for 200 Years

To mark Yale Law School’s bicentennial, Dean Heather K. Gerken joins President Peter Salovey for a conversation about the impact the school has had on legal education over two centuries and what comes next. Dean Gerken discusses the Yale Law School’s focus on bolstering needs-based aid, increasing the number of veterans on campus, and preparing the next generation of lawyers and leaders to engage across divides in polarized times.

Inside Yale Law School: Guido Calabresi

Inside Yale Law School: Guido Calabresi

For Yale Law School’s bicentennial in 2024, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law Guido Calabresi ’58 reflects on his tenure as Dean from 1985 to 1994. He discusses his work to restore the law school building to its former glory and start the school’s first loan forgiveness program.

Inside Yale Law School: Robert Post

Inside Yale Law School: Robert Post

For Yale Law School’s bicentennial in 2024, Sterling Professor of Law Robert Post reflects on his tenure as Dean from 2009 to 2017. He also discusses his 35-year quest to write the definitive history of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice William Howard Taft. 

Inside Yale Law School: Harold Hongju Koh

Inside Yale Law School: Harold Hongju Koh

Sterling Professor of International Law Harold Hongju Koh’s family history is deeply intertwined with Yale Law School. For our bicentennial in 2024, Koh shares his family’s story and reflects on his tenure as Dean from 2004 to 2009, including his work to make Yale a global law school.

Yale Law School Sterling Law Building under construction

The Sterling Law Building, modeled after the spirit and atmosphere of the English Inns of Court, opened its doors in 1931.

Yale Law School Class of 1885 posing for a photo

Before moving to Hendrie Hall in 1895, the Law School operated out of the New Haven County Courthouse for more than two decades.

Students retrieve mail from the mailroom.
Drawing of Litchfield Law School

The founders of Yale Law School modeled their approach to legal education after the Litchfield Law School, the first law school in the country located in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Students sit facing their professor in a Hendrie Hall classroom.

The Legal Realism movement flourished at Yale in the 1930s following the release of Jerome N. Frank's book "Law and the Modern Mind."

Student sits by a window reading a book.
Sterling Law Building under construction in 1930.

The Sterling Law Building was designed by James Gamble Rogers, the same architect for Sterling Memorial Library.

Yale Law Library in Hendrie Hall.

Purchased by Yale in 1845, Samuel Hitchcock's law library became the foundation for the School's premier collection of legal literature.

Students stand in the hallway of Sterling Law Building.
Hendrie Hall with people gathered by the front entrance.

Before moving to its current location on Wall Street, the Law School was housed a couple blocks south in Hendrie Hall starting in 1895.

Students studying in the Lillian Goldman Law Library.

The Law Library acquired Lexis terminals in 1978, making computer-assisted legal research possible.

Yale Law School students gather around one student who is reading from a book.
archival photo showing couches in dining hall

The original student lounge at Yale Law School located in what is now the Derald H. Ruttenberg Dining Hall

Yale Law School Sterling Law Building under construction Yale Law School Class of 1885 posing for a photo Students retrieve mail from the mailroom. Drawing of Litchfield Law School Students sit facing their professor in a Hendrie Hall classroom. Student sits by a window reading a book. Sterling Law Building under construction in 1930. Yale Law Library in Hendrie Hall. Students stand in the hallway of Sterling Law Building. Hendrie Hall with people gathered by the front entrance. Students studying in the Lillian Goldman Law Library. Yale Law School students gather around one student who is reading from a book. archival photo showing couches in dining hall