Office of the Dean

A Message from the Dean

It is a remarkable time to be at Yale Law School.

With its renowned faculty, extraordinary alumni, a dedicated staff, and the strongest student body in the country, there is no better place to study law.

There are limitless opportunities here, with an unmatched faculty-student ratio, over three dozen legal clinics, and more than 50 student organizations and journals. Here at Yale, we don’t just train lawyers; we train leaders. We don’t just read scholarship; we nurture scholars. Our students don’t just volunteer for organizations; they found them.  Students here don’t sit on the sidelines; they make headlines. 

This is a school where theory is taught at the highest level and our clinics do work of an unrivaled scope and ambition.  Our practical engagement informs our theoretical commitments and our theoretical commitments, in turn, inform our practical engagement.  Yale houses the most sophisticated and eclectic academic faculty in the country and offers an intellectual experience that is unparalleled.  Eighty percent of our students enroll in clinics, and half of our academic faculty either run clinics or do substantial experiential work. And no matter what path our students choose, we prepare them to think imaginatively and deeply about their work and the problems they face.

As the seventeenth dean of Yale Law School, it is a great privilege to build upon the School’s remarkable legacy as we train the next generation of lawyers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

While you are here, I invite you to explore our faculty scholarship, news of the School, and alumni and student profiles, which showcase that incredible scope of opportunities that Yale Law School has to offer.

Sincerely,

Heather Gerken