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Yale Law School Welcomes New Students, Urges Them to Embrace New Ideas

Incoming law students were greeted with advice: keep an open mind.
An orientation leader wearing a blue t-shirt takes a photo of smiling students seated in a packed auditorium
Students met their new classmates at orientation last week.

New students arrived at Yale Law School ahead of the fall term last week, taking in a host of new experiences while being encouraged to keep their minds open to the unexpected.

Students in the L.L.M. program — for those who have received their first professional degree in law in their home countries — were the first to arrive on Monday. The 26 incoming students in the one-year graduate program come to New Haven from six continents and 17 countries. By the following day, the 209 members of the J.D. class of 2029 and 10 transfer students to the class of 2028 were also on campus, greeted by orientation leaders on Wall Street. 

An student wearing a t-shirt reading "Orientation 2026" talks to new students around a table in a classroom

Orientation leaders helped new students get their bearings.

Students look up attentively while sitting in the audiorium
Among their varied backgrounds, new students have served in government, worked for nonprofits, and have had careers in science, the arts, and more.

New students poured into Sterling Law Building to gather for the first time as a class in the Levinson Auditorium. A welcome from the admissions staff, who months before were reading students’ applications, completed the class’s transition from applicants to students. Later that day, Associate Dean Miriam F. Ingber ’04, head of admissions and financial aid, told the assembled students about the remarkable range of backgrounds their class includes. 

Among their classmates, students will meet a medical doctor, an EMT, a professor of nuclear engineering, a professional video game writer, and a published poet. The class also counts among its ranks a professional ballet dancer, a professional actor, and several serious athletes. 

“One of the most important things in my life is beating Harvard Law School at the annual basketball game,” Ingber quipped. “Please do not disappoint me.”

Students have worked on international issues in the U.S. and abroad, including at the United Nations and in the Peace Corps. They have also served in government from the local to national level, including at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, and the State Department. The class also includes veterans and service members from five branches of the U.S. military.

In addition, members of the class have worked in nonprofits in the U.S. and internationally, Ingber continued. Their work has covered issues including AI policy, democracy, protection, free speech, human rights, public defense, environmental justice, gun control, legal aid, labor and workers’ rights, LGBTQ rights, and housing, among others.

People have taken so many different paths to law school and I am so excited to learn from my peers in addition to the professors.”

— Erica Scott ’29

 

Groups of students walk in and out of the Student Lounge
Students make their way through the Paul C. Tsai ’54 LLM, ’57 JSD Student Lounge, one of many stops on tours of Sterling Law Building and Baker Hall.

The incoming class spent much of its first day touring the labyrinthine halls of Sterling Law Building and the sleek spaces of Baker Hall. Orientation leaders — 2L and 3L students — dispensed tips ranging from where to find printers to where to have packages delivered. They also shared personal recommendations: a particular lesser-known quiet study spot or the suggestion to choose your favorite figure on a stained-glass window and look for it whenever you pass.

Embrace complexity and complication. Embrace those with whom you disagree. Be willing to change your mind.”

—Dean Cristina M. Rodríguez

Dean Cristina M. Rodríguez ’00 looks up while speaking at the podium
Recalling her days as a law student in her convocation remarks, Dean Cristina M. Rodríguez ’00 urged students to take the time to figure out who they want to be.

Assembled again in the auditorium that afternoon for convocation, students heard from speakers who recalled their own law student days. In her first convocation address since becoming dean earlier this year, Dean Cristina M. Rodríguez ’00 told students that Yale Law School is where she figured out who she was going to be, professionally and personally. 

A former high school debater, Rodríguez was sure she would become a litigator after law school. But when one of her professors told her that she should become a law professor, something clicked. Citing that experience, she urged students to give themselves time to soak in law school before deciding what they want to do.

“Don’t hurry after a predetermined goal,” Rodríguez said. “Be patient. Give yourself the chance to see a horizon that you don’t yet know exists. Wait for that click. I promise you it will come.”

Don’t hurry after a predetermined goal. Be patient. Give yourself the chance to see a horizon that you don’t yet know exists.”

—Dean Cristina M. Rodríguez

Rodríguez encouraged students to challenge themselves by taking courses outside of their area of interest. She told students that Yale Law School has a structure especially suited to exploring new ideas: the small group. A signature feature of the Yale Law School experience, the small group places students with about 16 classmates who take all their first-term courses together. Rodríguez advised students to welcome the unfamiliar, in the small group and beyond.

“Sit with uncomfortable ideas,” she said. “Embrace complexity and complication. Embrace those with whom you disagree. Be willing to change your mind.”

Students fill an auditorium. The screen at the front of the room reads "Welcome to Yale Law School."

The 209 members of the J.D. class of 2029 gathered for the first time as a class in Levinson Auditorium.

Judge Sarah Russell speaks from the podium
Judge Sarah French Russell ’02 told students to admit when they don't know something — both in the classroom and as a lawyer.

At convocation, students also heard remarks from U.S. District Judge Sarah French Russell ’02. Speaking from her years as a lawyer, law professor, and now judge, Russell spoke to students about how professionalism looks in real life.

“Professionalism also means being honest and humble, so good lawyers admit when they don't know something. They acknowledge mistakes, which we all make, and then they try to correct them,” Russell said. “Here in law school, there will be a lot that you don't know. Speak up when you don’t understand something.”

Here in law school, there will be a lot that you don’t know. Speak up when you don’t understand something.”

—Judge Sarah French Russell ’02

A student seated with others at a table in the courtyard laughs over lunch.
A student shares a laugh over lunch in the Courtyard. 

By the end of the week, students had gotten an introduction on how to brief a case, taken training sessions in the library, and heard guidance about life outside the classroom. They also had many opportunities to meet their classmates over coffees, lunches, and ice cream. 

“I think it is great to be surrounded by so many inspiring peers,” Erica Scott ’29 said. “People have taken so many different paths to law school and I am so excited to learn from my peers in addition to the professors.”

Most of the class (91%) have been out of college for one year or more, while more than half (57%) have been out of college for at least three years. In addition to the incoming LL.M. students, new graduate program students at Yale Law School this year include seven J.S.D. students.

Classes start Aug. 25.

About 20 students stand posed in rows along the stone steps in the Courtyard

This year's 26 new LL.M. students come to Yale Law School from 17 countries.