Santa Clara University’s School of Law has been admitted as a member in the prestigious national legal society, The Order of the Coif. The Order of the Coif is a national honor society for law school graduates who attend its member schools. Each year it extends invitations to the top 10 percent of graduating J.D. students by grade point average.
“The Order of the Coif is an honorary scholastic society,” said Donald Polden, dean of SCU School of Law. “Through its member chapters it encourages excellence in legal education, recognizes law students who received a high grade of scholarship, and honors those who as lawyers, judges and teachers attain distinction for their scholarly or professional accomplishments,” he said. Polden added that the membership of Santa Clara’s law school in the Order of the Coif is an acknowledgement of the law school’s growing production of legal scholarship and its ambitious academic programs.
Since the initiation of the Order of the Coif in the United States, 81 law schools have been admitted to membership. “Fewer than half of all American law schools have been admitted to membership in the Order of the Coif,” said Polden. “It is a tribute to the faculty, staff and outstanding graduates of the school that we have been elected to membership.”
The Order is well known in legal and academic circles because of its triennial book award — the single most prestigious award given for legal scholarship and also supports a national lecture series that allows member schools an opportunity to bring outstanding legal scholars to their campuses.
The Order of the Coif takes its name from the word used to designate the cap all the members of the Order were compelled to wear. This cap or coif was originally of white lawn or silk, forming a close-fitting hood. Later, when wigs came into fashion, the coif was changed to a circular piece of white lawn fastened to the top of the wig.
SCU School of Law began providing legal education to Californians in 1912. “Combining a tradition of excellence with a strong commitment to ethics, diversity, technology and social justice, the School of Law has grown to include a full time faculty of over 50 men and women and a student body of more than 900 law students and 50 graduate law students,” Polden said.
The school’s High Tech Law Institute is recognized as one of the leading intellectual property and technology law programs in the U.S. The Center for Social Justice and Public Interest and Institute for International and Comparative Law are highly regarded for the curricular opportunities they provide for law students.
SCU School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association, the official accreditation agency for American legal education, and is a member in the Association of American Law School, the learned society for American legal education.
