Raleigh DUI Attorney
Are you considering law school? You’re in a great place for it. Forbes recently rated Raleigh as the “#1 City For Raising A Family.” If you live here, you already know Raleigh is a great place to live.
North Carolina is home to six top-rated law schools. Three of them are in the Raleigh area, with two in nearby Durham. The Raleigh-Durham area is one of the fastest growing areas in the US, with a low cost of living. US News & World Report rates us as #13 in their list of 125 Best Places to Live in the USA.
Campbell University School of Law
Raleigh’s own law school is located right in the downtown area. A relatively new addition to American law schools, it began in 1976 with the first 97 students, and still works with a relatively smaller student body.
Today, Campbell law has more than 3,400 alumni, and the school has one of the highest pass rates for the bar exam in the US.
Campbell Law seeks to educate students to not only train compassionate lawyers who are dedicated to practicing law for a just society, but also from a Christian perspective. The exclusive peer mentoring program assigns incoming students to second- and third-year students who volunteer as supportive advisors. The law school’s active alumni base is both involved and engaged, and they frequently hire students and graduates for internships and jobs.
Most of Campbell Law’s graduates practice in North Carolina, with many in surrounding areas. Two of Campbell Law’s alumni serve as judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. More alumni sit on superior and district courts, as well as 15 district attorneys.
You can find out more information on their website.
Duke University School of Law
Duke is the first of two law schools in nearby Durham. The Bull City is another great place to live in the state, and Duke fits right in with the rest of the city.
From its humble beginnings, known then as Trinity College, Duke Law is now consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the US. The school has consistently ranked as one of the top 14 law schools ranked by US News & World Report. Admitting about 20% of its applicants, roughly 95% of graduates are employed at graduation. Duke Law publishes multiple law journals and has a long list of notable alumni (including one US President, Richard Nixon.)
Duke Law also offers dual-degree JD programs, with Duke’s Graduate School, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke Divinity School, The Pratt School of Engineering, The Sanford School of Public Policy and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. Academic and professional dual degree programs, as well as law and business degree programs, are available.
North Carolina Central University School of Law
The second law school in Durham, it was founded to help the African-American community become lawyers. A historically under-represented population in law schools and the practice of law, law students are educated to become lawyers who can easily and adequately address the needs of under-served groups.
NCCU School of Law operates 15 student-run legal clinics for low-income clients. Specialties include Intellectual Property, Criminal Defense, Family Law, Domestic Violence, Civil Litigation, and other commonly needed services.
The Street Law program brings second- and third-year law students into middle or high school social studies classes to teach law basics. Students hands-on skills that also help in breaking down complex legal concepts for both students and juries, as well as the skills they will need dealing with clients and going into court. Bringing real-world law issues and concepts to high school students helps them better understand things like Civics and other static subjects. Topics like court systems (state and federal), the criminal law process, and Constitutional law are brought to students and fosters an interest in a future legal career.
UNC School of Law
Chapel Hill’s own law school is just 30 miles west of Raleigh, less than an hour on I-40 West. Like many of our law schools, UNC’s curriculum builds practical skills for a future in the legal workforce. Graduates are not only ready for private practice attorneys in law firms, they’re trained to work in a number of different roles and fields. Corporate law departments, public service as elected officials and other public sector jobs are just some of the jobs UNC law graduates are ready to tackle. “With a Carolina Law degree,” the website says, “our students can go anywhere.” Five previous NC governors are UNC alumni, as are 3 members of the 113th Congress.
US News & World Report rates UNC’s Law School as #45. While the first-year curriculum is the same for all students, second- and third-year students have more flexibility to choose the courses that best suit their career path. Through a partnership with Duke University Law School and North Carolina Central University School of Law, students can also choose courses at either of these schools if they’re not offered at UNC.
UNC also offers more than $2 million every year in scholarship money, helping reduce student expenses (and loans.) Six legal clinics, mentoring and a supportive environment offer students hands-on experience in multiple disciplines.
The UNC School of Law even has its own legal blog. Run by faculty member Jeff Welty, a criminal law specialist, the North Carolina Criminal Law blog is published “to disseminate information about, and to serve as a forum for the discussion of, North Carolina criminal law and procedure and related topics.”
Elon University School of Law
Greensboro is also a drive on I-40 west, but less than 100 miles, and a little over an hour from Raleigh. North Carolina’s newest law school, Elon opened in 2006 and became ABA accredited in 2011. The unique 2.5-year program means you’ll graduate in December, take the bar exam in February and be ready to begin your legal career in the spring. Students in other programs won’t take the bar exam until at least July.
Housed within the School of Law is the North Carolina Business Court, a working court. Real cases in corporate law and other complex commercial disputes are heard and presided over by a judge. The cases are assigned by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Elon is one of the few law schools in the US to have a working court.
One of the hallmarks of Elon Law School’s program is a residency for each student that’s directly relevant to the curriculum. Live experience is available year-round, instead of just during the summer months. Additional hands-on opportunities are available with Elon’s legal clinics, internships, and clerkships. Mock trials, moot courts, and attorney-led case simulations also offer real-world legal experience that prepares you for your legal career.
Tuition is 20% lower than the national average for private law schools. The shorter degree program means you’ll graduate sooner than most, and begin working while other graduates are still in school. Dual-degree programs are also available.
Wake Forest School of Law
Although Winston-Salem is a farther drive (about 103 miles west on I-40 West), Wake Forest’s School of Law may well be worth the move. Accredited by the American Bar Association and a member of the Association of American Law Schools, this top-tier law school emphasizes smaller classes. Graduates routinely have a high bar passage, with an 81% rate from the 2016 class. US News & World Report ranks Wake Forest at #32 in 2018. Graduates find full-time employment within 10 months after graduation. Degree programs include Juris Doctor as well as JD dual degrees.
Wake Forest’s School of Law focuses on “fundamental lawyering skills,” and encourages students to “consider the social and economic settings in which legal principles and rules operate and the ways in which lawyers use those principles and rules in practice.” Other, non-legal instruction is part of a law student’s education. Topics like technology, oral and written communications, and functioning in a world that is quickly and constantly changing are also important for students and graduates.
The School of Law also operates eight law clinics for the public, where law students work with clients under the auspices of professors:
- Appellate Advocacy
- Child Advocacy
- Community & Business Law
- Elder Law
- Innocence & Justice
- Civil & Criminal Externship
- Micro-Trade
- Veterans Legal
The clinics offer real-world, hands-on legal experience for students before graduation. They also provide valuable legal representation to members of the public who may not otherwise be able to get it.
DUI Attorney in Raleigh, North Carolina
Dewey P. Brinkley is a former Wake County prosecutor who will prepare a strong defense and make sure you receive a fair trial under the law. Contact our Raleigh law office today at (919) 832-0307 (or use our online contact form) for a free consultation. You can also email us at dewey@deweybrinkleylaw.com.