Marshall-Wyeth law school was founded in 1779. This makes it considerably younger than the university of which it is a part --- William and Mary --- which was founded in 1693 in Williamsburg. Presidents Jefferson, Monroe and Tyler all studied at this school, as well as Henry Clay and Chief Justice John Marshall. Admission standards are strict, and the 2011 class contained only 651 students. Annual tuition fees as of 2011 are $23,800 for Virginia residents, and $33,800 for non-residents
Thomas Jefferson founded Charlottesville's University of Virginia School of Law in 1819. The law school's student profile for the upcoming class of 2013 shows that only 368 students have been accepted from a pool of 8,560 applicants. The median GPA for admission is 3.85. Annual tuition for Virginia residents is $42,500 as of 2011. Tuition for non-residents is $47,500. Charlottesville is also the hometown of the Dave Matthew's Band, a perk for music-loving law students.
Washington and Lee in Lexington was founded in 1749, but the school of law originated several years after the end of the Civil War in 1870. An endowment to the university --- provided by George Washington --- was so large that it still funds a percentage of the institution. Robert E. Lee was named president of the university after his surrender at Appomattox.
The Washington and Lee law school admitted 410 students in 2011. The student-to-faculty ratio of 9.42-to-1 is considered one of the best in the U.S. The law school publishes the "Law Review," the "German Law Review," the "Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice" and the "Journal of Energy, Climate and the Environment." Tuition fees in 2010 were $38,875.
The T.C. Williams School of Law, located at the University of Richmond, was established in 1870. Tuition costs for 2011 were $35,430 per year. The student-to-faculty ratio at T.C. Williams is 14-to-1, and specialty programs cover a wide variety of areas. Students might choose to focus on constitutional and civil rights, environmental law, criminal law, corporate law, litigation, intellectual property or public interest and public policy.