By the numbers

Duke’s Law School has 621 JD students and 83 graduate students enrolled. The school employs 52 governing faculty.

Highlights

Katharine T. Bartlett, A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law, completed her successful tenure as dean of Duke Law School in June of 2007. She was succeeded by David F. Levi, former chief U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of California. The wealth of experience Levi brings to Duke includes 17 years as a federal judge, earlier service as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, and leadership positions in federal law reform.

Dean David F. Levi

The Law School embarked on the largest building project in its history in May, one that includes building a 4,200-square-foot, atrium-like public space to be known as the Star Commons, renovating the library, and adding outdoor spaces.

The Center for International and Comparative Law launched with a series of programs and lectures, including a discussion of the investigation into corruption of the U.N.’s Oil-for-Food Program and two perspectives on transatlantic differences in approach to international law and institutions.

Awards and recognition

Former Dean Katharine T. Bartlett was honored with Equal Justice Works’s Dean John R. Kramer Award for 2006.

Associate Dean for Public Interest and Pro Bono Carol Spruill was honored with Duke University’s 2006 Blue Ribbon Diversity Award.

Professor George Christie, James B. Duke Professor of Law, received an honorary degree from the University of Athens on April 30. Christie was honored with the title doctor honoris causa -- the highest given by the institution.

Duke Law’s Board of Public Interest and Pro Bono received the North Carolina Bar Association's 2007 Outstanding Law Student Pro Bono Project Award.

The student organization OUTLaw was selected as a 2007 recipient of the American Bar Association's "Certificate of Excellence in Diversity Initiatives" award.

Major gifts

Duke Law School's board of visitors, alumni, and friends have established the Edgar P. & Elizabeth C. Bartlett Fund to honor Katharine T. Bartlett’s outstanding service as dean of Duke Law School, as well as her distinguished scholarship.

Donations of $1 million each were received from J. Michael Goodson ’66 and Steve Brooks, a friend of the Law School. Other leadership gifts came from David Noble ’66 ($300,000), Stanley Star ’61, Mark Fishman ’78, and George Krouse ’70 ($100,000 each).

The Class of 2007 class gift hit an all-time high of $386,283, including $182,282 in gifts and pledges from members of the class, an anonymous contribution of $100,000 and a matching gift of $100,000 from a pool of challenge funds through Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative.