The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D.C.
GW Law has an alumni network that includes notable people within the fields of law and government, including former U.S. attorney general William P. Barr, former U.S. secretary of the interior David Bernhardt, foreign heads of state, judges of the International Court of Justice, ministers of foreign affairs, former director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization Árpád Bogsch, former director of the CIA Allen Dulles, members of U.S. Congress, U.S. state governors, four directors of the FBI, and numerous federal judges.
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History
19th century
The George Washington University Law School was founded in the 1820s but closed in 1826 due to low enrollment. The first two professors were William Cranch, chief justice of the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia and William Thomas Carroll, a descendant of Charles Carroll the Settler and clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1827 until his death in 1863. The law school was reestablished in 1865 and was the first law school in the District of Columbia.
Law classes resumed in 1865 in the Old Trinity Episcopal Church, and the school graduated its first class of 60 students in 1867. The Master of Laws degree program began in 1897.
20th century
In 1900, the school was one of the founding members of the Association of American Law Schools.
GW Law has one of the oldest intellectual property programs in the US. Its alumni have contributed to various technological advancements, including involvement in the patent for the Wright brothers' flying machine, granted on May 22, 1906.
The school was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1923.
In 1954, it merged with National University School of Law. The law school operated under the name National Law Center for the 37 years from 1959 to 1996, when it was renamed George Washington University Law School.
Academics
Admissions
For the class entering in the fall of 2025, 2,644 out of 9,718 J.D. applicants (27%) were offered admission, with 595 matriculating. The 25th and 75th LSAT percentiles for the 2024 full-time entering class were 162 and 170, respectively, with a median of 168. The 25th and 75th undergraduate GPA percentiles were 3.55 and 3.93, respectively, with a median of 3.86.
Rankings and reputation
In 2026, U.S. News & World Report ranks GW Law as tied for the 26th top law school out of 195 in the United States.
Curriculum
GW Law offers numerous summer programs, including a joint program with the University of Oxford for the study of international human rights law at New College, Oxford each July.
Student recognition
Instead of supplying students with individual class rankings, the top 1–15% of the class are designated as George Washington Scholars, while the top 16–35% of the class are designated as Thurgood Marshall Scholars.
Publications
GW Law publishes ten journals:
The George Washington Law Review
The George Washington International Law Review
The George Washington Business & Finance Law Review
The Federal Circuit Bar Journal
The American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal
The Public Contract Law Journal
The Federal Communications Law Journal
George Washington Journal of Law & Technology
The Journal of Energy and Environmental Law
International Law in Domestic Courts Journal
Student life
In the 2018–19 academic year, GW Law had 1,525 J.D. students, of which 25% were minorities and 51% were female.
Students enrolled in the J.D. program come from 206 colleges and 11 countries. The law school also enrolls students from approximately 45 countries each year in its Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degree programs.
Campus
GW Law is located in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood.
The Jacob Burns Law Library holds a collection of more than 700,000 volumes.
The law school currently occupies nine buildings on the main campus of The George Washington University. The law school's main complex comprises five buildings anchored by Stockton Hall (1924) located on the University Yard, the central open space of GW's urban campus. Renovated extensively between 2001 and 2003, these buildings adjoin one another, have internal passageways, and function as one consolidated complex. Three townhouses directly across from the main complex house the Community Legal Clinics, Student Bar Association, and student journal offices.
Post-graduation employment
According to GW Law's official 2023 ABA-required disclosures, 90.0% of the Class of 2023 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage-required, non-school funded employment ten months after graduation.
Costs
The total cost of full-time attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at GW Law for the 2024-2025 academic year was $106,471. GW Law's tuition and fees on average increased by 4.1% annually over the past five years.
The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $328,263. The average indebtedness of the 76% of 2013 GW Law graduates who took out loans was $123,693.