launch

POSITIONS AFFIRMED

When Jessica Berg and Michael Scharf assumed temporary leadership of Case Western Reserve School of Law in 2013, one of the smallest classes in history had just arrived—and the next year's applications were down by half.

Yet the pair not only expressed optimism—they also felt it.

"We had a combined 25 years at the school at that point," Berg, JD, MPH (GRS '09, public health), and Scharf, JD, said in a statement, "so we knew just how much potential existed." Berg also is the Tom J.E. and Bette Lou Walker Professor of Law and a professor of bioethics and public health; Scharf also is director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center and the Joseph C. Hostetler - BakerHostetler Professor of Law.

By this August, the school had capitalized on so much of that promise that President Barbara R. Snyder couldn't even list all of the gains when she announced the two would be interims no longer. Citing "outstanding" results, she instead spoke of high hopes for yet more progress.

"We have been humbled by the way everyone has rallied to advance the school," Berg and Scharf continued.

"As great as we thought the community was, people have exceeded all of our expectations."

Since 2013, the school has:

• Dramatically grown admissions applications
• Substantially improved the academic credentials of the entering classes
• Significantly increased the proportion of students employed nine months after graduation
• Notably enhanced fundraising—in 2015, the school set all-time records for annual attainment and single largest commitment

Altogether, these and other achievements helped the school move up nine notches over the past two years in U.S. News & World Report annual rankings released in the spring. This summer, meanwhile, the school tied with Notre Dame for the 25th position in a ranking of the scholarly impact of the nation's top 70 law schools. Case Western Reserve's position this year is 13 slots higher than in the previous study of faculty citations, completed in 2012.

These outcomes give the school meaningful momentum as the deans open their first year without "interim" in their title. But it's clear that they recognize the imperative of continuing to push on all fronts. Despite the school's recent admissions success, overall applications to law schools continue to decline—just over 6 percent in the last school year, and more than 40 percent over the last decade. National legal employment rates climbed for the class of 2014—the first time the annual figure has increased since 2007—but observers counsel caution because the size of that class was smaller than in other years.

Yet again, though, the deans have hope. The new, more hands-on curriculum enters its third fall this year, alumni continue to offer help with admissions and employment, and philanthropy is so strong the school increased its capital campaign goal by $10 million—to $42 million—in June.

"We are excited for the year," the deans said. "We have extraordinary students, alumni, faculty and staff, and we know we can work together to achieve exceptional progress."