At a Glance

Get to know America's first law school.

William & Mary Law School is one of five graduate and professional programs at William & Mary.

William & Mary is the second oldest institution of higher learning in America.
William & Mary was the first to offer professional education in law (1779).
Three American presidents—Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Tyler—were educated at William & Mary. (Four if we count George Washington's surveyor's license.) Jefferson went on to read law with George Wythe, a Williamsburg lawyer and one of the most distinguished lawyers in colonial America. Wythe became William & Mary's—and the nation's—first professor of law in 1779.
William & Mary Law School is historically known as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law and has been accredited by the ABA since 1932. For more information regarding ABA accreditation contact: Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60610, (312) 988-6738.

Distinguished scholars and practitioners in numerous fields including criminal law, environmental law, constitutional law, human rights, antitrust, legal ethics, intellectual property, international law, and post-conflict justice.