FEATURES states outside of Florida, the inaugural class had achieved an ultimate bar pass rate of 92.3 %. It’ s a remarkable accomplishment for a first showing at the bar. Yet this rapid ascent hasn’ t occurred despite the school’ s newness; rather, it’ s happened because of it.
While other well-established institutions have decadeslong histories behind them, Randall C. Berg Jr. Dean Nicholas Allard believes the school’ s blank slate allows it to be at the cutting edge of legal education.“ Things that law schools have never really focused on, we’ re focusing on them,” he said. Having identified seven key priorities to guide the future of the school, Dean Allard is intent on weaving each
into the fabric of the overall educational experience, where real, practical learning extends far beyond theory.“ In the world where the only constant, paradoxically is accelerating change, we don’ t want this new school to ever become old school,” he said.
When it launched in 2022, the College of Law became the first new law school in Florida in more than 20 years. With Jacksonville experiencing rapid growth and now ranking as the 10th most populous city in the U. S., it was an opportune moment for the university to invest in a law school that could meet the region’ s burgeoning demand for legal talent and resources.
Dean Allard likens the way the school was built— is being
built— to that of a startup. He credits the momentum to the energy of the students, staff and faculty who chose JU precisely because they wanted to embrace the challenge. He shares that they were“ test pilots” collectively helping to build the plane mid-flight.
“ I think we’ re all very aware of how special it is that we’ re kind of creating the culture and what it means to be a JU law student,” said third-year law student Marissa Abry van der Zee.“ I think we all take that really seriously in terms of the way that we interact with each other and with people in the community.”
In August 2024, the school moved into its new home inside the historic former Atlantic National Bank
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