Overview

In 1975, Stanford University constructed Crown Quadrangle, the first facility built specifically for the law school. The building was designed for a full faculty of 35 at a time when these professors were the sole providers of legal instruction at the law school. For years, Crown Quadrangle provided the infrastructure that allowed the school to grow, adapt, and remain at the forefront of legal education, but now we must look ahead to the next critical stage of growth for the law school.

To do all that we are already doing and to accomplish all that we want for SLS, we need additional physical space. Without it, Stanford Law School cannot be the transformational institution that it historically has been and will and must be in the 21st century.

Our plans for the future have been developed in partnership with our key stakeholders: Stanford Law School faculty, students, and alumni. We now ask you to join us in our effort to garner the additional funds that will allow SLS to both break ground for the new academic building in 2009 and complete the Munger Graduate Residence.

The New Landscape of Legal Education

Today, law schools do—and need to do—much more than we did 30 years ago. The curriculum is broader; new kinds of courses are offered, requiring different types of space and teaching resources; and the student-to-faculty ratio is significantly reduced in each class.

The research mission of law schools has also changed dramatically. Legal scholarship is often empirical in nature, and research is frequently collaborative, being generated from within interdisciplinary centers. These research and teaching hubs play a significant—if not a central—role in developing new courses and opportunities for hands-on legal training and collaborative programs across the university and within the community.

In addition to full-time faculty, today's top law schools require professional staff capable of providing leadership and complex support to centers and clinics, as well as academic fellows who assist with teaching, work closely with students, and administer new programs. All of this also requires much more traditional administrative and technological support and space.

Why a new campus?

The original law school building housed 39 faculty; today, our faculty numbers 45 but must grow to 50 to fulfill our goals. In addition, we employ five or more senior lecturers who teach full-time, as well as 8-10 clinicians. Much of our research and teaching takes place within our 20 centers, each of which needs meeting rooms and office space for its directors and fellows; it is this group of senior academic program, public service, and clinic staff that represents our primary area of growth.

In addition to the original building's physical space constraints is the matter of the current culture of Stanford Law School. It is simply impossible to house our full faculty and the clinics in the current academic building, and it would be very detrimental to split them up; the experiences of other law schools bear this out. Additionally, the current building is poorly suited for the kind of interactive, dynamic law program we seek to develop. The faculty is isolated from each other and from students. There is no place for faculty and students to meet and interact casually, and the result is a building that often feels "dead."

Growth History and Projection

The New Academic Building

Slated for the footprint now occupied by Kresge Auditorium, the new academic building will provide 63,000 square feet of clinic, seminar, meeting, and office space that the law school needs. Over the past few years, numerous clinics, centers, fellows, and staff have been relocated—some even to off-campus facilities at great expense to the law school.

Buoyed by a lead gift from William H. Neukom, LLB '67, Stanford Law School is working with Polshek Partnership Architects to develop a physical campus plan for our most valuable assets and resources: our faculty and students. The new academic building will be efficient, smart, flexible, welcoming, and value-engineered to reduce its overall environmental impact. The structure will be built to satisfy the equivalent of a LEED Gold Certification by meeting key sustainability requirements in the areas of site planning; water management; energy use; materials, resources, and waste; indoor environmental quality; and innovation and design. For example, the new building will use 30 percent less energy than code requires through sophisticated control systems, ceiling fans, efficient glass, and ventilation, as well as an exterior trellis designed to maximize shade.

Built for the long term, the structure will both complement the existing campus and reflect the law school's vision for the future. Interior and exterior spaces will encourage collaboration and interaction, providing easy, convenient communication among and between students and faculty. Quiet areas for research, writing, and small group projects also have been integrated into the building design.

Gift Opportunities

Stanford Law School needs to raise additional funds to complete the new academic building and the Munger Graduate Residence. Many naming opportunities exist in the two buildings, including:

• The Law Clinic Suite in the new academic building
• The Great Hall at the Munger Graduate Residence, a versatile space for formal events, academic conferences, professional programs, and student and alumni events
• Major public areas in the academic building, including the main lobby, the corner lobbies, and the bridge
• Conference rooms in the Munger Graduate Residence or academic building
• The Dean's Suite, the faculty lounge, and other interior and exterior spaces

Please consider supporting interdisciplinary living and learning and our expanding programs and curriculum at Stanford Law School. For more information about these special gift opportunities, please contact the Office of External Relations at 650.736.1238.