A Message from Our Dean

Welcome to the Wilmington University School of Law. Our law school continues to grow and flourish. We welcomed our second class of first year students in August. We are excited to have another group that completely embraces our mission. Our inaugural class had a great summer. Legal experiences were available to every student who wanted one. Some were placed with judges and some interviewed and secured positions with firms and organizations. Many of these experiences were paid. We look forward having to our second years mentor their first-year colleagues. We are also preparing our application for ABA provisional approval. We will host a 6-person ABA team in Brandywine from October 28-30. We expect to a decision by the ABA in late February or early March. We should therefore know if we have provisional accreditation before the deposit deadline for the August, 2025 class. We are also following the construction of our new building which is scheduled to open for the start of classes in August 2025. This year promises to be a memorable one for our School of Law!

I continue to be overwhelmed by the reaction of the Delaware bench and bar to our School of Law. An amazing number of judges and practitioners have responded to our call for mentors, speakers, adjuncts and internships. All of these efforts benefit our students in myriad ways and contribute to the success of our first- year full time class in finding a legal experience for the summer. We are also being warmly received by judges and lawyers in southeast Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Legal opportunities abound in our region.

I won’t repeat here the unique attributes of our School of Law that are detailed throughout our website. However, I wanted to use this message to talk about two traits that are an integral part of the Wilmu Law experience. The first can be summed up in one word – CURIOSITY. Despite differences in background and experience, our faculty and staff were hired because they are all curious people. We all also strive to inspire curiosity in our students. Although we certainly emphasize learning the law and passing the bar, we want our students also to be curious about the law, to reflect on the broader theory of the law and its social impact.

We also want everyone in our School of Law to be a QUESTION ASKER (a phrase I borrowed from the philosopher Hannah Arendt). Question asking is the way in which curiosity expresses itself. In our classes, our faculty challenge all students to become question askers. This means more than just asking for clarification of a difficult concept. Our students are also expected to challenge why the law is the way it is. In addition, this trait is particularly important in the development of a new type of law school. I encourage our faculty, staff and students to question everything. I perceive our students as partners in the evolution of our School of Law and interpret being student centered as including the importance of student input as to what we can do better. Hannah Arendt believed that the ability to ask questions distinguished humans from all other life on the planet. While I may not be sure of that, I am convinced that being unafraid to ask questions is essential to being a good lawyer and helping us create an innovative School of Law.

If you are interested in a quality legal education and developing these traits in yourself, you should seriously consider attending the Wilmington University School of Law. We are doing things differently here and we may be the fit for which you are searching. The faculty, staff and I look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,
Phillip Closius, J.D.
Dean, School of Law