Dean Brian Gallini said preLaw’s latest round of high marks further solidifies Quinnipiac School of Law’s reputation as a premier institution for legal education and innovation.

“It’s a distinct testament to the overarching legal education that we provide,” said Gallini. “Providing the technical legal knowledge of becoming a lawyer is of course critically important, but the wisdom of the Quinnipiac educational model sees it’s also about developing a sense of professional identity; the role of character of the attorney and how they show up, authentically, to be their best selves for the benefit of individual clients and also for our society and the region.”

Gallini said the recognition is a credit to the work of former Dean Jennifer Brown and the faculty to foster and adopt the school’s mission of developing the whole lawyer to serve the whole client. After nearly a decade of leadership, Brown stepped down on June 30 with Gallini as her successor.

As a top school for women in leadership, the school of law’s supportive and inclusive environment was recognized by preLaw for making strides in developing female representation in the law profession. Associate Dean of Students Kathy Kuhar said the recognition is indicative of the school’s work to provide many leadership opportunities to all students.

“As women are becoming more visible in leadership in the law, we will continue to do our best to cultivate leadership among women, as we do for all of our students,” said Kuhar.

The school has an active Women’s Law Society which brings in speakers to help women navigate their professional journey as attorneys. One recent speaker was Brooke Goff JD ’14, founding partner of Connecticut’s largest woman-owned and managed personal injury law firm. The notable alumna is also the namesake of the Brooke A. Goff Courtroom at Quinnipiac School of Law. Recently, Goff committed $500,000 to the Quinnipiac School of Law to create the Goff Law Group Endowed Law Scholarship to benefit members of the LGBTQ+ community and other underserved students.

Another remarkable alumna, Board of Trustees member Lynne L. Pantalena, JD ’85, recently made a $3 million gift to fund a named faculty chair at Quinnipiac School of Law.

Kuhar also noted the Quinnipiac Law community is served this year by a number of female student leaders including Student Bar Association President Catherine Bailey, JD ’25.

“In addition to our female president, a number of our executive board members for the Student Bar Association are female,” said Kuhar. “We also have three student-run journals, and two out of the three editors-in-chief are women.”

Quinnipiac’s top family law ranking by preLaw is a tribute to a concentration that offers a cutting-edge understanding of family-related legal issues and alternative dispute resolution with an innovative, interprofessional approach.  In addition to extensive clinic and externship course opportunities, the program’s nationally recognized Center on Dispute Resolution hosts a variety of symposia, professional workshops and special training sessions.

“The family law component of our curriculum is one that the school has taken great pride in over the decades,” Gallini said. “It’s with that pride we serve the State of Connecticut and those who do the work of serving the citizens of the state, as family law has always been a critical component of that. So to be recognized at a national level is very gratifying.”

In another remarkable accolade, preLaw has once again honored Quinnipiac’s health law program with an A+ on the national publication’s honor roll. Since 2017, the program has been ranked A+ every year by preLaw, with the exception of an A- in 2018.

Quinnipiac’s Director of Health Law Concentration, Leonard A. Dwarica, noted the school is one of only eight with health law programs nationwide to be ranked A+ by preLaw this year. Quinnipiac stands in the prestigious company of several larger, older law schools.

Dwarica credits the health law program’s students, alumni practicing health law and the highly experienced members of the program’s administration, faculty and adjunct faculty as important components to its continued success.

“To see that we’re an A+ program once again is very gratifying. It’s the result of the students and the faculty and of course our alumni as well, all of which have combined to put Quinnipiac on the map for this program,” said Dwarica.

Quinnipiac’s health law program provides unique learning opportunities developed in collaboration with the neighboring Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine on the North Haven Campus. Dwarica also serves as co-director of the medical school’s health policy and advocacy concentration, one example of how the health law program also can affect students beyond those within the law school.

Dwarica said interprofessional collaboration with Quinnipiac’s medical, nursing and health sciences schools give health law concentration students unprecedented access and insight into policy and advocacy issues related to their legal work and the healthcare industry.

Gallini said receiving top preLaw rankings across a variety of categories in the 2024 Back to School issue speaks to the comprehensive nature of the curriculum offered by Quinnipiac School of Law.

“I think it’s a testament to faculty strength across a range of areas,” said Gallini. “I love that we’re able to celebrate contributions from so many areas of faculty distinction.