1. 568 Students Graduated
This year the George Washington Law School celebrated 568 graduates at its 158th Commencement on May 18, 2025. This year’s commencement ceremony featured keynote speaker Harold Hongju Koh, the Sterling Professor of International Law and former dean of the Yale Law School.
2. 75 Years of Van Vleck
2025 marked the 75th anniversary of the Van Vleck Moot Court Competition. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson anchored the bench alongside Chief Judge David J. Barron of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Judge Roopali H. Desai of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Read about the history of the competition
3. 62 Clerkships across 15 states
The Clerkship Class of 2025 included 62 recent graduates, who secured positions across 15 states. Of those 62 graduates, 30 accepted a position in a state court and 22 accepted a clerkship in a federal court.
Read about the Clerkship Class of 2025
4. 11 New Faculty Members Joined the GW Law Community
GW Law proudly welcomed an impressive group of 11 new faculty members at the start of the 2025-26 school year. They bring wide-ranging expertise in issues from first amendment and free speech to historic preservation and zoning law. These faculty members have already made their mark on GW Law.
Read more about why they joined GW Law
5. 45 Students Adapted to Federal Government Shutdown
GW Law’s Field Placement Office leveraged community and alumni connections to help at least 45 students find new, temporary positions when the federal government shutdown disrupted their field placements. The response was an example of GW Law’s close network of alumni, faculty, and students, who are all committed to supporting each other.
Read more about the impact of the shutdown
6. GW Law Clinics Get its 60 Minutes
CBS’ 60 Minutes showcased the GW Law Vaccine Injury Legal Clinic and Professor Renee Gentry in an episode that aired in October. The episode was one of multiple wins for the Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics program, which also sent student attorneys to trial in a prisoner rights case; had students help draft amicus briefs for Supreme Court arguments; and sent students to Capitol Hill to brief members of Congress.
7. 3 GW Law Experts Preview the October Supreme Court Term
GW Law hosted its annual Supreme Court Preview in October, including input from professors Alan B. Morrison, the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law; Spencer Overton, the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law; and Naomi Schoenbaum, the William Wallace Kirkpatrick Dean’s Research Professor of Law. Chris Geidner, a veteran Supreme Court reporter who writes and edits the online publication LawDork, moderated the conversation.
Read about the Supreme Court preview here
8. 100 Years of Stockton Hall
Stockton Hall celebrated its 100th birthday in 2025. Named after Admiral Charles H. Stockton, president of the university from 1910 to 1918, the building has become a cornerstone of the GW Law experience. GW Law Associate Dean for Information Services and Director of the Law Library Scott Pagel talked about the history of the building and its lasting impact in this video.
Learn more about Stockton Hall here
9. 289 Insightful Events
Our academic programs at GW Law hosted 289 events in 2025, featuring top leaders throughout legal disciplines. This year’s Shapiro Symposium brought in leading environmental law experts to talk about foreign investment and the environment while the annual Brand Manatt lecture featured insightful commentary from Dr. Jean-Marie Henckaerts of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
See upcoming events on the GW Law calendar
10. Over 600 Students Joined GW Law
We welcomed over 600 new students to GW Law this fall. The incoming class of students come from nine different countries and 49 different states, including Washington, D.C., and 344 of them speak more than one language.