Vermont Law and Graduate School

Our Mission Statement

“To educate students in a diverse community that fosters personal growth and that enables them to attain outstanding professional skills and high ethical values with which to serve as lawyers and environmental and other professionals in an increasingly technological and interdependent global society.”

Our Motto

Law for the community and the world.

History

Vermont Law and Graduate School – formerly Vermont Law School (VLS) – was established in 1972 and held its first classes in the summer of 1973 with 113 students in what was then known as the old South Royalton schoolhouse (and today is Debevoise Hall).

The law school hadn’t yet been approved by the American Bar Association—a factor of great concern, since most states require graduation from an ABA-approved law school for admission to the bar. In December 1973, VLS was certified by the Vermont Board of Education as an institution of higher learning. When the news came that the provisional ABA approval came in February 1975, bells rang and classes were canceled.

The charter class of VLGS graduated in the spring of 1976, receiving full approval from the ABA in 1978. By 1980, the school earned accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), and the following year, it became a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

The Environmental Law Center opened its doors in 1978 with eight master’s degree students. Now the center offers the most comprehensive environmental law and policy curriculum in the nation. Its program is consistently top-ranked by U.S. News & World Report and confers both the Master of Environmental Law and Policy (now Master of Climate and Environmental Policy) degree and the Master of Laws in Environmental Law (LLM) degree.