VMDO Architects

William & Mary's Law School is one of five graduate and professional schools at the College of William & Mary. Founded in 1693, William & Mary is the second oldest college in the United States and was the first to offer professional education in law. Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, and Tyler were educated at the College. Both Jefferson and Monroe, as well as Henry Clay and John Marshall, studied law with George Wythe – who became William & Mary’s (and the nation’s) first professor of law in 1779. The Law School is historically known as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law and has been accredited by the ABA since 1932.

The Law School’s Hixon Center for Experiential Learning and Leadership provides a significant, warm, and welcoming place and helps to build an educational and cultural community. The two-story, 12,000 sf building stands on the north side of the current Law School campus on South Henry Street and opened in in time for fall 2017 classes. The Center supports William & Mary’s mission to train citizen lawyers – men and women who are not only skilled advocates, but are also caring citizens and leaders in law and in their communities. The Center serves as a vital hub for William & Mary’s highly regarded Legal Practice Program and provides professional spaces for nine legal clinics and associated leadership activities.

All nine of the school’s clinics are located on the first floor. In addition to client interview rooms and a multipurpose conference room / clinical classroom, the program includes meeting areas that support managing attorneys with meeting individually with students enrolled in the clinics. The Legal Practice Program and the school’s leadership activities are located on the second floor and include offices for faculty to provide one-on-one instruction to students, two classrooms, and a new courtroom. The courtroom will provide additional space for trial and appellate advocacy training. A glass-paneled common area connects the Hixon Center to the Law School entrance hall and provides casual seating for study and conversation.

The Center for Experiential Learning and Leadership goes beyond theory to provide students with a resource to develop the practical skills necessary for becoming successful attorneys.