Summary: The brand new, $50 million building on the campus of Quinnipiac University is finally open to students and faculty members. It will house all five of the university’s graduate programs, including the law school.
Quinnipiac University law students will begin their academic year in a brand new building at the North Haven campus of the school, according to The New Haven Register. The building cost $50 million to construct.
The building is located at 370 Bassett Road and was built to house all five graduate programs at the university and to provide larger space for the School of Communications and Engineering. This school is moving into the law school’s former building on the Mount Carmel Campus.
President John Lahey said, “I’m very excited. The completion of the new school law center will mark the completion of the $240 million investment of the North Haven campus over the last five years.”
Professor of the law school, Jennifer Gerarda Brown, said, “I feel like I’ve lived and breathed this building.”
Brown worked on the building committee prior to becoming dean last year. She is also a professor. The new building will make it easier for law students and law faculty to work with members of the School of Health Sciences and Education. The program at the school is centered around health law and dispute resolution.
“This gives us an advantage we lacked on main campus (Mount Carmel campus) … this is access we haven’t had before,” Brown said.
The building provides students and faculty with a mock trial room, a faculty lounge, a library and a law clinic. Students offer free services to those with low amounts of income at the clinic.
“The new clinic was purposely made larger than the original one to provide services to those who can’t afford legal services,” Lahey said.
There are 292 students enrolled at the school right now, but Lahey hopes the brand new building will help grow enrollment after numbers dropped from 400.
“It’s designed to get back to 400, but it can hold up to 500,” Lahey said. “There’s a decline for the demand for lawyers. Even with the decline, we’re the only school in country to spend $50 million for a new (law)school. It shows that Quinnipiac has a long-term, strategic commitment to law. It reflects my confidence and the university’s confidence in Jen Brown.”
