Celebrating 125 Years

Celebrate 125 Years of SLS

2018 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of Stanford Law. As we celebrate this milestone, we honor our Stanford roots and the forward-looking principles that guided our founding — as relevant today as they were in 1893.

Educating future lawyers, leaders, scholars and teachers … generating new knowledge that shapes practice and policy … evolving to reflect law’s global, interdisciplinary scope … emphasizing immersive, experiential learning … cultivating a community of distinction …  These priorities reflect the commitment to innovation and impact that gave rise to SLS and that drives us forward.

SLS has always been more about the future than the past. This year, we invite our community to imagine beyond Stanford Law’s first 125 years as, together, we answer the questions that define us:  What’s next? And how can we continue to make a difference?

SLS Stories

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Interviewing 7

Share Your SLS Moment

What stands out in your memory as quintessential SLS? Maybe it’s a stimulating course, a memorable professor or staff member or an inspiring colleague or classmate.  It could be a moment when you recognized the law school’s impact in the world or found yourself able to make a difference because of Stanford Law. Maybe there’s a particular SLS achievement that speaks to you, or a bit of lore that sums up the community for you.

Moments, memories, and impressions like these are all part of the 125 years of SLS we celebrate as a community in 2018. Don’t let our anniversary year end without making your mark on it.

Share your SLS moment

Welcome to Trimble City

I was and am still inspired by Professor Hank Greely, who joined the faculty in 1985, the same year our class entered SLS. We all attended his class on real property law. I expect all of my classmates will remember the many practical lessons in legal issues encountered during property transactions, which culminated in an interactive exercise that had the entire class assigned roles within an imaginary town. That town was ultimately renamed Trimble City after our classmate Elizabeth Trimble ‘88, who in her role as the town’s wealthiest citizen donated a significant portion of her wealth to save the town from being assessed higher property taxes.

John Fotiadis '88

Bouquets and Beefeaters

One of my best 1L memories is walking into our small section’s last final of fall semester (Contracts!), seeing four bouquets of flowers taped to the whiteboard and realizing my name was next to one of them. Ben Hernandez-Stern ‘06 had gotten there early to set up the surprise for me and the other members of our study group: Heather Mitchell ‘06, Christin Hill (Munson) ‘06, and Stefanie Alpert (Schneider) ‘06. I also remember winning two pitchers of beer for my Beefeater costume at a Halloween Bar Review. I’m pretty certain I won because the costume was very clearly homemade!

Valerie Castelo '06

Before the Tech Tidal Wave

Our class was one of the last to graduate in the pre-internet, pre-cell phone era, which now seems as distant as the Pleistocene. We got a first-rate legal education, but I can’t remember a single course that anticipated the technological tidal wave to come. (I loved my copyright course, but it was about books printed on paper, for God’s sake). In spring semester of my third year, I shared a house with a computer science grad student, and I remember a conversation at our kitchen table when he told me about work he was doing on something called ARPANET. I had no idea what he was talking about. If I had listened more carefully, maybe I would have become a zillionaire.

David Furth '83

Portals on the Past, Inspiration for the Future

At SLS, we are proud of our history.  What motivates us?  The future.  Explore these portals onto SLS’s past to experience the people, the places, and the priorities that shaped Stanford Law’s first 125 years and that will inspire our next chapter.