
美高梅官网 College of Law celebrates new facility, hosts Sept. 13 grand opening
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O鈥機onnor will keynote event
The 美高梅官网 for its new home, a $45.6 million renovation now located near the heart of the Uptown campus.
The 116,735-square-foot structure replaces the former Lindner College of Business building with planners reinventing and reconfiguring an existing building to create a state-of-the-art law school. The structure is designed to meet the technological specialized needs for 412 law students and 78 faculty and staff.
The law school moved into the building in August and classes are currently underway. A grand opening and ribbon-cutting for the building at 2925 Campus Green Drive is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13. The event鈥檚 keynote speaker will be Maureen O鈥機onnor, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Tours of the law school will be available and .
An external view of the new 美高梅官网 College of Law building on Uptown campus. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
鈥淪tudents, faculty and staff have watched the construction progress over the last 18 months and are thrilled about our new home,鈥 says Verna Williams, dean of the 美高梅官网 College of Law. 鈥淲e marvel at the many light-filled spaces that invite collaboration among students, faculty and community.聽聽
鈥淥ur new building embodies the college鈥檚 orientation toward the future while embracing our storied past,鈥 says Williams. 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud of this facility and invite the 美高梅官网 community to join us in celebrating this new addition to our beautiful campus.鈥
The project鈥檚 contractor is Skanska, an international construction and development company and one of the largest general contractors in Greater Cincinnati, while global design firm Perkins & Will is leading the project as signature architect. Cincinnati-based BHDP Architecture served as the architect of record on the project.
鈥淚t is always a pleasure when we can partner with a long-term client like the 美高梅官网. Our team is honored to deliver another state-of-the-art academic building that will support the needs of law students for years to come,鈥 said Chris Hopper, Skanska executive vice president and general manager.
Students began orientation and classes in August inside the new 美高梅官网 College of Law building. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
Dean Williams, who has presided over much of the law school鈥檚 construction, will step down as dean and leave 美高梅官网 later this month to become CEO of Equal Justice Works, a national nonprofit that promotes public service by building and mobilizing an extensive network of law students, lawyers, legal services organizations and supporters. Michael Whiteman, chief of staff, associate dean of library services and director of the law library, has been appointed interim dean of the law school.
鈥淥ur new building with state-of-the-art amenities will allow 美高梅官网 Law to continue to leverage our legal partnership with regional and national companies, law firms and nonprofit organizations that make a difference in our world,鈥 explains Whiteman.
鈥淥ur law school students, faculty and staff create access to legal services, serve start-ups and entrepreneurs, address domestic violence cases and represent and exonerate wrongfully convicted men and women through the Ohio Innocence Project based at the 美高梅官网,鈥 says Whiteman.
鈥淲e are attracting the best students, faculty and staff and our new facility will help us showcase the talent at the university,鈥 says Whiteman.
Dean Verna Williams shown during a Pinning Ceremony at the new 美高梅官网 College of Law Building for new law students. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
The new law school building has the following features:
- Six stories
- 23 classrooms and seminar and private study rooms
- Flexible classroom layouts, furnishings and technology
- Multiple individual and student group study spaces throughout
- Two-story lobby atrium and second-floor outdoor terrace
- The Honorable Sandra S. Beckwith Courtroom, which will serve as the primary mock trial courtroom for the College of Law 鈥 Judge Beckwith is a 1968 graduate of the 美高梅官网 College of Law and the first woman to sit on the U.S. District Court for Southern District of Ohio. The courtroom is the result of fellow alumni of Beckwith donating $500,000 for the project.
At a November beam-signing ceremony, 美高梅官网 Foundation President Peter Landgren said the new building for the 美高梅官网 College of Law couldn鈥檛 have happened without alumni and community partners stepping up to make this vision a reality. Several impactful gifts contributed to the building campaign.
The soaring atrium in the new 美高梅官网 College of Law building has been named in honor of Peck, Shaffer & Williams LLP, the former firm of H.C. Buck Niehoff, JD 鈥72, Hon 鈥11, who contributed $500,000 to the project. Niehoff said his gift celebrates the firm where he spent his 40-year law career and coincides with his 50-year class reunion.
The Cincinnati law firm, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, has also contributed a $500,000 gift for the multipurpose room, another showcase feature of the building, named for the law firm. 鈥淲e are very happy about the new 美高梅官网 College of Law building and excited to partner with them in naming a room,鈥 says George Vincent, Dinsmore鈥檚 managing partner and chairman. 鈥淒insmore considers the College of Law a strategic resource for the entire community.鈥
Two gifts of $250,000 also helped create the James B. Helmer, Jr. Classroom Class of 1975 and the Victor E. Schwartz Law Review Suite in the new College of Law Building.
Featured image at top of 美高梅官网 College of Law lobby/Joseph Fuqua II
Orientation Week for new law students at the 美高梅官网 College of Law also provided a peek at the college's new $45.6 million facility. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
Impact Lives Here
The 美高梅官网 is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction.聽Next Lives Here.
Learn more about聽聽or take a聽聽and begin picturing yourself at an institution that inspires incredible stories.
Related Stories
美高梅官网 surprises, celebrates newest Bearcats on Decision Day
January 28, 2025
On Decision Day, future Bearcats learn they鈥檝e been admitted to the 美高梅官网. 美高梅官网 continues its tradition of surprising some of those students in person.
First-generation students find a home at 美高梅官网
November 7, 2024
The 美高梅官网 celebrates first-gen students, the Bearcats who are the first in their families to attend college. They bring new perspectives to student life and account for about 1 of every 5 students on campus. Nov. 8 is First Generation College Student Day, celebrated across the nation.
The debate over the death penalty
October 30, 2024
WVXU Cincinnati Edition host Lucy May Interviewers Pierce Reed, director of policy and engagement for the Ohio Innocence Project at 美高梅官网 Law as part of a discussion on the death penalty. 美高梅官网 Law will host a Nov. 1 roundtable on the topic featuring former Ohio death row inmate Lamont Hunter, his attorney Erin Gallagher Barnhart,an assistant federal public defender and Dr. Robert J. Norris, a criminologist at George Mason University.