Law Schools, Money, Plaintiffs Firms, Student Loans

Loyola Chicago Sells Its Naming Rights Renames Building for Alumnus

By  
on

UPDATE / CORRECTION: After we noticed comments 34 and 41, we reached out to Loyola Law School for clarification. A Loyola spokesperson confirmed that the Chicago Tribune made an error: Loyola has renamed its main building for Philip Corboy, but NOT the school itself. For a correct account of what has taken place, see the law school’s press release.

We regret our replication of the Chicago Tribune’s error. Thanks to our commenters for bringing the mistake to our attention.
FURTHER UPDATE: The Tribune has corrected its story, but without noting the fact that it was corrected. Most publications, such as the New York Times and Slate, will note substantial corrections after they are made. Here at Above the Law, we will also explicitly note corrections that go to matters of substance (as opposed to, say, typographical errors).
We mentioned this already in Morning Docket, but the decision by Loyola – Chicago bears further discussion. We know that the overall economy has made things difficult on law schools. Tuition keeps going up, despite nearly record numbers of new applicants. So one should applaud a law school for getting a major boost to its endowment.
Loyola – Chicago received a huge gift, so massive that the school has decided to change its name its main building name in honor of the donor. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law will be renamed the Philip H. Corboy Law Center after the noted alumnus and prominent personal injury attorney who donated the largest single gift in the law school’s history, it will be announce Monday.

Some might argue that a decrease in the confusing proliferation of law schools named after St. Ignatius Loyola — we already have Loyola of Chicago, Loyola of Los Angeles, and Loyola of New Orleans — is a good thing. But was going with Philip Corboy the right move? Wasn’t Henry Walpole available?
More details after the jump.


It should go without saying that Phillip Corboy is not a Jesuit saint. Instead, he is a famous personal injury attorney. But, in a way, Mr. Corboy was also persecuted for his religion:

“There are very few living lawyers who have had the kind of impact Phil Corboy has,” said David Yellen, the law school’s dean. “He largely transformed the practice of personal injury law. … He’s been a teacher and mentor to a couple of generations of leading lawyers in the country.”
Even though Corboy graduated first in his 1949 class, major firms were not interested in hiring “an Irish Catholic graduate of a local school,” Yellen said. So Corboy went to work for the City of Chicago’s corporation counsel for a year before joining a firm that specialized in personal injury law. In a few years, he established his own firm, now known as Corboy & Demetrio.

I’m convinced that Corboy deserves to have a law school named after him. But does it look like Loyola is selling out?
Even if the school is selling out, so what? As long as that money trickles down to the students and helps keep tuition low during the worst legal economy anyone can remember, who cares what the school is named? Would you rather pay $X to go to Loyola – Chicago law school, or less than $X to go to Phillip Corboy Law Center – Presented by Gino’s?
UPDATE / CORRECTION: Once again, please note the correction at the top of this post. Loyola has renamed its building for Mr. Corboy, NOT the entire law school.
Loyola University Chicago School of Law Receives Historic Gift – Famed Trial Lawyer Philip H. Corboy Honored With Building Naming Rights [Loyola University of Chicago (press release)]
Loyola University law school will be named after personal injury lawyer Philip H. Corboy [Chicago Tribune]
Earlier: Public Law School Tuition On The Rise

Sponsored

Topics