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Hastings & Hastings is widely considered to be a Phoenix institution. Founded in 1979 by David Hastings, who graduated just two hours south of here in Tucson, Arizona, from the University of Arizona James E. Rodgers College of Law, Hastings & Hastings has grown along with the great city of Phoenix. David Hastings founded Hastings & Hastings with one clear mission in mind, to provide the highest quality representation for accident victims at an affordable rate. David Hastings created the Discount Accident Fee because he believed that lawyer’s fees were too high in accident cases. After all, it is the accident victims who have endured the hardship, not the lawyers. It is the accident victims who should walk home with the bulk of any financial settlement.
The city of Phoenix, and Hastings & Hastings have grown together over the year. Phoenix is now the 6th largest city in the nation, and with eleven Valley locations, Hastings & Hastings has grown into one of Phoenix’s largest personal injury law firms. Contributing in large part to the growth of Phoenix, has been the growth and success of Arizona State University. ASU is currently home to over 86,000 students, employees and academic staff of over 3,000 and is considered one of the nation’s top research universities.
Arizona State University is also home to the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, which is ranked 25 in the nation. The law school was founded in 1965. At the time it was called the Arizona State University College of Law. In 1969 it was accredited by the American Bar Association. With an outstanding Bar pass rate of 83.7%, the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law graduates hundreds top-quality legal professional each and every year. And the future is looking bright for ASU’s law school. On August 15th, the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law officially opened its $129 million state-of-the-art Center for law and Society building in vibrant downtown Phoenix.
“This is more than just a move to a new building. It is a major part of our city and state’s future. This move will establish Phoenix and Arizona as the home of a great educational institution and will greatly contribute to the well-being of our fellow citizens,” said Michael M. Crow, president of Arizona State University.
Today, we are going to take a close look at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and the new Arizona Center for Law and Society.
The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
As we have just discussed, the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is the 25th ranked law school in the United States. They offer a scholastic catalog of over 250 unique courses and allow students to tailor their education to best fit their interested and ambitions. With an excellent student-to-faculty ration, students at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law have easy access to a team of faculty scholars boasting over 300 years of combined experience practicing law.
The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law offers the best bar pass rated of any law school in Arizona. It also ranks top 20 in the nation for securing graduates substantive legal jobs within 10 months of graduation. Of the graduating class of 2014, 87 percent had secured employment within 10 months of graduating. At the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, they believe that graduates should be a part of their legal community for law.They encourage this by offering career service at no charge even after graduation, and through continued legal educational programs.
Finally, before we dive into the specifics of the new Arizona Center for Law and Society building, we should touch on Sandra Day O’Connor herself, the namesake of Arizona State University’s prestigious College of Law.
Sandra Day O’Connor was the first women to serve as an associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. She was appointed in 1979 by Ronald Reagan and served until 2006. Before serving on the Supreme Court of the United States, Sandra Day O’Connor was a judge right here in Arizona. She also worked as the assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965 to 1969, as a state senator from 1973-1974, and served on the Arizona State Court of Appeals from 1979-1981, when she was nominated by Ronald Reagan. Initially, Sandra Day O’Connor’s voting records closely aligned with the conservative bloc of justices which included Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist. However, her stance shifted and she became a swing vote who could shift between the predominate political blocs on the Supreme Court.
Arizona Center for Law and Society
On August 15, 2016, Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law held the official Grand Opening of the Arizona Center for Law and Society. The building is built as a “state-of-the-art symbol for a new model of legal education.”
Located at 111 E Taylor St., just two miles south of the I 10 freeway, the new home of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is truly a site to behold. The sweeting six-story, 280,000-square foot facility embraces open design in a way that the designers, Thomas Rossant of Ennead Architects in collaboration with Jones Studios, hope will encourage interaction, collaboration, and public involvement. This vision for openness was one supported by Dean Douglas Sylvester. In the center of the building lays a large atrium which is open to the public.
The Grand Opening of the Arizona Center for Law and Society was a day long in coming. The project first began gaining momentum in 2009, as talks of relocating the law school campus took shape. Shortly after, downtown Phoenix was chosen as the destination for the relocations. Law school officials wanted their campus to be located close to the heart of Phoenix, near courtrooms, law firms, and the capital building itself. The hope was that the new campus could positively impact the “physical, educational, social, and economic landscape of the area.” Not only will the campus be home to classes and lectures, but it will also host national conferences and serves as an appellate courtroom.
In December 2012, after a long search for the perfect location, it was announced that the City of Phoenix would provide the land on which the Arizona Center for Law and Society would be built at the cost of $12 million. Two years later, in 2014 the Arizona Board of Regents approved the construction plans and the project began moving forwards. The project was primarily funded through construction bonds with the remaining amount provided through generous alumni gifts, and donations from members of the legal community. Construction of the building went smoothly, and two years later, Arizona State University announced the date of the Grand Opening.
Here at Hastings & Hastings, we are excited to see the impact the Arizona Center for Law and Society will have on downtown Phoenix and the greater Phoenix community as a whole. Young, talented, energetic lawyers are the lifeblood of our profession. We cannot wait to welcome the graduates of the Arizona Center for Law and Society into the profession.
If you have any legal questions, or have been involved in an accident, it is important that you explore your legal rights. At Hastings & Hastings, we offer free, no-obligation legal consultations. One of your experienced personal injury attorneys will sit down with you, advise you, and help you understand your case. For more information, call (480)854-9227 today!