2025

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 28, 2025— For the second time in four years, graduates of Santa Clara University School of Law who participated in the Tech Edge J.D. certificate program have achieved 100% employment within 10 months of graduation.

This showing, for the Class of 2024 program participants, compares with 87% for law graduates nationwide, and 88% for Santa Clara Law students overall. 

Santa Clara’s 32 Tech Edge graduates, who completed additional milestones and experiences during law school to attain the specialized certification, have been hired at law firms including Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner; Jones Day; Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton; Morrison Foerster;  Cooley; Ropes & Gray;  Lowenstein Sandler; Kirkland & Ellis; Knobbe Martens; and Paul Hastings, as well as employers like OKX; Stripe; EY; and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

“Since its inception, the Tech Edge J.D. has attracted top students who want to hit the ground running in this exciting and fast-moving field of law,” said Linsey Krolik,  director of the program. “The 100% employment rate shows that employers recognize and value the practical business and legal skills, leadership training, and exposure to real-world dilemmas that are required of our TechEdge J.D. graduates.” 

The Tech Edge J.D. has become a model for advancing legal education since its creation in 2018. 

Students who know they want to pursue tech law apply for the program, and acquire valuable professional skills by completing milestones—such as working on a cross-functional team, negotiating a transaction, presenting risks and recommendations to a decision maker, taking a leadership role, and learning about legal technology literacy— with support from an advisor and two practitioner mentors. 

The appeal of the program has improved the law school’s admissions statistics, yield, diversity, and employment outcomes. In 2023, Bloomberg Law listed Tech Edge J.D.  as a top-scoring program in the category of Innovation & Pedagogy in the outlet’s “Law School Innovation Program” awards, which recognize  “pioneering educational innovations that benefit their students, their schools, and the legal field.” The program’s founders, professors Laura Norris and Eric Goldman, were awarded Santa Clara University’s Brutocao Family Foundation Award for Curriculum Innovation in 2023. 

A record 59 students who have been accepted to attend Santa Clara Law next year have indicated they intend to participate in Tech Edge J.D. 

Santa Clara University School of Law, one of the nation’s most diverse law schools, is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. Santa Clara Law offers students an academically rigorous program including certificates in high-tech, international, public-interest and social-justice, privacy, and sports law, as well as numerous graduate and joint degree options. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara Law is nationally distinguished for its faculty engagement, preparation for practice, and top-ranked programs in intellectual property. For more information, see law.scu.edu.

Media Contact
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Communications | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121