[5] The board of trustees acknowledged that "newly discovered research",[6] uncovered by historian Paul Finkelman,[7] had revealed that influential 19th century U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall was a slave trader and owner who practiced "pro-slavery jurisprudence", which was deemed inappropriate for the school's namesake.

Lawyering Skills courses, which focus on writing, research, and oral argument, are an integral part of the core curriculum.

UIC Law students are required to earn three experiential learning credits – working in a clinic, externship, or a combination of both – in order to graduate.

The law school offers students practical opportunities through its seven Community Legal Clinics and more than 50 externship placement sites.

Externship opportunities include judicial, governmental, and non-profit placements, as well as a Semester-in-Practice program that allows JD students to earn a semester of credit hours immersed in a legal market outside of Chicago.

[10] The conference connects legal writing professionals and other professors who have an interest in teaching international students and lawyers who speak English as a second language.

[11] Since its inception, the Global Legal Skills Conference has been held four times in Chicago, once in Washington, D.C., twice in Mexico, twice in Costa Rica, and twice in Italy.

The library holds over 263,003 volumes and microform equivalents and provides on-campus and remote access to some of those titles via their specialty electronic databases.

It is continually adding more online subscriptions to its growing collection of electronic resources, including Lexis, Westlaw, CALI Lessons, BNA Premier, IICLE SmartBooks, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law Online, Justis International Law Reports, Courtroom View Network, which contains audio versions of law school casebooks and streaming trial videos, and Mango languages, an easy to follow system for learning over 20 different languages.

Students have wireless access throughout the law school and the library offers seating for 750, including twelve group study rooms.