Figuring out how to the refer to the BYU Law School can be puzzling. The official name for the law school is the J. Reuben Clark Law School, but it is sometimes easier to just call it the BYU Law School.
The law school continues to work to clarify some of this confusion and help prospective students by making changes to its website and by strengthening its brand.
Tonya Fischio, a representative of the law school’s external relations department, clarified that the official name of the law school remains the same, but the law school has made recent reference moves for branding purposes.
“The official name of the law school is the J. Reuben Clark Law School. It is referenced as such on all official documents as well as in documents pertaining to the American Bar Association (ABA),” Fischio said. “However, for branding purposes, the law school has moved to identify itself online, as well as through other channels, as the BYU Law School.”
One of the reasons for this shift is because there has been some name confusion with the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, which is an association of lawyers who share moral and professional standards of J. Reuben Clark.
“Over the years, this society has grown significantly in members graduating from BYU as well as many other law schools. The similarity in name, including acronym JRCLS, has caused some confusion,” Fischio said. “The use of BYU Law helps distinguish between the school and the society.”
Another reason for these changes is because a lot of students search law schools out online, and so the law school wants to make a stronger online presence by making it easier for future law students to find its website through online search engines.
“‘BYU Law’ is searched online significantly more than ‘J. Reuben Clark Law School,'” Fischio said. “Using BYU Law helps us align with how our audience already identifies us as well as helps those searching for content online more readily find the information they need.”
