Harvard Law School (also known as Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the United States' oldest law school in continuous operation. It is home to the largest academic law library in the world. HLS is typically ranked in the top three law schools in the nation, and is currently listed as the second best law school in the United States by U.S. News and World Report, behind Yale Law School. Harvard Law introduced what became the standard first-year curriculum for American law schools—including classes in contracts, property, torts, criminal law, and civil procedure—in the 1870s, under Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell. At Harvard, Langdell also developed the case method of teaching law, which became the dominant model for U.S. law schools. The school is currently led by interim dean Howell Jackson, who took over from Elena Kagan upon her confirmation as Solicitor General of the United States on March 19, 2009. On July 1, 2009 Martha Minow will take her duties as the new dean. Each class in the three-year J.D. program numbers approximately 550 students, giving the school one of the largest full-time enrollments of any accredited law school in the United States. The first-year (1L) class is broken into seven sections of approximately 80 students who take most first-year classes together. Harvard Law has 246 faculty members. (via Wikipedia)