If it has been awhile since you were in John Lord O'Brian Hall, home of the University at Buffalo Law School, stop by for a visit. You may be surprised at what you will find.

Thanks to an extensive, recent renovation, a gracious new entryway welcomes students and visitors alike to New York State's only public law school. In combination with the Francis M. Letro Courtroom, one of the few working courtrooms on any law school campus, the renovation puts a public face on major developments happening behind the scenes.

These are exciting times at UB Law!

We have embarked on a single-minded mission to gain a national profile that matches the quality of our programs and the talents of our graduates. Building on a faculty second to none, extraordinary alumni support and a student body with the highest credentials in the school's history, our efforts are paying off already.

Our standing rose in the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings of U.S. law schools; we are now tied for 84th among 190 accredited schools nationwide. In addition, Thomson Reuters, the largest legal publisher in the United States, ranked UB Law 48th nationwide. And a ranking developed in New Yorker magazine placed UB Law 40th in the nation based on value for the dollar, LSAT scores and faculty publishing.

While we are happy with these accolades, let us not forget that no ranking system can fully capture the true character of our school or, for that matter, any other school. As New York State's public law school, we take our role of providing a world-class and affordable education seriously. Our newly enhanced Legal Skills Program is designed to teach practical skills, with the aim of graduating lawyers who are practice-ready.

The faculty, as teachers and scholars, drive this mission. In the past four years, we have hired 21 new professors - more than one-third of the Law School faculty - with more to come. These are faculty members who have star potential.

In addition, prospective students continue to be attracted to UB Law's unbeatable combination of excellent education and low tuition cost. Last year's incoming class had a median LSAT of 158 and a median Gap of 3.48. They came to us from excellent schools around the country, diverse in their experiences and backgrounds.

No law school can achieve greatness without a strong alumni cohort, and we also have been blessed in this regard. Our 10,000-plus alumni have shown us phenomenal support in giving of their time and their money. In a time of dwindling state funding, alumni support means more now than it ever has.

When UB Law was founded in 1887, most budding lawyers learned their craft as apprentices in a law office. As we approach our 125th anniversary in 2012, we are more committed than ever to developing practice-ready lawyers, prepared from day one to exercise the analytical and practical skills that every successful attorney must have.

Toward that end, we have recently reviewed nearly every aspect of our curriculum and programs to ensure that our students obtain the best legal education possible. We are proud of our extensive trial advocacy program in which - through classroom work, intramural moot court experiences and student teams' participation in nationwide trial competitions - students gain important skills in advocating effectively for their clients. The Buffalo-Niagara Invitational Mock Trial Tournament, which UB Law School hosts each fall, has become the largest trial competition in the country. Our extensive series of law student clinics, our legal journals, our externship programs are operating at a very high level and offer unparalleled opportunities for students to deepen their Law School experience.

Most notably, our newly revamped legal skills program has added a third required semester of instruction in research and writing, the core skills of the legal profession. This newly renamed Legal Analysis, Writing and Research program grew out of a series of focus groups that the school conducted with judges, judicial clerks and attorneys - the future colleagues of the lawyers we train at UB Law.

Much has changed - in the world, at the university and in legal education - since the first class of Buffalo Law School students took their seats in 1887. But the core values of this law school remain - values of academic excellence, integrity and a deep appreciation for the positive impact lawyers have on our society. As the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser wrote in 1887, "There is no reason why the Buffalo Law School should not succeed."

We have been proving them right ever since.

Makau Mutua is dean of the University at Buffalo Law School, a SUNY Distinguished Professor and Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar.