Founded as the Illinois College of Law, the DePaul University College of Law joined DePaul University in 1912. Health law and intellectual property are the school's strongest areas and DePaul Law offers JD specializations and LLM degrees in both categories. The intellectual law program certification is subdivided into arts and museum law, patents, general IP law and information technology law, each with its own curricular requirements. DePaul also offers joint JD/MS or JD/MA degrees in conjunction with the College of Computing and Digital Media.

DePaul Law does not give out + or - grades (e.g., a B+ becomes a B), a grading policy that students worry pulls down the average GPA. The school spreads required courses over the first three semesters, after which specializations in areas such as criminal law, business law and family law are available to upper-level students. Students can also apply to topic-specific sections of the required first-year legal analysis, research and communication course. Recently, DePaul Law's International Human Rights Institute has been expanding, launching the DePaul Rule of Law journal and establishing several new programs in Iraq in 2009.