Northwestern Law School’s Legal Clinic will be named Bluhm Legal Clinic in a dedication ceremony today in recognition of a $7 million gift by an NU trustee.

Administrators said the gift, from 1962 graduate Neil Bluhm, will be used primarily to support the school’s endowment.

“The places we compete against overwhelmingly have much higher endowments,” said University President Henry Bienen, who will preside over the naming ceremony with Law School Dean David Van Zandt. “Mr. Bluhm really understood that these funds would be made available for investing in the Law School.”

The clinic includes a variety of programs and centers, including the Center on Wrongful Convictions, the International Human Rights Center and the Small Business Opportunity Clinic. Each program educates participating students while providing services to external clients.

Expanding the clinic will be a central focus of Law School development. In U.S. News & World Report rankings released last week, the school ranked 12th for the second consecutive year. Administrators said the school is better than the ranking indicates, but that its reputation, a key ingredient of U.S. News rankings, has yet to improve.

“In objective measures, we rank pretty highly,” said Pete Wentz, the Law School’s associate dean for communication. “Where we don’t do as well is with some of the reputation issues, and that always takes longer to catch up.”

But pumping funds into the school’s higher-profile programs — both the Center on Wrongful Convictions and the Small Business Opportunity Clinic have made national headlines in the past year — may boost the school’s image.

“That kind of thing can only help,” Wentz said. “We look for all of this to solidify and strengthen our reputation.”

In separate U.S. News rankings, the Bluhm Legal Clinic’s trial advocacy program ranked third.

The donation also contributes to the Law School’s fund-raising efforts — a division of Campaign Northwestern, the universitywide effort to raise $1 billion by August 2003. To date, the Law School has raised $55 million of its $60 million goal.

Bluhm, an NU trustee since 1986, has long been a Law School benefactor. His previous gifts include an endowed chair named for his mother and a classroom in the school’s Schachtman-Gordon Hall.