The law school was founded in 1893 and accredited by the American Bar Association in 1959. The school was named for U.S. Chief Justice, Salmon P. Chase, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Prior to his appointment, Chase was one of the most prominent politicians of the mid-19th century, serving as a U.S. senator from Ohio, the governor of Ohio, and the Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln. He began practicing law in Cincinnati in 1830, and became an advocate for abolition and the anti-slavery movement, lending his skills to the cause of fugitive slaves, often free of charge. He spoke passionately on behalf of African Americans when their status and rights were not recognized and became known as the "attorney general of runaway slaves" for his frequent defense of slaves and those who harbored them. In 2013, members of Chase's family presented the Cincinnati Museum Center with a sterling silver pitcher given to him in 1845 by a group of grateful African Americans.^[3]

The Salmon P. Chase College of Law was initially founded as an evening law school affiliated with the Cincinnati YMCA. Classes were held in the YMCA building on Central Parkway in downtown Cincinnati from 1917 to 1972. In 1971, Chase crossed the Ohio River and merged into the Kentucky state university system by becoming a part of Northern Kentucky University (then "Northern Kentucky State College").^[4] During summer 1972, the law school moved from downtown Cincinnati across the Ohio River to NKU's Covington campus. In 1981, Chase moved to its present location on the NKU campus in Highland Heights, remaining within the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky metropolitan area. In 2006, the college of law was rebranded NKU Salmon P. Chase College of Law. Chase has a student/professor ratio of nine to one.^[2]

For the class entering in 2023, the law school accepted 71.91% of applicants, with 34.63% of those accepted enrolling. The average enrollee had a 152 LSAT score and 3.38 undergraduate GPA.^[1]

NKU Chase's moot court program was ranked number 22 by the Blakely Advocacy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center for the 2012–2013 academic year.^[4] Ranking is based on points awarded for achievement in national moot court competitions. Some of NKU Chase's 2012–13 competition team successes include:

• Scribes Best Brief of the Year Award (chosen from the Wagner Labor & Employment Law competition brief);^[4]
• National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare & Adoption Law – champion and runner-up, second place brief, and best final-round advocate;
• South Texas Mock Trial Challenge – octo-finalist;
• Mugel National Tax Moot Court – semi-finalist, best brief, and second and third place best oralists;
• Robert F. Wagner Labor & Employment Law Moot Court Competition – quarter-finalist and best brief;
• Regional Transactional LawMeet – second place;
• ABA Regional Client Counseling Competition – third place; and
• ABA Regional Arbitration Competition – champion.

In 2023, the overall bar examination passage rate for the law school's first-time examination takers was 81.61%. The Ultimate Bar Pass Rate, which the ABA defines as the passage rate for graduates who sat for bar examinations within two years of graduating, was 93.33% for the class of 2021.^[5]

According to the schools's official ABA-required disclosures for 2022 graduates, within ten months after graduation 64.66% of the 116 graduating class was employed in full-time positions requiring bar passage (i.e. as attorneys), with 13.79% employed in full-time JD advantage positions. Positions were in various size law firms, most being in 1-10 attorney firms, four graduates obtained local and state judicial clerkships, and 45 public interest, government, and business employment.^[6]

• Joe Cunningham (JD 2014), former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st district.
• John H. Druffel (attended 1911), former judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (deceased)
• Charles H. Elston (LL.B 1914) former member of the U.S. House of Representative from Ohio (deceased)
• Michelle M. Keller (JD 1990), justice, Kentucky Supreme Court
• Robert Ruwe (JD 1970), former senior status judge of the United States Tax Court (deceased)

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  (JD 1983), senior United States federal judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Timothy Black of Brookline, Massachusetts
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  (JD 1978), U.S. Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio
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  (JD 1977), former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore and philanthropist Patricia L. Herbold of Cincinnati
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  (LL.B 1950), former Mayor Tom Luken of Cincinnati (deceased)
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  (JD 1974), attorney, businessman, and politician W. Bruce Lunsford of Kenton County, Kentucky
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  (JD 1981), United States federal judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Danny C. Reeves of Corbin, Kentucky