The death of Kent left the Professorship of Law at Columbia vacant. In 1848, the chair was conferred upon Trustee William Betts. Betts was too busy to devote himself entirely to his teaching, and thus only managed intermittently to deliver a few lectures. Columbia would finally develop a permanent law school program in 1858 under the guidance of Theodore W. Dwight, the Law School's first professor and dean. Since then the Law School has become a significant part of Columbia University, known for it innovations in legal scholarship and curriculum reform. And James Kent's vital role in the history of the Law School has not been forgotten.

In 1892, the Trustees resolved that one of the four professorships of law should be known as the Kent Professorship. On October 29, 1910, Columbia paid another major tribute to Kent with the official opening of Kent Hall on the northwest corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street. Among the items placed in the cornerstone were a copy of the Memoirs and Letters of Kent and a copy of Kent's Commentaries. In his address to the crowd attending the laying of the cornerstone, George L. Rives, chairman of the Board of Trustees explained, "It was apparent that when the Trustees of Columbia were finally enabled to see their way to the erection of a building devoted exclusively to the study of jurisprudence, that it could bear no other than the distinguished and venerable name of Kent." The building was initially occupied by the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political Science. The first floor was devoted to the law library and reading room, while the upper floors provided lecture rooms, faculty offices, and rooms for moot courts and the Columbia Law Review. In 1961, the Law School moved across Amsterdam Avenue and Kent Hall would become home to the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the administrative offices of Student Financial Services and the Registrar. The cathedral window of Kent Hall, depicting Justice with her scales and sword, is a reminder of the Law School's occupancy.

On June 4, 1923 the Alumni Association of the Law School held a "Kent Centennial Celebration. " As part of the celebration, a series of articles detailing Kent's achievements was published in the Columbia Alumni News on April 27, 1923, including an article by Law School Dean Harlan F. Stone who began his tribute by stating, "There is no more engaging or interesting figure in the annals of American jurisprudence than James Kent." The "James Kent Scholars" were also established that year by the Faculty of Law to be awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement by students in each of the three law classes. Columbia's most recent noteworthy tribute to Kent occurred in 1963 when letters, annotated volumes, and books by and about Kent were placed on display in Low Library on the