UCLA School of Law

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The Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library, UCLA School of Law
The Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library, UCLA School of Law

The UCLA School of Law is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. It is generally regarded as the top law school in Southern California, as well as one of the top 10 law schools in the United States.[1] It is the youngest of the top-tier U.S. law schools.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Founded in 1949, UCLA School of Law is one of four existing law schools within the University of California system. The others are Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley, King Hall at UC Davis, and Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. A fifth UC law school was launched in 2007 at UC Irvine, but the new Donald Bren School of Law will not start classes until fall 2009.

The UCLA Law Review, the law school's flagship scholarly journal, was first published in 1953. Additionally, the first scholarly journal in the nation focused on issues affecting Latinos, the Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review, was first published in 1971 as the Chicano Law Review.

[edit] Degrees and areas of specialization

The school offers the standard Juris Doctor degree as well as several programs of specialization within the degree (which are indicated by notations on a student's diploma). Students can specialize in Business Law and Policy, Entertainment Law, Public Interest Law, Critical Race Studies, and Law and Philosophy. The size of an entering class can range as high as 340 but classes are always divided into sections to encourage development of a sense of community among incoming students.[3] At least one first-year substantive course is always taught in a small section format of only thirty students.[4]

The Socratic method is in use by some professors, but most faculty allow for a slightly more relaxed classroom atmosphere than at other top-tier law schools.[5] The school also has traditionally offered a strong clinical program, which is housed in its own wing (built at a cost of $9 million).[6] Each year, the clinical program puts students through realistic simulations of trials, depositions, and client meetings; these are staffed with a pool of nearly 500 volunteers drawn from all over the Southland who play parties, witnesses, judges, and jurors.[7]

Several joint degree programs are available. These require four years of study, resulting in the simultaneous award of a Juris Doctor and a Master’s Degree in Afro-American Studies, American Indian Studies, Management, Public Health, Public Policy, Social Welfare, or Urban Planning.

The school also offers a Master of Laws (LL.M.) law program, which involves one year of post-law-graduate studies. This program is popular among foreign students, who then take the California bar exam.

Finally, it offers a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) Degree, designed for students who already have a J.D. and hope to become law professors.

[edit] Faculty and students

UCLA School of Law has over 100 faculty members with expertise in all major disciplines of law; it "is one of the most diverse in the country."[8] Since 2002, faculty members have published 48 new books, 45 chapters, and over 150 journal articles.

The 2004-2005 first-year student admission rate was 13.5% — among the most selective in the country. 99.6% of 2004 UCLA School of Law graduates seeking employment secured professional employment within nine months of graduation. The median starting salary for 2004 graduates was $110,000. Among 2004 graduates employed in the private sector, the median salary was $125,000. In 2007 it was $135,000.

[edit] Location

The School of Law's south entrance facing Charles E. Young Drive East
The School of Law's south entrance facing Charles E. Young Drive East

UCLA School of Law is located on the northeastern edge of the UCLA campus in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.[9] The school is approximately five miles from the Pacific Ocean.

The school proper is housed in a five-story brick building known simply as the Law Building. The oldest parts of the Law Building's interior are notorious for a "high school atmosphere" and "dark, drafty classrooms,"[10] but it has been extensively improved by the addition of the clinical wing in 1990 and the new law library in 2001. A few offices, like the Office of Career Services, are housed in an adjacent building, Dodd Hall.

The campus sits on the sloping foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, between the communities of Brentwood to the west and Holmby Hills to the east. The entrance to the Playboy Mansion is a short ways up Sunset Boulevard, in Holmby Hills. Just beyond Holmby Hills is Beverly Hills.

[edit] Rankings

US News ranks UCLA 16th among top law schools in the US, and as the third most diverse of the four law schools in the UC system.[11][12] It has the largest student body in the system after Hastings, and the second smallest student/faculty ratio after Berkeley.[13] While it is the second most expensive law school in the UC system, it is only slightly less expensive than Berkeley.[14] While it grants the most in financial aid, students still tend to graduate with more debt on average than at the other UC schools.[15][16]

According to Brian Letier's Law School rankings, UCLA ranks 10th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of tenure-stream faculty.[17] In terms of overall student numerical quality, UCLA ranks 17th in the nation.[18]

[edit] Journals and Student Organizations

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Notable faculty members

  • Michael H. Schill — Dean of the School of Law (2004-), noted expert on real estate and housing policy, deregulation, finance and discrimination; author of over 40 articles and books.
  • Richard L. Abel — Author of many pioneering works on the sociology of the legal profession
  • Khaled Abou El Fadl — One of the leading authorities in Islamic law in the United States and Europe.
  • Norman Abrams — Author of leading casebooks on Federal Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law and Evidence; member of the faculty since 1959; former UCLA Vice Chancellor of Academic Personnel; former acting Chancellor
  • Peter Arenella — Criminal law expert who rose to national prominence as a television commentator for the O.J. Simpson trial
  • Paul Bergman — Author of several popular legal self-help books for Nolo Press
  • David A. Binder — Pioneer in the field of clinical legal education; author of several books on clinical legal education
  • Grace G. Blumberg — Prominent scholar in the fields of family law and community property
  • Peter Carlisle (1952-), Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu.[19]
  • Carole Goldberg — Leader in the field of Federal Indian Law; national expert in Public Law 280 and its effects on Native Nations.
  • Mark F. Grady — Expert in intellectual property and law and economics; Director of the Center for Law and Economics; former Dean of George Mason University School of Law.
  • Kenneth L. Karst — Eminent constitutional law expert; member of the faculty since 1965
  • Lynn M. LoPucki — Security Pacific Bank Professor of Law. LoPucki's Bankruptcy Research Database provides data for much, if not most, empirical work on the subject by other legal scholars. A version of the database--called the WebBRD--is publicly available at http://lopucki.law.ucla.edu/
  • Gerald P. Lopez — Author of many pioneering works on rebellious lawyering, community lawyering, re-entry issues and Director of the Center for Community Problem Solving
  • David Mellinkoff (deceased) — Leader of the Plain English movement in American law
  • Melville B. Nimmer (deceased) — Author of the most popular treatise on American copyright law (which is still regularly updated by his son David Nimmer, also a UCLA Law Professor)
  • Frances Olsen — Expert on Feminist Legal Theory
  • Jonathan D. Varat — Former Dean of the School of Law (1998 – 2003); author of popular constitutional law casebook
  • Eugene Volokh — Author of textbooks on First Amendment law and academic legal writing; author of over 45 law review articles; founder of The Volokh Conspiracy weblog.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cynthia L. Cooper, The Insider's Guide to the Top Fifteen Law Schools (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 342-343.
  2. ^ Cooper, 342.
  3. ^ Cooper, 343 & 345.
  4. ^ Cooper, 349.
  5. ^ Cooper, 345.
  6. ^ Cooper, 352-353.
  7. ^ Carol Bidwell, "Trial By Hire: Volunteers Put L.A. Students On The Spot," Los Angeles Daily News, 6 December 1998, L8.
  8. ^ Cooper, 345.
  9. ^ Cooper, 359.
  10. ^ Cooper, 358-359.
  11. ^ America's Best Graduate Schools 2009. US News. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  12. ^ America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Law School Diversity Index. US News. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  13. ^ America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, What are the largest and smallest law schools?. US News. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  14. ^ America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Who's the priciest? Who's the cheapest?. US News. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  15. ^ America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Which public schools award the most and the least financial aid?. US News. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  16. ^ America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Whose graduates have the most debt? The least?. US News. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  17. ^ Top 35 Law Faculties Based on Scholarly Impact, 2007. Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
  18. ^ Brian Leiter's Law Schools Ranked by Student (Numerical) Quality, 2007. Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
  19. ^ Peter B. Carlisle, National District Attorneys Association. Accessed December 3, 2007.

[edit] External links


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