People's College of Law

Peoples College of Law
Motto	Producing Social Justice Lawyers
Established	1974
School type	Private, Non-profit Law School
Dean	Ira Spiro, Esq.
Location	Los Angeles, CA, US 34°03′23″N118°16′25″W / 34.05639°N 118.27361°W / 34.05639; -118.27361
Website	www.peoplescollegeoflaw.edu

The Peoples College of Law (PCL) is an unaccredited, private, non-profit, Juris Doctor-granting law school located in the downtown Los Angeles community of Westlake-MacArthur Park. PCL offers a part-time, four-year evening law program centered on work in the public interest.

History

Aimed at addressing inequities in law and society, PCL was founded in 1974 for individuals historically denied access to legal training and representation. The school maintains a socio-political requirement that states: "An eligible candidate will be able to demonstrate a commitment to progressive social change." ^[1]

State Bar registration

PCL is not accredited by the American Bar Association, and is registered with the California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California as an unaccredited fixed-facility law school that may grant the juris doctor (J.D.) law degree. ^[2] Its students must take and pass the First-Year Law Students' Examination, also known as the "Baby Bar", at the end of their first year in order to receive credit for their law study and eventually qualify to sit for the California Bar Examination. It is not approved or accredited by the American Bar Association, nor is it accredited by the State Bar of California. ^{[3] [4]}

Bar pass rates

From 2010 through 2015, 32 People's College graduates took the California Bar Examination; of that number, 6 passed the examination for a pass rate of 18%. ^[5]

Cost

People's College of Law has one of the lowest tuition rates for a J.D. program in the United States. ^[6] The annual tuition in 2022 was $5,000. ^[7]

Noted alumni

• Maria Elena Durazo, California State Senator for the 24th District and former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
• Gilbert Cedillo, former state senator and city councilor
• Jeff Cohen, commentator for Fox News Watch , MSNBC, and CNN
• Sharon Kyle, Publisher of the LA Progressive ^[8]
• Kent Wong, Director of the UCLA Labor Center
• Eileen Luna Firebaugh, Professor Emeritus University of Arizona American Indian Studies ^[9]
• Carol Sobel, formerly of the ACLU and former Vice President of the National Lawyers Guild ^[10]
• Ilka Tanya Payán, AIDS activist, ^[11] former New York City Human Rights Commissioner ^[12]
• Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor of Los Angeles,
• Lorraine Fontana, lesbian activist and founder of the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance ^[13]

References

1. PCL General Information Archived 2011-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. Committee of Bar Examiners Registered Unaccredited Fixed-facility Law Schools in California 10/4/2010
3. "ABA-Approved Law Schools by Year". ABA website. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
4. "DISCLOSURES REQUIRED BY RULE 4.241 I OF THERULES FOR UNACCREDITED LAW SCHOOLS OF THESTATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA". Peoples College of Law on Scribd. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
5. State Bar of California Bar Examination Statistics
6. "Law School Rankings by Tuition".
7. "Tuition at PCL".
8. "Sharon Kyle". LA Progressive. 12 June 2023.
9. University of Arizona American Indian Studies faculty
10. NLG Leadership: Carol Sobel Archived 2012-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
11. California State Bar Member Records
12. Navarro, Mireya (December 5, 1993). "Conversations/Ilka Tanya Payan; An Actress Openly Faces AIDS And Receives an Audience's Ovation". The New York Times.
13. Sears, James Thomas (2001). Rebels, rubyfruit, and rhinestones: queering space in the Stonewall South. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press. ISBN   978-0-8135-2964-6.

External links

• Official website
• Peoples College of Law at the LA Progressive