California Western School of Law

Last updated
California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law Logo.jpg
Established1924 [1]
School type Private law school
Dean Sean Megan Scott [2]
Location San Diego, California, United States
32°43′21″N117°9′42″W / 32.72250°N 117.16167°W / 32.72250; -117.16167
Enrollment827 [3]
Faculty71 (25 tenured) [4]
USNWR ranking175th out of 196 schools (2024) [1] and 57th out of 70 schools for part time law (2024) [5]
Bar pass rate64.2% (First-time bar passage for Winter and Summer 2021) [1]
Website www.cwsl.edu
ABA profile California Western Profile

California Western School of Law is a private law school in San Diego, California. It is one of two successor organizations to California Western University, the other being Alliant International University. The school was founded in 1924, approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962, [6] and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1967. [7]

Contents

History

California Western is San Diego's oldest law school and was originally chartered in 1924 [8] by Leland Ghent Stanford as a private graduate institution called Balboa Law College. [9] Balboa Law College expanded to include undergraduate and other graduate studies and changed its name to Balboa University. [9]

In 1952, Balboa University became affiliated with the Southern California Methodist Conference and changed its name to California Western University, and the law school was relocated to downtown San Diego. In 1960 California Western received approval from the American Bar Association. [8] In 1973, the law school relocated within downtown San Diego to its current downtown campus at 350 Cedar Street. [8] In 1975, the school ended its affiliation with Cal Western's successor school, US International University, and became an independent secular law school. [8] In 1980, the new trimester system was announced, allowing two entering classes per academic year, reducing individual class size and allowing students the opportunity to graduate in two years rather than the standard three. [8]

In January 2000, California Western opened a new law library building at 290 Cedar Street, dedicated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. [8]

Sean M. Scott [10] was named the school's new president and dean in August 2020. [2]

California Western's December 2022 Announcement of its exit from USNWR's ranking system, brought the total number of US law school USNWR bailees to Nearly 10% of all US Law Schools. “While we work to broaden the school’s national visibility, we will do so based on our values and our merits,” Sean M. Scott, president and dean of California Western School of Law, said in a Dec. 20 announcement. California Western School of Law joined the stance with Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown Law Center, Columbia Law School, Stanford Law School, University of Michigan, Northwestern Pritzker, Duke Law School, The University of California, Los Angeles, The University of California, Irvine, The University of California, Davis, The University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, New York University, University of Virginia, Campbell University, and The University of New Hampshire. [11]

Academics

The law school teaches the J.D. curriculum plus a dual-degree option, a J.D./Master of Business Administration with San Diego State University. California Western also offers the Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in Trial Advocacy with a Specialization in Federal Criminal Law as well as an M.C.L./LL.M. for foreign law students.

For 2022, California Western accepted 49.3% of applicants, and with Median LSAT score for all program entrants of 153 and a median undergraduate GPA for all program entrants of 3.36. [1]

Classroom course titles, beyond the first-year curriculum, offered 2021-2022 school year: 91. [1]

California Western is ranked number 68th for legal writing by USNWR. [12]

In 2008, California Western ranked first among the three ABA-approved law schools in the San Diego metropolitan area for both the February and July California bar examinations. Seventy-seven percent of California Western graduates taking the February 2008 California Bar Examination for the first time passed, placing the law school second among the 20 ABA-approved law schools in California. Eighty-five percent of California Western graduates taking the bar exam for the first time in July 2008 passed, placing the law school eighth in the state. [13] Since 2008, the law school's California bar examination first-time-taker passage rates have generally trended downward. [14]

Programs and research centers

Research centers include:

Faculty

The law school has 25 tenured faculty members, three faculty members on the tenure track and six legal skills professors. From 2010 to 2014, 28 tenured and tenure-track faculty members published 18 books, 15 book chapters, 55 law review articles and 75 other scholarly publications. Tenure-track or tenured faculty who were members of the faculty in the last seven years wrote 70 additional publications.[ citation needed ]

The law school created six endowed professorships to support faculty members in their research and scholarship. California Western has also been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the past five years. [18]

Student debt

According to U.S. News & World Report , annual tuition and fees: full-time $58,350 and part-time $43,550 [19]

Notable people

Alumni

Related Research Articles

The University of California, Davis School of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school received ABA approval in 1968. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanford Law School</span> Law school of Stanford University, California, U.S

Stanford Law School (SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% in 2021, the second-lowest of any law school in the country. Paul Brest currently serves as Interim Dean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of San Diego School of Law</span> Private law school in San Diego, California

The University of San Diego School of Law is the law school of the University of San Diego, a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1954, the law school has held ABA approval since 1961. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1966.

Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) is a private law school in San Diego, California. It offers a Juris Doctor and three Master of Laws programs, including one that is exclusively online, as well as a combined J.D./M.B.A. with San Diego State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whittier Law School</span> Former law school of Whittier College

Whittier Law School was a law school in Costa Mesa, California founded in 1966. The law school was part of Whittier College, a private institution. After several years being ranked among the poorest-performing law schools in the United States based on bar passage rate and job placement, Whittier Law School announced in April 2017 that it would no longer be admitting students and would discontinue its legal program, becoming the first law school with full accreditation by the American Bar Association (ABA) to shut down in at least 30 years. Since the school's closure, transcript requests are now handled by Whittier College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McGeorge School of Law</span> Private law school in Sacramento, California, US

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on the University's Sacramento campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliant International University</span> University in San Diego, California, U.S.

Alliant International University is a private for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego, five additional campuses in California and one campus in Phoenix, Arizona. Its enrollment is approximately 4,000 students, of whom 95% are graduate students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of San Francisco School of Law</span> American Law School

The University of San Francisco School of Law is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Case Western Reserve University School of Law</span> Private law school in Cleveland, Ohio, US

Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). It was initially named for Franklin Thomas Backus, a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, whose widow donated $50,000 to found the school in 1892.

Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive services from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Law School</span> Private law school in San Francisco, California

San Francisco Law School is a private, for-profit law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest evening law school in the Western United States.

Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, commonly referred to as Chapman University School of Law or Fowler School of Law, is a private, non-profit law school located in Orange, California. The school offers the Juris Doctor degree (JD) and combined degree programs including a JD/MBA, and a JD/MFA in Film & Television Producing. The school also offers emphasis options in Business Law, Criminal Law, Entertainment Law, Environmental Law, Entrepreneurial Law, International Law, Trial Advocacy, and Taxation. Currently, the school has 74 full- and part-time faculty members and a law library with holdings in excess of 290,000 volumes and volume equivalents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Bowen School of Law</span>

The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law is a public law school, part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The school is both American Bar Association (ABA) accredited and a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Gate University School of Law</span>

Golden Gate University School of Law is the law school of Golden Gate University. Located in downtown San Francisco, California, Golden Gate Law is a California non-profit corporation and is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). On November 30, 2023, the law school announced that it will discontinue its J.D. program at the end of the current academic year, following years of financial hardship and non-compliance with the ABA's two-year bar pass rate requirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's University School of Law</span> Private Catholic law school in San Antonio, Texas, USA

St. Mary's University School of Law is the law school of St. Mary's University, a private Catholic university located in San Antonio, Texas.

Widener University Delaware Law School is a private law school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of two separate ABA-accredited law schools of Widener University. Widener University Law School was founded in 1971 as the Delaware Law School and became affiliated with Widener in 1975. In 1989, it was known as Widener University School of Law when it was combined with the campus in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2015, the two campuses separated, with the Harrisburg one renamed to Widener University Commonwealth Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of South Dakota School of Law</span>

The University of South Dakota School of Law also known as University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law or USD Law in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, is a professional school of the University of South Dakota and the only law school in the state of South Dakota. Established in 1901, by U.S. Ambassador Bartlett Tripp and U.S. Senator Thomas Sterling. The law school is home to approximately 168 students and has more than 3,000 alumni. With 168 J.D. candidates, it is currently the second-smallest law school and smallest public law school student population among the American Bar Association accredited law schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wake Forest University School of Law</span> Private law school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US

Wake Forest University School of Law is the law school of Wake Forest University, a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Established in 1894, Wake Forest University School of Law is an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law school and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The current dean is Andrew R. Klein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UC Berkeley School of Law</span> Public law school in Berkeley, California

The University of California, Berkeley School of Law is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was never the official name. This came from its initial building, the Boalt Memorial Hall of Law, named for John Henry Boalt. This name was transferred to an entirely new law school building in 1951 but was removed in 2020.

United States International University (USIU) was a nonprofit university based in San Diego, California that was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At its peak, it had two additional American campuses and three international locations. It was merged into Alliant International University in 2001, which became a for-profit benefit corporation in 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "California Western School of Law". usnews.com.
  2. 1 2 "Two African American Women Appointed to Dean Positions at Law Schools in the United States". 13 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "California Western School of Law Official ABA Data" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  4. ↑ "California Western School of Law Official ABA Data" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-15. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  5. ↑ "2023-2024 Best Part-time Law Programs". usnews.com.
  6. ↑ "ABA-Approved Law Schools by Year". ABA website. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  7. ↑ "AALS Member Schools". Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "California Western Mission and History". California Western School of law. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Alliant International University's History". Alliant International University. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  10. ↑ "CWSoL: Dean Schaumann". Archived from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  11. ↑ "With California Western Law's Announcement, Nearly 10% of Law Schools Have Bailed on US News Rankings". Law.com.
  12. ↑ "Best Legal Writing Programs". usnews.com.
  13. ↑ "California Western Achieves High Bar Passage Rates for February and July Bar Exams". Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2023-08-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ↑ "Bar Pass Rate Comparison". cwsl.edu.
  15. ↑ "California Innocence Project" . Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  16. ↑ "About CIP: What is the California Innocence Project?". California Innocence Project. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Our Staff: Meet the Team". California Innocence Project. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ "San Diego Source - News - San Diego - Law". San Diego Source. May 3, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  19. ↑ "California Western School of Law Graduate Programs". usnews.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.