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University of California, Irvine - School of Law

University of California, Irvine - School of Law

University of California, Irvine - School of Law

Introduction

UC Irvine School of Law opened its doors to students in August 2009, the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years. UCI Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Recruited from prestigious schools, the faculty ranked sixth in the country in scholarly impact in a recent study. The student body has admissions qualifications comparable to those of student bodies at top 20 law schools. The school’s innovative curriculum stresses hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

What's Special About UCI Law


EXCELLENT FACULTY

Drawn from top law schools, the faculty was ranked 7th in the nation in scholarly impact in a recent study, behind Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Stanford, NYU, and Columbia. Excellent teaching is also a high priority, and numerous faculty members have won teaching awards at their previous institutions.

CUTTING-EDGE INNOVATION

Founded in 2009, UC Irvine School of Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by emphasizing hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE

All students actually practice law (under careful supervision) while at UCI Law, beginning in the first-year Lawyering Skills course—where they do intake interviews at legal aid or public defender offices—and culminating with substantial client representation in an in-house legal clinic before graduation.

OUTSTANDING STUDENTS

Eighty-eight percent of UCI Law grads who sat for the bar exam in July 2012, February 2013, or July 2013 have now passed the bar in at least one jurisdiction. (To this point, we have had 134 graduates take a bar exam and 118, or 88%, have now passed.) The jurisdictions in which our graduates have passed the bar include Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

SMALL CLASSES

The student-faculty ratio is 10 to 1, which means classes are smaller and professors have more time for individual students.

ATTORNEY MENTORS

Each new student is assigned an attorney mentor from the local legal community to provide guidance in academic and career matters.

ACTIVE PRO BONO

More than 90% of students have been involved in the Pro Bono Program, participating in scores of projects in which they provided legal services under attorney supervision. Students are encouraged to log 120 pro bono hours in three years.

SATISFIED STUDENTS

The 2016 Law School Survey of Student Engagement shows that UCI Law far exceeds the national average when it comes to student satisfaction. About 95% of our students over all three classes rate their overall UCI Law experience as excellent or good, and about 95% say they would likely attend UCI Law again if they could start over.

SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENTS

Our students have, over the years, spent their summers and begun their careers in a variety of legal settings, including large, medium and small law firms, government agencies, public interest organizations, general counsel offices and other alternative careers.

PRESTIGIOUS CLERKSHIPS

Judges in a variety of federal district and appellate courts and state appellate and supreme courts have hired UCI Law students to serve as their post-graduate law clerks. These clerkships span both the country and the federal judicial system.

INCOMPARABLE LOCATION

The Law School is located in beautiful, coastal Southern California, 40 miles south of Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego.

English Language Requirements

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Locations

  • Irvine

    East Peltason Drive,401, 92697, Irvine

Programs

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