University of California, Irvine School of Law

University of California, Irvine School of Law
Mathieu Marquer from Paris, FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	University of California, Irvine School of Law
Established	2009
Type	Public
Parent	University of California, Irvine
Location	Irvine, California, United States
Dean	Erwin Chemerinsky
Students	~500 (J.D. program)
Website	Official website

Contents

University of California, Irvine School of Law is a public law school located in Irvine, California and affiliated with University of California, Irvine. Founded in 2009, the school opened its doors in 2011 and quickly gained recognition within American Bar Association accreditation frameworks, achieving full accreditation in 2014. The school emphasizes interdisciplinary legal education linking to institutions such as Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, and regional partners including University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California.

History

The law school was established following a campaign involving the Regents of the University of California and legislative interest from California State Legislature members, including debates connected to Orange County development and state higher-education planning. Early fundraising included major gifts from donors associated with Irvine Company and philanthropic foundations comparable to W. M. Keck Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, while legal leaders from firms such as Latham & Watkins and O'Melveny & Myers participated in advisory roles. The inaugural faculty searches drew scholars from institutions like New York University School of Law, University of Chicago Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Duke University School of Law, and University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the first dean navigated accreditation processes with the American Bar Association and interactions with the Association of American Law Schools.

The law complex is situated within the main campus of University of California, Irvine near landmarks like Aldrich Park and the Paul Merage School of Business. Facilities include a law library developed with collections aligned to holdings at Library of Congress, multimedia courtrooms modeled after venues like United States Supreme Court and regional courthouse designs such as United States District Court for the Central District of California. The building hosts centers named in recognition of donors and aligned with entities like The Dale E. Fowler School of Law (comparative models), collaborative spaces for institutes with ties to Orange County Register, Irvine Chamber of Commerce, and cultural programming involving connections to Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

The curriculum offers a three-year Juris Doctor program integrating courses in areas mirroring curricula at Harvard Law School, such as constitutional law reflecting precedents from Brown v. Board of Education and First Amendment litigation shaped by cases like New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Specialized programs cover environmental law with perspectives from Sierra Club litigation, intellectual property informed by disputes like Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., and international law drawing on treaties such as the Geneva Conventions. Joint degree options include collaborations analogous to programs at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and UCI School of Medicine, and experiential offerings mirror externships with organizations resembling Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and advocacy placements with American Civil Liberties Union affiliates.

Admissions recruit applicants nationally and internationally, drawing candidates who have studied at undergraduate institutions like University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge. The school evaluates applicants using standards comparable to those of Law School Admission Council processes and benchmarks used by Duke University School of Law and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. The student body engages in student organizations similar to chapters of Federalist Society, American Constitution Society, and public interest groups akin to Equal Justice Works, while many students participate in moot court competitions modeled after events like the National Moot Court Competition and Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

The faculty includes scholars recruited from institutions such as University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and University of Chicago Law School. Research centers address issues tied to litigation trends exemplified by cases like Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and regulatory matters informed by statutes such as the Affordable Care Act. Faculty publish in journals comparable to Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Michigan Law Review and collaborate with policy organizations like Brennan Center for Justice, Brookings Institution, and RAND Corporation.

Clinical offerings include clinics modeled on public-interest lawyering seen at Legal Aid Society operations, transactional clinics engaging with small-business incubators like SCORE partners, and immigration clinics paralleling work by International Rescue Committee. The school’s public-interest initiatives coordinate funding and fellowships similar to Skadden Foundation and support practicums working with courts such as Orange County Superior Court and administrative bodies comparable to California Public Utilities Commission.

Alumni have pursued clerkships with judges from courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and positions at firms like Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Jones Day, and public-service roles at agencies akin to United States Department of Justice. The school has achieved rising positions in annual rankings produced by outlets such as U.S. News & World Report and specialty lists similar to those from Princeton Review and National Jurist, with recognition for faculty scholarship and clinical training paralleling accolades awarded to peer institutions like Berkeley Law and UCLA School of Law.

Category:Law schools in California