University of California, Davis School of Law

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University of California, Davis, School of Law
Image:Ucdavislawlogo.png
Motto Fiat lux (Latin)
Established 1965
School type Public
Parent Endowment US $651 million[1]
Dean Kevin Johnson
Location Davis, California, USA
Enrollment 582[2]
Faculty 70[2]
USNWR ranking 35[3]
Bar pass rate 84%[4]
Annual tuition $33,949[5]
Website: www.law.ucdavis.edu
ABA Profile UC Davis Profile

The University of California, Davis School of Law (referred to as UC Davis School of Law and commonly known as King Hall and UC Davis Law) is an American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Davis, California on the campus of the University of California, Davis. By design, UC Davis School of Law is the smallest of the four law schools in the University of California system, with a total enrollment of just under 600 students. Having graduated its first class in 1969, it is also the youngest. Located in a building named for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and commonly referred to as King Hall, the School is deeply committed to preserving Dr. King's ideal of social and political justice.

The School’s traditional and emerging areas of study include business law, criminal law and procedure, environmental and natural resources law, health care law and bioethics, human rights and social justice law, intellectual property law, immigration law, international and comparative law, constitutional law, and public interest law. Certificate programs are offered in Public Service Law, Environment and Natural Resources Law, and Pro Bono Service.

Among the UC Davis School of Law's assets are award-winning trial and appellate advocacy programs, clinics, and externships, five student-run journals, and more than 40 active student organizations.


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[edit] Rankings

UC Davis is one of the top 5 law schools in California, and is among top 40 law schools in the United States. US News ranks UC Davis 35th among top law schools in the US, and as the second most diverse of the four law schools in the UC system (after UC Hastings).[6][7] Princeton Review placed UC Davis tenth in the nation in the 2009 version of its annual ranking of faculty diversity among American law schools. In Dean Kevin R. Johnson, the Law School has the first Latino dean of any UC professional school, and it also boasts impressively high numbers of Latino and Asian American faculty. (Comparative statistics are hard to come by, but it is believed that UC Davis may have the highest number of Asian American law professors of any American law school.)

UC Davis Law has the smallest student body of the UC schools, but a slightly larger student/faculty ratio than UCLA or Berkeley.[8] The School's small size, its faculty and student diversity, and its location in the relatively small town of Davis are often said by faculty, alumni, and students to contribute to a shared sense of community that is unique among high-ranking law schools.

In addition, it is one of the least expensive law schools in the UC system, and it grants the most in financial aid after UCLA, so students tend to graduate with significantly less debt on average than all the other schools in the system.[9][10][11] UC Davis Law's King Hall Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), founded in 1990 to help alumni working in relatively low-income public-service law careers to repay student loans, was the first loan repayment assistance program established at any UC law school.

According to Brian Letier's Law School rankings, Davis ranks 24th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of tenure-stream faculty, on par with Boston University Law School.[12]

In terms of student quality, Davis ranks 35th in the nation by LSAT scores in the 25th percentile.[13]

In February 2008, the National Jurist ranked the UC Davis Law Review number thirty on its list of the 100 best law reviews.[14]

[edit] Expansion

The law school is currently undergoing $25 million expansion project that is set to be completed in Fall of 2010. The project will add an additional wing to the law school's current building, adding nearly 30 percent more assignable square feet to provide for additional classrooms, offices, and a new courtroom, named the Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom in honor of a $1 million gift to the project from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation. (Plans are already underway to host arguments in the new courtroom by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, California Supreme Court, and California Court of Appeal.) The project also includes major renovations to the existing structure that will improve aesthetics and traffic flow as well as provide the infrastructure necessary for new technologies. Construction information, floor plans, and a live construction camera are all available on the school's website. [15]

[edit] Notable Faculty

Vikram Amar, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, constitutional law scholar.

Kevin R. Johnson, Dean of the Law School, specialist in civil rights and chicano/a rights law.

Cruz Reynoso, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court 1982-1987, Professor Emeritus.

[edit] Notable Alumni

Elihu Harris, former mayor of Oakland, California.

Gus Lee, American author and ethicist.

Victoria Pynchon, author and attorney, specializing in mediation.

Arthur Torres, vice chairman of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, former Chairman of the California Democratic Party.


[edit] References

  1. ^ "UC Annual Endowment Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2007". Office of the Treasurer of the Regents of the University of California. 2008. http://www.ucop.edu/treasurer/foundation/foundation.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  2. ^ a b UC Davis School of Law Official ABA Data
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ General Statistics Report July 2007 California Bar Examination
  5. ^ UC Davis Law Cost of Attendance
  6. ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2010". US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/law. Retrieved on 2009-04-22. 
  7. ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Law School Diversity Index". US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawdiv_brief.php. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  8. ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, What are the largest and smallest law schools?". US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_law_size_brief.php. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  9. ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Who's the priciest? Who's the cheapest?". US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_law_cost_public_brief.php. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  10. ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Which public schools award the most and the least financial aid?". US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_law_finaid_public_brief.php. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  11. ^ "America's Best Graduate Schools 2008, Whose graduates have the most debt? The least?". US News. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_law_debt_brief.php. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  12. ^ "Top 35 Law Faculties Based on Scholarly Impact, 2007". Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings. http://www.leiterrankings.com/faculty/2007faculty_impact.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  13. ^ "Brian Leiter's Law Schools Ranked by Student (Numerical) Quality, 2007". Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings. http://www.leiterrankings.com/students/2007student_quality.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. 
  14. ^ "National Jurist's 100 Best Law Reviews". National Jurist. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/nationaljurist0208/index.php?startid=22. Retrieved on 2008-09-25. 
  15. ^ "UC Davis School of Law: Our New Building". UC Davis School of Law. http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/alumni/giving/camera.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-01. 

[edit] External links

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