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″N 118°16′25″W / 34.05639°N 118.27361°W |
| 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."[2] PCL uses alternative methods of law school admissions, which does not rely on the LSAT because it is considered culturally biased. Tuition is kept low through the use of volunteer faculty, consisting of working Attorneys, Judges and law professors. Students and members of the PCL community volunteer to maintain the facilities, allowing all students to graduate debt free.
State Bar registration
People's College of Law is regulated by the California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners[3] of the State Bar of California as an unaccredited law school that may grant the juris doctor (J.D.) law degree. 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.[4]
Bar pass rates
From 2010 through 2015, 32 People's College graduates have taken 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 2016 was $4,000.[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
- Carol Sobel, formerly of the ACLU and former Vice President of the National Lawyers Guild[9]
- Ilka Tanya Payán, AIDS activist,[10] former New York City Human Rights Commissioner[11]
- Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor of Los Angeles,
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ PCL General Information Archived 2011-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Committee of Bar Examiners Registered Unaccredited Fixed-facility Law Schools in California 10/4/2010
- ^ "ABA-Approved Law Schools by Year". ABA website. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
- ^ State Bar of California Bar Examination Statistics
- ^ https://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/tuition/1/desc/Tuition
- ^ http://www.peoplescollegeoflaw.edu/tuition/
- ^ "Sharon Kyle". LA Progressive.
- ^ NLG Leadership: Carol Sobel Archived 2012-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ California State Bar Member Records
- ^ Navarro, Mireya (December 5, 1993). "Conversations/Ilka Tanya Payan; An Actress Openly Faces AIDS And Receives an Audience's Ovation". The New York Times.