Whittier Law School

Infobox_Law School


name = Whittier Law School
established = 1966
type = Private
endowment =
parent endowment =
head = Neil H. Cogan
city = Costa Mesa
state = California
country = United States
students = 673
faculty = 61
ranking = Tier 4
bar pass rate = 54% (July 2007) [ [http://calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/admissions/Statistics/JULY2007STATS.pdf July, 2007 California Bar Passage Rates] ]
annual tuition = $31,750 (FT), $21,180 (PT)
homepage = http://www.law.whittier.edu
motto = "In Service of Justice and Enterprise"
aba profile = [http://officialguide.lsac.org/SearchResults/SchoolPage_PDFs/ABA_LawSchoolData/ABA4028.pdf Whittier Law School Profile]
Whittier Law School has been the law school of Whittier College since 1975. Located on a satellite campus in Costa Mesa, California, Whittier Law School received accreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1978, and has been a member of the American Association of Law Schools since 1987. Although classified as a "fourth tier" school by the controversial U.S. News and World Report rankings, [ [http://www.aals.org/reports/validity.html "See, e.g.," Stephen P. Klein, Ph.D. and Laura Hamilton, Ph.D., "The Validity of the U.S. News and World Report Law School Rankings" ("There are many serious problems with the US News system for evaluating law schools. These problems include concerns about: (1) important aspects of law school quality that are not assessed by US News; (2) the accuracy of the data US News used to create the index values (such as obvious errors in the computation of bar passage rate and failure to control for regional cost of living differences); (3) the effects of chance, multiple interpretations, and systematic biases on survey responses (such as whether respondents are representative of those sent surveys and whether strategic ratings led to some schools receiving a higher or lower rank than they deserved); (4) the methods US News used to handle missing data; and (5) the use of variables that could lead to inappropriate school practices (such as schools raising their "rejection rate" index by encouraging applications from students who have virtually no chance of being admitted).")] ] the law school has also been consistently recognized as one of the most ethnically diverse law schools in the United States. [ [http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/directory/dir-law/brief/glanc_03022_brief.php USNWR Law School Rankings] ]

The current dean of Whittier Law School is Neil H. Cogan, formerly the dean of Quinnipiac College.

Academics

Whittier Law School offers both full and part-time day and evening J.D. programs. The full-time program takes three years to complete, while the part-time program takes four years to complete. Students in both programs must complete 87 units for graduation. The law school also offers an LL.M. program. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/centers/JD.asp Whittier Law School J.D. Program] ]

Like students at most American law schools, all first-year students at Whittier Law School must take courses in civil procedure, contracts, criminal law, real property, and torts. All first-year students must also take a year-long legal writing course. Second and third-year students must also take courses in corporations, criminal procedure, and evidence. Although optional at many American law schools, Whittier Law School once required that all students take courses in California community property, remedies, the Uniform Commercial Code, and wills and trusts. Now, courses in corporations, remedies, wills and trusts, California community property, and the Uniform Commercial Code are optional (but highly recommended) for all students who enroll in Fall 2008 or later. However, all students must take two graded, semester-long courses designed to prepare them for the essay and performance test portions of the California Bar Examination. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/centers/JD.asp Whittier Law School J.D. Program] ]

Unlike many American law schools, Whittier Law School does not utilize a "4.0" grading system. Rather, the law school utilizes a 100-point grading system. All students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 77 to graduate. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/pdfs/cstudents/Whittier-Law-School-Policies-2007-2008.pdf Whittier Law School Policies 2007-2008] ]

Whittier Law School utilizes a strict and rather antiquated grading scale:

A: 95-100
B: 85-94
C: 75-84
D: 65-74
F: 55-64 [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/pdfs/cstudents/Whittier-Law-School-Policies-2007-2008.pdf Whittier Law School Policies 2007-2008] ]

The mandatory distribution curve is also strict. The curve mandates that no more than 10% of students in any given course receive a grade of "A," and even permits a professor to award no "As" whatsoever in any first-year or upper-level course. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/pdfs/cstudents/Whittier-Law-School-Policies-2007-2008.pdf Whittier Law School Policies 2007-2008] ] The curve also mandates that between 20% and 35% of first-year students receive grades of "D" or "F." [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/pdfs/cstudents/Whittier-Law-School-Policies-2007-2008.pdf Whittier Law School Policies 2007-2008] ] This grading scale and distribution curve leave no place for grade inflation, and are largely responsible for the law school's high first-year attrition rate, [ [http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blog/2008/05/1l-attrition-ra.html "See, e.g.," Law Librarian Blog ("Whitter Law School's very strict (dare one say "old school") grading scale and mandatory distribution curve are probably responsible for the law school's high 1L attrition rate.")] ] which, after the 2005-2006 academic year, stood at 51.5%. [ [http://officialguide.lsac.org/SearchResults/SchoolPage_PDFs/ABA_LawSchoolData/ABA4028.pdf LSAC Whittier Law School Profile] ] This was the highest attrition rate among ABA-approved law schools for that academic year. [ [http://www.abajournal.com/news/1l_attrition_topped_30_percent_at_six_law_schools/ ABA Journal, "1L Attrition Topped 30 Percent at Six Law Schools"] ] [ [http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/04/law-school-ra-1.html Tax Prof Blog, "Law School Rankings by 1L Attrition Rates"] ]

Publications

Whittier Law School has two scholarly publications: the "Whittier Law Review" and the "Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy".

According to a ranking conducted by the Washington & Lee Law School, the "Whittier Law Review" is ranked 109^th out of 192 law reviews evaluated. [ [http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx Washington & Lee Law School Law Journals Rankings] ] According to a ranking of law reviews on the basis of the prominence of the lead article authors, conducted in 2007 by two professors at the Shepard Broad Law Center, the "Whittier Law Review" was ranked 121^st out of 171 law reviews evaluated. [ [http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v99n03/2007-33.pdf Ranking Law Reviewing by Author Prominence - Ten Years Later] ] The Law Review is a student-run organization publishing a collection of articles of legal scholarship four times annually. The Law Review is currently in its twenty-ninth year of publication. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/cstudents/whittier-law-review.asp Whittier Law Review] ]

The Journal of Child and Family Advocacy focuses exclusively on child and family issues. The Journal incorporates scholarly articles featuring discussions on child and domestic abuse, neglect, delinquency, education, welfare, child custody and support, family planning, genetics, community property, and other topics related to children and families. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/cstudents/wjcfa-journal.asp Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy] ]

Whittier Law School also features a student-run newspaper, the "Zealous Advocate".

Programs

Whittier Law School has centers in Children’s Rights, Intellectual Property Law, and International and Comparative Law. These centers host fellows, offer externships, and sponsor symposia and workshops. The law school also offers concentrations in Criminal Law and Business Law for students who wish to take additional, specialized courses in those areas.

As with many American law schools, Whittier Law School offers students the opportunity to study abroad. The law school currently offers summer programs in China, France, Israel, Spain, and the Netherlands. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/centers/summer-abroad.asp Summer Abroad Programs] ]

Post-graduate employment

Whittier Law School's Career Services Center assists students in obtaining post-graduate employment. According to a National Association for Law Placement survey, 91.5% of students who graduated in May 2006 managed to secure employment by February 2007. Of those students, about 49% were employed by private law firms, about 30% were employed in "business and industry," about 9% were employed by government agencies, about 8% were employed by public interest organizations, and less than 1% were employed as law clerks. Median salaries ranged from $59,000 per year for public sector jobs to $80,000 per year for "business and industry" jobs. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/career-services/documents/nalp06.pdf Whittier Law School NALP Employment Report] ] The law school claims that these median starting salaries are the highest of any law school in Orange County. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu Whittier Law School Homepage] ]

Law firms that have hired graduates of Whittier Law School include Latham & Watkins, O'Melveny & Myers, Holland & Hart, Holland & Knight, Quinn Emanuel, and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/career-services/career-services.html Whittier Law School Career Services] ]

Accreditation

On August 9, 2005, the ABA, concerned about Whittier Law School's low bar passage rates, placed the law school's accreditation on probationary status for two years. On August 10, 2007, the American Bar Association extended the probation until February 15, 2009. Under the ABA's rules, the law school remains fully accredited during the probation period, and all students who enter and graduate during this period are deemed to have graduated from an ABA accredited law school. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/about/about_accreditation.asp Whittier Law School Accreditation] ]

During probation, the ABA has conducted several inspections designed to measure the school's efforts to comply with bar passage standards. The law school has taken several steps aimed at preparing its students for the bar examination, including implementing an early bar preparation program; requiring all students to take two graded, semester-long courses on the essay and performance test sections of the bar examination; and offering a summer-long assistance program designed to operate in conjunction with commercial bar preparation courses. As a result, Dean Cogan claims:

"Because our bar passage rates in 2003-07, the pertinent five-year period under the new rule, are well in compliance, we have requested to be removed from probation. The ABA Accreditation Committee will consider that request on April 17-19 [2008] , and the ABA Council will review the Accreditation Committee’s recommendation on June 6-8 [2008] . I expect that after those meetings, the ABA will remove the Law School’s probationary status." [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/news/events-and-announcements.asp Whittier Law School News and Announcements] ]

On April 17, 2008, the ABA Accreditation Committee recommended to the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar that Whittier Law School be removed from probation. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/news/letter-to-community.html Dean's Letter to Community] ] According to Dean Cogan:

"The Law School requested this action on February 14, 2008, because the bar passage rates of our graduates for the five-year period, 2003-07, show compliance with the ABA bar passage rule, Interpretation 301-6. We fully expect that the Council will accept the Committee’s recommendation at its meeting on June 6 and remove the Law School from its probationary status."

On June 7, 2008, the ABA officially removed Whittier Law School from its probationary status. [ [http://www.law.whittier.edu/news/aba-letter-community.html Dean's Letter to Community] ] According to Dean Cogan:

"On Saturday, June 7, 2008, the Council of the ABA Section on Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar accepted its Accreditation Committee's finding that the Law School is in full compliance with Section 301(a) of the Standards for Approval of Law Schools and Interpretation 301-6(A)(1)(b). In addition, the Council accepted the Committee's conclusion that the Law School satisfied all conditions of its probation."

Admission statistics

Number of Applications: 2,568
Number of Offers: 994
Average LSAT: 150
Average Undergraduate GPA: 2.99 [ [http://officialguide.lsac.org/SearchResults/SchoolPage_PDFs/ABA_LawSchoolData/ABA4028.pdf LSAC Whittier Law School Profile] ]

Notable faculty

John Heilman, Distinguished Teacher of Law; Mayor of West Hollywood, California
Howard W. Foss, Professor of Law; Author, "Introduction to Commercial Law"
William W. Patton, Associate Dean and Professor of Law; Co-Author, "Juvenile Law and its Processes"
Peter L. Reich, Professor of Law; Author, "Mexico's Hidden Revolution: The Catholic Church in Law and Politics Since 1929"
Peter K. Stris, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law; Partner, [http://www.strismaher.com/PKSbio.html Stris & Maher LLP]

Notable alumni

Florence-Marie Cooper ('75): Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California
Diane Tibelius ('79): Chairman, Washington State Republican Party (2006-2007)
Stephanie Sautner ('82): Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
Sandra Baldonado ('83): Mayor, City of Claremont, California
Susan L. Renton ('85): Of Counsel, Greenberg Traurig
Mildred Escobedo ('89): Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
Peter Valert ('93): Managing Partner, DLA Piper

Cristina Perez ('94): Judge, "Corte de Familia"; Judge, "Cristina's Court"
Karen Canaan ('97): Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
Mablean Ephriam ('78): Host, "Divorce Court"

External links

* [http://www.law.whittier.edu Whittier Law School]

References