University of California, Irvine School of Law

University of California, Irvine School of Law
Parent school	University of California
Established	2008
School type	Public
Dean	Erwin Chemerinsky
Location	Irvine, California, US
Enrollment	143[1]
Faculty	22[2]
Website	www.law.uci.edu

The University of California, Irvine School of Law is the law school at the University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine). It is the fifth law school in the UC system and the first public law school to open in California in 40 years. In September 2007, Erwin Chemerinsky was announced as the law school's first dean.

History

Initially, it was announced that the school would be named for Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Company, in honor of his $20 million donation towards its founding. In 2008 an agreement was reached between Bren and UCI that the school would not bear his name. Chemerinsky said, "We are deeply grateful for the Bren gift, but it was decided between the chancellor and Mr. Bren that our name should be parallel to other UC schools."^[3]

Over 2,700 applications were received to join the inaugural class and 4% were accepted.^[4] Classes officially began for the first class of students on August 24, 2009. The School's inaugural class is composed of 34 females and 26 males with a median LSAT of 167 and median undergraduate GPA of 3.61.^[1] UC Irvine's LSAT and GPA statistics rival Southern California's other top law schools, UCLA and USC, which are both ranked among the nation's top 20 by US News & World Report.^[5] University of Chicago Law Professor Brian Leiter, in his "Leiter Law School Rankings", ranked the UC Irvine faculty 9th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact.^[6]

UC Irvine's second class (Class of 2013) averages an undergraduate GPA of 3.34-3.76 (25th percentile-75th percentile) and an LSAT score of 163-168 (25th-75th percentile).^[7] UC Irvine Law aspires to be a "top 20" law school.^[8]

Chemerinsky hiring

UC Irvine Law School

In hiring an inaugural dean, the University approached constitutional law Professor^[9] Erwin Chemerinsky. After signing a contract with Chemerinsky on September 4, 2007, the offer was rescinded by UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake because he felt the law professor's commentaries were "polarizing" and would not serve the interests of California's first new public law school in 40 years; Drake claimed the decision was his own and not the subject of any outside influence.^[10] The action was criticized by liberal and conservative scholars who felt it hindered the academic mission of the law school, and disbelief over Chancellor Drake's claims that it was the subject of no outside influence.^[10][11]

The issue was the subject of a New York Times editorial on Friday, September 14, 2007.^[12] Details emerged revealing that UCI had received criticism on the hire from California Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who criticized Chemerinsky's grasp of death penalty appeals, as well as a group of prominent Orange County Republicans and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who wanted to derail the appointment.^[13] Drake traveled over a weekend to Durham, North Carolina, and the two reached an agreement late Sunday evening.^[13] On September 17, Chemerinsky issued a joint press release with Drake indicating that Chemerinsky would head the UCI law school, stating "Our new law school will be founded on the bedrock principle of academic freedom. The chancellor reiterated his lifelong, unqualified commitment to academic freedom, which extends to every faculty member, including deans and other senior administrators."^[14]

Accreditation

UCI Law received provisional approval from the American Bar Association on June 14, 2011.^[15] A student at a provisionally approved law school and an individual who graduates while the school is provisionally approved are entitled to the same recognition given to students and graduates of fully approved law schools.^[16]

Tuition

Annual tuition is expected to cost $40,000 for California residents and $50,000 for non-residents. For the first, second and third entering classes, tuition was paid for by private scholarships from Mark P. Robinson, Jr., and others at 100%, 50% and 33% respectively.^[17]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Visions of Change". August 10, 2010. http://www.law.uci.edu/about_the_inaugural_class.html. 
2. ^ . http://www.law.uci.edu/visions_of_change.html. 
3. ^ Reiff, Rick (October 20, 2008). "It’s Agreed: No Bren Name on UCI Law School". Orange County Business Journal. http://www.ocbj.com/industry_article_pay.asp?aID=478946703.4623119.1697124.0805136.4861014.926&aID2=130539. Retrieved 2008-10-22. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "New UC Irvine School of Law Is the Most Selective of Any U.S. Law School". April 16, 2009. http://www.law.uci.edu/press_releases/04-16-09.html. 
5. ^ "2010 Law School Rankings". April, 2009. http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html. 
6. ^ Leiter Rankings, scholarly impact
7. ^ UCI Law Consumer Info
8. ^ UCI Law Visions
9. ^ Leiter Rankings scholarly impact
10. ^ ^{a b} Garrett Therolf and Henry Weinstein, UC Irvine aborts hiring Chemerinsky as law school dean , Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2007.
11. ^ Dana Parsons, Excuse for UCI's fumble on law school dean not good enough, Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2007.
12. ^ "A Bad Beginning in Irvine". The New York Times. September 14, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/opinion/14fri3.html. Retrieved May 27, 2010. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Garrett Therolf, Chemerinsky returns to UC Irvine post, Los Angeles Times, September 17, 2007.
14. ^ OC Blog: Statement From Chemerinsky & Drake
15. ^ California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners
16. ^ . http://www.law.uci.edu/accreditation.html. 
17. ^ UCI Law School Press Release, October 21, 2010

External links

• Official website