Schools

UC Irvine Law School Granted Full Accreditation

The law school was opened in 2009, the first new public school in state in nearly 50 years.

Posted by Alexander Nguyen

The American Bar Association has granted full accreditation to UC Irvine's law school, the founding dean announced Monday.

"From the outset, our goal has been to build a top law school that emphasizes preparing students for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession," Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said. "The ABA's decision puts the official seal of approval on the hard work of scores of faculty, administrators, students, and supporters, both on campus and in the legal community."

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When the school opened in 2009, it was the first new public law school in the state in nearly 50 years. Before being appointed at UC Irvine, Chemerinsky, 61, was a well-known constitutional law scholar, author and legal commentator.

A recent study ranked the UC Irvine School of Law's faculty seventh in the nation for scholarly impact, behind Yale, Harvard, Chicago, Stanford, Columbia and New York University.

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The law school is rooted in public service, and more than 90 percent of students provide pro bono legal services to those unable to pay. In 2013, students completed 10,000 hours of pro bono work.

A recent study of placements in prestigious federal judicial clerkships ranked UC Irvine No. 3, behind Yale and Stanford. In a ranking of law schools based on federal clerkships and employment in large law firms, the school ranked No. 13.

— City News Service


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