California Western School of Law
Encyclopedia
California Western School of Law, founded in 1924, is a private, non-profit law school
located in San Diego, California
. It is popularly known as California Western or Cal Western and formerly California Western University. The school was approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962 and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools
(AALS) in 1967. It is the oldest law school in San Diego. California Western is home to the Southern California "Innocence Project." Its International Law Journal is among the oldest in the nation.
, Leland Stanford
, although he did attend Stanford, where he earned undergraduate and law degrees, and also M.A. and Ph.D degrees in Government Administration.) Balboa Law College expanded to include undergraduate and other graduate studies and changed its name to Balboa University. The law school at Balboa University was closed in 1946.
In 1952, Balboa University became affiliated with the Southern California Methodist Conference, changed its name to California Western University, and relocated to Point Loma. The law school was reopened in downtown. In 1960, the law school had 6 full-time faculty and 23 students. In that year, it re-located to Rohr Hall at Point Loma. It received approval from the American Bar Association in 1962.
In 1968, California Western University changed its name to United States International University (USIU). The law school retained the name California Western. USIU moved to Scripps Ranch. Point Loma Nazarene University
currently occupies the Point Loma site. In 2001, USIU merged with California School of Professional Psychology
to become Alliant International University
.
In 1973, the law school relocated from its Point Loma location to the current downtown campus at 350 Cedar Street. In 1975, California Western ended its affiliation with USIU and became an independent
secular law school. In 1980, the new trimester system
was announced, allowing two entering classes in one academic year, reducing individual class size and allowing students to graduate in two years rather than the standard three.
In 1993, the law school opened a new administrative and campus center at 225 Cedar Street, housing faculty and administration offices, including student affairs and financial aid.
The current Dean, Steven R. Smith, joined the law school in 1996. In January 2000, California Western opened a new Law Library
building at 290 Cedar Street, which was dedicated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
.
curriculum plus dual-degree
programs, specifically:
California Western and University of California, San Diego offer a joint Master's of Advanced Studies degree in Health Law.
California Western also offers the Master of Laws
(LL.M.) degree in Trial Advocacy with a Specialization in Federal Criminal Law as well as an M.C.L./LL.M for foreign law students.
Its research centers include:
Its clinical internship program routinely places students in the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court and U.S. Attorney's Offices, as well as numerous law firms in various sizes.
56.6% of the Class of 2009 were known to be working for law firms in the private sector nine months after graduation. 17.7% of the Class of 2009 were either unemployed or had an unknown employment status nine months after graduation. These employment statistics are self-reported and not audited by an independent third party.
Law school in the United States
In the United States, a law school is an institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree.Law schools in the U.S...
located in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. It is popularly known as California Western or Cal Western and formerly California Western University. The school was approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962 and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools is a non-profit organization of 170 law schools in the United States. Another 25 schools are "non-member fee paid" schools, which are not members but choose to pay AALS dues. Its purpose is to improve the legal profession through the improvement of legal...
(AALS) in 1967. It is the oldest law school in San Diego. California Western is home to the Southern California "Innocence Project." Its International Law Journal is among the oldest in the nation.
History
California Western was originally chartered in 1924 by Leland Ghent Stanford as a private graduate institution called Balboa Law College, the first law school in San Diego. His brother, Dwight Stanford, served as one of the first deans. (Leland Ghent Stanford is not related to the founder of Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Leland Stanford
Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford was an American tycoon, industrialist, robber baron, politician and founder of Stanford University.-Early years:...
, although he did attend Stanford, where he earned undergraduate and law degrees, and also M.A. and Ph.D degrees in Government Administration.) Balboa Law College expanded to include undergraduate and other graduate studies and changed its name to Balboa University. The law school at Balboa University was closed in 1946.
In 1952, Balboa University became affiliated with the Southern California Methodist Conference, changed its name to California Western University, and relocated to Point Loma. The law school was reopened in downtown. In 1960, the law school had 6 full-time faculty and 23 students. In that year, it re-located to Rohr Hall at Point Loma. It received approval from the American Bar Association in 1962.
In 1968, California Western University changed its name to United States International University (USIU). The law school retained the name California Western. USIU moved to Scripps Ranch. Point Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University is a Christian liberal arts college. Its main campus is located on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene.-History:...
currently occupies the Point Loma site. In 2001, USIU merged with California School of Professional Psychology
California School of Professional Psychology
The California School of Professional Psychology , was founded by the California Psychological Association in 1969. It is part of Alliant International University.The school has trained approximately half of the licensed psychologists in California...
to become Alliant International University
Alliant International University
Alliant International University is a private, non-profit higher education institution based in San Diego, California. It offers programs in six California cities and four locations outside the United States...
.
In 1973, the law school relocated from its Point Loma location to the current downtown campus at 350 Cedar Street. In 1975, California Western ended its affiliation with USIU and became an independent
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
secular law school. In 1980, the new trimester system
Academic term
An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...
was announced, allowing two entering classes in one academic year, reducing individual class size and allowing students to graduate in two years rather than the standard three.
In 1993, the law school opened a new administrative and campus center at 225 Cedar Street, housing faculty and administration offices, including student affairs and financial aid.
The current Dean, Steven R. Smith, joined the law school in 1996. In January 2000, California Western opened a new Law Library
Law library
A law library is a library designed to assist law students, attorneys, judges, and their law clerks and anyone else who finds it necessary to correctly determine the state of the law....
building at 290 Cedar Street, which was dedicated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
Anthony Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennedy has often been the swing vote on many of the Court's politically charged 5–4 decisions...
.
Academics
The law school teaches the J.D.Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
curriculum plus dual-degree
Double degree
A double-degree program, sometimes called a combined degree, conjoint degree, dual degree, or simultaneous degree program, involves a student's working for two different university degrees in parallel, either at the same institution or at different institutions , completing them in less time than...
programs, specifically:
- J.D./Master of Business Administration (with San Diego State UniversitySan Diego State UniversitySan Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
) - J.D./Master of Social WorkMaster of Social WorkThe Master of Social Work is a master's degree in social workand especiality of sociology.- United States :In the United States, MSW degrees must be received from a graduate school that has been approved by the Council on Social Work Education...
(with San Diego State University) - J.D./Ph.D.Doctor of PhilosophyDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in political sciencePolitical sciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
or historyHistoryHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
(with University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San DiegoThe University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
)
California Western and University of California, San Diego offer a joint Master's of Advanced Studies degree in Health Law.
California Western also offers the Master of Laws
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
(LL.M.) degree in Trial Advocacy with a Specialization in Federal Criminal Law as well as an M.C.L./LL.M for foreign law students.
Its research centers include:
- William J. McGill Center for Creative Problem Solving
- Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy
- National Center for Preventive Law
- California Innocence ProjectInnocence ProjectAn Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to...
- The California Innocence Project, part of the national network of Innocence Projects, is a non-profit clinical program based at California Western in which law professors and students work to free wrongly convicted prisoners in California. The law students assist in the investigation of cases where there is strong evidence of innocence, write briefs in those cases, and advocate in all appropriate forums for the release of the project's clients. Founded in 1999, the California Innocence Project reviews more than 1,000 claims of innocence from California inmates each year and has earned the release of five wrongfully convicted clients. The Project is directed by Professor Justin Brooks and Professor Jan Stiglitz.
Its clinical internship program routinely places students in the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court and U.S. Attorney's Offices, as well as numerous law firms in various sizes.
Faculty
In 2007 California Western School of Law Professor, Justin Brooks, was named one of California's Top 100 Attorneys by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Brooks was one of only four law professors in California selected and one of only six lawyers – and the only criminal lawyer – from San Diego on the list.Post-graduation employment
According to the ABA, 82.2% of California Western Law graduates were employed 9 months after graduation.56.6% of the Class of 2009 were known to be working for law firms in the private sector nine months after graduation. 17.7% of the Class of 2009 were either unemployed or had an unknown employment status nine months after graduation. These employment statistics are self-reported and not audited by an independent third party.
Areas of concentration
California Western's areas of concentration provides education in the following areas:- ChildChildBiologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
, FamilyFamily lawFamily law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including:*the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships;...
and Elder LawElder law (U.S.)Elder law is a legal term coined to cover an area of legal practice that places an emphasis on those issues that affect the growing aging population.-Categories:The three major categories that make up elder law are:... - Creative Problem Solving
- Criminal JusticeCriminal justiceCriminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
Program - Health lawHealth lawHealth Law is the federal, state, and local law, rules, regulations and other jurisprudence affecting the health care industry and their application to health care patients, providers and payors, and vendors to the health care industry, including without limitation the relationships among...
and Policy - Intellectual propertyIntellectual propertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, telecommunicationTelecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s, and technologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
regulation - International lawInternational lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
- Labor and employment law
- Entertainment lawEntertainment lawEntertainment law or media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry. The principal areas of Entertainment Law overlap substantially with the well-known and conventional field of intellectual property law...
- Business law
Publications
Cal Western has two major publications, the California Western Law Review and the California Western International Law Journal, one of the oldest international law journals in the country.Notable alumni
- Anthony J. BattagliaAnthony J. BattagliaAnthony Joseph Battaglia was a United States magistrate judge in California and is currently a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. On February 4, 2011, Battaglia, was for the second time unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee...
(born 1949), U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of California - Scott C. BlackScott C. BlackLieutenant General Scott C. Black is a retired American military lawyer who was the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army from October 1, 2005 to October 1, 2009. He was the first Lieutenant General to hold that position....
(born 1952), former Judge Advocate General of the United States Army - Shana DaleShana DaleShana L. Dale is an American politician and lawyer. She served as the Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the George W...
(born 1964), former Deputy Administrator of NASA - David FrancisDavid Francis (cyclist)David Francis is a former member of the United States Cycling Team and was part of the next generation of American cyclists to compete in professional cycling, a sport traditionally dominated by Europeans. His teammates included Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Bobby Julich and Jonathan Vaughters...
, former member of the United States Cycling Team - James B. GibsonJames B. GibsonJames B. Gibson was the three-term mayor of Henderson, Nevada from 1997 to 2009.- Biography :Gibson was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Brigham Young University and California Western School of Law....
(born 1949), former mayor of Henderson, Nevada - M. James LorenzM. James Lorenz-Early life and education:Born in Pasadena, California, Lorenz received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1957 and a J.D. from California Western School of Law in 1965.-Career:...
(born 1935), United States federal judge - Bruce E. MacDonaldBruce E. MacDonaldBruce E. MacDonald is a retired United States Navy vice admiral who last served as the 40th Judge Advocate General of the Navy from July 2006 to August 2009. Prior to that, MacDonald served as the Navy's Deputy Judge Advocate General from November 2004 to July 2006...
(born 1955), former U.S. Navy vice admiral and Judge Advocate General of the Navy - Afa Ripley, Jr.Afa Ripley, Jr.Fepulea’i Afa Ripley, Jr. is the Attorney General of American Samoa. Governor Togiola Tulafono appointed him to succeed Malaetasi Togafau, who died on March 9, 2007, and he was approved by the Fono, or legislature. Ripley is an alumnus of California Western School of Law, and was chairman of the...
, Attorney General of American Samoa - Margaret Catharine RodgersMargaret Catharine RodgersMargaret Catharine Rodgers is a United States federal judge.Born in Pensacola, Florida, Rodgers received a B.A. from the University of West Florida in 1989 and a J.D. from California Western School of Law in 1992. She was in the United States Army from 1985 to 1987. She was a law clerk, Hon. Lacey...
(born 1964), United States federal judge - David RogerDavid RogerDavid Roger is the current District Attorney of Clark County, Nevada. He was born in Oakland, California in the summer of 1961. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when he was a teenager along with his family where he graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in 1979. He then majored in Business at the...
(born 1961), District Attorney of Clark County, Nevada - Kevin SandkuhlerKevin SandkuhlerKevin M. Sandkuhler is an American lawyer, and retired Brigadier General in the United States Marine Corps...
(born 1953), retired Brigadier General in the United States Marine Corps