California (Berkeley) -- Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley -- Accreditation: Full ABA -- Year Founded: 1894

The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, commonly referred to as Berkeley Law and Boalt Hall, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley.



University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

Berkeley Law is consistently ranked both as one of the top 10 law schools and, along with the University of Virginia and the University of Michigan, one the top public law schools in the United States, making it one of the most elite law schools in the country. Admitted applicants generally have an undergraduate GPA of between 3.7 and 3.9 and a Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score of between 164 and 170 (90th and 98th percentile of all test-takers).

In April 2008, the law school rebranded itself from "Boalt Hall" to "Berkeley Law", in order to more closely tie the law school's name with the campus upon which it resides. The administration hopes that this move will further increase the law school's prestige, since people will now associate it with the world-renowned Berkeley campus.



Boalt Hall

Rankings

US News ranks Boalt Hall 6th among top law schools in the US, tied with the University of Chicago. In addition, it is also the number one public law school in the country. It has the second smallest student body and the smallest student/faculty ratio of all the UC schools. While it is the most expensive law school in the UC system, it is only slightly more expensive than UCLA. However, it grants a median amount in financial aid for the system, and students tend to graduate with the least amount of debt on average than most of the other UC schools, with the exception of Davis. According to Brian Letier's Law School rankings, Boalt ranks 7th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of tenure-stream faculty. In terms of student numerical quality, Boalt ranks 14th in the nation. According to The Daily Journal, 15 of the top 100 lawyers in California are Boalt alumni. Law and Politics' Super Lawyers magazine ranks Boalt as #9 in the country, just above Yale Law based on the amount of Super Lawyers it produces. 890 alumni are in their list of the top 5% of peer rated attorneys for 2009.

Centers at Berkeley Law

• A view of San Francisco and the Bay from Boalt Hall.
• Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice (est. 2006)
• Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (est. 1996)
• Berkeley Center for Law, Business, and the Economy (est. 2004)
• California Center for Environmental Law and Policy
• Center for Clinical Education (est. 1998)
• Center for the Study of Law and Society (est. 1961)
• Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity
• Death Penalty Clinic (est. 2001)
• Institute for Global Challenges and the Law
• Institute for Legal Research (formerly the Earl Warren Legal Institute) (est. 1963)
• International Human Rights Law Clinic (est. 1998)
• Kadish Center for Morality, Law and Public Affairs (est. 2000)
• Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance (est. 1994)
• Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic (est. 2000)
• Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice (est. 1999)

A view of San Francisco and the Bay from Boalt Hall.

Contact

UC Berkeley School of Law
215 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
510-642-1741

DEAN'S OFFICE
University of California, Berkeley
School of Law
215 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200

Phone: 510-642-6483
Fax: 510-642-9893

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
University of California, Berkeley
School of Law
2850 Telegraph Ave, Suite 500 #7220
Berkeley, CA 94705-7220

Phone Numbers:

J.D. Program: 510-642-2274
Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program: 510-642-3771
Fax: 510-643-6222
E-mail:
J.D. Program: admissions@law.berkeley.edu
Jurisprudence & Social Policy Program: jsp@uclink4.berkeley.edu