California (Irvine) -- University of California Irvine, School of Law -- Accreditation: Seeking ABA -- Year Founded: 2009

The University of California, Irvine School of Law is the law school at the University of California, 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, after some controversy, Erwin Chemerinsky was announced as the law school's first dean.

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." Over 2,700 applications were received to join the inaugural class and only 4% were accepted.

Classes officially began for the first class of students on August 24th, 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. 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.



UC Irvine Law School

The School will seek accreditation from the American Bar Association during its second year, and hopes to be provisionally accredited at the end of that academic year. 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. The school prides itself in having the best student/faculty ratio of any school in the country.



Victoria Ortiz
Dean of Students & Director of Admissions
949-824-1384
vortiz@law.uci.edu

About UCI School of Law

UCI School of Law, the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years, opens its doors to its first class in August, 2009. UCI Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job in the country of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Each member of the inaugural class of 60 students is supported by a three-year, full-tuition scholarship and a 3:1 student-to-faculty ratio.

The 15 members of UCI School of Law's founding faculty are drawn from top schools and have already been ranked in the top 10 in a recent study. Seven other faculty members were recruited from top schools to join the school by its opening. The law school's innovative curriculum stresses hands-on, interdisciplinary study and public service. About 70 law firms and employers have already signed on to interview the first-year class on campus.

The law school's high selectivity allowed it to field an inaugural class mirroring that of top law schools. The incoming class will have a median grade point average of 3.61 and a median LSAT score of 167. That puts it on par with law schools rated in the top 20 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

Contact

401 E. Peltason Drive, Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000

Phone: (949) 824-0066
Fax: (949) 824-7336
Web: www.law.uci.edu