View source for University of California, Irvine School of Law

{{multiple issues|{{advert|date=January 2018}}
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{{Infobox Law School |
 image = UC Irvine School of Law entryway.jpg|
 caption = UCI School of Law building|
 name = University of California, Irvine School of Law|
 parent = [[University of California, Irvine]] |
 established = {{start date and age|2007}}|
 type = [[Public university|Public]] |
 endowment      = |
 parent endowment =$1.3 billion |
 dean = Austen Parrish,<ref>{{cite web|title=Austen Paris is Named Third Dean of UCI's School of Law|url=https://news.uci.edu/2022/04/07/austen-parrish-is-named-third-dean-of-ucis-school-of-law/|url-status=dead|date=2022-04-07|work=UCI News|access-date=2022-10-12|archive-date=2022-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012233752/https://news.uci.edu/2022/04/07/austen-parrish-is-named-third-dean-of-ucis-school-of-law/}}</ref> Dean and Chancellor's Professor of Law |
 city = [[Irvine, California|Irvine]] |
 state = [[California]] |
 country = [[United States|US]] |
 students = 467<ref name=coninfo>{{cite web|title=UCI Consumer Info|url=http://www.law.uci.edu/prospective/consumer_info.html|access-date=2011-12-06|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212123827/http://www.law.uci.edu/prospective/consumer_info.html|archive-date=2012-12-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
 faculty = 145<ref name=coninfo/> |
 ranking =38th (tie) (2025)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/university-of-california-irvine-03201 |title=University of California {{ndash}} Irvine Law School Overview |access-date=11 April 2025 |website=usnews.com |publisher=[[U.S. News & World Report]]}}</ref> |
 bar pass rate =88% (July 2022 1st time takers)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rubino |first1=Kathryn |title=California Bar Exam Results: A Breakdown By Law School (July 2019) |url=https://abovethelaw.com/2019/12/california-bar-exam-results-a-breakdown-by-law-school-july-2019/ |website=Above the Law |date=16 December 2019 |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref> |
 homepage = {{URL|https://law.uci.edu}} |aba profile=[https://law.uci.edu/about/consumer-info/ ''Standard 509 Report'']}}
The '''University of California, Irvine School of Law''' (known as '''UC Irvine Law''') is the [[law school]] at the [[University of California, Irvine]], a [[Public university|public research university]] in [[Irvine, California]]. Founded in 2007, it is the fifth and newest [[University of California law schools (disambiguation)|law school in the University of California system]]. At the time of its founding, it was the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.law.uci.edu/about/our-history/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=www.law.uci.edu}}</ref>

In September 2007, [[Erwin Chemerinsky]] was named as the law school's first dean. Chemerinsky served until 2017 when he was hired to be dean of the [[UC Berkeley School of Law]]. [[L. Song Richardson]] became interim dean in July 2017<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ocregister.com/2017/05/17/uc-irvine-law-dean-erwin-chemerinsky-named-dean-of-berkeleys-law-school-will-begin-july-1/|title=UC Irvine law dean Erwin Chemerinsky named dean of Berkeley's law school, will begin July 1|last=Haire|first=Chris|date=2017-05-17|work=[[Orange County Register]]|access-date=2017-05-17}}</ref> and full dean in January 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-uci-dean-20171227-story.html|title=New UC Irvine dean will be only woman of color to lead a top law school, university says|last=Vega|first=Priscella|date=2017-12-27|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-01-09|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> Song Richardson served as the dean until 2021 when she was hired as President of [[Colorado College]]. Bryant Garth became interim dean in July 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.law.uci.edu/about/deans-office/|title=A message from Bryant Garth, Interim Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus|work=University of California, Irvine School of Law|access-date=2021-07-01}}</ref> Austen Parrish was named as the law school's third dean in April 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-07 |title=Austen Parrish is named third dean of UCI's School of Law |url=https://news.uci.edu/2022/04/07/austen-parrish-is-named-third-dean-of-ucis-school-of-law/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=UCI News |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
Initially, it was announced that the school would be named for [[Donald Bren]], chairman of the [[Irvine Company]], who had donated $20 million towards the school's founding.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-14-me-lawschool14-story.html|title=Bren donation will fund UC Irvine law school|last=Therolf|first=Garrett|date=2007-08-14|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref> In 2008, Bren and UCI agreed that the school would not bear his name in an effort to maintain consistency with other UC schools and the trend away from naming law schools after major donors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://money-law.blogspot.com/2008/11/ex-donald-bren-school-of-law.html|title=The Ex-Donald Bren School of Law|last=Bell|first=Tom W.|date=2008-11-13|website=MoneyLaw|access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Rick | last= Reiff | title=It's Agreed: No Bren Name on UCI Law School | date=October 20, 2008 | url=http://www.ocbj.com/industry_article_pay.asp?aID=478946703.4623119.1697124.0805136.4861014.926&aID2=130539 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20081209031050/http://www.ocbj.com/industry_article_pay.asp?aID=478946703.4623119.1697124.0805136.4861014.926&aID2=130539 | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 9, 2008 | work=Orange County Business Journal | access-date=2008-10-22 }}</ref>

The school was first eligible, for and was granted, provisional accreditation in 2011 from the [[American Bar Association]]. The school was granted full accreditation in June 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.law.uci.edu/about/accreditation.html |title=Accreditation |access-date=2015-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702220744/http://www.law.uci.edu/about/accreditation.html |archive-date=2015-07-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Chemerinsky hiring controversy===
UCI Law initially hired Duke University School of Law Professor [[Erwin Chemerinsky]] to serve as its inaugural dean on September 4, 2007. This offer was later rescinded by then UCI [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] [[Michael V. Drake]] because he felt the law professor's commentaries were "polarizing" and would not serve the interests of the law school. Drake claimed the decision was his own and not subject to any outside influence.<ref name="LAT091307a">Garrett Therolf and Henry Weinstein, [https://archive.today/20090215074738/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uci13sep13,1,1474059,full.story UC Irvine aborts hiring Chemerinsky as law school dean], ''Los Angeles Times'', September 13, 2007.</ref> The action was criticized by liberal and conservative scholars who felt it hindered the academic mission of the law school, and expressed disbelief over Chancellor Drake's claims that it was the subject of no outside influence.<ref name=LAT091307a/>

The issue was the subject of a ''[[New York Times]]'' [[editorial]] on Friday, September 14, 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/opinion/14fri3.html|title=A Bad Beginning in Irvine|date=September 14, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 27, 2010}}</ref> Details emerged revealing that UCI had received criticism on the hire from [[Supreme Court of California|California Chief Justice]] [[Ronald M. George]], who criticized Chemerinsky's grasp of death penalty appeals, as well as a group of prominent [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] Republicans and Los Angeles County Supervisor [[Michael D. Antonovich]], who wanted to derail the appointment.<ref name="LAT901707">Garrett Therolf, [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uci18sep18,0,3167475.story?coll=la-home-center Chemerinsky returns to UC Irvine post], ''Los Angeles Times'', September 17, 2007.</ref> Drake traveled over a weekend to [[Durham, North Carolina]], and the two reached an agreement late Sunday evening.<ref name="LAT901707"/> 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."<ref name="PressRelease070917">[http://www.ocblog.net/ocblog/2007/09/statement-fro-1.html OC Blog: Statement From Chemerinsky & Drake] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029170502/http://www.ocblog.net/ocblog/2007/09/statement-fro-1.html|date=October 29, 2007}}</ref>

===Rankings and scholarships===
To help attract high-quality students, the school raised funds for full scholarships for all members of its inaugural class.<ref>{{cite news 
| title = UC Irvine law school to offer free tuition to first class 
| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-25-me-uci-law-school25-story.html
| access-date = 2011-12-13 
| newspaper = [[LA Times]] 
 }}
</ref> Four percent of the more than 2,700 applications were accepted to join the inaugural class of 60 students.<ref>{{cite web 
| title = Offer of Free Law School Allows UC Irvine to Be Choosy - News - ABA Journal 
| url = http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/offer_of_free_law_school_allows_uc_irvine_to_be_choosy/ 
| access-date = 2011-12-13 
 }}
</ref> Classes officially began on August 24, 2009. The school's inaugural class was composed of 34 women and 26 men, with a median [[Law School Admissions Test|LSAT]] of 167 and median undergraduate [[grade point average|GPA]] of 3.61.<ref name="about">{{cite news | title=About the Inaugural Class | date=September 18, 2009 | url=http://www.law.uci.edu/about_the_inaugural_class.html | access-date=February 21, 2010 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212164955/http://www.law.uci.edu/about_the_inaugural_class.html | archive-date=December 12, 2012 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> UC Irvine's initial LSAT and GPA statistics rival Southern California's other top law schools, [[UCLA School of Law|UCLA]] and [[University of Southern California Law School|USC]], which were both ranked among the nation's top 20 by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''.<ref>{{cite news | title=2010 Law School Rankings | date=April 2009 | url=http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html }}</ref>

Despite offering reduced scholarships to its next two classes (one-half for 2013, and one-third for 2014) and applicant pools dropping to less than 1000 per year, GPA and LSAT numbers for these classes remained largely the same.<ref name="coninfo" />  The school announced that universal scholarships would not be offered for the Class of 2015, while need-based financial aid would still be available. The school funded 20 full scholarships, including ones specifically for students wishing to pursue [[public interest]] law.<ref name="clerkships">{{cite web|url=http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/New_York/News/2011/12_-_December/Yale,_Harvard,_Stanford_____UC_Irvine_/|title=Yale, Harvard, Stanford ... UC Irvine?|access-date=2011-12-13}}
</ref>

UCI Law School was ranked #30 in the nation by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' in March 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227083247/http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+2 |title=Best Law Schools |newspaper=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=March 10, 2015 |archive-date=February 27, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  By then, the applicant median LSAT score was 164, and the median undergraduate GPA was 3.53.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.uci.edu/admission/class-profile.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220175333/http://www.law.uci.edu/admission/class-profile.html |title=Class Profile |publisher=University of California, Irvine School of Law |archive-date=February 20, 2015 |date=November 18, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The publication ranked UC Irvine 11th for its clinical program, 23rd for its intellectual property law program, and in the top ten for the student diversity index.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/debuts-653621-irvine-news.html|title=UC Irvine debuts at No. 30 on U.S. News & World Report law school ranking|website=www.ocregister.com|date=9 March 2015|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref> By 2025, the UCI Law School was ranked #38 by U.S. News & World Report, with a median LSAT score of 167 and a median GPA of 3.81. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=University of California Irvine, U.S. News & World Report, Best Graduate Schools |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/university-of-california-irvine-03201}}</ref>

===Federal clerkships===

In December 2011, the percentage of the Class of 2012 students who had received [[Federal District Court]] or [[US Circuit Court|Circuit Court]] judge clerkships for the year following graduation was second to highest-ranking [[Yale Law|Yale]] and ahead of [[Harvard Law]].<ref>{{cite web 
| title = LSAC Law School Data 
| url = https://officialguide.lsac.org/release/OfficialGuide_Default.aspx 
| access-date = 2011-12-13 
 }}
</ref>

In May 2015, the [[American Bar Association|ABA]] law school employment data ranked UCI third in the placement of federal clerkships, behind only Yale and Stanford.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://excessofdemocracy.com/blog/2015/5/visualizing-law-school-federal-judicial-clerkship-placement-2012-2014|title=Visualizing law school federal judicial clerkship placement, 2012-2014|website=Excess of Democracy|date=May 2015 |access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref> In 2023, there were 15 federal clerkships.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Judicial Clerkships {{!}} UCI Law |url=https://www.law.uci.edu/careers/students/employment-info/judicial-clerkships.html |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.law.uci.edu}}</ref>

===Employment===
According to UC Irvine's official 2015 ABA-required disclosures, 85.45% of the Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.uci.edu/careers/students/employment-info/statistics/employment-summary-2015.html|title=Employment Summary for 2015 Graduates|website=www.law.uci.edu}}</ref> UC Irvine's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 11.82%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2015 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.<ref name="auto1"/> As of January 2025, 97% of the 2023 graduating class was employed, with a 97% bar passage rate. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Employment Summary {{!}} UCI Law |url=https://www.law.uci.edu/careers/students/employment-info/statistics/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.law.uci.edu}}</ref>

==Tuition==
Tuition for the 2011-2012 academic year cost approximately $40,000 for California residents and $52,000 for non-residents.<ref>
{{cite web 
| title = UCI University Registrar - School of Law Fees 2011-12 
| url = http://reg.uci.edu/fees/2011-2012/law.html 
| access-date = 2011-12-13 
 }}
</ref> For the first, second, and third entering classes, tuition was paid for by private scholarships from Mark P. Robinson Jr.,<ref name="Mark P. Robinson Jr. Profile Page">{{cite web|title=Mark P. Robinson, Jr. Profile Page|url=http://www.rcrsd.com/our-attorneys/mark-robinson-jr/|publisher=Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis, Inc.}}</ref> and others at 100%, 50%, and 33%, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.law.uci.edu/press_releases/10-21-10.html |title=UCI Law School Press Release, October 21, 2010 |access-date=April 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805161052/http://www.law.uci.edu/press_releases/10-21-10.html |archive-date=August 5, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> During the 2019–2020 academic year, 39.1% of students received a scholarship covering more than 50% of the tuition cost, 55.1% of students received a scholarship covering less than 50% of the tuition cost, and 2.1% of students received no scholarship.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Cost of Attendance and Debt at University of California - Irvine |url=https://www.law.uci.edu/admission/tuition-aid/ |website=Law School Transparency}}</ref>

The total cost of tuition (not including the cost of living) at the University of California-Irvine School of Law for the 2024–2025 academic year is $55,945 for California residents and $68,190 for non-residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.uci.edu/admission/tuition-aid/|title=Tuition and Aid|website=www.law.uci.edu}}</ref> The estimated cost of living on campus is $25,404 per year.<ref name="auto"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website|http://www.law.uci.edu/}}

{{University of California, Irvine}}
{{California law schools accredited by the American Bar Association}}
{{Law Schools of the Southwest}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:University of California, Irvine|Law School]]
[[Category:ABA-accredited law schools in California|California, Irvine]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 2008]]
[[Category:2008 establishments in California]]