The University of California Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall), referred to as UC Davis School of Law and commonly known as King Hall and UC Davis Law, is an American Bar Association approved law school located in Davis, California on the campus of the University of California, Davis. The school received ABA approval in 1968. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1968.
By design, UC Davis School of Law is the smallest of the five law schools in the University of California system, with a total enrollment of just under 600 students. Located in a building named for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and commonly referred to as King Hall, the School is committed to preserving Dr. King's ideal of social and political justice.
The School’s traditional and emerging areas of study include business law, criminal law and procedure, environmental and natural resources law, health care law and bioethics, human rights and social justice law, intellectual property law, immigration law, international and comparative law, constitutional law, and public interest law. Certificate programs are offered in Public Service Law, Environment Law, Pro Bono Service, and Intellectual Property.
Among the UC Davis School of Law's assets are award-winning trial and appellate advocacy programs, clinics, and externships, five student-run journals, and more than 40 active student organizations.
Rankings and academics
UC Davis is one of the top 5 law schools in California, and one of the top 50 law schools in the United States. In 2016, US News & World Report ranked UC Davis 30th among top law schools in the U.S., and as the second most diverse of the five law schools in the UC system (after UC Hastings). Princeton Review placed UC Davis tenth in the nation in the 2009 version of its annual ranking of faculty diversity among American law schools. It is listed as an "A-" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
It is listed as an "A" (#16) in the January 2011 "Best Public Interest Law Schools" ratings by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
UC Davis Law has the smallest student body of the UC schools, but a slightly larger student/faculty ratio than UCLA or Berkeley.
UC Davis has been ranked as the fifth most-expensive public law school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. It is also ranked first for providing the most financial aid.
It grants the most in financial aid after UCLA, so students tend to graduate with less debt on average than other schools in the UC system. UC Davis Law's King Hall Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), founded in 1990 to help alumni working in relatively low-income public-service law careers to repay student loans, was the first loan repayment assistance program established at any UC law school.
According to Brian Leiter's Law School rankings, Davis ranks 23rd in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of tenure-stream faculty.
In February 2008, The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students ranked the UC Davis Law Review number 30 on its list of the 100 best law reviews.
Bar passage rates
Based on a 2001-2007 6 year average, 79.4% of UC Davis Law graduates passed the California State Bar. In 2009, 89% of first-time test takers passed the California bar. For July 2012, 78.9% of first-time test takers passed the California bar. For July 2013, 85.0% of first-time test takers passed the California Bar Exam.
For July 2014, 86% of first-time test takers passed the California Bar Exam.
Employment
According to King Hall's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 69.9% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. King Hall's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 22.4%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at King Hall for the 2013-2014 academic year is $68,346 for California residents and $80,591 for non-residents. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $265,806 for residents.
Expansion
The law school completed a $30 million expansion project in 2011. The project has added an additional wing to the law school's current building, increasing assignable space by nearly 30 percent to provide for additional classrooms, offices, and a new courtroom, named the Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom in honor of a $1 million gift to the project from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation. The courtroom is used by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, California Supreme Court, and California Court of Appeal.
Noted people
Faculty
- Alan Brownstein, Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality
- Gabriel "Jack" Chin, Professor of Law, specialist in fields of immigration law and criminal procedure
- Joel Dobris, Professor of Law, the nation's most commonly cited scholar in the law of Trusts, Wills, and Estates
- Angela P. Harris, Professor of Law, nationally recognized authority in critical legal theory
- Robert W. Hillman, Professor of Law, Fair Business Practices and Investor Advocacy Chair
- Edward Imwinkelried, Edward L. Barrett, Jr. Professor of Law, the nation's most commonly cited scholar in evidence law
- Kevin Johnson, Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, specialist in civil rights, immigration, and Chicano/a rights law
- Miguel Méndez, Professor of Law, nationally recognized evidence law scholar
- Terry O'Neill, President, National Organization for Women, acting professor of law 1988-1989.
- Rex R. Perschbacher, Daniel J. Dykstra Endowed Chair, former Dean of the Law School, 1998-2008
- Cruz Reynoso, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court 1982-1987, Professor Emeritus
- Martha West, former Associate Dean; Professor Emeritus
- William S. Dodge, Professor of Law, international law, international transactions, and international dispute resolution.
He currently serves as Co-Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement (Fourth) of Foreign Relations Law: Jurisdiction and as a member of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Law.
Alumni
- Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the 28th and current Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court
- Craig F. Stowers, the 18th and current Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
- Kristina Pickering, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada
- Clint_Bolick, Justice on the Supreme Court of Arizona
- F. Philip Carbullido, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Guam; Chief Justice 2003-2008
- Luis Alejo, California State Assemblymember
- Charles Calderon, California State Assemblymember, former majority leader of the California State Senate
- Sharon L. Gleason, Judge, United States District Court for the District of Alaska
- Elihu Harris, former Democratic mayor of Oakland, California
- Paul Igasaki, Chief Judge & Chair of the U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board; Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Equal Justice Works; former Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), appointed by President Clinton
- Gus Lee, American author and ethicist
- Laura Liswood, co-founder of the Council of Women World Leaders; Senior Advisor, Goldman Sachs
- George Miller, Democratic congressman; Ranking Member, United States House Committee on Education and Labor
- Angela E. Oh, activist, former Chair of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's Federal Judicial Nominations Committee
- Dean D. Pregerson, judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California; son of Judge Harry Pregerson
- Jane A. Restani, Chief Judge, United States Court of International Trade
- Jim Rogers, City Councilman, City of Richmond, California
- Jon Sands, Chief Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona
- Anna Slotky, actress
- Gary D. Solis, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
- Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento, California State Senate President Pro Tem, (D-Sacramento)
- Arthur Torres, California State Senator; former Chairman of the California Democratic Party
- Monika Kalra Varma, Director, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (RFK Center)
- Steve White, former Presiding Judge, Sacramento County Superior Court; former Inspector General of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
References
External links
- Official website
