California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law is a private law school in San Diego, California. It is one of two successor organizations to California Western University, the other being Alliant International University. The school was founded in 1924, approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962, and became a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1967. History. California Western is San Diego's oldest law school and was originally chartered in 1924 by Leland Ghent Stanford as a private graduate institution called Balboa Law College. Balboa Law College expanded to include  undergraduate and other graduate studies and changed its name to Balboa University. In 1952, Balboa University became affiliated with the Southern California Methodist Conference and changed its name to California Western University, and the law school was relocated to downtown, San Diego. In 1960 California Western received approval from the American Bar Association. In 1973, the law school relocated within downtown San Diego to its current downtown campus at 350 Cedar Street. In 1975, the school ended its affiliation with Cal Western's successor school, US International University, and became an independent secular law school. In 1980, the new trimester  system was announced, allowing two entering classes per academic year, reducing individual class size and allowing students the opportunity to graduate in two years rather than the standard three. In January 2000, California Western opened a new law library building at 290 Cedar Street, dedicated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Sean M. Scott was named the school's new president and dean in August 2020. Academics. The law school teaches the J.D. curriculum plus dual-degree programs, specifically: 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. Rankings. In "U.S. News and World Report's" 2020 Best Law Schools rankings, California Western ranked in top 10 for its diversity. CWSL was ranked within the top ten law schools for diversity in "U.S. News & World Report"’s 2019 Law School Diversity Index. Its overall rank was 148-194. In December 2012, "National Jurist" magazine ranked the school among the top 40 law schools in the nation for diversity. At number 35, California Western was the highest-ranking law school in San Diego for student and faculty diversity; 58 percent  of entering students were women. CWSL ranked 14th in the nation for "The Best Law Schools for Female Representation" published by Enjuris. Enjuris compiled the law school rankings by Female Enrollment's 2017 report, which indicates how many women attend which ABA law schools. In 2019, Cal Western received an A+ diversity rating and ranked number 18 in the nation for diversity by The National Jurist Programs and research centers. Research centers include: In 2004, California Western established the STEPPS (Skills Training for Ethical and Preventive Practice and career Satisfaction) Program, one of the first skills training and professionalism courses  in the nation that provides students with a simulated lawyering experience supervised by working attorneys. 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. The law school has 25 tenured faculty members, three faculty members on the tenure track and six legal skills professors. From 2010 to 2014, 28 tenured and tenure-track faculty members published 18 books, 15 book chapters, 55 law review articles and 75 other scholarly publications. Tenure-track or tenured faculty who were members  of the faculty in the last seven years wrote 70 additional publications. The law school created six endowed professorships to support faculty members in their research and scholarship. California Western has also been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the past five years. Faculty members have created programs such as the Pro Bono Honors Society, Community Law Project, and Access to Law Initiative that organize and support students and recent graduates in providing legal services to underserved segments of the San Diego community. Bar passage rates. CWSL's February 2020 pass rate was 55 %, versus 43% for the California statewide average of ABA-accredited schools. It met or surpassed the statewide bar pass rate on 14 of the last 17 state bar examinations. In 2014, The San Diego Daily Transcript praised the school for its Bar pass rate; its graduates passed the CA Bar at a rate of 71.3 percent -far surpassing the average performance for all of the 21 ABA-approved schools in the state. Employment. According to California Western's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 53.8 percent of the graduating class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, J.D.-required employment nine months  after graduation, excluding solo practitioners. Student debt. According to "U.S. News & World Report", the average indebtedness of 2016 graduates who incurred law school debt was $143,592 (not including undergraduate debt), and 88% of 2016 graduates took on debt. Publications. California Western has two major publications, the "California Western Law Review" and the "California Western International Law Journal".