The University of Southern California Gould School of Law (USC Gould), located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law had its beginnings in 1896, and was officially established as a school of the university in 1900.
History
USC Law School had its beginnings in 1896 when Judge David C. Morrison opened his courtroom for 36 law apprentices, among whom were future California Supreme Court Justice Frederick W. Houser and his wife, Sara Isabella Wilde; the couple would soon form the Los Angeles Law Students Association to discuss the concept of a formal law school.
Their efforts resulted in the incorporation of the Los Angeles Law School in 1898. The first law degree was awarded in 1901 to Gavin W. Craig. 2002 saw the beginning of the USC Law Graduate and International Programs. It is an American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school since 1924. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1907.
Academics
USC Gould awards the J.D., LL.M., and M.C.L. law degrees. It currently has about 600 J.D. students (200 per year) and a graduate program of about 200 LL.M. and M.C.L. students. It offers three certificate programs: business law, entertainment law and alternative dispute resolution.
Rankings
USC Gould has consistently been ranked between 15th and 18th by the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Graduate Schools" since the magazine has published an annual version of its rankings, ranking 18th in 2011. "The Law School 100", a ranking scheme that uses qualitative criteria instead of quantitative, ranks the law school 14th overall. It was listed with an "A-" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
USC Gould ranked 12th in the 2011 National Law Journal job placement study, with over 32% of its graduating class hired by the NLJ 250 largest law firms in the United States.
Academic journals and honors programs
USC Gould hosts three academic journals and offers one additional honors program: Southern California Law Review, Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice (formerly the Review of Law and Women's Studies), Interdisciplinary Law Journal, and the Hale Moot Court Honors Program. S .
The school has a chapter of the Order of the Coif, a national law school honorary society.
Clinical programs
USC Gould maintains six client clinics to provide students experience with lawyering skills.
- International Human Rights Clinic â€" research and drafting in cases trying perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism; representing survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence
- Immigration Clinic â€" pro bono representation to clients in a variety of immigration cases from over 25 different countries
- Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic â€" assisting artists, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, and policymakers with intellectual property issues
- Mediation Clinic â€" mediation for small claims and civil harassment cases for the Los Angeles County Superior Court
- Post-Conviction Justice Project â€" representing clients on civil issues related to incarceration, parole hearings, and constitutional rights
- Small Business Clinic â€" corporate legal assistance to entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, and small businesses
Study abroad program
USC Gould offers international study abroad programs, providing credit to J.D. students. Students may spend a semester abroad at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, Bocconi University, Jean Moulin University Lyon 3, Bond University and Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Previously, students could pursue a J.D./LL.M dual degree with the London School of Economics.
Dual Degree programs
USC Gould maintains dual degree programs with the Marshall School of Business, the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Price School of Public Policy, the School of Social Work, the Davis School of Gerontology, and the Annenberg School of Communications. Dual degree programs are accelerated. If the non-law master's degree normally requires one year of study, a student in a dual degree program earns both degrees in only three years. If the master's degree normally requires two years, a total of four years is necessary.
USC Gould also maintains two other dual degree programs. A program with the California Institute of Technology enables a student to receive a J.D. from USC and a Ph.D. in social science from Caltech. A dual degree program with the USC School of Pharmacy enables a qualified student to earn a J.D. and a Pharm.D. degree. .
Employment
According to the USC Gould School of Law's official 2014 ABA-required disclosures, 79.3% of the Class of 2014 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. USC Gould's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 8.8%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2014 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 USC Gould for the 2014-2015 academic year is $81,679.
Noted people
Deans
- 1896-1899, James Brown Scott
- 1904â€"1927, Frank M. Porter
- 1927â€"1930, Justin Miller
- 1930â€"1948, William G. Hale
- 1948â€"1952, Shelden Elliott
- 1952â€"1963, Robert Kingsley
- 1963â€"1968, Orrin B. Evans
- 1968â€"1980, Dorothy W. Nelson
- 1980â€"2000, Scott H. Bice
- 2000â€"2006, Matthew L. Spitzer
- 2006â€"2007, Edward J. McCaffery (interim)
- 2007â€"2015, Robert K. Rasmussen
- 2015â€"present, Andrew T. Guzman
Faculty
- Jody Armour â€" specializes in race issues; author of Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism
- Susan Estrich â€" Professor of Law and Political Science. A Fox News commentator, author of The Case for Hillary Clinton, 2005, and Soulless: The Right Wing Church of Hate, 2006. First woman Editor in Chief of the Harvard Law Review; youngest woman to receive tenure from Harvard Law School (before leaving to teach at USC)).
- Elyn Saks founder and director of Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics; author of The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness
Former faculty
- Elizabeth Garrett â€" first woman president of Cornell University, USC Vice President of Academic Planning and Budget, Professor of Law, Political Science and Public Policy
- Erwin Chemerinsky â€" former Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, and Political Science, 1983â€"2004; former professor at the Duke University School of Law; founding Dean at the University of California, Irvine School of Law; current Dean at University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
- Richard Epstein â€" known for his arguments against anti-discrimination laws; currently the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University; previously the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School
- James Brown Scott â€" authority on international law, founding dean of USC Law School
- Charles Whitebread â€" expert on Criminal Procedure and lecturer for BarBri; author of The Eight Secrets of Top Exam Performance in Law School
- Debra Wong Yang â€" trial advocacy expert; the first Asian American woman served as a United States Attorney
- Carole E. Handler â€" Professor of antitrust and intellectual property law
Alumni
Law
U.S. federal Court of Appeals judges
- Arthur Lawrence Alarcon (1951) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1979â€"1992)
- James Marshall Carter (1927) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1967â€"1971); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1949â€"1967)
- Walter Raleigh Ely, Jr. (LL.M. 1949) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1964â€"1979)
- Ferdinand Francis Fernandez (1962) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1989â€"2002); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1985â€"1989)
- Warren J. Ferguson (1949) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1979â€"1986); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1966â€"1979)
- Dorothy Wright Nelson (LL.M. 1956) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1979â€"1995)
- David R. Thompson (1955) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1985â€"1998)
- Charles E. Wiggins (1956) â€" Judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1984â€"1996)
U.S. federal District Court for the Central District of California judges
- William Matthew Byrne, Jr. (1956) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1971â€"1998)
- Thurmond Clarke (1927) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1966â€"1970); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1955â€"1966)
- Elisha Avery Crary (1929) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1966â€"1975); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1962â€"1966)
- Richard Arthur Gadbois, Jr. (1960) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1982â€"1996)
- Peirson Mitchell Hall â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1966â€"1968); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1942â€"1966)
- James M. Ideman (1963) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1984â€"1998)
- David Vreeland Kenyon (1957) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1980â€"1995)
- George H. King (1974) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1995â€"present)
- Stephen G. Larson (1989) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2006â€"2009)
- Nora Margaret Manella (1975) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1998â€"2006)
- Edward Rafeedie (1959) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1982â€"1996)
- Albert Lee Stephens, Jr. (1938) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1966â€"1979); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1961â€"1966)
- Alicemarie Huber Stotler (1967) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1984â€"2009)
- Robert Mitsuhiro Takasugi (1959) â€" first Japanese American federal judge; Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1976â€"1996)
- Dickran Tevrizian (1965) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1985â€"2005)
- Laughlin Edward Waters, Sr. (1947) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1976â€"1986)
- David W. Williams (1937) â€" first African American federal judge west of the Mississippi River; Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1969â€"1981)
Other U.S. federal court judges
- Mary Ann Cohen (1967) â€" Judge of the United States Tax Court (1982â€"present)
- J. Lawrence Irving (1963) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1982â€"1990)
- David W. Ling (1913) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (1936â€"1964)
- Leland Chris Nielsen (1946) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1971â€"1985)
- Howard Boyd Turrentine (1939) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1970â€"1984)
- Ronald M. Whyte (1967) â€" Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (1992â€"2009)
California Supreme Court justices
- David Eagleson (1950) â€" Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1987â€"1991)
- Douglas L. Edmonds (1910) â€" Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1936â€"1955)
- Frederick W. Houser (1900) â€" Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1937â€"1942)
- Marcus Kaufman (1956) â€" Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1987â€"1990)
- Joyce L. Kennard (1974) â€" first Asian-American to serve as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1989â€"2014)
- Malcolm M. Lucas (1953) â€" 26th Chief Justice of California (1987â€"1996); Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1984â€"1987); Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1971â€"1984) All four were appointed by Republican Governor George Deukmejian.
Business
- C. Bertrand Thompson (1900) â€" First African-American graduate of USC Law School at age 18, early scholar of scientific management
- Louis Galen (1951) â€" former CEO of Golden West Financial, philanthropist
- Sol Price (1957) â€" founder of Fed Mart and Price Club (Costco Wholesale Corp.)
- James E. Rogers (1963) â€" CEO & owner, Sunbelt Communications
- Richard Ziman (1967) â€" CEO, Arden Realty
- Stanley Gold (1967) â€" President and CEO of Shamrock Holdings
- Bruce Karatz (1970) â€" CEO of KB Home
- Jeff Smulyan (1972) â€" founder and CEO of Emmis Communications
- Brian Grazer (left in 1975) - Oscar-winning co-founder of Imagine Entertainment
- Charles Prince (1975) â€" former chairman & CEO of Citigroup
- Richard Rosenblatt (1994) â€" Founder, CEO, Intermix & Demand Media; former Chairman, MySpace; Founder, former CEO, iMALL
- Larry Flax (1967) â€" Co-founder of California Pizza Kitchen
Other
- Mabel Walker Willebrandt (1916) â€" Assistant U.S. Attorney General (1921â€"1929)
- You Chung Hong (1924) â€" first Chinese American admitted to practice in California
- Gordon Dean (1930) â€" former USC Law School professor; chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
- Jack Carl Greenburg (1933) â€" former Chief Clerk of the California State Assembly
- David Getches (1967) â€" former Dean and Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado School of Law
- James P. Gray (1971) â€" presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County; former Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate and for Vice President of the United States
- Stephen Cooley (1973) â€" Los Angeles County's 36th District Attorney
- Douglas Kmiec (1976) â€" former U.S. Ambassador to Malta, Caruso Family Chair in Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University, f former Dean and St. Thomas More Professor at The Catholic University of America, former Director of Law & Government Center, University of Notre Dame
- Margaret Radin (1976) â€" law professor at Stanford Law School; former USC Law School professor
- George Hedges (1978) â€" senior partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP and attorney to celebrity clients
- Charles Older (1952) - California Superior Court judge presiding over trial of Charles Manson; also one of the Flying Tigers pilots of WWII
- Aulana L. Peters (1973) â€" first African American and third woman to serve as commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Jackie Lacey (1982) â€" first woman and first African American to serve as District Attorney of Los Angeles County
- E. Randol Schoenberg (1991) â€" attorney specializing in legal cases related to the recovery of looted or stolen artworks; one of the central figures of the 2015 film Woman in Gold, which depicted the case he brought against the Austrian government .
Politics
- Arthur Alberâ€"(1918) Los Angeles City Council member (1927â€"29)
- Bertrand W. Gearhart (1910) â€" lawyer and former member of the United States House of Representatives
- Fletcher Bowron (1911) â€" former mayor of Los Angeles
- J. Curtis Counts (1941) â€" Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
- Buron Fitts (1916) â€" former Lieutenant Governor of California
- Thomas Kuchel (1935) â€" former United States Senator
- Craig Hosmer (1940) â€" former United States Representative
- Fred Hall (1941) â€" former Governor of Kansas
- James B. Utt (1946) â€" former United States Representative
- Carlos Moorhead (1949) â€" former United States Representative
- Robert Finch (1951) â€" former Lieutenant Governor of California, former United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
- Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (1956) â€" Los Angeles County supervisor, former member of the United States House of Representatives
- Michael L. Williams (1979) â€" senior commissioner of the Railroad Commission of Texas, Texas Commissioner of Education
- John Heilman (1982) â€" mayor of West Hollywood, lecturer at USC Gould
- James Stuart McKnight (1908) â€" Los Angeles City Council member (1931â€"33)
- Charles K. Djou (1996) â€" former United States Representative (Hawaii)
- Nanette Barragan (2005) - current United States Representative (California)
Sports and media
- Philip N. Krasne (1929) â€" producer of the later Charlie Chan films and the Cisco Kid television series.
- Carey McWilliams (1927) â€" editor of The Nation for twenty years
- Joseph Wapner (1948) â€" Judge of The People's Court (former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge
- Terry Baker (1968) â€" played quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams and the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos while earning a J.D. at USC
- Amy Trask (1985) â€" Former CEO of the Oakland Raiders
- Rick Neuheisel (1990) â€" Former head football coach at UCLA and former UCLA quarterback.
References
External links
- Official website
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