University of La Verne College of Law

The University of La Verne College of Law is the law school of the University of La Verne, a private university in Ontario, California. It was founded in 1970 and is approved by the State Bar of California, but is not accredited by the ABA.

History
In 1970, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Paul Egly established the law school. In 1985, the school merged with the San Fernando Valley College of Law; however, the two operated as independent entities within the University of La Verne until 2002, when the University of West Los Angeles purchased the San Fernando Valley College of Law campus. In 2001, the law school relocated to Ontario, California.

In 2006, the College of Law first received provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association (ABA). In June 2011, the ABA denied the College full accreditation. On August 29, 2011, the school received approval from the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. In March 2012, the ABA again granted provisional accreditation. Finally, on March 14, 2016, the College received full accreditation from the ABA. However, in November 2019, the College of Law’s board of trustees voted to convert the school from an ABA-accredited institution to one approved by the State Bar of California instead. The move followed an investigation by the school’s faculty and administrators to evaluate the source of declining enrollment and avoid closure. The school’s decision was also influenced by the ABA’s introduction of tougher accreditation standards in May 2019, which shortened the timeframe schools have to ensure a 75-percent bar pass rate from five to two years.

Degrees offered
The school offers the Juris Doctor (JD) law degree, which can be completed on a full-time basis over three years or part-time over four years. The school also offers two dual-degree programs in conjunction with the University of La Verne College of Business and Public Management: the Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration (JD/MBA) and Juris Doctor/Master of Public Administration (JD/MPA).

Accreditation
The school is accredited by the State Bar of California, but is not accredited by the American Bar Association. Students entering in the fall of 2020 and thereafter may not qualify to take a bar examination or be admitted to practice law in jurisdictions other than California.

Admissions
According to the January 2022 Annual Disclosure under the California Business & Professions Code, the school accepted 42.76% of applicants, with 64.55% of those accepted enrolling. The average enrollee had a 145 LSAT score and 3.62 undergraduate GPA.

Bar passage
For the July 2023 California Bar Examination, 60% of College of Law alumni taking the exam for the first time passed, vs. a 65% pass rate for all first-time takers, and 20% College of Law alumni repeat takers passed.

Law reviews, journals and publications

 * University of La Verne Law Review
 * Journal of Juvenile Law
 * Journal of Legal Advocacy & Practice
 * Inter alia
 * Grand Jury Training (2003). Published by La Verne College of Law and the California Grand Jurors' Association (video seminar)

Legal clinics and student programs
The College of Law opened a disability rights legal clinic in the summer of 2007, followed by a justice and immigration legal clinic. Additional programs for students include clinical externships and practicums in Family Law and Lawyering Skills.

Costs
For the Fall 2020 semester, La Verne College of Law tuition is $15,600 per semester for all full-time students.

Employment
According to the La Verne College of Law's official ABA-required disclosures for 2018 graduates, 51.72% found some form of full-time employment while 24.14% did not (the rest were not in full-time employment, not seeking employment, or unknown). Of graduates, 22.41% obtained JD required employment (i.e. as attorneys). Of the 22.41% of graduates who obtained attorney employment, 53.33% went into small firms, no graduates went into medium-sized law firms, 20.0% went into business, and 13.33% went into government employment (the rest of attorney employment was short-term or part-time). No employment was reported to the ABA for 2019 or 2020 graduates.

Noted Alumni

 * Jessica Dominguez (JD 2000), American immigration lawyer based in California
 * Phil Esbenshade (JD 2003), professional skateboarder
 * Ronald Richards (JD 1995), criminal defense attorney