Golden Gate University School of Law: Difference between revisions

Add links
Coordinates: 37°47′21″N 122°23′56″W / 37.78923°N 122.3988°W / 37.78923; -122.3988
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
SmackBot (talk | contribs)
3,734,324 edits
m Dated {{Original research}}. (Build p612)
Mochaliz (talk | contribs)
421 edits
No edit summary
Line 53: Line 53:


===Scholarship Controversy===
===Scholarship Controversy===

{{Original research|date=May 2011}}

In April 2011, the New York Times ran an article on law school scholarships that included interviews with Golden Gate students and alumni who claimed the school had baited them into enrolling by awarding them merit scholarships. Such a scholarship would continue as long as its recipient maintained a GPA of at least 3.0. The article claims that the school did not inform recipients that the school's mandatory first-year curve made it statistically impossible for all of them to maintain a GPA of at least 3.0.<ref>David Segal (4/30/11) Although the vast majority of law students should know this especially considering GGU posts their curve in the student handbook and gives students a student handbook that explicitly states the curve in it. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/business/law-school-grants.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp Law Students Lose the Grant Game as Schools Win] The New York Times</ref> In fact, the school's curve actually allows for up to 70% of students to earn a 3.0.,.<ref>Golden Gate University School of Law, Registrar's Office (5/19/11)</ref><ref>http://www.ggu.edu/school_of_law/law_student_services/student_handbook/attachment/2010-2011+Student+Handbook.pdf</ref> In response to the article, other Golden Gate Law students wrote to the New York Times to defend the transparency of Golden Gate's scholarship policy. Other reader responses were divided between objection to and support for the reporter's thesis that offering merit scholarships and having a curve represents deception.<ref>[[http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/business/law-school-grants.html}The New York Times</ref>


==Programs==
==Programs==
[[Image:Trial room.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Mock Trial Room]]
[[Image:Trial room.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Mock Trial Room]]
The school offers offers doctoral ([[Juris Doctor|J.D.]]) and post-doctoral ([[L.L.M.]], [[S.J.D.]]) programs in [[intellectual property]], [[environmental law]], [[taxation]], U.S. legal studies and [[international law]].
The school offers offers a first degree in law ([[Juris Doctor|J.D.]]) and graduate degrees ([[L.L.M.]], [[S.J.D.]]) programs in [[intellectual property]], [[environmental law]], [[taxation]], U.S. legal studies and [[international law]].


Certificates of specialization are available in:
Certificates of specialization are available in:

Revision as of 17:10, 25 May 2011

Golden Gate University School of Law
Parent schoolGolden Gate University
Established1901[1]
School typePrivate
Parent endowment$21 million
DeanDrucilla Stender Ramey
LocationSan Francisco, California, US
Enrollment732 (Full- and part-time)[2]
Faculty110 (Full- and part-time)[2]
USNWR rankingNot published[2]
Bar pass rate57% (July 2010 1st time takers)[3]
Websitewww.ggu.edu/law/
ABA profileGolden Gate University School of Law

Golden Gate University School of Law (informally referred to as GGU School of Law, GGU Law and Golden Gate Law) is one of the professional graduate schools of Golden Gate University. Located in downtown San Francisco, California, GGU is a California non-profit corporation. In February 2010, the National Jurist ranked the law school's public interest program 39th in the country.[4]

History

GGU Campus

GGU Law was founded in the autumn of 1901 as the YMCA Evening Law School, a component of the San Francisco Central YMCA Evening College. Classes were held in the YMCA's building at Mason and Ellis Streets in the Tenderloin, which was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake. Like other YMCA Law Schools across the nation, it was established to provide people who worked full-time the opportunity to attend law school at night. The first graduating class in June 1905 had four students (all men).[5] After the earthquake, the school was conducted out of tents, and later leased space at 1220 Geary St. (now Geary Boulevard) near Franklin Street in the Western Addition neighborhood.[6] For the purpose of conferring the LL.B degree under authority of law the school was incorporated as the Young Men's Christian Association Law College on June 1, 1910.[7][8][9] With the rest of the YMCA the law college moved to its purpose-built home at 220 Golden Gate Ave, near Leavenworth Street, again in the Tenderloin in November 1910. The Law College's graduates enjoyed the diploma privilege from 1915 to its abolition in 1917.[10]

The YMCA Golden Gate School of Law along with the rest of the local "Y"'s educational programs was formally incorporated separately from the San Francisco Central YMCA in April 1923, as Golden Gate College. The school left the YMCA's Golden Gate Ave. quarters and moved to its present location, a 1926 warehouse known as the "Alleyne Building" at 536 Mission Street, near 1st Street in the South of Market district in December 1964 with the rest of the college joining it two years later.[11] The law school added a full-time three year day program in the Fall of 1966.[12] Following the national trend, the school replaced the Bachelor of Laws with the Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1967.[13] The college elevated to university status and became Golden Gate University in 1972, with Golden Gate University School of Law as its law school.

About the law school

Lecture Hall

Golden Gate University School of Law has a history of developing programs to meet the demands of law students, the community, and the legal profession. The Public Interest Scholars Program encourages students to use their legal education to serve their communities. In addition, the law school's on-site Women's Employment Rights Clinic and Environmental Law & Justice Clinic provide opportunities for students to work with real clients who may not otherwise have access to legal counsel.

In 1978, the law school developed a graduate legal program in taxation and in the 1990s with graduate programs in environmental law, International Legal Studies Program, and U.S. legal studies. In 1998, the school continued its tradition of providing a practical legal education by establishing the Honors Lawyering Program through which students participate in two full-time, semester-long legal apprenticeships.

It was listed with a "B+" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.[14]

Scholarship Controversy

Programs

Mock Trial Room

The school offers offers a first degree in law (J.D.) and graduate degrees (L.L.M., S.J.D.) programs in intellectual property, environmental law, taxation, U.S. legal studies and international law.

Certificates of specialization are available in:

Students also may earn combined degrees: J.D./M.B.A. with Golden Gate University's Ageno School of Business or J.D./Ph.D. with Palo Alto University.

Additionally it has been accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California since 1940. It is also a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).[15] Graduates qualify to take the bar exam in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. On an institution-wide basis, Golden Gate University has been fully accredited on an institution-wide basis by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) since 1959. (It had been accredited by what is now the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools from 1950.)

Bar passage rates

Based on a 2001-2007 6 year average, 63% of Golden Gate Law graduates passed the California State Bar.[16]

Post-graduation employment

Based on a 2001-2007 6 year average, 73% of Golden Gate Law graduates were employed 9 months after graduation.[16]

Publications

  • Golden Gate University Law Review is published three times a year, and includes the Ninth Circuit Survey, the only law review journal dedicated solely to addressing cases decided by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • Golden Gate University School of Law Environmental Law Journal is published twice during the academic year.

Golden Gate University Law Library

Golden Gate University's Law Library houses the largest legal collection in San Francisco – more than 373,000 volumes, microforms and electronic resources. There are, however, only two libraries in the district. The library's holdings include comprehensive series of case law, statutes, digests, encyclopedias, periodicals, and treatises dealing with American law, a strong tax collection, a growing microforms collection, a government documents collection, and a growing body of work in environmental law, law and literature, and international law. It was recently expanded to include part of the ground floor of the main building.

Notable events

  • Golden Gate University School of Law was northern California's first evening law school.
  • Golden Gate University School of Law was northern California's third law school.
  • In 1973, Judith McKelvey was appointed Dean; she was the second woman in the United States to be named dean of a law school.
  • In 2004, Frederic White was appointed Dean; he was the first African-American dean of an ABA-accredited Law School in California.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

  • Professor Clifford Rechtschaffen, former Fulbright Scholar currently on leave as assistant to California Governor Jerry Brown.
  • Professor Bernard Segal, renowned trial advocate and criminal litigation attorney
  • Professor Roger Berhardt, author of leading textbooks on California real property law
  • Professor Susan Rutberg, criminal defense attorney whose work has resulted in the exoneration of the wrongfully accused
  • Professor and Dean Emeritus Peter Keane, internationally known legal news analyst and former member of the San Francisco Police Commission
  • Casper Weinberger former U.S. Secretary of Defense taught Contracts and Civil Procedure as an adjunct instructor in the 1940s and 50's.

References

  1. ^ "S.F. Call Oct. 12, 1901 at 12, col. 3"
  2. ^ a b c d "U.S. News & World Report, "Best Law Schools: Golden Gate University"". Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  3. ^ CA State Bar General Statistics Report 1/18/2011
  4. ^ National Jurist, "Public interest law schools"
  5. ^ "Law Students Get Coveted Diplomas" (PDF). San Francisco Call. June 7, 1905.
  6. ^ "Educational Section of Y.M.C.A. To Open" (PDF). San Francisco Call. September 9, 1909.
  7. ^ "Y.M.C.A. Incorporates Evening Law School" (PDF). San Francisco Call. June 8, 1905.
  8. ^ but cf. Office of the Secretary of State, California (June 1, 1910). Corporation Reg. No. C0061552.
  9. ^ Cal. Civ. Code § 650(10) (1909). Deering. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Cal. Code Civ.P. § 280b, as amended by 1915 Cal. Stat. pp. 660 (repealed 1917). {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Golden Gate University's place in San Francisco history" (PDF). Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  12. ^ "Golden Gate College School of Law Bulletin 1966-1967". Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  13. ^ "Golden Gate University School of Law – 1960-1989". Retrieved May 18, 2008.
  14. ^ Larsen, Rebecca (March 2011), "Most Diverse Law Schools (Diversity Honor Roll)", The National Jurist, 20 (6), San Diego, California: Cypress Magazines: 30–37
  15. ^ "Judy McKelvey: Celebrating Her Contributions to Golden Gate University School of Law and the Legal Profession". Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  16. ^ a b "Internet Legal Research Group: Golden Gate University School of Law, 2009 profile". Retrieved April 13, 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Golden Gate University.

37°47′21″N 122°23′56″W / 37.78923°N 122.3988°W / 37.78923; -122.3988

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Golden_Gate_University_School_of_Law&oldid=430874879"