Southern California law schools will prepare you for the state bar exam.
Southern California, which includes such large cities as Los Angeles and San Diego, is filled with quality law schools. The schools can be stand-alone colleges focused exclusively on law or subsets of larger universities. Those looking to practice law in California can find some of the top law firms in the country in the southern part of the state.
University of Southern California School of Law (Gould)
Renowned as one of the top law schools in the nation, the University of Southern California School of Law (Gould) is located right in Los Angeles. U.S. News and World Report ranked the school 18th in the nation in its 2010 law school rankings. The school has a class size of 215 students and a bar passage rate in California of 87.7 percent, with 97 percent of graduates employed nine months after graduation.
American College of Law
American College of Law is situated in Anaheim, near Los Angeles. The private school was founded in 1971 and caters to those who already have careers and families and want to add legal expertise to their resume. The college expanded its library in a recent renovation of the campus in an ongoing attempt to improve student body facilities.
California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law is an independent school situated in San Diego. The school was founded in 1924; the American Bar Association accredited it in 1962. It became a member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1967. It is a non-profit law school. The school has 43 full-time professors and about 900 students with an average student age of 27. The school's alumni include more than 100 federal and state court judges.
California Southern Law School
California Southern Law School is an evening law school based in Riverside founded in 1971. Its main goal is to prepare students for the California state bar examination. The small school boasted an 84 percent bar exam passage rate among the class of 2008, which is comparable to major law schools. It has courses on topics such as wills and trusts, legal writing and commercial law.
Glendale University College of Law
Glendale University College of Law is a private, non-profit law school located in Glendale, which is located in Los Angeles County north of downtown. The school was founded in 1967. Although called a university, its sole component is the law school. The school offers a four-year, part-time evening law program, and you can enroll in the spring, summer or fall. A standard course load requires you to attend class an average of three nights per week.
UCLA School of Law
The University of California Los Angeles School of Law is one of the more well-known law schools in the country. The school has existed since 1949, fairly new compared to most top law schools in the nation. U.S. News and World Report ranked the school 15th in the nation in its 2010 law school rankings. The school boasts around a 90 percent California Bar exam passage rate for first-time test takers, compared to the statewide average of 75 percent. About 59 percent of the students find their way into large law firms with more than 500 attorneys.
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