|
University of California,
Davis School of Law (King Hall)
Admissions Office, 400 Mrak
Hall Drive Davis, CA 95616-5201 Phone:
530.752.6477
E-mail: lawadmissions@ucdavis.edu;
Website: www.law.ucdavis.edu
| Deadline: |
February 1, 2007 |
Applicants (Freshman Class; 2005 - 2006)
|
Applied: |
3,768 |
|
Accepted: |
877 |
|
Enrolled: |
194 |
|
Average Age: |
25 |
Student Body (2005 - 2006)
|
Median LSAT: |
161 |
|
Median GPA: |
3.63 |
|
Women: |
60% |
|
Minority: |
37% |
| Passed
Bar Exam on first try: |
74% |
Tuition (In State)
Tuition (Out of State)
| Students
receiving financial aid: |
90% |
Placement
| Placed
within 9 months: |
95% |
| Average
starting salary: |
$30,000 - $125,000 |
Areas of placement
|
Business: |
8% |
|
Government: |
7% |
|
Judicial Clerks: |
11% |
| Law
Firm (2 - 10 attorneys): |
15% |
| Law
Firm (11 - 25 attorneys): |
10% |
| Law
Firm (26 - 50 attorneys): |
3% |
| Law
Firm (51 - 100 attorneys): |
5% |
| Law
Firm (100+ attorneys): |
24% |
|
Public Interest: |
13% |
Library Resources
|
Number of Volumes: |
437,445 |
|
Number of Titles: |
94,719 |
|
Number of Subscriptions: |
4,208 |
Introduction
The School of
Law at the University of California, Davis,
was founded in 1965. It is accredited by the
American Bar Association and is a member of
the Association of American Law Schools. The
law school building, King Hall, was named
for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in
recognition of his efforts to bring social
and political justice to disadvantaged
peoples. The school has a chapter of the
Order of the Coif, the national honor
society. A statue of Dr. King is located in
the law school lobby.
The Davis
campus is 20 minutes from Sacramento and a
little over an hour from San Francisco,
within easy reach of the major recreational
areas of Lake Tahoe. The campus occupies
3,600 acres within the college town of
Davis, where the law school is well-known
for its commitment to community among
students and faculty as well as its cutting
edge scholarship, teaching, and service.
The close
proximity to the state capitol and the Bay
Area provide the opportunity for a
well-rounded educational experience. The
campus offers a full range of graduate and
professional programs.
Library and Physical
Facilities
Faculty
offices, classrooms, and the law library are
housed in King Hall on the Davis campus. It
has a moot courtroom, a pretrial-skills
laboratory, a large computer lab, study
carrels, student journal offices, lounges,
infant care co-op, and offices for student
organizations, all easily accessible to
disabled students. Every law student is
given a key to the building allowing 24-hour
access.
First-year
students are assigned to carrels where books
can be charged. Students have access to many
online databases via the library and
California Digital Library. The library is a
federal and California document depository.
Classrooms have
state-of-the-art audiovisual and multimedia
equipment. Wireless Internet access is
available throughout the building.
The law
school’s clinical programs are housed in law
offices a short distance from King Hall.
Curriculum
The law school
offers a three-year, full-time program in
law leading to the Juris Doctor degree and a
postgraduate program leading to an LLM. At
King Hall, a faculty with a national
reputation for excellent scholarship and
teaching is combined with an outstanding and
diverse student body. The faculty’s
scholarship is renowned in many different
fields, including Constitutional Law;
Environmental Law; Civil Rights; Critical
Race Theory; Trusts, Wills, and Estate
Planning; Property; Contracts; Evidence;
Criminal Law and Procedure; Civil Procedure;
Federal Courts; Complex Litigation; Latinos
and the Law; and Immigration Law and Policy.
Ordinarily each first-year section has less
than 70 students. Each student is taught at
least one of the required first-year courses
in small sections of 25–35 students. The
first year begins with a weeklong
introductory course and includes courses in
legal research and writing. Upper-division
courses may be selected within broad areas
of concentration such as criminal justice,
148
University of California,
Davis School of Law (King Hall)
business and
taxation, civil litigation, estate planning
and taxation, labor and employment law,
environmental law, human rights and social
justice law, immigration law, intellectual
property, international law, and public law.
Students may also combine JD studies with
another graduate or professional program
such as an MBA degree.
Special Programs
King Hall is
renowned for its excellent clinical
programs. Students have the opportunity to
work under the supervision of practicing
lawyers in many different substantive areas.
Students also participate in judicial
externships in trial and appellate courts.
The law school
has four of its own clinics: Immigration,
Civil Rights, Prison Law, and Family
Protection. The Immigration Law Clinic, in
which students have as a resource the best
immigration law faculty in the United
States, allows students to assist immigrants
facing deportation. Students prepare clients
and their cases for hearings.
King Hall has
an integrated civil rights curriculum,
including a substantive course in civil
rights law and clinics representing clients
in federal civil rights cases. Students
participating in the Civil Rights Clinic are
certified to appear in federal court, where
they represent people who might otherwise
have no counsel, and gain firsthand
experience in constitutional litigation.
The Family
Protection Clinic is based in a small town
and represents low income people, including
many Spanish speakers needing family law and
domestic violence assistance.
First-year
students engage in oral argument as a part
of the required legal research and writing
course. This provides basic preparation for
participation in the formal Moot Court
Program, which emphasizes appellate
advocacy. Skills courses cover the major
elements of both litigation and
nonlitigation practice. These include
pretrial skills (interviewing, counseling,
and document drafting); negotiation,
mediation, and alternative dispute
resolution; and trial practice.
Students in the
Public Interest Law Program receive a
certificate based on required coursework,
practical experience, and community service.
A Public Service Graduation ceremony is the
culmination of this program. Students in the
Environmental Law Program receive a
certificate for completion of an
environmental curriculum. King Hall students
participate in a Pro Bono program designed
to help address the unmet legal service
needs of disadvantaged persons and nonprofit
organizations while inculcating the
professional responsibility of lawyers to
perform public service.
Admission
The Admission
Committee seeks students of diverse
backgrounds and interests. The entire
application is carefully reviewed with
consideration given to many factors,
including undergraduate grades, LSAT score,
economic and other disadvantages, advanced
studies, work experience, extracurricular
and community activities, maturity, and
commitment to the study of law. Residency is
not a factor in the admission process. An
open house for prospective applicants takes place in
October, and Information Sessions are held
for counseling and advice. All financial aid
services, from October through January.
Guided tours can be arranged.
Student Life
King Hall is renowned for its wonderful
sense of community. The student body is
small compared to that of most law schools,
which lessens competition among a highly
qualified student cohort. Students work
extraordinarily well with each other,
faculty, administrators, and staff.
Cooperation and
collegiality are the hallmarks of student
life at King Hall. Faculty and
administrators have an open-door policy for
students. Student/faculty relations are
excellent. Alumni of the School of Law look
back fondly on their law school years. An
academic support program is available to
students in the first-year class. There are
four student-run journals: the UC Davis Law
Review and specialized journals in
International Law, Environmental Law, and
Juvenile Justice Law. Students sit on the
student-faculty Educational Policy, faculty
appointments, and admission committees.
There are about 30 active student
organizations encompassing a wide variety of
interests. The La Raza Law Student
Association’s Lorenzo Patiņo Banquet
honoring a Latino alumnus and the King Hall
Legal Foundation auction to raise funds for
public interest are two of many
student-sponsored events that highlight each
academic year. The extremely positive
attitude of King Hall students was noted and
commented upon in ourmost recent
ABAinspection report.
Expenses and Financial Aid
The School of Law Financial Aid Office,
located in King Hall, is available for the
exclusive use of law students and is
available for counseling and advice. All
financial aid services, from entrance
through graduation, are administered at the
law school. The law school Financial Aid
Office administers all nationally recognized
aid programs, such as Perkins Loan and Work
Study, and participates in the Federal
Direct Student Loan Program. Over 70 percent
of King Hall students receive need-based
grants as part of their financial aid award.
Each year, two entering students are
selected to receive the
prestigious MLK scholarship based on
demonstrated commitment to public interest.
University student loan and grant funds are
available for child care.
Housing
Awide variety of reasonably priced housing
is available in the local community. The
university maintains on-campus apartments
for students and student families.
Career Services
The office successfully and enthusiastically
assists students in securing rewarding
summer and post-JD positions. Close to 150
employers visit the school to interview
students, and advertise many positions
through the office. Career Services presents
speakers and training workshops geared to
student needs and to the hiring cycles of
various segments of the legal and
law-related job markets. Students also have
access to many professional opportunities
through job fairs, online nationwide
listings, and other sources. Virtually all
students are employed nine months after
graduation. |