Empire College School of Law, part of Empire College and founded in 1973, is a four-year evening law school program accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. As an evening-only law school, the School of Law is not accredited by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

. As a result, graduates are generally only eligible to take the bar and practice law in California. Empire Law School's professors are practicing attorneys and judges from the North Bay area who teach in their specialty areas. Empire graduates comprise approximately 25 percent of the

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...

Bar and include members of the judiciary in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Merced, Lassen, Lake, and Calaveras counties. Following a year of construction, the college opened its new campus in January 2000 which includes, as tenants, two California superior courts for the County of Sonoma at which civil cases are conducted.

Moot Court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase " ...

and Trial Practice classes are held in the courtrooms. In the 2000

Roger J. Traynor Roger John Traynor (February 12, 1900 – May 14, 1983) was the 23rd Chief Justice of California (1964-1970) and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1940 to 1964. Previously, he had served as a Deputy Attorney General o ...

California Appellate Moot Court Competition, the Empire College Moot Court Team won first place in both The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Award for Best Brief and The Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence In Appellate Advocacy. In 2018, Empire's team won first place in oral argument at the competition, with both of their team members ranked among the top oralists. In July, 2022, Empire reached an agreement, approved by the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners to become a branch of the

Monterey College of Law Monterey College of Law (MCL) is a private, non-profit law school founded in 1972 in Monterey, California. The school is approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California but is not accredited by the American Bar Associat ...

, pursuant to which it would transition from a for-profit, accredited law school, to a non-profit, accredited branch of Monterey, while retaining the Empire name.

References

External links

* Educational institutions established in 1973 Law schools in California Schools in Santa Rosa, California Universities and colleges in Sonoma County, California 1973 establishments in California Law in the San Francisco Bay Area For-profit universities and colleges in the United States {{SonomaCountyCA-struct-stub