The Santa Clara University School of Law (Santa Clara Law) is the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

, United States, in the

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

region. The School of Law was founded in 1911. The Jesuit affiliation of the university is manifested in a concern with

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

, and

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

. Santa Clara Law offers the

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

(J.D.)

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

, as well as several double-degree programs, including J.D./

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(J.D./M.B.A.) and J.D./

Master of Science in Information Systems The Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS), the Master of Science in Management Information Systems (MSMIS) and Masters in Management Information Systems (MMIS) are specialized master's degree programs usually offered in a university's ...

(MSIS) offered in conjunction with Santa Clara University's

Leavey School of Business The SCU Leavey School of Business is one of the professional schools at Santa Clara University, a private academic institution in the San Francisco Bay Area. The School of Business was founded in 1923 and accredited by the The Association to Adva ...

, ranked 10th in graduate programs on the '' U.S. News & World Report'' graduate schools rankings. In addition, the school offers

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(LL.M.) degrees in

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

law, in

U.S. law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

for foreign lawyers, and in international and comparative law. Santa Clara Law also features specialized curricular programs in

high tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

and

intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...

law, and is one of few law schools to offer a certificate in

privacy law Privacy law is the body of law that deals with the regulating, storing, and using of personally identifiable information, personal healthcare information, and financial information of individuals, which can be Personally identifiable information ...

. The school offers more summer

study abroad International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

programs than any other law school in the United States, with 13 different programs across 17 countries.

History

Santa Clara University School of Law was founded in 1911. The school is part of Santa Clara University (founded 1851), the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California and the oldest Catholic university in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. It was approved 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 acad ...

in 1937. It joined the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

in 1940. Prior to the requirement that all Californian law graduates must take the state bar exam, Santa Clara Law was one of the five schools whose graduates were exempt from the examination, along with

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, and

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Rankings

According to the required disclosures under ABA Section 509, not counting those employed where a JD degree was an advantage, employed in a professional position, and those enrolled in graduate studies, 55% of the Class of 2021 was employed in full-time, long-term positions that require bar admission within nine months of graduation. Law school rankings of Santa Clara Law include: * Number 4 for Intellectual Property Law among law schools in the United States * Number 12 for diversity among law schools (tied for first in California with the

USC Law School The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

) * Number 126 overall of 200 ABA approved law schools in the United States as ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' *

Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

"Best 170 Law Schools" (2008) – number 22 overall among law schools for average starting salary * The Census Group Composition ranking, which scores law schools based on selectivity, salary, placement and yield, ranks Santa Clara Law at Number 64. * Hylton Rankings, which scores programs based on their ''U.S. News & World Report'' peer assessment ratings provided by law professors and by the mean LSAT scores of each law school, ranked Santa Clara Law at Number 78 overall. * Listed Number 13 overall for mid-career median salary (at $188,000 a year) in ''Forbes'' list of Best Law Schools for Getting Rich * Graded as "B−" in the January 2011 "Best Public Interest Law Schools" listing by ''The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students'' * Graded as "A" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by ''The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students'' * Its journal, ''Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal'', is ranked #6 nationally for intellectual property. Charney Hall

Bar passage rates

Based on a 2001–2007 six-year average, 73% of Santa Clara University Law graduates passed the California State Bar.

Post-graduation employment

According to Santa Clara's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 42.2% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo-practitioners. Santa Clara Law's

Law School Transparency Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy and education organization concerning the legal profession in the United States. LST was founded by Vanderbilt Law School graduates Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch. LST describes its ...

under-employment score is 34.5%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation. Law School Transparency reports a 41.3% employment score for the Class of 2011. According to the American Bar Association's "Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools," 94.5 percent of Santa Clara students were employed nine months after graduation, with 77 percent of graduates employed in the private sector and 21 percent employed in the public sector. According to the ''

'', the average private-sector starting salary for Santa Clara Law graduates in 2020 is $100,000. According to ''Forbes'' magazine, mid-career median salary is currently $188,000 a year. According to a study done by online salary-information company PayScale, graduates of Santa Clara Law have the third highest midcareer median salary among all graduate programs in the United States. The report found that Santa Clara Law graduates typically make $76,900 the first year following graduation and attain a midcareer median salary of $197,700.

Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Santa Clara for the 2021-2022 academic year was $89,444 for first-year law students. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $262,472.

Students

For the 2021 entering class, the top-five feeder schools into Santa Clara Law were

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

, and

. The top-five feeder states in order are California, Texas, Nevada, Washington, and Arizona. For the 2021 entering class, 2,336 people applied to the School of Law and 205 full-time and 21 part-time students matriculated. For the 2021 entering class, the

LSAT The Law School Admission Test (LSAT; ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension as well as logical and verbal rea ...

scores for entering full-time students were 160 for the 75th percentile and 155 for the 25th percentile. The undergraduate

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

for full-time entering students was 3.62 for the 75th percentile and 3.21 for the 25th percentile. Santa Clara Law has a chapter of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

, a national law school honorary society founded for the purposes of encouraging legal scholarship and advancing the ethical standards of the legal profession.

Campus

Over the last century, the Santa Clara University campus, located along El Camino Real in Santa Clara, has expanded to more than . Amid its many

Mission-style The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

academic and residential buildings are the historic mission gardens, rose garden, and palm trees. The campus benefits from the area's

mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, with more than 300 days of sun a year. Until 1939, the law school inhabited present-day St. Joseph's Hall at the center of campus. Under the tenure of Dean Edwin Owens, Bergin Hall was constructed and became home to the school in 1939. The new building was built using monies collected through Santa Clara football's successful appearances in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

and named after Thomas Bergin, Santa Clara's first graduate, a California legal pioneer, and an early donor to the School of Law. The Edwin Heafey Law Library was constructed in 1963, and expanded in 1973 to include more space for library materials. Heafey was renovated and expanded again in 1988. The collection contains over 400,000 volumes in print and digital formats. Additionally, the library manages an

institutional repository An institutional repository is an archive for collecting, preserving, and disseminating digital copies of the intellectual output of an institution, particularly a research institution. Academics also utilize their IRs for archiving published work ...

which currently contains over 4,000 digital items including a collection of papers related to the Congressional hearings regarding the

Watergate Scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

donated by Congressman

Don Edwards William Donlon Edwards (January 6, 1915 – October 1, 2015) was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a member of the United States House of Representatives from California for 32 years in the late 20th century. Early life Edwar ...

. Other digital collections include documents relating to litigation over the

Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

(also known as

Obamacare The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

) and the

Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is the first international treaty that focuses exclusively on the protection of cultural property in armed conflict. It was signed at The Hague, Nethe ...

Also in 1973, Bannan Hall was built, including space for the Law School on the ground floor. In 2008 Dean Donald Polden announced the law school would have exclusive use of Bannan Hall, and the building was renovated and used exclusively by the law school shortly thereafter. In 2018, the Law school moved into Charney Hall, a new $60-million building built specifically to house the Law school. The 96,000-square-foot building is a vast improvement over the school's previous facilities, which were spread over very different buildings, one of which was built a century ago. In contrast, Charney Hall calls to mind the nearby Silicon Valley tech campuses thanks to copious amounts of open space, natural light, cutting-edge classroom technology, plenty of student comforts, and flexible spaces that foster collaboration and innovative teaching.

Notable faculty

* Colleen V. Chien – senior advisor for intellectual property in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) *

David D. Friedman David Director Friedman (born February 12, 1945) is an American economist, physicist, legal scholar, and anarcho-capitalist theorist. Although he studied chemistry and physics and not law or economics, he is known for his textbook writings on m ...

– author of ''

The Machinery of Freedom ''The Machinery of Freedom'' is a nonfiction book by David D. Friedman that advocates an anarcho-capitalist society from a consequentialist perspective. The book was published in 1973, with a second edition in 1989 and a third edition in 2014. ...

'' *

Eric Goldman Eric Goldman (born April 15, 1968) is a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. He also co-directs the law school's High Tech Law Institute. and co-supervises the law school's Privacy Law Certificate. Career overview Goldman is ...

– Co-Director of the High Tech Law Institute, author of Technology and Marketing Law Blog *

Ro Khanna Rohit Khanna (; born September 13, 1976) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic serving as the U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incu ...

– adjunct instructor, former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

* Catherine Sandoval – Commissioner on the

California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition ...

Notable alumni

Mike Espy Alphonso Michael Espy (born November 30, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He was both the first African American and first person from the Deep South to h ...

(1978) – former 25th

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives * Phyllis Jean Hamilton (1976) – Judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del ...

* Beth Kerttula (1981) – Minority Leader,

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per ...

* Robert J. Lagomarsino (1953) –

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for California's 19th District *

Zoe Lofgren Susan Ellen "Zoe" Lofgren ( ; born December 21, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from California. A member of the Democratic Party, Lofgren is in her 13th term in Congress, having been first elected in 1 ...

(1975) –

for

California's 16th congressional district California's 16th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, which as of the most recent general election was located in the central San Joaquin Valley. The district is currently represented by . On 20 ...

Douglas Moylan Douglas Brian Keola Moylan (born October 19, 1966) is a Guamanian politician and attorney under the Law Office. He was the first elected and youngest Attorney General of Guam serving from 2003 to 2007. He was licensed in California in 1990 and ...

(1991) – Judge on the

Supreme Court of Guam The Supreme Court of Guam is the highest judicial body of the United States territory of Guam. The Court hears all appeals from the Superior Court of Guam and exercises original jurisdiction only in cases where a certified question is submitted ...

; first elected

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

* Edward A. Panelli (1956) – Justice of the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

Jimmy Panetta James Varni Panetta (; born October 1, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of California. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the U.S. representative for California's 20th congressional district. The district includes ...

(1996) –

for

California's 20th congressional district California's 20th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Jimmy Panetta. It encompasses much of the Central Coast ( ...

; previously assistant district attorney in

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Monte ...

Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in several different public office positions, including Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the Office of ...

(1963) – former Secretary of Defense; former

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...

; previously, White House Chief of Staff under

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

; U.S. House of Representatives (California) *

Howard Wallace Pollock Howard Wallace Pollock (April 11, 1920 – January 9, 2011) was an American politician and Republican Representative from Alaska. Biography Pollock was born in Chicago to Olga (née Deblanc) and Oscar Tobias Pollock, and grew up in New Orleans. ...

(1953) –

for

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

* Curren Price (1976) – Senator,

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

Albert J. Ruffo Albert J. Ruffo (July 1, 1908 – February 10, 2003) was an American politician, philanthropist, educator, lawyer, and football coach. Ruffo grew up in Tacoma, Washington. In 1927 he moved to San Jose, California to attend nearby Santa Clara ...

(1936) – 48th

Mayor of San Jose The Mayor of San Jose, officially the Mayor of the City of San José, is executive of the Government of the City of San Jose, California in the United States. The mayor presides over the San Jose City Council, which is composed of 11 voting me ...

* Mark Stone (1988) – Assemblymember for

California's 29th State Assembly district California's 29th State Assembly district is one of 80 California State Assembly districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Mark Stone of Scotts Valley. District profile The district encompasses the Monterey Bay shoreline and the ...

Law School deans

Timeline of historical events, including previous deans. * James Campbell – 1911 to 1918 * Lawrence E. O'Keefe, SJ – 1919 to 1920 * Clarence Coolidge – 1920 to 1933 * Edwin J. Owens – 1933 to 1953 * Byron J. Snow – 1953 to 1955 * Warren P. McKenney – 1955 to 1959 * Leo Huard – 1959 to 1969 * George Strong (acting) – 1970 * George Alexander – 1970 to 1985 * Richard Rykoff (acting) – 1985 to 1986 * Gerald Uelmen – 1986 to 1994 * Mack Player – 1994 to 2003 * Donald J. Polden – 2003 to 2013 * Lisa Kloppenberg – 2013 to 2019 * Anna Han (acting) – 2019 to 2021 * Michael J. Kaufman – 2021 to present

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Clara University School Of Law ABA-accredited law schools in California Catholic law schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1911 Santa Clara University Schools and Colleges Law in the San Francisco Bay Area 1911 establishments in California