California Southern Law School (CSLS) was a private part-time evening law school in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. It admitted its last entering class in Fall 2016 and closed after the Spring 2020 semester. It is registered with the California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE), but is not accredited by the CBE or approved by the American Bar Association. As a registered law school, CSLS graduates may take the

California Bar Examination The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

and upon passing the Bar, they are authorized to practice law in California.

History

California Southern Law School was founded in 1971 as Citrus Belt Law SchoolCalifornia Southern Law School is the DBA for Citrus Belt Law School, a corporation registered with th
California Secretary of State
, number C0629839, filed July 23, 1971. It has filed a FBN with the County of Riverside, County Clerk
file number R-201104190, exp. 4/12/2016
It is licensed by th
City of Riverside Finance Department, Account No. BL00007353
The

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(BBB) has given CSLS a
A+ Reliability Rating
as an Accredited Business since March 10, 1976. by California Superior Court Judge Elwood M. Rich to serve students in the Inland Empire of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

.Judge Rich opened Citrus Belt Law School shortly after the private vocational Riverside University, which had a law program, was closed by state and federal regulators. It took its original name from the Citrus Belt League of the Inland Empire, but changed the name in 1990 to California Southern Law School.

California State Bar CBE registration

California Southern Law School is registered with the Committee of Bar Examiners of The State Bar of California (CBE), which authorizes CSLS to operate and to grant the Juris Doctor (J.D.) law degree. CSLS is ''not'' 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 aca ...

or accredited by the CBE. As a registered "unaccredited" law school, CSLS students must take and pass the First-Year Law Students' Examination (commonly referred to as the " Baby Bar") administered by the CBE. Upon successful passing of the "Baby Bar" those students may continue with their law studies to obtain their J.D. degree.

Facilities

California Southern Law School maintained its facilities in stand-alone buildings in the Magnolia Center Neighborhood of Riverside, California. Facilities include offices, classrooms and a trial practice courtroom.

Legal research Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a prob ...

and

Writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

classes are held at the Victor Miceli Riverside County

Law Library A law library is a special library used by law students, lawyers, judges and their law clerks, historians and other scholars of legal history in order to research the law. Law libraries are also used by people who draft or advocate for new la ...

in Downtown Riverside.

Academics

Pre-Legal Education requirements

CSLS admits students meeting the Pre-Legal Education requirements set forth by the Committee of Bar Examiners and does not require the

Law School Admission Test 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 r ...

(LSAT). The CBE requires prospective law students to complete a minimum of two years of approved college work or its equivalent before entering law school. This requirement is generally met by receiving an Associate of Arts (AA) degree, Associate of Science (AS) degree or by having completed at least 60 semester (90

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

) units of college work applicable to a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

at a regionally accredited or approved school recognized by the CBE, with an average grade at least equal to that required for graduation. As allowed by the CBE, prospective CSLS students can satisfy this requirement by taking certain

College Level Examination Program The College Level Examination Program is a group of standardized tests created and administered by the College Board. These tests assess college-level knowledge in thirty-six subject areas and provide a mechanism for earning college credits w ...

(CLEP) tests.Students meet can CBE Pre-Legal Education requirements by obtaining a score of 50 in the following CLEP tests, offered by th
College Board
:Either the College Composition or the College Composition Modular examination; plus, :Two/four other examinations (12 credits total) in: Composition and Literature (Humanities examination only); Foreign Languages; History and Social Science; Science and Mathematics; Business

Law study

As required by the Committee of Bar Examiners, California Southern Law School offers a four-year law curriculum. The CSLS program covers all bar examination subjects likely to be tested by the CBE. All classes are held on weekday evenings which allows students to pursue a legal education and maintain full-time employment.

Judicial Instructors

Judges and commissioners who have taught at CSLS include: *Angel M. Bermudez (J.D.,

University of San Diego School of Law The University of San Diego School of Law (USD Law) is the law school of the University of San Diego, a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1954, the law school has held ABA approval since 1961. I ...

) – Instructor, Trial Practice (2011–2014) – Superior Court Judge,

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

*Jim Bishop, Interim Dean (2014–present) (J.D.,

McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on t ...

( University of the Pacific) '75) – Instructor, Contracts (1976–2017) – Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Business Law,

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organization affi ...

, Riverside; Commissioner, Riverside County Superior Court (1990–2008) *Thomas S. Hudspeth (J.D., CSLS '81) – Instructor, Torts (1985–2015) – Commissioner, Riverside County Superior Court (1999–2012)

Noted people

Successful California Southern Law School graduates are found in many areas of the

legal community. They include

judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

and other distinguished alumni.

Alumni judges

*Barbara J. Beck ('74) – Superior Court Judge (Ret.),

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

*John G. Evans ('79) – Superior Court Judge,

*Douglas N. Gericke ('76) – Superior Court Judge (Ret.),

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

*Arthur A. Harrison ('86) – Superior Court Judge, San Bernardino County *Christopher J. Warner ('77 honors) – Superior Court Judge (Ret.), San Bernardino County *Dale R. Wells ('93) – Superior Court Judge, Riverside County *Christopher W. Yeager ('77) – Presiding Judge, Superior Court,

Imperial County Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

Other distinguished alumni

* Virginia M. Blumenthal ('75) – Member,

Riverside Community College District The Riverside Community College District, or RCCD, is the community college district serving Riverside, California, United States, and neighboring cities. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. The California Community College ...

Board of Trustees; recipient of the Athena Award from Athena International; ''

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'', "Top Women Litigators of 2007" and "Top Women Litigators 2008" *Edwin Butler (1949–2010) ('94) – Journalist and Law Librarian, San Bernardino County Law Libraries *Terry E. Caldwell ('75) – Mayor and City Council Member (1972–2010),

Victorville, California Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cr ...

*Mary Ellen Daniels ('84) – President (2003–2004), Riverside County Bar Association *L. Alexandra Fong ('00) – Riverside County Counsel's Office *Katie Greene ('79) – Honored by blackvoicenews.com as a Community Builder for her 14 years service with the Public Service Law Corporation (PSLC) (2010 Hardy L. Brown Gala) * Michael A. Ramos ('88) – District attorney, County of San Bernardino (2002–2019) and Member, California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board *Joe S. Rank ('83) – Riverside County Counsel (2005–2009)(Ret.) *Michael A. Scafiddi ('95) – President (2008–2009), San Bernardino County Bar Association

Notes

References

External links

*
State Bar of California, Future Lawyers
{{authority control Law schools in California Universities and colleges in Riverside County, California Unaccredited institutions of higher learning in California Educational institutions established in 1971 Private universities and colleges in California Defunct law schools