University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law
The information on this page was provided by the law school.
Official Guide to ABA-Approved JD Programs
Introduction
Located in the heart of Southern California and nestled in a beautiful and safe residential neighborhood, University of California at Los Angeles School of Law is less than seven miles from the Pacific Ocean and is housed on the UCLA campus. UCLA Law acquired and maintains its strong standing by creating pioneering academic programs, cultivating top legal scholars, and educating students who go on to be leaders in our society.
Los Angeles offers unparalleled access to numerous recreational opportunities and activities, such as sporting events, theaters, museums, and live performances. UCLA Law is close enough to the thriving metropolis of Los Angeles for students to partake in the vibrant social and cultural scene, yet secluded enough for students to focus on their legal studies. The incredible weather, the international reach of the city, and the intellectually stimulating environment all contribute to a student’s law school experience.
The JD Program
Curriculum
The law school offers a three-year, full-time course of study leading to a Juris Doctor degree.
First Year
At UCLA Law, we provide a dynamic education that prepares students to become leaders in all areas of the law. From the outset, students explore the foundations of legal reasoning with esteemed professors who, in many cases, literally wrote the book on the subject. Students begin their UCLA Law career with our pioneering, week-long orientation program that eases the transition to law school.
During the first year, students take the following courses:
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Criminal Law*
- Legal Research and Writing
- Property*
- Torts
*In addition to the traditional courses, first-year students may elect to take Property and/or Criminal Law in either the spring semester of their first year or during their second or third years of law school. First-year students may also choose to take one or two semester long classes chosen from an array of topics from a selection of our extensive advanced course offerings.
Legal Research and Writing
Legal Research and Writing is the students’ foundational clinical course and focuses on practice-oriented legal analysis. During this yearlong course, students develop the analytical skill set needed by practicing lawyers and desired by legal employers. Students are introduced to fundamentals of legal reasoning, the structure of objective and persuasive arguments, effective written analysis, legal research methods, statutory interpretation, compelling oral advocacy, fact investigation, and negotiation. These analytical skills are taught using the clinical method, with the client’s perspective firmly in mind and with the students learning by acting as lawyers. UCLA law faculty work side-by-side with students providing detailed feedback on the Legal Research and Writing assignments they complete during the first year, and students meet individually with professors to go over this feedback. By learning how to function as practicing lawyers, students can succeed in their summer jobs, and in their careers when they graduate. Additionally, to foster a sense of community and an environment of mutual support, the Legal Research and Writing course and one of the doctrinal courses are taught in small sections in the first year.
Second and Third Years
The second and third years at UCLA Law offer a comprehensive selection of upper-division classes, clinics, and specializations that are recognized as some of the most thought-provoking and rigorous experiences for law students anywhere. Students complete a mandatory course in professional responsibility, an upper-division writing requirement, and six credits of experiential coursework; select from our extensive advanced and specialized course offerings; and have the option to complete a culminating clinical capstone experience, in which students put the skills that they have learned in skills clinics into practice. In addition, students may delve deeply into a field by pursuing one of our seven specializations, broaden their expertise with interdisciplinary coursework, and hone their skills in a large selection of superb clinical and experiential courses. Approximately 87% of all upper-level classes enroll fewer than 50 students, and 70% of all upper-level classes enroll fewer than 25 students.
Students also can pursue their interests by:
• Developing practical skills through our groundbreaking experiential education program
• Exploring non-traditional legal topics through small seminars, sometimes taught in professors’ homes
• Broadening their expertise with interdisciplinary courses taught in other campus departments
• Studying abroad at one of our 16 partner law schools
• Going to Washington, D.C., for eye-opening externships through the UCDC program
Faculty
The UCLA School of Law faculty is a treasured asset. Faculty members are leaders in their respective fields and are the mainstay of UCLA Law’s high-quality legal education programs. They are some of the finest teachers in the academy, expanding the frontiers of interdisciplinary legal scholarship. Each year, the UCLA Law faculty demonstrates the caliber of its intellectual abilities by publishing groundbreaking scholarship in leading academic journals and law reviews, and their work is widely cited.
Academic Programs, Specializations and Research Centers
UCLA Law offers seven areas of specialization. Students who specialize earn a certificate of completion as well as a JD degree. The programs supporting a specialization are:
- Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy
- Critical Race Studies Program
- David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
- Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
- International and Comparative Law Program
- Law and Philosophy Program
- Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology, and Sports Law
UCLA School of Law has always emphasized progressive research on relevant topics. Programs, Centers, and Institutes include:
- A. Barry Cappello Program in Trial Advocacy (which offers a certificate in Trial Advocacy)
- Animal Law & Policy Program
- Center for Immigration Law and Policy
- Center for Law and Economics
- Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy
- Criminal Justice Program
- Critical Race Studies Program
- David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
- Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
- Empirical Research Group
- Institute for Technology, Law and Policy
- International and Comparative Law Program
- Law and Philosophy Program
- Lowell Milken institute for Business Law and Policy
- Native Nations Law and Policy Center
- Prison Law and Policy Program
- Program on Legal Ethics & The Profession
- Program on Understanding Law, Science and Evidence (PULSE)
- The Promise Institute for Human Rights
- Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy
- Safeguarding Democracy Project
- Schrader Pro Bono Program
- Transnational Program on Criminal Justice Initiatives
- UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy
- UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate
- Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy
- Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law
Clinical and Experiential Program
Since pioneering clinical legal education in the early 1970s, UCLA Law’s Experiential Education Program has blazed a path of innovation and excellence. Examples of our more than 40 clinical and experiential classes include:
- California Environmental Legislation & Policy
- Community Economic Development
- Criminal Defense
- Documentary Film
- First Amendment
- Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic
- Human rights litigation
- Immigrant Family Legal Clinic
- Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic
- Information Policy Lab
- International Human Rights
- Mergers and Acquisitions: Transactions
- Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy: Prisoners' Rights
- Negotiation Theory and Practice
- Patent Law
- Pay or Stay: Bail Practicum
- Sports Law Simulation
- Supreme Court
- Talent & Brand Partnerships / Name, Image & Likeness Clinic
- Trial Advocacy
- Tribal Legal Development Clinic
- Veterans Justice
- Voting Rights Practicum
Externship Programs
UCLA Law has an extensive national and international student-externship program. The law school has developed a core group of judicial and agency externships that include externships with federal judges, government agencies, public interest law firms, and nonprofit organizations. In addition, the UCDC Program is a uniquely collaborative, full-time externship program in Washington, DC. Both full-time and part-time externships are available. Students can also propose new agency externships tailored to their academic goals.
Study Abroad
Law students may spend one semester abroad through student-exchange agreements with universities in Argentina, Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. Some students also obtain approval for an individualized study-abroad program.
Joint Degrees
A number of students find it advantageous to pursue formal training in another field of study concurrently with their legal training. Typically, such concurrent-degree programs lead, after four years of study, to the simultaneous award of a Juris Doctor and an advanced degree from another school or department. Formal joint-degree programs are offered in the following areas:
- JD/MA (African-American Studies)
- JD/MA (American Indian Studies)
- JD/MBA (Anderson School of Management)
- JD/PhD (Philosophy)
- JD/MPH (Public Health)
- JD/MPP (Public Policy)
- JD/MSW (Social Welfare)
- JD/MURP (Urban and Regional Planning)
Student Life
Student Life and Student Activities
A collegial environment at UCLA Law also affords students many opportunities for participation and leadership. Our approximately 70 student organizations and journals allow you to make a difference, build professional connections and form lasting bonds with peers. The Moot Court Honors Program is open to all second- and third-year students and offers a large and effective program of mock appellate advocacy. The program also hosts a first-year competition, as well as the prestigious Roscoe Pound competition.
UCLA Law’s student body is composed of a diverse group of future lawyers reflecting a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. We are immensely proud of our racial diversity and long-standing commitment to diversity in legal education. Our law school celebrates a multiracial community that helps all groups bridge racial lines and is a reflection of Los Angeles, where UCLA Law is located, one of the world’s most vibrant and dynamic cities.
Housing
There are many housing options open to UCLA Law students, and the law school hosts a web-based service to help students with their roommate search. There are both university-owned and privately owned apartments from which to choose.
Career Placement and Bar Passage
Tuition and Aid
Both need-based and merit-based aid are available. All admitted students are automatically considered for merit scholarships. To apply for need-based aid, which is packaged in conjunction with merit based aid, the FAFSA and the UCLA Law Grant Application should be submitted as early as possible after January 1. UCLA Law also offers three full-tuition scholarship programs—the binding Distinguished Scholars award for students with exceptional academic and other credentials; the non-binding Achievement Fellowship, for students who have overcome significant disadvantages in their background; and the non-binding Graton Scholars program, for students who intend to pursue a career in Tribal Law. Application and test deadlines for the full tuition scholarship programs may differ from the general application deadlines so please refer to our website if applying to one of the full tuition programs.
Applicants admitted to the law school as non-resident students (for tuition purposes) are eligible to be considered for resident classification if certain eligibility requirements are met. Most non-resident law students are able to achieve residency status during the second year of law school.
Admission Decisions: Beyond the Numbers
Admission and Financial Aid
All applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college of approved standing and must take the LSAT no later than the January administration or the GRE no later than January 31. Admission is based primarily on proven outstanding academic and intellectual ability, taking into consideration standardized test scores and factors such as the breadth, depth, and rigor of the undergraduate educational program. The Admissions Committee may also consider whether economic, physical, or other hardships and challenges have been overcome. Distinctive programmatic contributions, community or public service, letters of recommendation, work experience, career achievement, language ability, and career goals (with particular attention paid to the likelihood of the applicant representing underrepresented communities) are also factors taken into consideration.
Admitted Applicant Profile
