University of California, Irvine School of Law

Introduction

Located in sunny Orange County, California, UC Irvine School of Law (PDF) opened its doors to students in August 2009, the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years. UCI Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the twenty-first century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Recruited from prestigious schools, the faculty has been nationally recognized for its scholarly impact. The school’s innovative curriculum stresses hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study, and public service.

The law school has received tremendous recognition for its clinical training and intellectual property law programs, as well as for student diversity and its student-to-faculty ratio.

Other accolades include

• national recognition for placement of our students in government and public interest jobs,
• recognition as one of the country’s best schools for practical training,
• the vast majority of our students rating their entire law school educational experience as “excellent” in a recent survey, and
• recognition for student placement in prestigious federal judicial clerkships.

UCI Law prides itself on a commitment to public service, an innovative curriculum that features experiential learning, and its culture of civility. Take a look at how UCI Law’s inaugural class helped establish these foundations.

Location

Orange County, California, is one of the world’s most iconic locations. In Southern California, you can surf in the morning, snowboard in the afternoon, and choose from a wide variety of cultural opportunities in the evening. The region contains 76 miles of shoreline, bounded by mountain ranges and thousands of miles of nature trails. Neighboring Newport Beach and Laguna Beach are among the most beautiful coastlines in all of California. In fact, UC Irvine is nationally regarded as one of the country’s best universities for beach lovers. With UC Irvine’s ideal Southern California location, students have a wealth of recreational and cultural options and venues. The Irvine Ranch Land Reserve includes 37,000 acres designated by the US Department of the Interior as a National Natural Landmark. And from nearby Disneyland and other theme parks to the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the South Coast Repertory Center, there’s always something to do. Plus, Irvine has been recognized by the FBI as one of the safest cities in America due to its very low rate of violent crime.

General LLM Program

The Master of Laws (LLM) degree program (PDF) at the University of California, Irvine School of Law offers a first-rate legal education to lawyers, judges, government officials, and others wishing to become educated about the legal system and practice of law in the United States. We offer a general LLM program that can be tailored to each individual’s interests, thus uniquely equipping students with the knowledge and skills to excel in today’s global legal community, whatever their personal and professional goals may be.

The program is a one-year, full-time, 24-credit course of study in advanced legal topics, designed for lawyers trained outside of the United States. Students are required to take one course: Introduction to American Law. For the remainder of their courses, students select from a broad range of courses across the upper-level curriculum. Dedicated staff are available to assist students in planning their course of study and, if desired, ensuring that students’ coursework meets the eligibility requirements of the California, New York, or other state bars.

Graduate Tax Program

The Graduate Tax Program at the University of California, Irvine School of Law offers an innovative curriculum that instills students with both the doctrinal depth and the practical skills needed to practice tax law at the highest levels, in the United States or abroad. The curriculum prioritizes mandatory in-depth doctrinal knowledge, required practical tax training, and a small student-to-full-time faculty ratio.

The entire first semester is composed of mandatory requirements, focusing on transactional tax courses. This structure ensures that all students gain the comprehensive knowledge needed to be a successful tax practitioner and approach the rest of the program on an even playing field. In the second semester, students will apply their skill sets by participating in clinics, externships, and other practical opportunities.

Faculty

Our faculty members are extraordinary scholars. They are also superb teachers and mentors. Our student-to-faculty ratio is among the best in the country at 7:1, and the average number of students in an upper-level class is 11, which enables students to have more individual time with faculty. We combine the best of a small, collegial, and supportive environment with a large and renowned research institution. Moreover, many faculty members from across campus hold joint appointments in the law school, incorporating breakthrough multidisciplinary scholarship into the UCI Law curriculum. Five of UCI Law’s faculty members are among the most cited in their fields: Dan Burk for intellectual property and cyberlaw, Bryant Garth and Carrie Menkel-Meadow for law and social science, Christopher Leslie for antitrust, and Gregory Shaffer for international law.

The core full-time founding tax faculty of UCI Law’s Graduate Tax Program comprises world-renowned, lauded experts in their fields. All members of our founding tax faculty have practical tax experience, and have gained significant experience teaching full-time at other graduate tax programs around the country before joining the faculty of UCI Law.

In addition, our tax lecturers in law are all leading practitioners in major law firms, corporations, and government agencies. The founding tax faculty has taken great care to recruit lecturers who will actively contribute to the program and who will be genuinely interested in their students’ academic and professional success.

UCI Law’s faculty address the most important issues of the day, from the radically new challenges in intellectual property and comprehensive immigration reform to the changing nature of the legal profession, the impacts of climate change, reform of election and campaign laws, the protection of consumers in economic crisis, the interaction of international and national law, and much more. At the heart of our scholarship is not only rigorous attention to legal norms, but also a deep appreciation for interdisciplinary work, bringing together law with such disciplines as political science, criminology, sociology, public health, and business.

Student Life

One unique aspect of UCI Law is our strong sense of community. We have a small student body that is supportive of one another and a team of faculty, administrators, and staff who are dedicated to student development. We promote the personal and professional success of our students. We encourage you to get involved by joining (or starting) a student organization, building a relationship with your mentors, attending a speaker series event, participating in social programming, and developing your leadership skills. We develop well-rounded lawyers and help our students find a positive balance between work and play.

Student organizations are a vital part of student life at UCI Law. There are a variety of student organizations that actively produce activities and events for the campus community. The law school is committed to freedom of expression and protection of the right of all members of the faculty, staff, and students to express ideas and views. Accordingly, it is the policy of the law school that all activities organized by student organizations, events held by students at the law school, or events for students paid by school funds shall be open to all law students.

Housing

There are many wonderful options when it comes to living in Orange County (PDF).

Incoming Students

There are many great off-campus housing options for students in Irvine and in surrounding cities. Students have the option to search the Off-Campus Housing and Roommate Finder for rental housing near the UC Irvine campus. Students may check the message boards for roommate listings or to post a listing. It is free for all students.

Orange County offers a variety of residential environments, including apartments, condos, townhomes, and houses, both close to campus and at the beach.

Housing Liaisons

Your leasing office should be the first place you go with questions, but if you run into any challenges, feel free to contact our UCI Law LLM program by phone at 949.824.5335 or by email at LLM-admissions@law.uci.edu.

Career Services and Professional Development

At UCI Law, we are committed to helping you chart a successful path toward achieving your goals, whatever they may be. The legal profession comprises many areas of practice, each requiring distinct knowledge, skills, and abilities. Throughout the academic year, we conduct panel discussions, brown-bag lunches, and workshops covering a broad range of topics, including job search basics, substantive practice overviews, and self-assessment.

Please note that UCI Law does not provide job placement services to LLM students. Rather, we assist you in exploring career opportunities and shaping your professional development so as to maximize your potential.

Tuition and Aid

Tuition and fees are composed of:

• tuition
• professional degree supplemental tuition
• student services fee
• mandatory campus-based fees

LLM students may opt into the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) by purchasing voluntary health insurance. More information about voluntary health insurance can be found on the Student Health Center’s website.

Additionally, the university estimates that a student can expect to incur living expenses of approximately $20,000 for the year. Note that costs and fees vary according to individual circumstances and are subject to change.

For more information regarding tuition and aid, visit our website.

• General LLM Program
• Graduate Tax Program

Financial Aid

Students are primarily responsible for funding their own LLM degrees. Financial aid funds offered by the law school are extremely limited. Partial scholarships based on merit may be offered to a few very outstanding LLM applicants each year. Limited partial scholarships may also be available to qualified LLM applicants from less developed countries. Our scholarship process is incorporated into our admission process. Thus, applicants need not apply separately.

Applicants are encouraged to research and apply for outside scholarships to help defray the cost of attending the LLM program. For more information regarding financial aid and financial aid for foreign students, visit Tuition and Aid. However, please be mindful that this list is not exhaustive, and we strongly encourage applicants to conduct their own research and explore funding in their home countries.