University of Southern California Gould School of Law | |
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Motto | Palmam qui meruit ferat (Latin) |
Parent school | University of Southern California |
Established | 1896 |
School type | Private |
Dean | Andrew T. Guzman |
Location | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Enrollment | 604 |
Faculty | 103 |
USNWR ranking | 19 |
Bar pass rate | 87% (ABA profile) |
Website | www |
The University of Southern California Gould School of Law (USC Gould), located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law had its beginnings in 1896, and was officially established as a school of the university in 1904.
USC Law School had its beginnings in 1896 when Judge David C. Morrison opened his courtroom for 36 law apprentices, among whom were future California Supreme Court Justice Frederick W. Houser and his wife, Sara Isabella Wilde; the couple would soon form the Los Angeles Law Students Association to discuss the concept of a formal law school. Their efforts resulted in the incorporation of the Los Angeles Law School in 1898. The first law degree was awarded in 1901 to Gavin W. Craig. Over the next several decades, USC Law rose to become one of the most prominent national law schools, priding itself on an interdisciplinary form of study. 2002 saw the beginning of the USC Law Graduate and International Programs. It is an American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school since 1924. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1907.
USC Gould awards the J.D., LL.M., and M.C.L. law degrees. It currently has about 600 J.D. students (200 per year) and a growing graduate program of about 200 LL.M. and M.C.L. students. It offers three certificate programs: business law, entertainment law and alternative dispute resolution.
USC Gould has consistently been ranked between 15th and 18th by the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Graduate Schools" since the magazine has published an annual version of its rankings, ranking 18th in 2011. "The Law School 100", a ranking scheme that uses qualitative criteria instead of quantitative, ranks the law school 14th overall, tied with Duke, UCLA, and Vanderbilt University. It was listed with an "A-" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.