UCLA Law Fall 2017 Newsletter
UCLA Law Welcomes Outstanding New Students
UCLA Law welcomed an outstanding class of 500 new J.D. and LL.M. students in August. The 298 new J.D. students were chosen from more than 5,400 applicants. Demonstrating UCLA Law's unwavering commitment to access and excellence, the incoming J.D. class has a median LSAT score of 167 — tied for second-best among California law schools — a median GPA of 3.76, and 18 percent of 1Ls are the first in their families to complete a four-year degree.
ACTION! UCLA Law Creates Three New Clinics
Bolstering its rich tradition of clinical and experiential programs, in 2017-18 UCLA Law opened the Veterans Services Legal Clinic at the VA in Westwood. In the spring the school will open a Documentary Film Legal Clinic, in which students will assist indie filmmakers in areas including contracts, IP and First Amendment law. In 2018, in conjunction with LAUSD, the school will open an immigration clinic in Koreatown, a companion to the Immigrants' Rights' Policy Clinic launched in Spring 2017.
The Promise Institute for Human Rights
Launched with a $20 million gift in April 2017, the Promise Institute for Human Rights leapt into its first academic year with an array of classes, clinics and guest lectures. UCLA Law is thrilled to have named Asli Bâli the first faculty director of the institute, and the school is conducting a search for the institute's first executive director. In the institute's first foreign foray, Clinical Project Director Joseph Berra will lead students to Honduras in January. Short courses offered in 2017-2018 will feature Richard Dicker, founding director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, and Joseph Weiler, co-author of the European Union's Declaration of Human Rights. Dr. Eric Esrailian, lead producer of the feature film The Promise and the upcoming Armenian genocide documentary Intent to Destroy, spearheaded the effort to establish the institute.
Faculty Books, from Constitutions to Corporations
In 2016-17 UCLA Law faculty across many areas of law published new books. Among them: Stephen M. Bainbridge, William D. Warren Distinguished Professor of Law, co-authored Limited Liability: A Legal and Economic Analysis, and Sharon Dolovich co-edited The New Criminal Justice Thinking. Upcoming: Constitutional Coup: Privatization's Threat to the American Republic, by Jon Michaels; and We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights, by Adam Winkler. Learn more in the new UCLA Law magazine.
New Full-Tuition Scholarships Attract Top Students, Donors
UCLA Law accepted 13 exceptional students in the first year of its full-tuition Distinguished Scholarship and Achievement Fellow programs, designed to attract top talent to UCLA Law. Recipients include a Fulbright Fellow; staffers for members of Congress; and advocates with strong accomplishments in seeking justice and equality for underserved communities. Several are the first in their families to attend a university. In the program's first year, two generous donors gave a total of $3 million to support the programs.
Future Law: Grants Support Cutting-Edge Legal Research
UCLA Law received two grants totaling $2.3 million from the San Francisco-based Open Philanthropy Project to pursue work at the intersection new technology and the law. The school's Program on Understanding Law, Science and Evidence (PULSE) received a $1.5 million grant to study disruptive societal and legal changes stemming from artificial intelligence. The Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment received an $800,000 grant to explore governance of climate engineering technologies.
Major Gift Lifts Trial Advocacy Program
Barry Cappello '65 made a $1 million gift to transform the school's trial advocacy program and help students gain valuable litigation skills before graduating. The A. Barry Cappello Program in Trial Advocacy will develop innovative advanced course offerings for future trial advocates and enhance scholarship funds for high-achieving students with the passion, talent and drive to be become trial attorneys. The gift will also allow students to pursue the new Cappello Certificate in Trial Advocacy.
By the Numbers
1 UCLA Law was ranked top entertainment law program for the fourth consecutive year by The Hollywood Reporter.
3 UCLA Law students were named Skadden Fellows in 2017, making UCLA Law one of the leaders in producing recipients of this leading public interest fellowship.
4 New faculty joined the school in 2017-18, including Dale Cohen, Blake Emerson, Sunita Patel and Will Watts. William Boyd is set to join the Emmett Institute in 2018.
5 UCLA Law Review was ranked the fifth-best student-led law review in the nation.
7 Cases our Supreme Court Clinic has briefed that were accepted by the High Court in the last three terms.
29 The number of UCLA Law faculty who have won UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award. Ingrid Eagly won the honor in 2017.
91 Percentage of 2016 graduates were employed in full-time law jobs within 10 months of graduation.
91 Number of global firms that participated in our 2017 Law Firm Challenge, which has raised more than $1.2 million. Thank you!
400 The approximate number of law firms, government agencies and other prospective employers who visit the school for networking and interviews each year.
3,055 Alumni who made gifts in fiscal 2016-17. Thank you! Please join them by making a gift today.
$20 million The largest gift in the history of the school, made in April 2017 to launch the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block is offering a 50% match on qualified major scholarship gifts through June 2018. Generous donations have already helped the school secure an additional $1 million in scholarship funds.