UCI Law 10th Anniversary Postcard (HTML Version)

Celebrating 10 Years: Defying Expectations

The University of California, Irvine School of Law is the culmination of several generations of revolutionary dreamers. Those not satisfied with the status quo who wanted to redefine, reimagine and reinvent legal education. They were as rebellious as they were persistent and as venturous as they were ingenious. Beginning in the 1960s, our founders laid the building blocks of the extraordinary institution we are today.

Prominent faculty were recruited to UCI Law from across the nation. Together, they shattered the traditional law school experience and created a new kind of law school from a blank slate.

Our founding classes took a risk on UCI Law and set a standard of excellence for all our students. Our brilliant and entrepreneurial students created our collegial, public-service oriented community. These were the visionaries who launched UCI Law and the cutting-edge approach to legal education not found at other law schools.

Major Milestones

  • July 1, 2008 - Erwin Chemerinsky becomes the founding dean, joined by the “Dream Team” of founding faculty and administrators.
  • August 24, 2009 - Inaugural Class of 60 students begins instruction.
  • June 6, 2014 - The American Bar Association grants full accreditation.
  • January 1, 2018 - L. Song Richardson becomes the second dean.
  • March 2018 - U.S. News & World Report ranks UCI Law No. 21 in the country, out of 194 law schools.

Degrees Awarded: 682

Graduates of Color: 45%

Graduate Clinical Participation: 100%

Law Journal Issues: 29

Faculty Scholarship Publications: 1,300

Total Pro Bono Hours: 80,000

A Brilliant Future

UCI Law has surpassed the goals set for our first decade. Now, we embark on our journey as a larger, stronger, more dynamic institution than our founders could have ever imagined.

We welcome our tenth class of J.D. students for the 2018-19 academic year, matriculating from the largest applicant pool in our history, as well as our second class of LL.M. students.

For our 10 year anniversary, we honor our past and celebrate our future. We look forward to continuing our remarkable journey with our faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners! For it is truly the UCI Law family we have built together that is our greatest treasure.

UCI Law
Defying Expectations. 

Upcoming Events

Celebrating UCI Law 10 Years

August 20, 2018
First Day of School Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Celebrating Our 10th Class!
12:00 p.m.
Law School Courtyard

August 25, 2018
UCI Law Anniversary Day of Service
Various Locations

Spring 2019
UCI Law Stories: The Past, Present and Future
UCI Langson Library
Video and Curated Exhibit

For more details and other anniversary events: law.uci.edu

UCI Law, 401 E. Peltason Drive, Irvine, CA 92697-8000