UCI Law Video: We Are UCI Law

What makes UCI Law special? Every aspect, from the top-rated faculty to the commitment to public service to the dynamic students from diverse backgrounds who come together to support one another and forge long-lasting bonds.

Video Transcript

Erwin Chemerinsky: I have believed from the beginning that if we simply replicate other Law Schools, we would have failed. We were given the wonderful opportunity of a blank slate and we have used it to create an innovative curriculum designed for students with the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession.

Student: You will meet people like you’ve never met anywhere else. Everyone here was carefully selected and they are remarkable people.

Student: Everyone is extremely supportive. Everyone wants each other to succeed.

Student: People have a kind of camaraderie that is rare at schools.

Jesse Welsh-Keyser, Class of 2014: The best part about being at UCI Law for me is the engaged community and the culture: the student organizations, the administration and especially the faculty.

Francis Yao, Class of 2016: I’m kind of obsessed with the faculty. Every single faculty member is such a big deal in their field.

Erwin Chemerinsky: I believe that our faculty are truly equal to any in the country with regard to its scholarship, with regard to its teaching, and with regard to it service to the profession.

Sameer Ashar, Clinical Professor of Law: We are not trying to teach our students to be cogs in a larger machine. We really want them to lead.

Crystal Adams, Class of 2015: One of the best things about my experience at UCI is the clinical opportunities here.

Erwin Chemerinsky: We require every student for graduation to participate in a legal clinic where students represent real clients under the supervision of a faculty member.

Adam Barry, Class of 2013: I was able to have a clinical experience where I travel to Northern Ireland and got to interview folks and write legal memorandum related to that and I was also able to have a variety of probono experiences.

Anna Davis, Director of Public Interest Programs: We have one of the most robust pro bono programs in the country. 92% of our students are involved in pro bono at some point during their time at UCI Law and our students completed over 10,000 pro bono hours in the last year.

Erwin Chemerinsky: Our goal from the beginning was to create one of the top law schools in the country that does a superb job of preparing our students for the practice of law. I believe we’re very much succeeding in that goal.

Nancy Sotomayor, Class of 2016: Being taught constitutional law by one of the nation’s leading scholars, Dean Chemerinsky, was amazing but he also took the time to setup lunches with all of the students in the class.

Jane Stoever, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law: There is a real sense here that anything is possible.

Sameer Ashar: Within Orange County, I feel like the law school as a new institution within the county is a key engine of change. It is an incredible time to be here. It’s a great time to be a lawyer here.

Erwin Chemerinsky: One of the greatest assets of the University of California, Irvine is its location.

Student: This place is beautiful. I really love being able to go to the beach. It’s only a couple of minutes away. The weather is usually so sunny outside.

Erwin Chemerinsky: In June 2014, the ABA Council on Legal Education accorded the University of California, Irvine School of Law full accreditation. I’m very proud that we received this within the earliest possible time under the ABA rules. Ultimately, the quality of any law school is a reflection of its faculty, its students, and its programs. I believe by any and every measure that our faculty, our students, and our programs are one of the very best law schools in the United States.