Southwestern Law School

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This is Southwestern Law School—a history of public service, innovative teachers, brilliant scholars, and trailblazing alumni. Prepare to succeed through our innovative curriculum and experiential learning opportunities. The vibrant mid-city campus provides the ideal setting for law study, fostering an emphasis on community, diversity, and public service.
Founded more than 100 years ago, Southwestern has developed a reputation for graduating lawyers who are well-rounded, entrepreneurial, and prepared to succeed.
The mission of Southwestern Law School is to produce highly skilled graduates who are capable of integrating theory and practice to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Through excellent faculty committed to promoting the highest level of professionalism, Southwestern seeks to create a vibrant, diverse academic community with a student-centered approach to legal education.
Southwestern students study law from a wide variety of cultural and educational backgrounds, bringing a rich diversity to the student body. The Admissions Committee, therefore, considers many aspects of a prospective student's credentials beyond grades and test scores. Admission to Southwestern is based on several factors that may be predictive of an applicant's success in law study.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act conditions the eligibility of educational institutions to participate in Title IV programs on the development of and compliance with a code of conduct prohibiting conflicts of interest for its financial aid personnel Southwestern's officers, employees, and agents are required to comply with this code of conduct.
Southwestern's academic offerings enable our students to follow either a broad-based or a personalized curriculum focusing on a particular area of law while earning the 87 units required for the J.D. degree. Beyond the 18 required courses, you can select from 200+ elective courses and numerous experiential opportunities to design your study program.
Southwestern is the only law school to offer four J.D. programs that differ in both scheduling and instructional approach.
Southwestern is a leader in curricular innovation and expertise, particularly in entertainment and media law, international law, criminal law, and trial advocacy/litigation. The required curriculum is enriched by approximately 200 electives, 150 externship placements, six clinics, and four practicums. Upper-division enhancements include over 50 professional skills courses, a January intersession, capstone courses, and special mini-term courses taught by international legal experts.
Some of the most rewarding hours in law school are those spent applying what you have learned in your classes to a real-world environment. These valuable and practical hands-on experiences are provided through various clinics, externships, practicums, and public interest opportunities.
At Southwestern, you will find that it is difficult to get lost in the crowd. This is a manifestation of the personal, intimate experience Southwestern offers our students. It is a nurturing, supportive environment where diversity is celebrated, and students find future colleagues, caring mentors, and inspiring role models.
Southwestern's diversity defines the law school. When you are living and working in a place as eclectic as L.A., you have to understand the worldviews of the people around you. Everyone at Southwestern offers something different, and it makes for a balanced and transformative legal education.
Southwestern Law School is committed to helping students become reflective and self-fulfilled professionals who can integrate legal professionalism, ethics, values, doctrine, theory, and skills to become outstanding professionals in a wide variety of settings. The learning objectives listed embody this broader mission.
For 100 years, Southwestern has continued to provide progressive legal education programs that prepare students with diverse backgrounds to earn positions of responsibility and trust within the legal profession and the community.
Southwestern Law School began in 1911 when a small group of determined students first met with a tutor in the old Union Oil building in downtown Los Angeles. This collective, known as Southwestern College of Law, was organized as a nonprofit educational institution by John J. Schumacher.
The expansion of Southwestern's physical facilities provided more usable space for learning, research, study, informal gatherings, co-curricular and recreational activities, networking with members of the profession, and interaction with distinguished visitors. In recent years, the faculty has focused on the development of innovative courses of study, nationally recognized curricular innovations and academic support programs, award-winning co-curricular programs, joint degree programs with The Drucker Graduate School of Management and California State University, Dominguez Hills, and two new LL.M. degree programs (Entertainment and Media Law and Individualized Studies).
Emphasis has also continued in the public interest and pro bono opportunities, including three new clinical programs and public interest grant and fellowship programs, enhancing lawyering skills and professionalism, and the recruitment of outstanding legal scholars and young academic stars to the faculty.
As the law school celebrates its 100th anniversary, the Southwestern community looks forward to an exciting second century benefiting from a strong institutional legacy, a broad and thriving alumni base, a talented and dedicated faculty, a location at the center of one of the most important legal markets in the United States, and a remarkable physical facility that justifies the splendid tag line - "A landmark in legal education.

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