San Francisco Law School

San Francisco Law School is a private, for-profit law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest evening law school in the Western United States.

For the Jesuit school, see University of San Francisco School of Law.
"San Diego Law School" redirects here. For the Catholic school, see University of San Diego School of Law.
San Francisco Law School
Parent schoolAlliant International University
Established1909
School typeFor-profit private
DeanKatherine Van Tassel
LocationSan Francisco, California, U.S.
37°46′22″N 122°25′21″W
Enrollment115 (part-time)
Faculty29 (including Adjunct faculty)
USNWR rankingNot ranked
Bar pass rate7% (1/14) (July 2022 1st time takers)[1]
Websitewww.alliant.edu/sfls/

The school became non-profit in 1941 and moved to Haight Street in 1968, where it would remain for almost 50 years before relocating to its present campus on Beach Street, near Fisherman's Wharf. The law school offers a four-year, part-time evening program leading to a Juris Doctor degree. In July 2010, the law school completed a merger to become a for-profit, graduate school of Alliant International University.

San Francisco Law School has been approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners[2] of the State Bar of California since 1937, but is not accredited by the American Bar Association.[3] As a result, SFLS graduates are generally required to pass the California bar exam before they can take the bar exam or practice in states outside of California, although California bar passage is often not sufficient as many states require ABA school graduation as a prerequisite for bar admission. San Francisco Law School is also regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.[4]

In 2014, San Diego Law School opened as a branch campus of San Francisco Law School and is located in the Walter Library on Alliant's campus in San Diego at Scripps Ranch.[5] San Diego Law School also offers a four-year part-time evening program and is also approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State of California.

An LSAT score of 147 is required for full admission to the school, although students with LSAT scores between 140 and 146 may be considered for conditional admission.[6]

Based on 2018-2019 amounts, for a complete course of study with passing grades tuition was $80,910.[7]

Bar Passage Rates

Of the 14 SFLS alumni who took the California Bar Exam for the first time in July 2022, one passed, for a 7% passage rate, vs. a 36% average for California-accredited law schools and 67% average overall.[8]

SFLS had a five-year cumulative bar pass rate of 36% from 2017 to 2021, below the 40% threshold established by the State Bar of California. As a result, the school was placed on probation until July 1, 2022. The State Bar extended the school's probation until July 1, 2023, after it posted a bar passage rate of 35.4% for period ending in 2022. The probation was further extended to August 31, 2023. Failure to raise its cumulative pass rate to 40% by that point could result in the termination of the school's accreditation and it will thereafter have to register as an unaccredited law school.[9]

Alumni
  • Oscar Zeta Acosta, Chicano militant, friend of Hunter S. Thompson and inspiration for the character "Dr. Gonzo" in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
  • Dorothy von Beroldingen, San Francisco political figure, feminist and San Francisco Superior Court Judge
  • Edmund "Pat" Brown, former California Governor and father of former California Governor Jerry Brown
  • Geoffrey F. Brown, former five-term San Francisco Public Defender and commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission
  • Wayne M. Collins, civil rights attorney and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, Northern California Chapter; argued Korematsu v. United States before the United States Supreme Court [10]
  • Charles Garry, Marxist lawyer, chief counsel for the Black Panther Party, attorney for the People's Temple and counsel in many famous cases, including the San Quentin Six, Chicago Seven and the Oakland Seven (demonstrations in Berkeley against the Vietnam War).
  • Milton Marks, former California State Senator
  • Leo T. McCarthy, former Lieutenant Governor of California
  • Huey Newton, attended SFLS for eight months, but did not graduate.
  • P. Terry Anderlini, past president, State Bar of California.
  • Lynn O'Malley Taylor, retired Judge of the Marin County Superior Court.
  • Aram Serverian, retired Judge of the San Mateo County Superior Court.
  • Steven Dylina, retired Judge of the San Mateo County Superior Court.
  • Richard Kelly, former Commissioner, San Mateo County Superior Court.
  • Lauren Zorfas, former Commissioner, San Mateo County Superior Court.

References
  1. https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/admissions/Examinations/July-2022-CBX-Statistics.pdf
  2. Law Schools in California approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) 4/10/2010
  3. "ABA-Approved Law Schools by Year". ABA website. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  4. "San Francisco Law School Accreditation Statement". Archived from the original on 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  5. "San Diego Law School". Alliant International University. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  6. "San Francisco Law School Admissions Information - Law School Admissions Test". Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  7. "Alliant International University - Expenses and Financial Aid". Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  8. "General Statistics Report - February 2022 California Bar Examination" (PDF). State Bar of California. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  9. "2022 Cumulative Minimum Bar Examination Pass Rates (MPR) for California Accredited Law Schools" (PDF). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  10. Collins, Donald E. Native American Aliens: Disloyalty and the Renunciation of Citizenship by Japanese Americans during World War II. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1985
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