For The Teenager, Law Schools in California
California - Riverside - Orange County - Law Resources
For The Teenager, Law Schools in California
Qualifications to Become an Attorney. To become a practicing attorney in California you must pass a three day exam, complete two years of college and graduate from a law school.
Law Schools in California . All 50 states have law schools accredited by the American Bar Association ("ABA"). 48 states have only ABA law schools. Only California and Alabama have law schools not accredited by the ABA. California has 19 ABA accredited law schools, 9 of those schools are located in Southern California. California also has 19 law schools accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California, 15 correspondence law schools, registered with the Committee of Bar Examiners and 15 unaccredited law schools.
Students who graduate from law schools that are not accredited by the ABA will not be qualified to take the bar examination in other states or satisfy the requirement to practice law in other states until they have practiced law in California for five years. If you intend to seek admission to practice law in a state other than California, you probably would not want to attend a law school that is not accredited by the ABA.
Cost of Tuition. Law school is a 3‑year program, full time. You should plan for total costs for tuition and books of $100,000. To pay for the costs of schooling, you will be able to take out student loans and may qualify for grants. When you graduate, your monthly payments on your student loans will be about the same as a car payment.
What Law Firms Want. Law firms are very status conscious; they want the top ten percent law students from the top law schools. Most major law firms will only consider ABA school graduates and then only those ABA schools in the top of the national rankings. As a result, not every law school graduate will work for a major law firm.
A Proposed Plan of Action. In middle school and high school get organized, become self motivated to complete all homework and strive to do your best in each class.
Graduate from the best four year university that will admit you. Chose a bachelors program that interests you and one that can provide an alternative career to law. Just before graduation with your bachelors take the Law Scholastic Aptitude Test ("LSAT"). Your performance on the LSAT will be critical to which law schools will be likely to accept you. The two other critical factors considered by law schools are; your grade point average ("GPA") and your undergraduate school's academic standing. Your GPA and LSAT score will most likely determine which law schools you will be able to attend.
Most book stores will have a guide book on law schools and their admissions standards. The book will provide you rankings of law schools and give you an idea of your probability for admission at a particular law school.
ABA Accredited Schools of Law
" California Western (San Diego)
" Chapman University (Orange)
" Golden Gate University (San Francisco)
" Thomas Jefferson (San Diego)
" Loyola (Los Angeles)
" University of the Pacific (Sacramento)
" Pepperdine University (Malibu)
" Santa Clara (Santa Clara)
" Southwestern University (Los Angeles)
" Stanford (Stanford)
" UC at Berkeley (Berkeley)
" UC at Davis (Davis)
" UC at Los Angles (Los Angeles)
" UC Hastings (San Francisco)
" U of San Diego (San Diego)
" U of San Francisco (San Francisco)
" U of Southern California (Los Angeles)
" Western State University (Fullerton)
California Bar Accredited Schools of Law
" Cal Northern (Chico)
" Empire College (Santa Rosa)
" Glendale University (Glendale)
" Humphreys College Laurence Drivon (Stockton)
" John F. Kennedy University (Pleasant Hill)
" Lincoln (Sacramento and San Jose)
" Monterrey (Monterey)
" New College of California (San Francisco)
" San Fernando Valley (Woodland Hills)
" San Francisco (San Francisco)
" San Joaquin (Clovis)
" Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara)
" Southern California Institute of Law (Santa Barbara and Ventura)
" Trinity (Santa Ana)
" University of La Verne (Ontario)
" University of West Los Angeles (Inglewood)
" Ventura (Ventura)
Registered Correspondence Law Schools
" Abraham Lincoln
" British‑American University
" Concord University
" Heritage University
" Laurel University
" Newport University
" Northwestern California University
" Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy
" Southern California University
" For Professional Studies
" University of Honolulu
" West Coast University
" West Have University
" William Howard Taft University
California - Riverside - Orange County - Law Resources
Check out the following links for additional information and helpful resources.
California Code
Orange County Superior Court
Riverside County Superior Court