225 Cedar Street, San Diego, CA 92101, USA
Phone: 619.239.0391 (main), 619.525.7075 (LLM for Foreign Lawyers), 619.515.1574 (LLM in Trial Advocacy)
E-mail: llm-mcl@cwsl.edu (LLM for Foreign Lawyers), hec@cwsl.edu (LLM in Trial Advocacy)
Website: www.cwsl.edu
Introduction
For more than 80 years, California Western has educated lawyers who are dedicated to improving the lives of their clients and the quality of the legal system. California Western remains one of the few independent, nonprofit law schools in the country. We strive to provide a well-rounded set of legal skills to each graduate, both preparing them for practice and helping them find their place in the profession. California Western has a wide range of Innovative Programs—including the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy, California Innocence Project, Center for Creative Problem Solving, and the Institute of Health Law Studies—that enrich students' law school experience while also enabling California Western to have a substantive impact on the broader society. Professors and students involved in the programs shape real-life legal events—whether freeing wrongfully convicted inmates in California or training more than 2,000 lawyers and judges in Latin America.
Law School Enrollment
- Total law school enrollment: 983
- Full-time: 809
- Part-time: 174
LLM Programs/Areas of Specialization
California Western Law School offers three popular LLM Graduate programs.
LLM in Trial Advocacy Specializing in Federal Criminal Law (with Federal Defender Internship)
To prepare you for practice in federal criminal court, the LLM in Trial Advocacy combines classroom instruction on substantive federal criminal law, skills training, and live client representation in a federal defenders office. Practicing federal criminal defense law requires a wide array of knowledge, skills, and training not found in any Juris Doctor program. Our courses are not traditional law school courses. They are focused and exclusively offered to our LLM students. Our course of study is not a repackaged JD program. You will learn federal criminal law, federal motions practice, federal trial skills, applied federal evidence, federal scholarship, and all of the ins and outs of practicing federal criminal law, from nationally known federal trial attorneys. Each professor is a skilled litigator with years of practice experience. Our Federal Defenders Office Clinical Placement provides students the opportunity to actually practice in federal court in conjunction with, and under the supervision of, select federal defenders' offices. Placement sites are selected and closely monitored by the LLM director. The sites include offices throughout California and the United States, including Puerto Rico.
Contact Information
For more information please visit our LLM in Trial Advocacy website, or contact:
Heidi Cruise
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101
USA
Phone: 619.515.1574
E-mail: hec@cwsl.edu
LLM and MCL Programs for Foreign Lawyers
LLM and MCL programs provides foreign lawyers with a working knowledge of the United States legal system and the practice of law in the United States. The curriculum is designed to prepare lawyers from other countries to work knowledgeably with US lawyers on questions of common interest arising under either their own or the US legal system. Our program has over 375 graduates from more than 55 countries. Students may choose their own programs tailored to their academic and professional interests. California Western offers many courses and seminars in international and comparative law. Students, in consultation with their faculty advisor, may take courses in specialized areas of concentration; a student should plan a significant writing project in that area of concentration, or work experience (practical training after completion of the degree program) is recommended.
MCL degree candidates must spend two semesters in residence and satisfactorily complete a minimum of 16, and up to 25, credit hours in regularly scheduled courses, seminars, and independent study projects.
LLM degree candidates must, in addition to the aforementioned requirements, complete a scholarly research paper, which will account for at least two hours of academic credit. The program director acts as your faculty advisor. In addition, students are assigned a student mentor, a community lawyer/mentor, and student tutors.
Students may start their graduate studies in August or in January.
Contact Information
For more information, please visit our LLM Graduate Programs website, or contact:
California Western School of Law
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101
USA
Phone: 619.525.7075
E-mail: llm-mcl@cwsl.edu
Certificate Program in Comparative and International Law
As a complement to the existing MCL/LLM program for foreign lawyers, California Western offers a Certificate Program in Comparative and International Law for lawyers, judges, and legal academics and scholars who are available to visit the US for only one semester.
Contact Information
For more information, please visit our LLM Graduate Programs website, or contact:
California Western School of Law
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101
USA
Phone: 619.525.7075
E-mail: llm-mcl@cwsl.edu
The Faculty
California Western's dedicated faculty is composed of experienced scholars who remember what it was like to be a law student. The law school's culture of openness and collaboration fosters mentorship and the creation of close professional relationships between students and faculty members. The program director acts as your faculty advisor.
Entry Requirements
LLM in Trial Advocacy Specializing in Federal Criminal Law:
To be considered for admission, you must be a law school graduate who has either taken a bar exam or plans to take the bar exam prior to beginning the program. Bar admission is required in order to appear in federal court during the clinical component of the program. Admission to the program is in the fall and is full time. The application deadline is July 25.- LLM and MCL Programs for Foreign Lawyers:
Applicant must either be a lawyer or law school graduate from a foreign country.
Application Requirements
LLM in Trial Advocacy Specializing in Federal Criminal Law
- Application: Complete and sign the application. You can apply online through LSAC's LLM Credential Assembly Service or download an application from www.llmtrialadvocacy.com.
- Application Fee: Include the nonrefundable $55 application fee, payable by check or money order to California Western School of Law.
- Official Transcripts: Please arrange for official transcripts to be sent from your undergraduate institution and law school.
- Personal Statement: In your personal statement, describe your previous law study and professional experience. Explain your reasons for pursuing the LLM and your future plans.
- Résumé: It is also helpful to include a résumé to summarize your work history.
- Recommendations: Arrange for two letters of recommendation. At least one recommendation should be from your current or former law professor.
LLM and MCL Programs for Foreign Lawyers
Questions?
Please visit the LLM Graduate Programs website, or e-mail us at llm-mcl@cwsl.edu for more information.
Student Services and Organizations
- Amnesty International
- Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
- Black Law Student Association
- Business Law Society
- Child, Family, and Elder Law Society
- Christian Legal Society
- The Commentary
- Criminal Law Association
- Employment and Labor Law Society
- Entertainment and Sports Law Society
- Environmental Law Society
- Federalist Society
- Hawai'i Law Student Association
- Health Law Society
- International Law Society
- Jewish Student Union
- La Raza Law Student Association
- Lawyer's Club
- Law Review—International Law Journal
- Middle Eastern Law School Association
- Moot Court Honors Board
- Muslim Law Society
- Phi Alpha Delta
- Pride Law
- Public Interest Law Foundation
- Student Ambassador Program
- Student Bar Association
- Student Intellectual Property Law Association
- Youth Court
- Women's Law Caucus
Career Services
Career Services works aggressively to provide assistance for all students and alumni. The office is the conduit to law firms, public interest organizations, and government agencies for students seeking summer associate, law clerk, and attorney positions.
While many graduates choose to stay in Southern California, the office receives job listings from firms and agencies throughout the country. Many of the job listings come from California Western's impressive network of alumni residing in all 50 states and 11 foreign countries.
Counseling: Students and alumni receive individual counseling to help them determine career interests, map out job-search strategies, practice interview techniques, and develop professional skills necessary in the legal community. Programs on topics ranging from career options to networking simulations are held throughout the year.
Pro Bono Honors Program: Students provide supervised legal services to less-advantaged individuals in our community in conjunction with numerous public interest organizations. In addition, the Career Services Alumni Mentor program matches upper-division students with practicing lawyers who help guide the students' development as young lawyers.
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