From the School
Chapman University Fowler School of Law offers a collaborative, rigorous, and personalized legal education. Graduates develop skills to provide passionate, ethical, and accurate service to their clients so they can make a lasting impact in their communities.
With one of the best faculty/student ratios among American law schools, Chapman offers smaller class sizes and greater access to professors. Chapman provides practical training through a variety of clinical programs and externships, as well as opportunities for participation on legal journals and award-winning competition teams. Chapman has a dedicated staff to help its graduating students obtain positions of responsibility in the legal workforce. The law school is ABA accredited and a member of the Association of American Law Schools.
Overview
From The School
Chapman has a rolling admission policy. The admission process is highly competitive, with 1667 applications for 167 students in our most recent entering class. Applicants are required to submit a formal application, personal statement, resume, two letters of recommendation, a $75 application fee, and the CAS report from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). The CAS report generally includes LSAT score(s), official transcript(s), and letters of recommendation. The law school takes the highest LSAT score. The annual application deadline is April 16th.
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From The School
Degrees Offered
Chapman offers a traditional Juris Doctor as well as a JD/MBA or JD/MFA in Film & Television Producing. LLM programs are offered in Business Law, Entertainment and Media Law, International & Comparative Law, Taxation, and Trial Advocacy, as well as a dual LLM/MBA degree and a custom-designed specialty LLM.
Programs and Curriculum
The School of Law requires 88 academic credits for graduation. First-year courses are required and cover traditional subjects: Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Property, Criminal Law, and Legal Research and Writing. Upper-level courses are also required in the following areas: Constitutional Law, Corporations, Evidence, Federal Income Taxation, Professional Responsibility, and Practice Foundations Transactions. Students are also required to take courses meeting the Lawyering Skills and Practice-Oriented Writing requirements. Law students may choose an emphasis in Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, Business Law, Criminal Law, Entertainment Law, Environmental/Land Use/Real Estate, International Law, or Tax Law.
Faculty
Chapman law professors include four former U.S. Supreme Court Clerks, a former member of the United States Congress, a Nobel laureate, and a host of distinguished scholars and esteemed adjunct professors and lecturers. Faculty papers have been published in prestigious law journals and professors frequently contribute to the public discourse of the law in a range of media, including print, radio, television, social media, and online.
Special Programs
Chapman has a thriving clinical program, providing pro bono services to individuals in a diverse range of legal subject areas, including tax, entertainment, military justice, elder law, immigration, family protection, constitutional law, and mediation. Each clinic is directed by a faculty member with significant clinical experience.Students participate in classroom and hands-on field work that may include client contract, research projects, document preparation, brief writing, and court appearances. Chapman also offers a supplemental bar preparation program designed to provide intensive bar examination practice to complement existing required bar-tested curriculum. This program allows students to maximize their preparation for each tested element of the bar examination during their second and third years of law study.
Faculty Information
Students Say
When it comes to the job hunt, Chapman students feel good about their options. As one grateful individual notes, "Our career services office works really aggressively at making each student competitive in the job market." Indeed, "networking opportunities" are plentiful. Further, many students are quick to note "how much the alumni are involved with the school and recruit from the school." We'll give the final words to this student who happily concludes, "The staff, faculty, and administration all seem to have one goal: to help students graduate and succeed. I never felt as if I was short on resources or aid and my overall academic experience was fantastic."
Career overview
From The School
The law school’s Career Services Office (CSO) offers comprehensive services to aid students and alumni in achieving employment goals. Attorney counselors help match students’ education, skills, and interests with both traditional and non-traditional employment opportunities. In keeping with Chapman's mission of personalized education, the CSO staff meet personally and often with students and alumni to review resumes and cover letters, aid in self-assessment and goal orientation, discuss opportunities unique to student needs, provide training and support, explore career options, and assist in building professional networks.
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Overview
From The School
Chapman offers a generous scholarship program, with merit based scholarships based on LSAT and cumulative GPA data. In addition, Federal Loans are available. Tuition and fees for 2017-2018 are $51,578 for full-time JD students and $41,160 for part-time JD students. There is no additional charge for out-of-state students.
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Overall
From The School
Chapman provides a comfortable environment for the rigorous study of law. The law school has consistently been ranked in the Top 10 by Princeton Review for “Quality of Life.” Students are collegial and collaborative and enjoy significant opportunities to work closely with faculty, administrators and staff. Chapman has dozens of student law organizations, which provide valuable networking opportunities in a variety of legal specializations. Our students are actively involved in the planning and presentation of guest speakers and major annual events, including the Law Review Symposium, Sports Law Symposium, Diversity and Social Justice Symposium, and Public Interest Law Foundation Fundraiser Dinner. Students also attend the Barrister’s Ball, an annual dinner and dance party hosted by the Student Bar Association.
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From The School
Campus and Location
The law school is located on the beautiful 78-acre Chapman University campus, in the heart of Historic Old Towne in Orange, California. Just two blocks from campus, the Plaza in downtown Orange is home to some of Orange County’s most popular pubs, restaurants, and shops. The campus setting presents many opportunities to develop interdisciplinary courses and degree programs with other schools of the university, including popular joint programs with the acclaimed business and film schools. Students have access to all campus facilities, including the fitness center, Olympic-size lap pool, tennis courts, and numerous restaurants and cafes. The university is located 35 miles from Los Angeles and 90 miles from San Diego, and just a short ride to some of the best beaches in the state.
Learn more about Chapman University Fowler School of Law at www.chapman.edu/law.
Facilities
The four-story Kennedy Hall law school building offers an efficient and pleasant learning environment for law students. Classrooms and seminar rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology for enhanced teaching and learning, and are capable of accommodating future changes in electronic, visual and on-site learning. The library occupies one wing of the building. Two courtrooms, one designed for trials and the other for appellate hearings, provide fully equipped facilities for trial advocacy exercises, mock trial and moot court competitions, and formal hearings by visiting courts. Student lounges and facilities for student organizations and publications ensure that the law school experience at Chapman will be both productive and pleasant.
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Diversitiy Initiatives
Orange, CA 92866