UCI law school gets OK; hunt for dean starts

UC Irvine received approval Thursday to open a law school on its campus, fulfilling a dream that the university has carried for more than four decades.

At the UC Board of Regents meeting, held on the UCLA campus, the members voted to accept UCI Chancellor Michael Drake’s plan for a law school that would serve 600 students and encourage graduates to apply for public-sector jobs and work with underserved communities. With the school now approved, UCI plans to begin a nationwide search for a founding dean and to admit its first class in fall 2009.

“We are extremely pleased that the University of California selected Irvine to develop the state’s next premier public law school,” Drake said in a news release. “Orange County’s dynamic economy and diverse population, combined with UCI’s reputation for building outstanding programs and the incredible level of local support, give us great confidence in the future excellence of our school of law.”

UCI’s program will be the fifth public law school in California, joining those at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. UCI will be the first to open since Davis in 1965.

The campus growth plan at UCI already includes funds to open a law school, and the university plans to cover other expenses through tuition fees and private donations. The state is not expected to put up additional money for the program.

Executive Vice Chancellor Michael Gottfredson said the university had already assembled a search committee for the founding dean, chaired by Andy Pelicano, dean of the Paul Merage School of Business. He expected competition for the post to be tight.

“Interest will be overwhelming in the job because it’s the best opportunity in the country to be a law dean,” Gottfredson said. “The opportunity to build and shape a new law school in the University of California is without precedent in the last 40 years.”

On Friday, UCI plans to hold a celebratory luncheon for all the people who helped to craft the latest law school proposal. UCI made previous attempts at founding a law school in 1989 and 2001, but both efforts were stifled by funding issues.

UCI’s success this week, Gottfredson said, was the result of both intense lobbying by Drake and the growing sense of need for a public law school in Orange County.

“It’s a great day for the community,” he said. “The community has worked very, very hard with us on this proposal. It’s gratifying to have that kind of collaboration pay off.”