Empire College School of Law explained

Empire College School of Law
Parent:Empire College
Established:1973
Type:Private/For-Profit
Dean:Brian J. Purtill[1]
City:Santa Rosa
State:California
Country:US
Faculty:56 (includes adjunct)[2]
Bar Pass Rate:35% (July 2019 1st time takers)[3]

Empire College School of Law, part of Empire College and founded in 1973, is a four-year evening law school program approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California.[4] As an evening-only law school, the School of Law is not accredited by the American Bar Association.[5] As a result, graduates are generally only eligible to take the bar and practice law in California. Empire Law School's professors are practicing attorneys and judges from the North Bay area who teach in their specialty areas.

Empire graduates comprise approximately 25 percent of the Sonoma County Bar and include members of the judiciary in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Merced, Lassen, Lake, and Calaveras counties.

Following a year of construction, the college opened its new campus in January 2000 which includes, as tenants, two California superior courts for the County of Sonoma at which civil cases are conducted. Moot Court and Trial Practice classes are held in the courtrooms. In the 2000 Roger J. Traynor California Appellate Moot Court Competition, the Empire College Moot Court Team won first place in both The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Award for Best Brief and The Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence In Appellate Advocacy.[6] In 2018, Empire's team won first place in oral argument at the competition, with both of their team members ranked among the top oralists.[7]

In July, 2022, Empire reached an agreement, approved by the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners to become a branch of the Monterey College of Law, pursuant to which it would transition from a for-profit, approved law school, to a non-profit, approved branch of Monterey, while retaining the Empire name.[8]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.empcol.edu/school-of-law/faculty-and-staff Empire College SOL Faculty and Staff
  2. http://www.empcol.edu/school-of-law/faculty-and-staff Empire College SOL Faculty and Staff
  3. http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/July2019-CBX-Statistics.pdf
  4. http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=tKsHnpccHas%3d&tabid=2192 Law Schools in California Accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE)
  5. Web site: ABA-Approved Law Schools by Year . ABA website . April 1, 2011.
  6. http://www.witkin.com/pages/traynor_pages/Past%20Winners2012.pdf
  7. Web site: Roger J. Traynor Moot Court Competition Past Winners by Year . Witkin Legal Institute website . September 20, 2018.
  8. Web site: Monterey College of Law to Open Empire College of Law Branch Campus . July 25, 2022 . montereylaw.edu . November 30, 2022.