Loyola Law School
Loyola Law School, the graduate law school of Loyola Marymount University, opened its doors in 1920. Located in downtown Los Angeles-a legal, financial and media capital-Loyola Law School is home to prominent faculty, dedicated students and cutting-edge programs. The first ABA-accredited law school in California with a pro bono requirement for graduation, Loyola Law is committed to legal ethics and the public interest, and has produced top attorneys for nearly a century. Loyola was one of the first law schools in the nation to require that students complete legal public service work in order to graduate. Through externships and pro bono work, our students donate over 40,000 hours to public service work every year.
Loyola demonstrates its commitment to social justice through our five public interest organizations-the Western Law Center for Disability Rights provides free legal services to people with disabilities; the Disability Mediation Center mediates cases involving federal and state discrimination laws; the Center for Conflict Resolution provides mediation, conciliation and facilitation services for the local community; the Cancer Legal Resource Center serves those dealing with cancer-related legal issues; the Center for Juvenile Justice and Policy advocates for kids in LA's juvenile justice system and works to reform it. Opportunities for student participation are available at every one of these organizations.
Loyola's commitment to global issues is evident-we have one of the most extensive international law programs in the nation. Our students can study issues like rainforest depletion in Central America, corporate securities regulation in the Far East and arbitration of commercial disputes in the European Union in one of our study abroad programs.
Additionally, Loyola faculty teach at many of the world's leading legal institutions. Law schools from Paris to Santiago , Barcelona to Beijing and Buenos Aires to Vienna call on the expertise of Loyola's professors to teach the finer points of international law. Loyola is also fortunate to draw distinguished faculty members from the best law schools around the world to be visiting professors at Loyola. For more information about Loyola Law School please click here.
CENTER FOR JUVENILE LAW AND POLICY
The Center for Juvenile Law and Policy (CJLP) was established at Loyola Law School in 2005 to offer the hope of systemic reform of the Los Angeles juvenile justice system through research, litigation, discourse, and advocacy. Prior to the creation of the CJLP, Los Angeles was the only major metropolitan city nationwide without an independent organization dedicated to advocacy on behalf of children in the delinquency system
The Los Angeles County juvenile justice system is one of the largest in the United States and detains more children than all other county systems in California combined. Annually, more than 50,000 cases of recorded juvenile arrests result in more than 20,000 referrals to juvenile courts. Of the Probation Department’s 4,000 full-time personnel, only 500 officers handle these cases. Juvenile probation officers routinely supervise 150 children at a time. The County has five juvenile justice centers and 27 juvenile delinquency courts, with 16 juvenile judges, 21 commissioners, and 14 referees. Three juvenile halls and 19 camps house over 4,100 children, 85% of whom are Black and Latino. All of the juvenile detention facilities house more children than they were designed to accommodate, and overcrowding is commonplace.
For many reasons, the LA County juvenile justice system has developed far-reaching, fundamental problems including but not limited to over-representation of minority youth, physical and psychological abuse in detention, a lack of basic mental health resources, poor defense advocacy and an approach to children in jeopardy that has moved from its original rehabilitative goals to an incarceration-based, punitive model.
The Center for Juvenile Law and Policy proposes to expand into the communities served by the Eastlake juvenile courthouse. By doing so it can achieve three specific and important short term goals:
Provide free, cutting edge, comprehensive legal services to children in jeopardy from the communities of East Los Angeles; Improve child advocacy by promulgating a “best practices” model and raise the standard of legal care for children in Los Angeles; and,
Move the delinquency system away from a reliance on ineffective and harmful incarceration practices by returning to an individualized treatment model.
The Center for Juvenile Law and Policy at Loyola Law School has developed an innovative model that strives to identify and implement a best practices model for representing children who are charged with crimes. This model is one that has been embraced by indigent defense providers nationally in jurisdictions which can afford it. Expanding this model into other parts of Los Angeles and the country has the potential of promulgating the program into a national model.
Cost: $515,914.03 (Programmatic costs 2005 – 2006)
LMU EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
The LMU Externship program offers students a wide range of opportunities to explore the nature of the attorney-client relationship, to experience the actual operation of legal institutions and to refine the lawyering skills they will use as future attorneys. All externships operate in accordance with the California Supreme Court Rules for the Practical Training of Law Students. Under these rules, students may perform legal tasks and make appearances in the state courts under the supervision of an experienced, practicing member of the State Bar of California.
Externships expose students to particular areas of practice through work in specialized offices. These include judicial clerkships, public interest organizations, government offices and a limited number of private corporations. As externs, students are usually involved in all aspects of the placement's practice. In the placements, students more fully develop their legal research and writing skills, interact with clients and develop practical skills in oral advocacy and courtroom procedure. Most students utilize the externship program to gain valuable legal experience and to network in the legal community.
CENTER FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION
The Loyola Law School Center for Conflict Resolution provides mediation, conciliation and facilitation services, and conflict resolution training to the communities throughout Los Angeles County (particularly those adjacent to the Law School), and to students, faculty and staff at Loyola. These services are provided in English, Spanish and Armenian. The 2006-2006 annual operating budget is $352,364.
CIVIL JUSTICE PROGRAM
Loyola Law School created the Civil Justice Program to focus research and public attention on the civil justice system. As a technologically advanced, teaching and research institution located in the most diverse city in the world, Loyola is ideally situated to sponsor the program.
The Civil Justice Program convenes periodic conferences, seminars and presentations; promotes and publishes scholarly research; and initiates cross disciplinary projects.
THE DISABILITY MEDIATION CENTER
The Disability Mediation Center (DMC) is an on-campus community-based mediation program serving persons with disabilities or those whose conflicts involve persons with disabilities. The DMC accepts all types of cases, many of which involve allegations of disability discrimination. Cases mediated at the DMC are frequently complex multi-party disputes referred by outside agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Department of Justice and the courts, as well as those that are community or self referrals.
Law student externs are given extensive training in alternative dispute resolution, with an emphasis on mediation, as well as the state and federal laws applicable to disability mediation. Student externs have an opportunity to become involved in all aspects of DMC's activities, including client intake, convening and co-mediating, under the supervision of the director. The staff of highly skilled mediators bring their years of mediation and mediation training experience to Loyola Law School to offer a rich and highly interactive extern experience. This program is run in conjunction with the LMU School of Education.
Notable Professors
EVE HILL, ESQ.
In coordination with Loyola Law School, Eve is active as the Executive Director of the Western Law Center for Disability Rights. Started in 2004, this interdisciplinary collaboration gives students insight into how to work with families, school personnel, and to ultimately deal with the pitfalls of non-compliance when dealing with special education issues. Additionally, special courses are offered to LMU undergraduates each Spring, highlighting issues regarding disability rights in education. Each student is paired with one family for the duration of the term, and works closely with them in identifying and supporting youth development as it relates to access to education.