10 Things You Didn’t Know about UC Law SF

Students studying in the UC Law SF library

10 Things You Didn’t Know about UC Law SF:  

  1. Nearly 150 Years of History: Established in 1878 as UC Hastings College of the Law, UC Law San Francisco was the first law school west of the Rocky Mountains.  
  2. Breaking Barriers: It’s where Emma Ping Lum ’47 studied law. She was the first Chinese American woman to practice law in the United States and argue before the U.S. Supreme Court.  
  3. Pioneering Change: The first African American justice to serve on the California Supreme Court, Wiley W. Manuel ’53, earned his JD at UC Law SF.  
  4. Legal Giant: Alexander Francis Morrison, who co-founded what would later become one of the biggest law firms in the U.S., Morrison Foerster, graduated from UC Law SF in 1881.  
  5. Legacy of Diversity: Christine la Barraque, an 1899 graduate of UC Law SF, was the first blind woman licensed to practice law in California. She gave up lawyering to work as a singer, voice instructor, and advocate for people with disabilities.  
  6. Judicial Impact: Roughly 500 living UC Law SF alumni have served as judges on state and federal courts across the country.  
  7. The 65 Club: The college hired some of the country’s most distinguished law professors, including 29 former law school deans, from the 1940s to the ’80s. They were recruited after being forced to retire from other law schools at age 65.  
  8. Prime Location: UC Law SF is within a few blocks of major courthouses, including the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, California Supreme Court, California First District Court of Appeal, U.S. District for the Northern District of California federal court, and San Francisco Superior Court.  
  9. Strength in Practice: The College operates 17 clinics in which law students provide direct services to asylum seekers, low-income seniors and taxpayers, children in child welfare proceedings, low-wage workers, and more.   
  10. Law Meets Innovation: UC Law SF has several programs – including the Startup Legal Garage, LexLab, and Corporate Counsel Externship Program – that give law students hands-on experience working with cutting-edge technology and biotech companies.