The University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King Jr. Hall), commonly known as King Hall, is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school received ABA approval in 1968. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1968.
UC Davis School of Law is the smallest of the five law schools in the University of California system, with a total enrollment of under 600 students. The school is located in a building named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and commonly referred to as King Hall.
Rankings and academics
In 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Davis 30th among all law schools in the United States.
For diversity among the five law schools in the UC system, UC Davis was named the second-most diverse after UC Hastings by U.S. News & World Report. Princeton Review placed UC Davis Law tenth in the nation for faculty diversity in the 2009 version of its annual law ranking. It is listed as an "A−" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
It is listed as an "A" (#16) in the January 2011 "Best Public Interest Law Schools" ratings by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
UC Davis Law has the smallest student body of the UC law schools. It has a slightly higher student/faculty ratio than UCLA or Berkeley.
UC Davis has been ranked as the fifth most-expensive public law school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. It is also ranked first for providing the most financial aid.
UC Davis grants the second-most in financial aid in the country. UC Davis Law's King Hall Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), founded in 1990 to help alumni working in relatively low-income public-service law careers to repay student loans, was the first loan repayment assistance program established at any UC law school.
According to Brian Leiter's Law School rankings, Davis ranks 23rd in the nation for scholarly impact as measured by total academic citations of tenure-stream faculty.
On November 28, 2022, UC Davis Law withdrew from U.S. News & World Report rankings and will no longer provide data to contribute to those rankings.
Bar passage rates
Based on a 2001-2007 6 year average, 79.4% of UC Davis Law graduates passed the California State Bar exam. In 2009, 89% of first-time test takers passed the California bar.
For July 2012, 78.9% of first-time test takers passed the California bar exam. For July 2013, 85.0% of first-time test takers passed the California Bar Exam.
For July 2014, 86% of first-time test takers passed the California bar exam.
Employment
According to King Hall's official 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 85% of the Class of 2019 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. King Hall's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 6.5%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2019 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at King Hall for the 2013–2014 academic year is $68,346 for California residents and $80,591 for non-residents. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $265,806 for residents.
California International Law Center
The California International Law Center is a research center at the Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall) that focuses on international, comparative, and transnational law. It works to promote scholarship, curricular and career development, and partnerships with organizations such as the American Society of International Law and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. It was founded in 2009. CILC's director is Diane Marie Amann, a distinguished scholar in the area of international law. The acronym "CILC" is pronounced as "silk." CILC sponsors the Asylum and Refugee Law National Moot Court Competition.
Darfur Project
CILC has partnered with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights for special project focused on the crisis in Darfur. RFK's 2007 Human Rights Laureate Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah, academic faculty from throughout California, and CILC's fellow, students, and alumni will participate in creating a report of past reconciliation efforts.