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on the campus of the Southwestern Law School]] HISTORY ]]Southwestern Law School was founded on November 25, 1911 as the Southwestern College of Law. John J. Schumacher , its founder, intended the nonprofit institution to be a law school that reached out to women and minorities. The school is one of the oldest law schools in the state of California and the second oldest law school in Los Angeles . Southwestern received a University Charter in 1915 after it expanded to include a number of other disciplines including a Business School . Southwestern's first "home" was in the Union Oil Building in downtown Los Angeles, followed by a small campus on South Hill Street, where it existed for the ensuing decades. The Great Depression and Second World War took a severe toll on the school's enrollment, and by the end of the 1930s the law school was the only school that remained. However, as veterans returned home the school experienced a surge of interest, and in 1974, the campus was moved to the school's current location on Westmoreland Avenue in the Wilshire Center area of Los Angeles. By that time, the school was ABA-accredited and interest was growing quickly. In 1994, Southwestern acquired the adjacent Bullocks Wilshire building, an historic landmark which was subsequently renovated to house the school's law library, classrooms, and faculty offices. ACADEMIC PROGRAMS ;J.D. Full-time Day Program Southwestern's full-time day program is a three year program that allows students pursue a broad-based legal education with opportunities to focus on a particular area of law, such as entertainment, commercial, tax, international, criminal, among others. ;J.D. Part-time Evening Program Southwestern's part-time evening program is a four year program designed for working professionals. ;J.D. Part-time Day Program (also known as PLEAS) Southwestern's part-time day program is a four year program designed for students with child-care responsibilities. ;J.D. SCALE Program Southwestern offers a twenty month accelerated J.D. program. SCALE's (Southwestern's Conceptual Approach to Legal Education) emphasis is on conceptual learning and simulation training. ;LL.M. In 2000, Southwestern launched the Donald E. Biederman Entertainment and Media Law Institute ''http://www.swlaw.edu/academics/biederman'' which offers the nation’s first LL.M degree in entertainment and media law. The school has had ties to the entertainment industry for many years, enabling students to work for leading entertainment companies such as the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences , Lions Gate Entertainment , Virgin Records , Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. , and the Writers Guild Of America . The Institute further strengthens the relationship between the industry and the school, as the Institute hosts conferences in the area of entertainment and media law, and provides opportunities for students to interact with professionals in these fields. ;Advocacy Training Due to its status as a leading U.S. institution in advocacy and skills training with extensive Latin American programs, Southwestern has been awarded a federal grant to train Mexican lawyers and law faculty in advocacy skills as part of a USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) effort to assist Mexican legal reforms. http://www.swlaw.edu/news/overview/newsr.7fZCLvR-Ue CAMPUS The campus occupies over two city blocks in the Mid-Wilshire district Los Angeles , also known as Korea Town . Currently the campus contains two buildings, the Westmoreland Building and the '''Bullocks Wilshire Building'''. Both buildings house classrooms, administrative offices, and faculty offices; the Bullocks Wilshire Building also houses the Taylor Law Library, the Dixon Courtroom and Advocacy Center, a fitness center, a dining area, and a number of student lounges. The Westmoreland Building is a building typical of college and university campuses, while the Bullocks Wilshire Building is a fully-restored art deco landmark that pays tribute to its history in many ways. Every level of the building is painstakingly renovated (back to its original 1929 state) down to the smallest details such as the clocks on the walls and the "showcases" in the area now occupied by the library. The school's location near Downtown Los Angeles creates a unique situation for students. Southwestern Law School has no on-campus housing, so the student body is composed entirely of Commuters . The current layout of the campus reflects this, with about one-third of the campus devoted to a dual-level parking facility. NOTABLE ALUMNI Southwestern alumni include public officials – from members of Congress to mayors, district attorneys, and over 200 judges – as well as founders of major law firms and general counsels of multinational corporations. Politics & Government
Sports
Entertainment industry
Legal practice
Religion
DEAN BRYANT G. GARTH Southwestern's current dean is Bryant G. Garth . Prior to joining Southwestern, Dean Garth was the Director of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). Dean Garth succeeds Dean Leigh H. Taylor . Since joining Southwestern in 2005, Dean Garth has brought a fresh outlook to the school. As a part of his involvement with the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE), Dean Garth has helped make sure the faculty and staff do everything they can to support the students at Southwestern. These changes, which are facilitated by student, faculty and staff input, have included hiring more staff, streamlining regulations, readjusting the grading curve, and providing more resources for counseling. Along with Professor Catherine Carpenter's study on law school curricula for the American Bar Association, Dean Garth assisted in changing the first-year curriculum to better fit the needs of the students. The curriculum is now more focused on career development and lawyering skills, including interviewing, counseling, and negotiation. As part of the new program, the first week of school is dedicated completely to the new LAWS program (Legal Analysis, Writing, and Skills). NOTABLE FACULTY Current professors
Former professors
ACADEMIC REPUTATION
FILMING ON THE SOUTHWESTERN CAMPUS The Office of Administrative Services is responsible for all arrangements pertaining to commercial photography and filming on Southwestern's campus, and works with Unreel Locationshttp://www.unreellocations.com to coordinate the details.
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