GGU School of Law

Features — By Laura Browne on July 12, 2011

California, Here We Come

San Francisco grows from a small settlement of about 200 non-Indian residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. In 1849 a state constitution is written and a governor and legislature chosen. California becomes a state as issued under the Compromise of 1850.

Rush to Learn a Trade
By 1853, 200,000 people had moved to the city, and the brand new San Francisco YMCA offers its first lecture series as an alternative to the “raucous life” on the Barbary Coast, focusing on practical subjects like English, gold assaying and bookkeeping.

GGU’s Legal Beginnings

The law school is the university’s first official degree-conferring program and California’s first evening law school. By offering classes at night, the college opens legal studies up to the masses.

A Shaky Beginning

On April 18, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Northern California, devastating San Francisco. GGU holds classes in tents while rebuilding is underway with the help of donations from John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan.

Jesse Carter graduates to become, in 1927, a member of the first Board of Governors of the integrated State Bar of California. He is later appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1937 and to the California Supreme Court in 1939.

President William Taft travels from Washington, D.C., to lay the cornerstone of the new YMCA building at 220 Golden Gate Avenue.

The YMCA Evening College changes its name to Golden Gate College.

“Lindbergh spanned the Atlantic, the stock market crashed, and seeds of war were sprouting in Europe.”
— Harry W Koch. Class of l931, excerpted from
“The Class of ‘31,” GGU Magazine, Summer 1987

Margaret Lyons is one of the first two women to graduate from the law school, marking the slow beginning of the inroads to equality.

State Accreditation
The Law School is officially accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California, thereby establishing a history of professional opportunity.

After World War II, with the great democratization of learning through the GI Bill, the school expands and eventually becomes full-time and one of the 180 ABA-approved law schools in the United States.

Phillip Burton graduates and later serves as a California congressman for more than 25 years.

National Accreditaton
The Law School is granted provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association, the first step toward full accreditation, to later become the first exclusively part-time evening law school west of St. Paul, Minnesota, to receive ABA accreditation.

Sherrill D. Luke graduates and four years later is appointed Cabinet Secretary by California Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown.

Full-time Day Program

GGU School of Law takes over the Alleyne Building on Mission Street; Full-time programs for day students are added to complement the evening school and part-time program.

Richard Rosenberg graduates and later becomes chairman and CEO of Bank of America.

Following a national trend, the Law School began awarding the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree (JD) instead of the Bachelor of Laws (LLB).

Women in Law
The Law School educates a very large percentage of women students at GGU, starting in the early 1970s — far earlier than most law schools. Since the 1970s through, GGU has led the way in attracting and encouraging women and people of color from all backgrounds to enter the legal profession.

“Passing the bar was one of the biggest events of my life, and I still love practicing law.”
— Kathryn Ringgold, JD 70

The Law School receives full accreditation by the American Bar Association.

Golden Gate College is renamed Golden Gate University.

First Female Dean

The Law School makes history by appointing Dean Judith McKelvey — the second woman in the US to be named dean of an ABA-approved law school. She also served as the second woman president of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Never Too Late
Arlin Armstrong graduates. She entered GGU at the age of 61 and went on to practice law for more than 12 years. She returned to GGU as an adjunct professor, working with Professor Segal to prepare students for trial advocacy competitions.

Construction begins on the new six-story “west wing” building to connect to existing 536 Mission Street building. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held to initiate construction of the west wing (new building) of Golden Gate University with a keynote address by Mayor George Moscone.

Construction begins on the new six-story “west wing” building to connect to existing 536 Mission Street building. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held to initiate construction of the west wing (new building) of Golden Gate University with a keynote address by Mayor George Moscone.

GGU hosts public hearings for the U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Witnesses from as far away as Japan were among the 200 people to testify about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Introduction of “AIDS and the Law,” one of the first law courses in the country dedicated to the subject matter, taught by Peter Fowler, a Golden Gate School of Law alumnus turned adjunct professor. This complements the early creation of a hospitable environment for LGBT students (with the first Lesbians in the Law student and, a bit later, LGBT faculty).

International Legal Studies Program created to further extend the law school’s global reach. To date, students from more than 50 countries have participated in the program.

The award-winning in-house Women’s Employment Rights Clinic is founded in 1993 and demonstrates GGU School of Law’s commitment to addressing the law’s most underserved communities.

The award-winning in-house Environmental Law & Justice Clinic is created to allow GGU students to provide environmental legal assistance to low-income and other traditionally disadvantaged individuals and communities.

Ready for the Real World
The Honors Lawyering Program (HLP) starts. With close to a 100% bar pass rate among its graduates, HLP is a nationally unique program that gives students the opportunity to participate in two full-time, semester-long legal apprenticeships.

The Law School begins an $18 million renovation project that transforms the facilities into a state-of-the-art legal center, enhancing the learning experience for students.

A new LLM in Intellectual Property joins the existing programs to meet the increasing need for IP lawyers.

Frederic White is appointed dean, becoming the first African-American dean of an ABA-accredited Law School in California.

The Law School hosts historic panel of seven alumnae judges on campus, including Dean’s Advisory Board Chair Hon. Lee Baxter (Ret.).

Drucilla Stender Ramey becomes the second woman dean of the School of Law, bringing extensive experience as a practitioner, law professor, and director of national and regional professional legal organizations.

The Law School hosts its inaugural Chief Justice Ronald M. George Distinguished Lecture, featuring Chief Justice Ronald M. George as the first speaker.

Under the expert tutelage of legendary litigation guru Professor Bernie Segal (heralded by The Recorder as a model mentor) GGU’s teams score victories including first place at the 2009 ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law San Francisco Regional Trial Advocacy Competition (against Boalt and Stanford, among others) and at the 2009 San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association Mock Trial Competition (against Boalt, Hastings and USF) and third place at 2010 ABA Criminal Justice Section National Mock Trial Competition (against Harvard, Georgetown and others). GGU also finishes among the top 10 at the State Bar’s 10th Annual Student Environmental Negotiations Competition.

GGU School of Law’s public interest law program is honored by Equal Justice Works as being among the top five law schools in America for public interest job placement (with Stanford, UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Hastings.)

International Women Judges Graduate Fellowship Program is launched in partnership with the International Association of Women Judges. Each year, a woman jurist from a developing nation receives a full-tuition scholarship and a living stipend to earn her LLM. The inaugural Fellow is Justice Gertrude Torkornoo of Ghana’s High Court.

The Law School launches the Center for Intellectual Property Law.

The Law School and the Society of American Law Teachers co-host the Poverty Law Conference.

The Litigation Center is launched with Professor Bernie Segal and Associate Professor Wes R. Porter as co-directors.

The Elfenworks Center for Employment Justice at the Women’s Employment Rights Clinic is established to focus on advocacy, legal services and education for domestic workers and other caregivers.

Due to the multi-year efforts of the Environmental Law & Justice Clinic’s work with the Hunter’s Point community, the last fossil fuel plant in San Francisco officially closes.
GGU launches the Center on Urban Environmental Law at GGU with co-directors Professor Alan Ramo and Associate Professor Paul Kibel.

The Litigation Center kicks off 1st STEP, the Summer Trial Evidence Program, a one-of-a-kind, intensive, experiential summer program that trains students going into their second year of law school to hit the ground running as future litigators.

Tags: 110th Anniversary, Arlin Armstrong, Bernie Segal, Drucilla Ramey, Frederic White, Judith McKelvey, Lee Baxter, Margaret Lyons, Peter Fowler, Phillip Burton, Richard Rosenberg, Ronald M. George, School of Law, Sherrill D. Luke, timeline, Wes R. Porter