Greetings from Dean EastmanOn May 31, 2007, Dean Parham Williams retired after a decade as Dean of the Chapman University School of Law, capping a 42-year career in legal education, including 35 years as a dean at ABA-accredited law schools. During his amazing tenure at Chapman, the law school achieved full ABA accreditation in near-record time, became a member of the elite Association of American Law Schools, assembled one of the strongest young faculties in the country (including three former Supreme Court clerks), built from scratch outstanding clinical programs in tax, elder law, appellate advocacy, and constitutional jurisprudence, and sponsored award-winning student teams in mock trial, moot court, and mediation and negotiation competitions. After all that, I think it fair to say that Chapman Law School has come of age, and we are looking forward to even greater accomplishments as we build on the solid foundation built by Dean Williams. Summer 2007 saw our new LL.M. in Prosecutorial Science program, the first of its kind in the nation, take its place alongside our existing LL.M. in Tax program and its highly-ranked tax faculty. In Fall 2007, new emphasis certificates in International Law and Entertainment Law were added to our original certificates in tax, advocacy & dispute resolution, and environmental, land use & real estate law. Our new domestic violence clinic began taking on clients in the Spring of 2007, and an innovative joint JD/MFA degree program with Chapman’s renowned Dodge College of Film and Media Arts will soon complement the joint JD/MBA and MBA/MFA degrees already being offered at Chapman. In other words, the newness of Chapman may be behind us, but the excitement is not. There is good reason why Chapman Law School ranks #1 in the country in Princeton Review’s “Quality of Life,” #5 in the country in the “Professors Rock (Legally Speaking),” and #7 in the country for “Best Classroom Experience,” and why in the Spring of 2008 we moved up to 3rd Tier in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. As the new Dean, I invite you to explore with us the exciting things happening here at Chapman, tour our state-of-the-art facility, browse our award-winning law library, and visit with our students, whose seriousness of purpose is equaled by their fun-loving camaraderie. While you’re here, observe our students in class, and ask them how they supplement their classroom experience with “live client” clinical training. Those interested in taxation law are trying real cases in the U.S. Tax Court and counseling clients in the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. |
Many other opportunities spring from the Law School’s location on the main campus of a comprehensive university. Law students enjoy all of the university facilities and services, including sports and fitness facilities and the soon-to-be-completed Olympic aquatic center, main library research and study accommodations, and music and drama productions. Chapman law students thus enjoy the significant advantage of earning a legal education in the intellectually stimulating environment of a dynamic university. And, of course, we’re located in the heart of sunny Orange County, California, within minutes of world class beaches, renowned cultural and arts centers, and student-friendly nightlife. Your experience at Chapman will be an enjoyable one. Importantly, it will prepare you to practice in any state and in any field of the law. I am pleased to introduce you to Chapman, a young law school with a youthful energy and creativity that is emerging as an institution of quality in American legal education.
John C. Eastman |
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