School of Law

John Eastman, J.D., Dean

Timothy Canova, J.D., Associate Dean

Celestine McConville, J.D., Associate Dean of Administration

August Farnsworth, J.D., Assistant Dean for Career Services and Professional Development

Jayne Taylor Kacer, J.D., Assistant Dean for Student Affairs

Tracy Simmons, J.D., Assistant Dean for Admission and Financial Aid

Professors: Bazyler, Bell, Binder, Bogart, Canova, Darmer, Doti, Eastman, Eggert, Falk, Hewitt, Howe, Lane, Lipman, Litwiller, McConville, Miller, Noyes, Redding, Ripken, Rosenthal, Schultz, Tehranian, van Zante, Wellford Slocum;

Associate Professors: Dexter, Elver, Hall, Hernandez, Kochan, Krone,Llewellyn, Ransom, Steiner;

Assistant Professors: Badrinarayana, Carey, Cianciarulo, Hartley, Heller, Kacer, Stahl, Willis .

Instructors: Faulkner.

Juris Doctor

Joint Degree in Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration

Joint Degree in Juris Doctor and Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television Producting

Master of Laws in Prosecutorial Science

Master of Laws in Taxation

The Chapman University School of Law is the only law school in Orange County located on a university campus. The campus setting presents many opportunities to develop interdisciplinary courses and degree programs with other schools of the university. The site, located near the Orange Metrolink station, was once part of the fabled Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, a huge tract granted by the Spanish crown in 1810. A prominent Los Angeles lawyer, Alfred Beck Chapman, and his law partner, Andrew Glassell, acquired a large portion of the ranch in 1868, and laid out the town, which today is called Orange.

In 1872, Mr. Chapman donated to the town the land on which the new law building is located. The law building is located just two blocks from "the circle" in the heart of Historic Old Towne Orange. The Plaza at the circle has been featured in a number of movie productions because of its quaint array of restaurants and shops, many of which trade in antiques.

Chapman University's School of Law has a faculty of forty-five, three of whom are former clerks to U.S. Supreme Court justices, and also includes Nobel Laureate Dr. Vernon Smith. Its law library has holdings in excess of 279,000 volumes and volume equivalents, and the School of Law's broad ranging curriculum offers sound training in the core courses and a useful array of electives and clinical opportunities.

Donald P. Kennedy Hall: In 1999, the Law School moved into a new $30 million complex on the main campus of Chapman University. Highly praised for its stunning architecture, the new building provides optimal teaching and learning experiences in its classrooms and courtrooms. The principal building, rising four stories and providing 133,000 square feet of floor space, offers an efficient and pleasant learning environment for students. Classrooms and seminar rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology for enhanced teaching and learning, and are capable of accommodating future changes in electronic, visual and on-site learning. The law library occupies one wing of the building and individualizes the research process by offering student carrels equipped with outlets for laptop computers and related electronic devices. Two courtrooms, one designed for trials and the other for appellate hearings, provide fully equipped facilities for trial advocacy exercises, mock trial and moot court competitions, and formal hearings by visiting courts.

Student lounges and facilities for student organizations ensure that the law school experience at Chapman will be both productive and pleasant. In addition, a 720-car parking structure at the rear of the law building provides ample parking for students, faculty and visitors. The distinctive historical facade of an earlier building, modeled after the eleventh century Romanesque Basilica del Santi Vitale e Agricola in Bologna, Italy, is preserved within the walls of the new structure. Thus, the building links the important heritage of the past with the exciting educational environment of the future.

The beautiful law library features cutting edge technology in its electronic data retrieval and research facilities, and provides comfortable, quiet study areas and computer labs. The library is designed to meet the needs of legal education in the twenty-first century. It features over 40,000 square feet of space, seating for 300 with computer access at each seat, shelf space for 175,000 volumes, and capacity for many more volume equivalencies in microforms. The third floor of the library houses two electronic classrooms, used to teach Computer Assisted Legal Research, and a computer lab offering students convenient access to research and word processing programs. Students have the use of both Lexis and Westlaw beginning in their first year of school. Each student is provided with an internet account that enables access to a worldwide network of information. Natural lighting is a feature throughout all three floors of the library. The library utilizes INNOPAC, a state-of-the-art automated library system used by most major law libraries. The INNOPAC system consists of an on-line public access catalog, including other modules used for various library functions. Several public access on-line terminals are located in the library.

The collection has grown rapidly to support the needs of an ABA-approved institution and its curriculum, and boasts all basic research materials for American law, including primary materials for all of the United States and its territories. There are also numerous law reviews, and a large treatise collection that will be developed to support the research needs of faculty and students. A full-time staff of twelve, including four with the J.D. degree, serves the needs of the law library. The library has the space and the resources to expand to meet future demands and to assure that the law library continues to be an outstanding resource with a reputation for providing excellent patron service.

Accreditation: The Law School received provisional ABA approval in time for its first class to graduate with ABA status, and by its seventh year of operation received full approval by the American Bar Association. This means that our students enjoy all the privileges accorded students in other ABA approved schools and, importantly, that our graduates can take the bar examination in any American jurisdiction. In 2006, the Law School was also admitted to membership in the Association of American Law Schools.

Through its outstanding Career Services program, the Law School assists students in networking and in obtaining summer law firm clerkships, part-time employment, and employment after graduation. As evidence of the program's success, approximately ninety percent of recent graduates have found employment within nine months after graduation.

Clinical and Skills Training: Chapman University School of Law is committed to training skillful, ethical lawyers. The Law School has initiated five innovative and exciting clinical offerings, giving students invaluable hands-on experience and providing real benefits to the surrounding community. Chapman students recently succeeded in making it to the national finals of the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition in Chicago. In addition, Chapman Law has won or secured impressive achievements in the California Bar Environmental Negotiation Competition, American Association for Justice Trial Advocacy Competition, and other competitions.

The Family Violence Clinic provides a true hands-on experience for students who will counsel undocumented immigrants that have survived domestic violence. Students will engage in client counseling and interviews, fact investigation, legal research, preparation of affidavits, writing legal arguments, and submitting applications for domestic violence-related immigration benefits.

The Alona Cortese Elder Law Center provides free legal services to local seniors. It has represented victims of elder abuse, both physical and financial, going to court to obtain permanent restraining orders against their abusers. Chapman students working in the Elder Law Center represent seniors in administrative hearings regarding government benefits, draft wills and health care directives, and help seniors with a wide variety of legal issues. Students also go out to local senior centers for client interviews with the elderly.

The Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence provides students with an opportunity to earn independent study credit assisting the Center's faculty with ongoing trial and appellate litigation. Over the past years, numerous students have participated in the program, conducting research, drafting discovery requests, preparing draft summary judgment motions and appellate briefs, attending hearings, and even preparing briefs for filing with the Supreme Court of the United States in such landmark cases as Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the Ohio school vouchers case) and Grutter v. Bollinger (the Michigan affirmative action cases).

Students working at the Tax Law Clinic learn valuable negotiation, interviewing, advocacy and trial skills. The clinic helps the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court in more efficient resolution of tax controversies. In the clinic, law students advocate on behalf of disadvantaged taxpayers who otherwise could not afford representation. Tax law students who have completed prerequisite tax law courses are eligible to represent taxpayers under the supervision of attorney-professors. If matters cannot be resolved, students represent the taxpayer at trial before the tax court or other administrative hearing. The clinic has saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars since its founding in 1997. Chapman is fortunate to currently be one of only two law schools in California - and a very small percentage of ABA approved law schools nationwide - to be awarded a federal grant to operate a low income taxpayer clinic. ("LITC") Our program has been a grant recipient in each year of the low income taxpayer clinic grant program since inception.

Students interested in appellate work participate in the Ninth Circuit Appellate Clinic. Students learn the fine art of appealing decisions of lower courts by writing briefs and presenting oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Emphasis programs: Chapman provides rich opportunities for law students to earn certificates in the following specialty areas: advocacy and dispute resolution, entertainment law, environmental/land use/real estate law, tax law and international law. Professors with extensive expertise in these practice categories deliver a high-caliber education that is interesting and enriching, and will open up new career opportunities for participating students. Successful completion of an emphasis program requires the law student to earn a minimum 2.500 overall cumulative GPA and a minimum 2.800 cumulative GPA in the emphasis program courses. Chapman graduates who satisfy the emphasis requirements earn a notation on their transcript and receive a certificate upon graduating that certifies completion of the emphasis.

Skills competitions: Lawyering skills competitions offer an opportunity to learn and internalize necessary skills and values in an intense, enjoyable way. They also offer an opportunity to meet and learn from members of the local bench and bar, who have graciously acted as judges and coaches for our teams. Interscholastic competitions offer an opportunity to meet and compete against students from law schools all over the country, and to meet judges and lawyers from outside of Orange County.

Our students have excelled in competitions at regional and national levels. The Law School has three student-run boards that are responsible for competitions: an appellate moot court board, a mock trial board, and an ADR board that conducts negotiations and client counseling competitions.

Chapman has hosted several prestigious competitions. We have hosted regional and national ABA Client Counseling and Negotiations competitions, and a regional round of the National Trial Competition. We hosted the International Negotiation Competition in the summer of 2001.

LL.M. programs: The LL.M. in taxation builds upon the School's strength in the tax field. The launch of the LL.M. program has been accompanied by an expansion of both the full-time and adjunct tax faculty, LL.M. Faculty, as well as additional investment in specialized tax materials for the law library. Courses in the LL.M. program are taught by a mixture of experienced full-time law teachers and leading southern California tax practitioners who bring their extensive experience in specialized areas of tax practice to the Chapman classroom. A student must complete 27 LL.M. credits with grades of at least C (2.000) or better and have an LL.M. grade point average of at least B (3.000) in order to receive the LL.M. in taxation degree. A student may receive credits toward the LL.M. degree for courses taken before matriculation into the LL.M. program and courses taken at another law school or in Chapman University School of Law's J.D. curriculum after matriculation into the program. Students should consult the program curricular materials for further details.

Beginning in the summer of 2007, the School of Law, in collaboration with the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), began instruction on its new LL.M. in prosecutorial science program. Very few law schools offer an LL.M. in criminal law, and none specialize in an LL.M. program specifically for criminal prosecutors. This advanced degree is available only to active prosecutors with five or more years of experience in the prosecution of crime. Applicants who are accepted into the program will receive graduate instruction from an experienced team of veteran academicians and prosecutors. The program offers courses with application in all states, as well as advanced electives on state-specific laws and procedures. Other than the two required 10-day summertime sessions, students may complete the balance of the required courses from their home or office via live two-way webcam instruction. The Distance Learning Component will allow students to gain access to this unique LL.M. opportunity, while remaining close to family and work. Participants will interact in live two-way classroom discussions with the same instructors as those teaching the on campus program. These courses will also be archived for those who are unable to attend certain sessions.

Joint Degree Programs

Capitalizing on the strengths of other programs at the University, Chapman University School of Law offers joint degree programs with the Argyros School of Business and Economics and the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

In cooperation with the Argyros School of Business and Economics, the School of Law offers a joint degree leading to the awarding of both the Chapman JD and MBA degrees. Beginning in Fall 2008, the School of Law will partner with the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts to offer a joint degree combining a JD and an MFA in film and television producing.

The programs, which are available at present only to full-time JD students, require four years of study. Although students in the programs will have an academic advisor in each of the programs, students will be "housed" for all four years in the law school and will conduct all financial aid and registration activities at the School of Law.

Students interested in the joint degree must file separate applications to each school and meet all admission requirements for each school. The GMAT is required for admission to the MBA part of the joint program.

Course Descriptions - Law

LAW 7103/7115 Torts I/Torts II

These courses cover the civil laws governing compensation for injury to person and property. The courses emphasize intentional, negligent, and strict liability torts. Students become familiar with the fundamental principles and objectives of tort law including the basic rules governing the legal assessment of fault, victim compensation, and defenses. Products liability, defamation, invasion of privacy, selected business torts, and other alternatives to negligence may be explored. (Offered fall/spring semester.) 3, 3 credits.

LAW 7105/7135 Legal Research and Writing I/Legal Research and Writing II

The first course introduces students to fundamental legal reasoning, research, and writing skills in the context of objective legal documents, including client letters and memoranda of law. The course includes an overview of legal concepts, such as the structure of the court system and how law is made. The second course helps students refine and further develop their analytical, writing, and research skills in the advocacy context. Students produce litigation documents including pleadings and either a pre-trial brief or an appellate brief. Students are introduced to computer assisted legal research. (Offered fall/spring semester.) 3, 2 credits.

LAW 7107/7119 Contracts I/Contracts II

A study of the fundamentals of contract law, including the common law, selected portions of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts, and selected portions of the Uniform Commercial Code. Areas of concentration include the bargaining process (offer and acceptance); consideration and other bases for enforcing  promises; the Statute of Frauds; capacity to contract; policing the agreement; unenforceability on grounds of public policy; the parol evidence rule and other rules of contract interpretation; performance and nonperformance; remedies; excuses for nonperformance (including mistake, misrepresentation, duress, impracticability, and frustration of purpose); assignment and delegation; rights of third parties; and other topics. (Offered fall/spring semester.) 3, 3 credits.

LAW 7110 Criminal Law

This course is designed to enable law students to deal with substantive criminal law problems in both practical and policy terms. There is inquiry into the proper scope and objectives of the criminal law, limitations on the State's power to define criminal liability, and general principles of liability and defenses for offenses against the person and property. The course also provides an opportunity for critical examination of statutes at an early stage in the law student's career. (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

LAW 7115 Torts II

(See LAW 7103 for course description.) (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

LAW 7119 Contracts II

(See LAW 7107 for course description.) (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

LAW 7122/7124 Real Property I/Real Property II

Property law is studied as a social and legal institution to facilitate the acquisition, disposition, and use of personal and real property. Over two semesters, students explore a variety of rights and responsibilities in property, including distinctions between real and personal property, the nature of ownership and possession, adverse possession, landlord-tenant law, present and future estates in land, concurrent ownership, conveyancing and deeds, recording, private land-use restrictions (easements, covenants, and equitable servitudes), public land-use regulations, and eminent domain. The course may include introductory exposure to trusts, donative transfers, intellectual property, fixtures, mortgages, and ownership of natural resources (i.e., water, oil, gas, wildlife). (Offered fall/spring semester.) 3, 3 credits.

LAW 7124 Real Property II

(See LAW 7122 for course description.) (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

LAW 7127/7129 Constitutional Law I/Constitutional Law II

These courses cover the powers of the federal government and selected topics regarding the relationship of the branches of the federal government to each other and to the States, as well as selected topics regarding the Bill of Rights, due process, equal protection, and the effect of the Fourteenth Amendment on the application of the Bill of Rights to the States. (Offered fall/spring semester.) 3, 3 credits.

LAW 7129 Constitutional Law II

(Please see LAW 7127 for course description.) (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

LAW 7130/7132 Civil Procedure I/Civil Procedure II

These courses provide an introduction to the court system, including jurisdiction over the person, venue, and the role of state law in federal courts. The courses also cover aspects of civil litigation, including pleading, discovery, parties, counterclaims, cross-claims, impleader, intervention, and interpleader. (Offered fall/spring semester.) 3, 2 credits.

LAW 7132 Civil Procedure II

(See LAW 7130 for course description.) (Offered spring semester.) 2 credits.

LAW 7133 Federal Income Taxation

This course introduces students to the system of federal income taxation of individuals. The tax system is studied with emphasis on basic concepts rather than detailed computations. Significant attention is given to the public policy served by various provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Primary consideration is given to principles and policies relating to the taxation of individuals including procedure, income, deductions, gains and losses, and transactional aspects of income taxation. The Internal Revenue Code and Regulations are emphasized. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7135 Legal Research and Writing II

(See LAW 7105 for course description.) (Offered spring semester.) 2 credits.

LAW 7139 Professional Responsibility

The rules of law governing lawyers' professional conduct are studied through the ethics codes, lectures, text, cases, problems, and class discussion. Principal attention is given to whether lawyers should subordinate their own moral judgment to that of their clients, the lawyer's role in an adversary system, zealous representation, lawyer-client confidentiality, conflicts of interest, competency in providing legal services, prosecutors' ethics, solicitation of clients, and the lawyer's professional obligation to do work for the benefit of the public. Close attention is given to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. (Offered every year.) 2 credits.

LAW 7142 Evidence

This course covers the standards regulating admissibility of evidence in both criminal and civil trials. Special emphasis is placed on the Federal Rules of Evidence. (Offered every year.) 4 credits.

LAW 7145 Corporations

This course provides a basic understanding of both closely held and publicly held for-profit corporations. Particular attention is given to the way in which corporations organize and operate. The course also examines the respective roles, relationships, responsibilities, and liability exposure of shareholders, directors, and officers. The study of corporate litigation and regulation under key portions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules and regulations of the S.E.C. is included. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7325 First Amendment Law

This course is a study of the fundamental freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion. In addition to considering the historical background, the course focuses on specific challenges in First Amendment jurisprudence, including regulation of speech in a public forum, access to the media, regulation of the press, symbolic expression, libel, obscenity, commercial speech, picketing, right of association, loyalty oaths, legislative investigations and government demands for information, separation of church and state, free exercise of religion, state aid to religious schools, and regulation of religion-based conduct. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7334 Wills and Trusts

This course examines rules pertaining to intestate succession; testamentary dispositions; execution, modification, and revocation of wills; testamentary capacity and will contests; interpretation of wills; protection of spouse and children; and the use of will substitutes. The creation, types, and characteristics of trusts are also examined, including coverage of the construction of trusts, trust administration, and wealth transfer taxation. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7520 Client Interviewing and Counseling

Practice with gathering and evaluating facts supplied by clients, followed by presentation of advice based on consideration of facts and applicable law. Discussion of interpersonal aspects of client relations and ethical problems that may come up in the context of client representation. Students participate in simulated interviews, portraying both clients and attorneys. Students are required to write several papers, including a client letter, a memo to the file, and papers analyzing the counseling process from the perspective of attorney, client, and neutral observer. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7538 Entertainment Law

This course explores legal issues connected with the development, production, and exploitation of entertainment product, focusing predominantly on filmed entertainment and news media, to some extent on musical compositions and recordings, and incidentally on other forms of entertainment. Topics include life story and personality rights (defamation, invasion of privacy, etc.); celebrity publicity rights; profit participations; collective bargaining agreements and artistic credits; non-copyright protection of ideas; contract formation and duration; ethics and regulation of talent representatives such as agents, lawyers, and managers; and selected copyright and trademark issues. Copyright is not a prerequisite, and this class should not be considered as a replacement for the copyright course. (Offered fall semester.) 2-3- credits.

LAW 7555 Intellectual Property

This course surveys the primary types of intellectual property under federal and state law. It emphasizes trademarks, copyrights, and patents while also addressing unfair competition, rights of publicity, trade secrets, and protection of designs. The course analyzes the rights and remedies associated with each type of intellectual property that it covers, as well as the relationships between different types of intellectual property. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7581 Mediation

This course focuses on different theories and approaches to mediation. Mediation is gaining in importance as a mechanism for parties to heal differences without the expense and trauma of litigation. The competent practitioner should understand how mediation works and how to represent clients effectively in a mediation setting. Students in this course have an opportunity to function as both advocates and mediators, using a variety of techniques to resolve disputes. The course grade is based primarily on papers assigned by the instructor. (Offered every year.) 3 credits.

LAW 7590 Externship

Externships combine academic training in lawyering skills and the issues that arise in legal practice with practical experience in a placement with a legal office. Part-time externs earn academic credits while working part-time in government or non-profit institutions. Full-time externs earn academic credits in full-time placements with selected federal and state courts. Externs work under the supervision of qualified and experienced practicing attorneys or judges who provide guidance and training in practical lawyering skills. The classroom component is mandatory for all first-time externs and provides students systematic training in specific lawyering skills that may be relevant to their placements. There are up to three different sections of the externship class: 1) Civil Section, in which students will learn and use skills in legal research, client interviewing and counseling, and legal drafting, among others; 2) Criminal Section, in which students will learn and use skills in preparing for and participating in preliminary hearings, admission of evidence, and trial strategies, among others; and 3) Judicial Section, in which students will learn and use skills in advanced legal research and analysis, drafting of court documents, and the use of judicial process. In all sections, students will consider issues related to professionalism and ethics. Students wishing to do an externship must apply a semester in advance. Students may enroll in up to two part-time externships with a maximum of five credits per semester and a cap of eight credits over two semesters. Full-time externs enroll for one semester of ten credits. Consent of the professor is required for all externships. (Offered every year.) 3-10 credits.

LAW 7600 Entertainment Contracts and Negotiations

This seminar offers an overview of entertainment law as it relates specifically to negotiating contracts in the entertainment industry. Negotiations will be analyzed from the point of view various parties, including talent, studios, independent producers, writers, financiers and distributors. Students will review and negotiate contracts which may include: purchasing a screenplay, securing services from actors, directors, and other film and television talent, and licensing the use of pre-recorded music. Students will also learn the basic terms for production, financing and distribution agreements, the role of the various unions and guilds, and explore the role of 'new media' in contract negotiations and drafting. (Offered fall semester.) 2-3 credits.

LAW 7830 Movie Making and the Law

This course provides a detailed review and analysis of the contracts involved in the making of a documentary, short film, low budget feature film, or big budget feature film. Students will have hands-on experience with contracts from the inception of an idea or purchase of underlying rights to distribution and merchandising, and may have the opportunity to work directly with filmmakers. Domestic and international financing and "Standard Terms" will be examined. (Offered spring semester.) 2-3 credits.

LAW 7850 Directed Research

Individual directed research may be undertaken by students for credit. A descriptive outline of a proposed project must be submitted to the supervising faculty member and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for their approvals prior to registration to determine the feasibility of the project and the number of credits merited. During the course of their enrollment, students may undertake a maximum of two Directed Research papers, each prepared under a different professor. (Offered every year.) 1-3 credits.