The University of San Luis Obispo School of Law is an unaccredited law school which was formed from the existing Ridgecrest School of Law, which was founded by retired Judge Charles Porter in 1993. It is fully approved by the State of California 's Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. Judge Porter moved to San Luis Obispo in 2000 and opened a Branch law school for students in the local area. The San Luis Obispo branch of the Ridgecrest School of Law attracted a wide range of students desiring a legal education and eligibility to take the California Bar Examination. The quality of life and attractiveness of the central coast, as well as the need for professional legal education, made it desirable to create a San Luis Obispo law school.

Mission

The school's purpose is to provide the knowledge and skill required to pass the first and fourth year bar exams in California and to instill the knowledge, skill, and ethics necessary to commence the successful practice of law in the state of California .

Students

Local students come from a wide variety of backgrounds; this is what distinguishes our graduates from graduates of distant university law schools who wish to live and practice on the central coast.Having that life experience, along with the legal education, results in legal professionals able to apply mature knowledge to their practice. Additionally, younger students desiring to obtain a legal degree while on the central coast of California find the flexibility and course content very beneficial to their careers.

Tuition & Fees

Tuition is kept at a minimum: $4,800 per year, plus a $60.00 law library fee for a total of $4860.00. A deferred tuition payment program is available each school year allowing students to pay $486 per month beginning on September 1st and ending on June 1st.

Classes

Classes are taught by the Judge, as well as local attorneys, on weekends, alternating Saturdays and Sundays.

Disclosure re Unaccredited School

Guideline 2.3(D) of the Guidelines for Unaccredited Law School Rules provides:

The method of instruction at this law school for the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree program is principally in physical classroom facilities.

Students enrolled in the J.D. degree program at this law school who successfully complete the first year of law study must pass the First-Year Law Students' Examination required by Business and Professions Code § 6060(h) and Rule VIII of the Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law in California as part of the requirements to qualify to take the California Bar Examination. A student who passes the First-Year Law Students' Examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it will receive credit for all legal studies completed to the time the examination is passed. A student who does not pass the examination within three (3) administrations of the examination after first becoming eligible to take it must be promptly disqualified from the law school's J.D. degree program. If the dismissed student subsequently passes the examination, the student is eligible for re-enrollment in this law school's J.D. degree program, but will receive credit for only one year of legal study.

Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California. A student intending to seek admission to practice law in a jurisdiction other than California should contact the admitting authority in that jurisdiction for information regarding the legal education requirements in that jurisdiction for admission to the practice of law.