Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law offers a full-time program leading to a Juris Doctor degree. In addition, the School of Law offers eight specialized certificates that can be earned concurrently with the JD. Chapman law students can gain valuable, hands-on experience in our legal clinics, aimed at experiential training.
Established in 1995, the Dale E. Fowler School of Law at Chapman University is ABA accredited and a member of the prestigious Association of American Law Schools. Located in the historic and vibrant Old Towne district of Orange, California, the law school is recognized for its high-caliber faculty, wide range of academic programs, state-of-the-art facilities, and commitment to a dynamic and personalized legal education. The school lays a real foundation for practice through a range of practice-oriented and experiential courses. Students select from a variety of program options to gain expertise in their chosen area of law, including participation in emphasis certificate programs, joint-degree opportunities, legal clinics, and award-winning advocacy competition teams. It has one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the nation and provides a comprehensive third-year bar preparation program that has placed Fowler School of Law graduates among the best in the state for bar passage. The law school has emphasis programs in advocacy and dispute resolution, business law, criminal law, entertainment law, entrepreneurship law, environmental/land use/real estate, international law, and tax law. It also offers two joint-degree programs - a JD/MBA and a JD/MFA for film and television producing. Clinical opportunities are available in criminal law, entertainment law, mediation, and tax law. The popular externship program provides rewarding opportunities to attain real-world experience by working for judges, government agencies, corporations, and public interest organizations.
Admission Deadlines
JD Application Priority Deadline - April 15
JD Final Application Deadline - July 15
Admission to the program
Admission to the program may be achieved by the completion of the following requirements:
- LSAT
- Undergraduate Degree (completed prior to enrolling)
- Personal Statement
- Resume
- Two (2) Letters of Recommendation
International applicants who have completed their undergraduate degree outside of the United States may be required to achieve an acceptable score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS), PTE Academic (PTEA), or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE).
Transfer of credit
Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law will accept no more than forty-two (42) academic credits for transfer during a student’s career at the Law School. All courses required for graduation must be successfully completed at the Law School, except for comparable courses successfully completed by transfer students at their previous institution and approved for transfer credit by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. All coursework must either be taken at an ABA-approved law school or in an ABA-approved program. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs has the discretion to approve or disapprove the transfer of credit in those instances where the grade for a course is 2.2 or below or the equivalent. The Law School will not accept transfer credit if the grade received in the course(s) completed at the other law school is below 2.0 or its equivalent. All grades for which credit is transferred will be reported as “pass” for the purpose of computing academic averages of the student at the Law School. Please note that the Law School has not established an articulation agreement with any other institution.
Academic Integrity Policy
Ethics are as important to the Chapman University Fowler School of Law as are academic performance and the mastery of practical legal skills. The faculty and the administration wish to prepare the law students for a career as an attorney through an education that embodies and promotes the highest ideals of the legal profession. Paramount among those ideals is the concept of honor, which fosters a community of trust that will be carried into the larger community long after students have graduated from The School of Law.
All students are governed by the FSOL Academic Integrity Policy and the Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy, the exclusive policies for dealing with ethical violations that include lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, harassment, criminal actions committed on campus, crimes committed after admission and while off campus, and obstruction. The University Academic Integrity Committee serves as the ultimate adjudicatory body in all Academic Integrity proceedings. FSOL Honor Council members are drawn from the faculty. A copy of both the FSOL Academic Integrity Policy and the Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy is included in The Student Handbook and made available to new students upon matriculation through the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Updates to the FSOL and the University Academic Integrity Policies or the Handbook are posted to the law school website at the beginning of the each fall semester. View the Handbook.
Law students are also responsible for adherence to the Student Conduct Code of Chapman University.
JD Degree Requirements
Students pursuing the JD degree at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law are held to the University’s Academic Policies and Procedures. In addition, the students shall complete the following minimum requirements:
- 2.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average
- 88 Units
- 6 Residency Credits
Required Curriculum
These core classes provide the essentials for students in legal studies and cover foundational topics such as torts, contracts, criminal law, real property, civil procedure, legal analysis research and writing. The required curriculum also grounds students in corporations and business associations, practice foundations transactions, constitutional law, evidence and professional responsibility.
Experiential Curriculum
Skills training is the practical, experiential component of the student’s education, where they begin to acquire the skills essential to the practice of law. In these courses, students gain competency in negotiation, client interviewing and counseling, mediation, advanced legal research, advocacy, appellate practices and procedures, legal drafting, and trial practice.
Advanced Curriculum
These electives integrate the student’s legal knowledge and lawyering skills with vital practical experience necessary for success in the field. The clinics, externships, and competitions serve to enhance the student’s law degree experience.
Professional Development
All students are required to complete five (5) sessions of professional development training and events. The five mandatory sessions identified by the Career Services Office (CSO) must be completed by the end of the first year of legal study. These professional development sessions are not course credits and do not count against or reduce the requirement for 88-course credits necessary for graduation. This professional development training is administered by the CSO.
*Additional Requirements (based on cumulative GPA and class rank):
Residency Credits
Students are required to register for the number of credits designated for their program.
- Full-Time Students: 12 - 16 credits; 12 or more credits = 1 residency credit
- Part-Time Students: 8 - 11.5 credits; 8 - 11 credits = prorated residency credit
Fall & Spring semesters: students must enroll in 8 credits minimum and complete at least 5 credits to earn residency credit.
Summer term: students must enroll in and complete 3 credits minimum to earn residency credit.
The following courses make up the JD curriculum: