The student experience at Berkeley Law is unparalleled, inside the classroom and far beyond. Our students find their place—and often a career path—thanks to a massive array of programs and centers that enrich the academic curriculum. Here are just some of the ways students can get involved, and hone their skills, during their time here.

Students come to Berkeley Law from all over the country, and the world, from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The current 1L class reflects the school’s excellence and diversity: People of color represented 53 percent of those who enrolled in the fall; 62 percent were women, 22 percent were members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and 19 percent were first-generation college students. These students came from 134 undergraduate schools, with a median GPA of 3.83 and a median 169 LSAT score.

Here’s a look at how our students spend their time.

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Berkeley Law offers 14 clinics: six in-house clinics directed by full-time faculty members who are highly regarded experts in their fields, and eight community-based clinics directed by attorneys with deep experience in their practice areas. Classroom seminars offer students a foundation in law and practice, while hands-on casework for clients builds critical lawyering skills.

The school’s 14 clinics include the Death Penalty Clinic, Environmental Law Clinic, International Human Rights Law Clinic, New Business Community Law Clinic, Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, Policy Advocacy Clinic, and East Bay Community Law Center (ECBLC). Click here to dig deeper. 

Here’s some of what our clinical students have done recently. 

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Clinical Professor of Law David Oppenheimer says, “Some schools have a pro bono requirement; at Berkeley Law, we have a pro bono culture.” Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Program offers students the opportunity to engage in meaningful client service as early as their first semester of law school. Students can apply to participate in one of nearly three dozen Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects (SLPS), join one of the Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trips (BLAST), or pursue independent pro bono projects with community organizations. 

Here’s some of what’s happening on the pro bono front. Click here for a deeper dive. 

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Berkeley Law’s Field Placement Program offers qualified students the chance to expand their legal education beyond the law school building. Opportunities include civil, criminal, and environmental placements; judicial externships; and Away placements, including programs in Washington, D.C., The Hague, and the United Nations Human Rights Program in Geneva.

Here’s a peek at what’s happening to Berkeley Law students in the field. Click here for more.  

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Berkeley Law students can learn real-world lawyering skills through moot court, mock trial, and negotiation competitions. Students compete in four broad areas—alternative dispute resolution and negotiation, appellate, international, and trial—against other Berkeley Law students and against other law schools at regional, national, and international competitions.

Here’s a glimpse of some of our advocacy teams’ recent successes. Want to know more? Click here.

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Working on a student-run journal gives Berkeley Law students the chance to develop and improve legal writing and research skills, along with in-depth exposure to legal scholarship that augments general course work. Journal members handle all aspects of the publication process, from article evaluation and acceptance through the editorial and printing processes. 

Berkeley Law has 13 student journals: California Law Review, Ecology Law Quarterly, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, Berkeley Journal of International Law, Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, Berkeley Journal of African American Law & Policy, Berkeley La Raza Journal, Asian American Law Journal, Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, Berkeley Business Law Journal, Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law, and Berkeley Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law. 

Explore more about journals:

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Berkeley Law’s Career Development Office works with students throughout their time in law school, from the 1L summer job search to applying for post-graduate clerkships and beyond. The CDO is staffed by seven attorney-counselors, each of whom has practiced law and can offer real-world insights into various career paths. CDO counselors can help you explore a variety of legal career options—both traditional and nontraditional—and determine how to pursue them.

Each year, Berkeley Law offers an extensive recruitment program for both public interest and private sector employers that includes mock interviews, on-campus interview opportunities, and the chance to connect with other employers. 

Berkeley Law encourages students to explore public interest or public service work through the Berkeley Law Summer Fellowship Program, which makes it financially feasible for every J.D. student to spend the summer working for a nonprofit,  government agency, or judge. Graduates are competitive candidates for all post-graduate government honors programs and national legal postgraduate fellowships, and are regularly chosen as finalists for and recipients of prestigious fellowships sponsored by the Skadden Foundation, Equal Justice Works, and many others.

Two career counselors are available full time to counsel students who are interested in public interest or public sector employment, including extensive counseling, application review, and interview preparation for students applying to these fellowships. Our Director of Judicial Clerkships focuses on supporting students who are interested in clerking for judges following graduation.

Explore career development on the website or in the articles below:

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Berkeley Law’s expansive and constantly evolving curriculum offers hundreds of courses. Faculty members—some of the best legal minds in the business—embody the school’s commitment to academic vigor, multidisciplinary research, and intellectual diversity. What sets our J.D. program apart is its real-world focus, and a diverse student body, faculty, and curriculum. 

Here’s a taste of academic life here.  

Research is part of Berkeley Law’s DNA, and our stellar faculty produces pathbreaking scholarship across a wide range of topics. Berkeley Law hosts more than two dozen research centers and initiatives, focused on everything from developing business strategies to combat global warming to safeguarding intellectual property in the global economy.

Here’s a peek at what some of our centers do. Click here to find out more.

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More than 18,000 Berkeley Law graduates live and work in all 50 states and more than 70 countries, where they are distinguishing themselves in every arena of activity. Lifelong and worldwide, the Berkeley Law alumni community is an invaluable resource—professionally and personally.

Here’s a small taste of what our amazing alumni are doing.

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