The University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patiño School of Law (UNC) was a private law school located in Sacramento, California. UNC offered a part-time, four-year law program as well as a paralegal program. As of June 30, 2013, the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners did not have UNC listed as a law school; and the University of Northern California's website does not list the Juris Doctor as one of its academic programs.
History
The law school was founded in 1983 by Leonard Padilla, who later renamed it in honor of his friend and the late judge Lorenzo Patiño (who served as its first dean) in association with attorneys Heman Smith and Douglas Nareau as well as law student Danny Brace, Jr.
The school held its first classes in the spring of 1983. The first instructors were Douglas Nareau, John Ewing, Betty Rocker, Heman Smith and Linda Dankman. Nareau and Ewing were featured in the Sacramento Bee as Valedictorians of their respective law schools. Betty Rocker had gained a great deal of notoriety as one of Sacramento's premier criminal defense attorneys and Smith had gained praise for successful litigation that challenged redlining as a loan practice. Lorenzo Patino was one of the first Latino judges in the state and was an early supporter of MADD.
Authorization to operate
The law school did not have professional accreditation from either the ABA Office of the Consultant on Legal Education]]. or the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners.
As an unaccredited educational institution, the UNC had to be authorized to operate by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. It was approved to confer the Juris Doctor degree and a certificate in paralegal studies. It was registered as an unaccredited law school with the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners.
Because it was not accredited, UNC law students had to take and pass the First-year Law Students' Examination, informally called the "Baby Bar", at the end of their first year to receive credit for their legal study and as one of the qualifications to sit the California Bar Examination after taking the degree.
Bar pass rates
From 1997 through February 2011, 134 Lorenzo Patiño graduates took the California Bar Examination as first-time takers; of that number, 12 have passed the examination for a 9% pass rate.
See also
- List of colleges and universities in California
References and notes
External links
- Official website
