Lincoln Law School of San Jose

Lincoln Law School of San Jose
Established	1926
School type	Private unaccredited law school
Dean	J. Jason Amezcua
Location	San Jose, California, US 37°19′52″N 121°53′06″W / 37.331047°N 121.88489°W / 37.331047; -121.88489
Enrollment	58 (fall 2022 - summer 2023)[1]
USNWR ranking	Not ranked
Bar pass rate	12% (July 2023 repeat takers)[2][Note 1]
Website	www.lincolnlawschool.edu

Lincoln Law School of San Jose is a private, non-profit, unaccredited, law school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1926, the law school was formerly part of Lincoln University, prior to achieving independence as an institution in 1993.

The school traces its roots to 1919 when Benjamin Lickey and his wife Susan Lickey founded a law study program in San Francisco as a way to provide veterans and working-class students a part-time night school for law studies.^[3] 1932 graduate Kenneth Fung^{[4][failed verification]} was one of the first Chinese American attorneys to be admitted to the practice of law in the state.^{[citation needed]} See, Talk page

The school was incorporated in 1926 as a part of Lincoln University and located in San Francisco, becoming a non-profit institution in 1949. In 1961, a second law school campus was opened in San Jose, graduating its first class in 1965. By 1987, Lincoln University's entire law school program was concentrated in San Jose. In 1993, the San Jose campus formally separated from Lincoln University becoming an independent, public benefit, non-profit corporation, changing its name to Lincoln Law School of San Jose. The school moved to downtown San Jose in 1999. In 2000, the 25-year-old Peninsula University School of Law merged into Lincoln Law School of San Jose.^{[citation needed]}

Lincoln is exclusively an evening-study program that lasts 4 or 4.5 years, depending upon the starting date of the student. 84 units of study are required for graduation with each unit equal to 15 hours of in-class instruction.^[5] Students usually attend classes 3 or 4 nights a week, with a few options for elective or seminar classes scheduled during the daytime on Saturdays.^[3]

The school is not accredited by the American Bar Association^[6] and graduates may not qualify to be admitted to the bar in states other than California.^[7] From 1993 to 2022, the school was accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners^[8] of the State Bar of California.

As of July 1, 2022, the school reported that it did not meet the State Bar of California five-year bar passage rate of 40 percent for state-accredited law schools and as a result, the school's accreditation was terminated on December 31, 2022. The law school became a registered, unaccredited, fixed-facility law school effective January 1, 2023.^[9] As an unaccredited school, the school’s students can only take the California Bar Examination, and earn academic credit towards a J.D., if they pass the California Bar’s First Year Law Students' Examination (known as the "Baby Bar") within three attempts after completing the first year of study.^[7]

As reported in January 2023, the school accepted 36 of 101 applicants (35.64%), with 25 (69.44%) of those accepted enrolling. The median enrollee had a 141 LSAT score (12.6 percentile)^[10] and 3.13 undergraduate GPA.^[11]

Lincoln has published a student-produced law review since 1965.^[12]

The school had a 12% (2 out of 17) pass rate for repeat takers of the July 2023 California Bar Examination,^[2] while 18% (2 out of 11) of repeat takers passed the February 2023 examination.^[13] The school did not have 11 or more first-time takers for either the February or the July 2023 California Bar Examinations. The California Bar does not report for fewer than 11 first-time takers so did not report official results for the school.^[2] For 2023, the school reported a 17% (4 out of 24) passage for those taking the examination one or more times.^[14] As an unaccredited school, students must first pass the California Bar’s First Year Law Students' Examination (the "Baby Bar") before they can take the California Bar Examination.^[7]

As of September 15, 2022, the total estimated tuition for attendance at the school through graduation was $84,000 plus estimated fees of $4,500 for a total of $88,500.^[11]

Alumni

• David D. Cortese (JD 1995), current California state senator and former member Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors^[15]
• Linda J. LeZotte (JD 1980), former San Jose city council member^[15]
• Vartkes Yeghiayan (JD 1965) (deceased), former lawyer and legal activist for the victims of the Armenian genocide charged with misappropriating money intended for genocide survivors

Dean, instructors, and board members

• Maya Harris, former dean of the law school, sister of Kamala Harris, and former chair of the Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign
• James S. Ware, retired reprimanded judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (chief judge 2010-12); also teaches at Santa Clara University School of Law and Golden Gate University School of Law
• Rod Diridon Sr., the law school’s chairman of the board, not a professor; former chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority
• Desiree Reed-Francois, taught sports law courses at the law school (2002-2003); current athletic director of the University of Missouri

• Official website