Mission, Goals, and Tenets of the University of La Verne College of Law

During the 1999-2000 academic year, the faculty developed a Mission Statement and a list of Tenets for the College of Law. In the winter of 2005, an ad hoc committee of the faculty reviewed this document and proposed several revisions and modifications. The faculty approved the following new statement at the faculty meeting of May 18, 2005.
 
Our Mission:

To teach our students to be effective legal professionals who use their skills and talents for the benefit of their communities, to imbue these students with pride in the legal profession, and to promote diversity within the law school community, accomplished by providing full-time and part-time law programs with high academic standards.

Our Goals:

To merit recognition as one of southern California’s leading law schools and to be known as the preeminent ABA approved law school serving the regional needs of inland southern California.

We will achieve these goals by providing our students with a quality legal education in which they gain an understanding of the practice of law, develop dedication to the needs of individual clients, and value the promotion of justice carried out with integrity and civility.

Our Tenets:

• Excellence in teaching is our highest priority.
• Faculty research and scholarship inform teaching and advance the body of legal knowledge.
• Motivating our students to reach and use their individual potential is one of our primary objectives as educators.
• A well-rounded legal education includes practical applications of legal principles.
• Instilling ethical values is an integral part of a legal education.
• The development of written and oral communication skills is essential to a complete legal education.
• Diversity enriches the educational experience by bringing a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints to the classroom.
• Small classes maximize the potential for learning.
• The legal profession is a noble one, in which action should be guided by principle.
• The legal profession can effect social change and our students should be sensitive to their potential roles in effecting that change.
• A law school should actively serve the community.
• A law school should encourage its students to participate in public service.
• Alumni commitment is important to the success of an institution.