Erwin Chemerinksy, dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law, carves out a new curriculum and hires ‘superstar’ staff for the opening of the state’s first new public law school in 40 years

By Karen Dybis

Erwin Chemerinsky has spent nearly 30 years working at a variety of law schools, places he calls “typically cold” and largely short-sighted.

But he has the chance to change that as dean of the University of California’s Irvine School of Law, which is set to open in fall 2009.

Chemerinsky said he wants to create an intellectually progressive yet nurturing environment that rivals any top 20 law school in the nation. Under his direction, Chemerinsky said UCI’s law school will be highly interdisciplinary, focused on real-life skills training and rigorous in its requirements, like mandatory clinical experience.

“We have the opportunity to create the ideal law school for the 21st Century,” Chemerinsky said. “We want to be a top school, but we don’t want to replicate other schools. We have the tremendous opportunity of being a blank slate.”

Perhaps Chemerinsky’s enthusiasm comes in part because he nearly lost his coveted dean’s position just days after accepting the job. For one singular week in September 2007, Chemerinsky was hired, fired and rehired in a maelstrom of controversy, miscommunication and, ultimately, redemption.

UCI’s initial selection of Chemerinsky drew praise. He had been a professor of law and political science at Duke University since 2004. Previously, he served for 21 years as a professor of public interest law, legal ethics and political science at the University of Southern California Law School. Chemerinsky also was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Washington, D.C., law firm Dobrovir, Oakes and Gebhart.

Then came the storm. UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake withdrew Chemerinsky’s job offer after concerns were raised about the law professor’s “polarizing” commentaries. Strong reaction from UCI professors, the law school community and the nation’s top media resulted. Even the New York Times chastised the school for what it called in its editorial pages “a disgraceful … mistake.”

Following the backlash, Drake changed his mind, and Chemerinsky was back on board. Now, the opening page of the law school’s Web site shows Chemerinsky in profile along with his quote: “Legal education needs an entirely new approach, and UC Irvine School of Law can provide a laboratory and a model.”

These days, the law school has “wonderful support from the chancellor and provost,” Chemerinsky said.

“I love my job. This is the best job I’ve ever had,” Chemerinsky added. “I get to help create an institution that will be here long after me.”

UC Irvine’s law school will be the first new public law school in California in 40 years. So far, there have been more than 2,000 requests for applications — even before it went online, Chemerinsky said.

The law school’s entering class will be about 60 students, Chemerinsky said. These initial students will have unique experiences, such as working on intake interviews with legal aid clients during their first year. His ultimate goal is to give each of them a full scholarship. In future years, he said each class will have about 200 students.

Some 11 new faculty members have come on board, many of them “superstars” within their legal specialties, Chemerinsky said. He plans on hiring six more faculty members this year. He hopes to have the total to 21 by the time the 2009 entering class arrives on campus.

“I want students to feel that if they come here, they will get teaching at least as good as any law school in the country,” Chemerinsky said of his “dream team” of professors.

The new dean also is thrilled with the quality of people on his advisory board, whose members are helping him define the law school’s mission and focus. Members include local lawyers and judges as well as top brass from the nation’s largest law firms.

“During a faculty meeting, I told the staff … that in every choice we make, we should think about how you create the ideal law school,” Chemerinsky said. “This will be our status quo, so let’s do it right.”