San José State University Is One Step Closer to Establishing First Public Law School in San Jose & CSU System

SACRAMENTO - In a win for working people wanting to change careers or better themselves by going to law school, Senator Dave Cortese’s SB 550 authorizing the integration of a law school at San Jose State University as the first public law school in the California State University system

today passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

“San Jose – the largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest city in the state – has been without a public law school. SB 550 opens the door to a law school in San Jose that is affordable, community-based, and designed for the next generation of public interest leaders and first-generation students,” said Senator Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley). “Cost and geographic barriers drive talent away from public service careers and prevents first-generation and underrepresented students from entering the legal profession. We must lower these barriers to entry and create a public legal education option where it’s needed most.”

California is facing a crisis in affordable legal education. Law school remains out of reach for many due to cost, limited public options, and geographic disparities. Santa Clara County is home to nearly 2 million residents, but has no public law school. In a region where over 65% of the population identifies as Asian or Latino, both groups remain severely underrepresented among licensed attorneys statewide.

Lincoln Law School of San José, the only nonprofit state-accredited law school in San José, supports SB 550 and has expressed interest in integrating with San José State University to help establish California’s first public law school integrated into the CSU system as well as the first public law school in San José. Under SB 550, San José State University could partner with Lincoln Law School of San José through a six-year pilot program to expand access to legal education by allowing the two institutions to jointly award Juris Doctor (JD) degrees while also jointly providing undergraduate legal education certificates.

The average law school debt in private schools now exceeds $130,000, and 67% of young lawyers report financial stress—deterring many from pursuing legal careers. This can be dramatically reduced. Under SB 550, students in San José’s new public law program would pay no more than existing CSU graduate program fees, helping to make legal education far more accessible and affordable.

Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and a former professor at Lincoln Law School of San Jose, is now a principal co-author of SB 550.   

Background:

Here is my recent opinion editorial on SB 550 published in San Jose Spotlight:

https://sanjosespotlight.com/cortese-san-jose-deserves-its-first-public-law-school/