University of San Francisco School of Law

The University of San Francisco School of Law (USF Law) is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1937. History The institution that eventually became the University of San Francisco School of Law was formally established in 1912 as the St. Ignatius College of Law; it was then part of the institution of the same name that would eventually be reorganized as the University of San Francisco in 1930. The school was first located on the fifth floor of the Grant Building located on the corner of 7th and Market Street. Although not formally established as an autonomous department until over three decades later, St. Ignatius began to offer law courses to students in 1880 under the direction of Fr. Aloysius Brunengo, S.J. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, as the city began to rapidly expand, and to particularly meet the growing desires of young Irish and Italian Americans interested in practicing law, it was determined that a more formal institution be inaugurated. The St. Ignatius College of Law was thus founded in September 18, 1912 as an evening program with 29 students. Among the students of this founding class was twenty-two year old Chan Chung Wing, who would become a prominent civil rights and immigration lawyer as well as the first Chinese American to practice law in California. Another student of this original class was twenty-two year old Vincent Hallinan, who would become a noted labor lawyer and be the Progressive Party candidate in 1952 Presidential Election, garnering the third highest number of votes. The law school’s first dean was Matthew I. Sullivan, who would serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1914 to 1915. Among the school’s original faculty were: Fr. John J. Ford, S.J.; George A. Connelly; Joseph Farry; Joseph W. Beretta; John O’Gara; and John J. O’Toole- who would eventually go on to serve as the City Attorney of San Francisco (1926-1949). Professor Farry would go on to teach at the law school for nearly half a century, retiring in 1957. Dean Sullivan’s brother, Jeremiah F. Sullivan, who would later serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of California (1926-1927), was also a professor at the law school during its earliest years.