The School of Law was founded in 1969. It was granted provisional American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation in 1996, and earned full ABA accreditation in 2001. In 2008, Thomas Jefferson became one of about 200 members of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), a prestigious organization which admits only law schools that meet its rigorous standards of academic quality.
In January of 2011, the law school moved to a brand-new, state-of-the-art high-rise campus in the East Village area of Downtown San Diego. The contemporary-looking structure features several outdoor terraces and walls of windows through which passersby can see into the law school while those inside can observe the activity of the East Village.
Thomas Jefferson has evolved into a private, non-profit institution that has distinguished itself as an innovative, cutting-edge law school, devoted to the individual needs and success of the student. The law school has a world-class full-time faculty of more than 40. Our faculty is prolific in its publication of important scholarly works, including more than 500 scholarly articles and books collectively.
Thomas Jefferson has four Centers for Academic Excellence: The Center for Global Legal Studies, The Center for Law and Intellectual Property; The Center for Law and Social Justice, and The Center for Sports Law and Policy. All four centers have achieved prominence in their fields through expanded course offerings and timely speaker programs. The law school has also achieved prominence in many legal areas such as intellectual property, international investment law, and computer and internet law, to name a few.
