Monterey College of Law


Monterey College of Law is a private, non-profit law school founded in 1972 in Monterey, California. It provides part-time evening J.D. and Master of Legal Studies degrees. The school is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. The school is not an American Bar Association accredited law school. J.D. graduates of the Monterey College of Law are eligible to sit for the California Bar Exam, and upon passing, be licensed to practice law in California, but are not generally eligible to take the bar exam or practice outside of California.

History

Monterey College of Law was founded in 1972 to serve the communities of the California central coast. In August 2005, the College of Law moved into its home within the higher-education enclave being developed on the former Fort Ord Army base, joining California State University, Monterey Bay, Hartnell College and the Monterey Peninsula College. The school opened its second building, a Certified LEED Platinum Community Justice Center, in April 2010.
In 2010, the law school opened a first-year satellite campus in Santa Cruz, California. After successfully completing the first-year curriculum, Santa Cruz students commute to the main campus in Seaside, California to complete their degree programs. In early 2015, Monterey College of Law acquired the University of San Luis Obispo School of Law, a registered unaccredited law school formerly located in Morro Bay, California. The new law school became an accredited branch of Monterey College of Law, was moved to a new campus in downtown San Luis Obispo, and renamed the San Luis Obispo College of Law. In 2017, the law school opened its second accredited branch campus, Kern County College of Law in Bakersfield, California.

Academic Leadership

Mitchel L. Winick has served as the full-time dean of the law school since August 2005. He previously served as the Assistant Dean at Texas Tech University School of Law. Winick received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and B.A. from the University of the Pacific.

Bar Passage

Of the 17 Monterey College of Law graduates who took the California Bar Exam for the first time in February 2018, six passed, for a 35% pass rate, compared to a 39% pass rate for all February 2018 first-time takers. There were no MCL first time takers in the July 2018 California Bar Exam; however, there were 22 repeat exam takers, for which five passed, for a 23% pass rate. Faced with low passage rates, Dean Winick and other deans have fought to lower the passing cut score of the California Bar Exam.