California Western School of Law

Privately owned and operated in the city of San Diego, California, is the California Western School of Law. The second organisation that succeeded California Western University is called Alliant International University. This university is one of two that succeeded California Western University. The institution was established in 1924, received accreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1962, and joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) the following year in 1967.

Balboa Legal College was the original name of California Western School of Law, which was incorporated in 1924 by Leland Ghent Stanford as a private graduate university. California Western is the oldest law school in San Diego. Balboa Law College became Balboa University as it expanded its academic offerings to include both undergraduate and other graduate levels of study.

In the year 1952, Balboa University changed its name to California Western University after being associated with the Southern California Methodist Conference. At the same time, the university's law school moved to the central business district of San Diego. 1960 was the year that California Western was granted accreditation by the American Bar Association. The law school moved to its present downtown location at 350 Cedar Street in 1973, remaining inside the central business district of San Diego. In 1975, the school severed ties with US International University, which had taken over as Cal Western's successor institution, and it subsequently established itself as an independent secular law school. It was announced in 1980 that a new system called the trimester would be implemented. This system would permit two entering classes to be held during each academic year, which would reduce the size of each individual class while also providing students with the opportunity to graduate in two years rather than the traditional three.

The new law library facility at California Western, located at 290 Cedar Street, was officially inaugurated in January of 2000 and was dedicated by Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court.

In August of 2020, Sean M. Scott will take over as the next president and dean of the institution.