Student Organizations

The Student Bar Association (SBA), funded by student fees, coordinates student activities and events. Its officers and representatives are elected by students in accordance with SBA procedures each spring.

Student organizations at the School of Law serve the interests of a diverse student body. Student organizations are assigned space on bulletin boards for posting announcements. Meetings are also publicized in the dean's weekly newsletter, Law School News.

To speak with a member of a student organization, contact the Admissions and Financial Aid Office at lawadmit@ggu.edu or 415-442-6630. They will take your name, telephone number, and the name of the organization. A student representative will contact you to answer your questions.

Read report from law students on their trip to New Orleans to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina: KATRINA REPORT.PDF

Law Student Organizations

• The American Bar Association Law Student Division
  (ABA/LSD) seeks to further academic excellence by encouraging law students to participate in the efforts of the organized bar in the formation and revision of standards of legal education.
• The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
  (APALSA) provides support (including academic support) to students of Asian descent. Its other goals are to encourage and foster greater minority enrollment at the School of Law and to teach awareness of issues surrounding the Asian community.
• The Association for Communication, Sports, and Entertainment Law
  (ACSEL) promotes interest in the legal aspects of these areas of law.
• The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
  (ATLA), Golden Gate University Chapter, promotes interest in litigation, trial advocacy education, and interaction with other Bay Area law school ATLA chapters. Each year, Golden Gate Chapter members compete in the ATLA National Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
• The Black Law Students Association
  (BLSA) is a national organization dedicated to the recruitment, support (including academic support), and development of black law students.
• The Employment Law Association
  (ELA) is designed for students who are interested in employment and labor issues. Members promote employment and labor law, uncover the hot issues in this area, and build a network together.
• The Environmental Law Society
  (ELS) discusses current developments in environmental law and works to further the goals of protecting the environment and securing placement in the field. ELS also participates in the annual Earth Day cleanup and sponsors a symposium every year dealing with emerging issues in environmental law.
• The Federalist Society
  is a nationwide organization of conservative and libertarian law students, lawyers, and members of the judiciary. The society is founded on principles of individual liberty, limited government, and the rule of the law.
• The Intellectual Property Law Association
  (IPLA) seeks to forge and maintain relationships among students and the Law School and firms, corporations, businesses, and other organizations involved in intellectual property law.
• The International Law Society
  The (ILS) of Golden Gate University is a Society devoted to making students aware of international legal issues and careers in international law. The ILS strives to meet these goals by hosting speaker luncheons and panels to discuss current international legal issues and to enumerate the various areas of international law and practice.
• The Jewish Law Students Association
  (JLSA) advocates for students within and outside the Law School through educational and social activities, and it organizes socially aware programs related to Judaism.
• The Latino Law Students Association
  (LALSA) seeks to represent and advocate issues that affect Latino students and to provide mutual support (including academic support) for its members. LALSA members hope to increase representation in legal education and the legal profession.
• The Middle Eastern Law Organization
  (MELO) was founded to serve as a catalyst for information sharing and collaboration among law * students of Middle Eastern background. It was also formed to build a strong alliance with other law school associations. The group strives to foster a greater understanding between Middle Eastern and non-Middle Eastern law students.
• The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  (NACDL) student chapter organizes education programs about current criminal law issues and sponsors speakers who are prominent criminal defense lawyers and members of NACDL.
• The National Lawyers Guild
  (NLG) is an organization of lawyers, law students, and legal workers who identify with the American left. It provides legal support for workers and for persons who are racially, sexually, or politically oppressed.
• Phi Delta Phi
  The purpose of (PDP), which is open to all students, is to form a strong bond uniting law students and professors with members of the bench and bar in a fraternal fellowship designed to advance the ideals of justice and community service.
• The Public Interest Law Foundation
  (PILF) dedicates itself to advancing public interest through law by encouraging members to give back to the community and supporting those who do. PILF assists students in finding legal employment and involvement opportunities in public interest and in government. It also provides forums to hear from faculty and practicing attorneys about their public interest experiences and to discuss issues within public interest fields. PILF helps administer the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which provides grants to help repay a portion of educational loans to law school graduates who work in low-paying public interest jobs. Additionally, each spring, PILF awards summer grants to current students working in public interest positions. In order to raise money for these programs, PILF holds an auction and raffle each spring. Please View the PILF auction web page.
• Queer Law Student Association
  (QLSA) is concerned with individual rights and legal issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Members are committed to playing an active part in legal and social reform. QLSA has spearheaded dialogue within the Law School community on the issue of gays in the military by publishing information and bringing in speakers on the subject. QLSA also engages in a networking by way of a mentor program with Bay Area attorneys through Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF).
• The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
  (SALDF) is dedicated to providing a forum for education, advocacy, and scholarship aimed at protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system, and raising the profile of the field of animal law.
• The Women's Law Association
  (WLA) is dedicated to educating and fostering dialogue about issues that impact women's rights, especially in the legal field.