Mission
Mission Statement
For more than a century, Southwestern has educated lawyers ready to serve clients, the profession, and our society with excellence. We empower students to reach their potential. We cultivate inclusion and belonging. We promote equity and justice. We champion trailblazers, develop dealmakers, and inspire intellectual curiosity. We innovate. We shape the law and public policy through teaching, scholarship, and service. We are the difference.
Core Values
We are deeply committed to the following values:
Profession-Readiness. We equip students with the knowledge, values, and skills to enter, succeed, and thrive in the legal profession and related fields. We value diligence, adaptability, creativity, and ethical problem-solving. Through doctrinal and experiential learning, our students develop a deep understanding of the law and a wide range of foundational skills.
Teaching Excellence. Through a student-centered and supportive approach, we deliver rigorous and comprehensive education and training for the profession that integrates theory, policy, doctrine, and practice.
Scholarship. As a community centered on research and understanding, we rigorously study important law-related issues and produce transformative scholarly works to propel necessary reforms and serve the public. Our scholarship strengthens legal structures vital to democracy and deepens intellectual discussions inside and outside the classroom. As such, our scholarship contributes powerfully to our success.
Community Service. We serve the complex needs of Los Angeles and society more broadly by promoting community engagement and encouraging a strong sense of personal obligation to serve the communities in which we live and practice.
Innovation. We innovate legal education by providing opportunities for diverse individuals to study law. We create an environment that encourages our students and graduates to introduce novel viewpoints and approaches to the law.
Integrity. We expect all community members to act with the highest levels of integrity, ethics, civility, and professionalism and treat others with mutual respect.
Diversity. We are committed to reflecting the rich diversity of Los Angeles through our students, faculty, staff, trustees, and clinic clients. We enrich our community through our diverse lived experiences and viewpoints, creating a compassionate and dynamic learning and working environment.
Equity. We foster equitable access to legal education for those with differing backgrounds and needs. We acknowledge inequities and strive to dismantle them within our community and beyond. We create new opportunities for members of systemically marginalized and historically excluded communities. We promote social justice through our teaching, scholarship, and service.
Accessibility. We strive to create access and justice for people with disabilities at Southwestern and beyond. We aim for excellence in creating accessible programs and services for all Southwestern community members.
Belonging. We cultivate a culture of belonging where all community members are welcomed, included, and valued. We provide venues for critical and respectful dialogue across a range of perspectives.
Wellness. We support the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of our community members. We strive to enhance resilience through a holistic approach to wellness. We provide meaningful access to wellness resources, facilitate positive connections with other community members, and encourage healthy practices for sustainable well-being and self-fulfillment.
Continuous Reflection, Dialogue, and Growth. We embrace the responsibility to continuously reflect, engage in dialogue, and grow as we strive to fulfill our values.