NewsJuly
18, 2001 CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY FOR GEHRY-DESIGNED ADVOCACY CENTER AT LOYOLA LAW SCHOOLLOS ANGELES - Frank O. Gehry & Associates is spearheading the design of a three-story structure now under construction at Loyola Law School Los Angeles. The Albert H. Girardi Advocacy Center on Olympic Boulevard will house a 90-person trial court classroom and jury room on the first level, a 65-person courtroom and two offices on the second, and the 36-person Ethical Lawyering Center classroom - as well as offices, video "studios" and a/v control rooms - on the third. Slated for completion in Fall 2002, the structure is named for the father of trial lawyer and benefactor Thomas V. Girardi; a Loyola Law School alumnus. "Equipped with the latest in audio-visual and instructional technologies, the building will serve as the site for trial advocacy skill (and mediation-arbitration) instruction, moot court competitions, ethics courses and speaking events," says Dean David W. Burcham. "This state-of-the-art Center, where legal theory will be applied with hands-on legal practice, will further prepare our students to represent their future clients effectively and ethically." Loyola Law School presently ranks 8th among the nation's law schools in trial advocacy (U.S. News and World Report). During the last 13 years, Loyola's Byrne Trial Advocacy teams have won the regional round of the National Trial Competition 10 times, continued on to the national round semi-finals four times, and walked away with the national championship trophy in 1995. Since the late 1970s, Gehry & Associates has worked with Loyola Law School on the master plan and building design for the downtown Los Angeles campus. This project represents a further phase in this collaboration. The Law School is located west of the Staples Center, along the Olympic corridor. # # # |