Orientation Week Welcomes New Students to the Rigor and Community of Law School

Orientation Week’s packed schedule of alumni presentations, networking mixers, and law school primers at LMU Loyola Law School (LLS) helped students start the academic year feeling welcome, supported, and ready to begin the important work of law school.

“A law degree, and especially a Loyola education, is powerful – it gives you the power to change your own life and the lives of those around you,” said Dean Brietta Clark in her welcome address. “This is an extraordinary privilege – think carefully about how you will use it and what difference you will make.”

Her remarks set the tone for the Aug. 10 week of programming welcoming new students to the JD, LLM, and MLS programs, helping them to prepare them for their first year as LLS students. Other sessions included “Generative AI and Legal Skills,” "Fundamentals of American Law," “Career Ready: Tools, Tactics, and Professionalism in Law School,” and “What Are Law School Classes Really Like?”

The first day included a panel discussion with upper-division students, who gave insights into the first year of law school and beyond. Orientation concluded with a fair showcasing student organizations, experiential learning opportunities, and other ways for students to get involved on campus.

The incoming class includes 339 JD students, 35 LLM students, 12 MLS students, and seven new Tax LLM students. Nearly 30 percent of entering JDs are first-generation students, and JDs come from more than 115 undergraduate institutions and bring academic backgrounds spanning more than 70 majors.

The new LLM students are practicing lawyers, judges, and legal advisors for top companies such as Netflix, law clerks for judges abroad, and recent law graduates from all around the world. The MLS students are both recent college graduates, including graduates from other LMU schools, and accomplished professionals from business, entertainment, education, and finance.

Many students expressed excitement for finally getting their law school journey underway, and creating their own community of classmates and professors.

“I’m looking forward to starting and taking it all in,” said Mason Oppenheim ’30, an incoming Hybrid JD Evening student. “I feel a new passion for school that I didn’t really feel in undergrad, so I’m excited to learn.”

“I’m looking forward to building the relationships I’ve started at Orientation and getting to know my professors more,” said Natalie Huete ’30, an incoming JD Day student.

The Loyola Social Justice Law Clinic (LSJLC) hosted orientation events specific to students enrolled in its impact-oriented clinics. As part of their coursework, these students will gain firsthand experience working on real cases and with real clients. To kick off the semester, clinic students from the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic visited Dolores Mission Church and Homeboy Industries, where LIJC does on-site community outreach; monitored juvenile court appearances at the East L.A. Courthouse with the Juvenile Justice Clinic, and attended a roundtable hosted by the Youth Justice Education Clinic featuring leaders from Hoops 4 Justice, a nonprofit the clinics partner with regularly.

Interactive sessions, trainings, and guest speaker events introduced students in the Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic, the Loyola Project for the Innocent, the Justice for Atrocities Clinic, the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution, and the Collateral Consequences of Conviction Justice Project to key areas of legal support and advocacy each clinic promotes, and the holistic legal approach of the LSJLC overall.