In 1973, six nervous professors greeted fifty-three equally nervous first year law students at the launching of the University of Hawai'i School of Law. Today, with a population of approximately 330 J.D. students each year, WSRSL is still among the smallest ABA-accredited law schools. Beyond the advantages of learning together in a friendly, face-to face environment, our students and graduates have earned glowing reputations for their legal craftsmanship, high ethical standards, and impressive personal qualities.

The William S. Richardson School of Law now boasts twenty-four full time faculty members--a diverse, remarkably skilled group of teachers who also have earned national and international recognition for their legal expertise, research, and scholarship--as well as over 2,000 alumni, who now live and work throughout the United States and fifteen other countries.

To be sure, the School's great success is not measured only through the achievements of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Our dedication to serving the needs of the entire community already has changed the gender and ethnicity of the Hawai'i Bar. We are proud to offer future leaders a high quality, affordable legal education. We are pleased to be the most ethnically diverse law school in the country--if not in the entire world. Our students, staff, and faculty mirror and build upon the pluralism that helps make our beautiful State so extraordinary.

With the support of the state of Hawai'i and many private benefactors, we are enriching our curriculum and reaching far beyond our shores. We are very pleased that the first class in our new LL.M. program for international students enrolled in the Fall 2003. We continue to establish lasting ties with communities and scholars, people and governments throughout Asia and the Pacific. We also are further strengthening our existing close relationships with a multitude of judges, lawyers, and community leaders within the continental United States.

I warmly welcome your interest in this very special School of Law. I encourage you to examine the information on this website for a description of our offerings and some hints about our vibrant community spirit.

If you decide to enroll, you will join an extremely talented group of men and women dedicated to the development of first-rate legal skills, to ongoing community service, and to the further enhancement of the school's national and international reputation. You will also discover that we learn from and teach one another across traditional boundaries at our unique Law School, and that we do so without losing sight of the distinct human qualities we consider crucial to life and to law at its best.

Aloha,

Dean Aviam Soifer