briefs
BY THE NUMBERS: USC GOULD STUDENT SNAPSHOT
3.82 GPA | 168 LSAT
LARGEST PERCENT OF WOMEN STUDENTS EVER FOR AN INCOMING JD CLASS
STRONGEST COMBINED ACADEMIC PROFILE IN GOULD HISTORY LOWEST ACCEPTANCE RATE ON RECORD
91%
CALIFORNIA BAR PASSAGE RATE
13% 50% OVER
170%
INCREASE IN STUDENT AID OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS
STRONG FINISH FOR GOULD NATIONAL MOOT COURT TEAM IN ABA NATIONAL APPELLATE ADVOCACY COMPETITION
Kelly Butler
Nikki Long
Danielle Luchetta
Charlene Smith
4
The USC Gould National Moot Court team, comprised of 3L students Kelly Butler, Nikki Long, Danielle Luchetta and Charlene Smith, finished strong in the American Bar Association’s recent National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC), the largest, most prestigious moot court competition in the country. Long and Luchetta won third place in the best brief competition, with Butler and Smith taking fourth place. Gould was the only law school in the competition to have two briefs place in the top 10. In the oral argument competition, both Gould teams made it to the final round. Gould’s teams competed in the NAAC San Francisco Region against 31 teams hailing from law schools throughout the western United States. Long was also honored as one of the top 10 best advocates among all competitors, earning a spot as eighth best advocate. The team was supported and coached by professors Rebecca Lonergan, Rebecca Brown and Sam Erman. Lonergan praised the team’s efforts. “Our students showed such incredible maturity and poise preparing for this new kind of competition in isolation in their separate locations. We should be quite proud,” she said. “I am certain that they will all become exceptionally talented attorneys.” —Yulia Nakagome
USCLaw magazine
62%
FROM A HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY GROUP
23% FIRST IN THEIR FAMILY TO EARN A COLLEGE DEGREE OR PURSUE A GRADUATE DEGREE
95% STUDENTS RECEIVE AID
ALUM TAKES THE CAKE WITH NEW COOKBOOK, CAREER Vallery Lomas (BA 2007, JD 2010) — past winner of the Great American Baking Show on ABC TV, host of the show Vallery Bakes Your Questions on Food Network and author of the blog Foodie in New York — spoke this summer at a virtual event hosted by the USC Gould Alumni Association. She shared about her path from law school to the Food Network, her favorite recipes and her first cookbook, Life is What You Bake It, published in September. She also appeared on KTLA TV to promote the book, and is a regular contributor to The New York Times Food section.
