The University
Pepperdine University is an independent, medium-sized university enrolling approximately 7,700 students in five colleges and schools. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the University?s 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. Courses are taught in Malibu, at four graduate campuses in Southern California, permanent program facilities in Washington, D.C., and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, and China.

The University was founded in 1937 by George Pepperdine, a Christian businessman who founded the Western Auto Supply Company. For the first 30 years of its life, the institution was a small, mostly undergraduate college. University status was achieved in 1970 as the institution added graduate and professional schools. In 1972, the University opened its new campus in Malibu.
The Law School
Pepperdine University School of Law began as the Orange University College of Law in Santa Ana, California, in 1964. The school was acquired by Pepperdine in 1969. By 1975, the Pepperdine’s School of Law had received its full ABA approval and full State Bar Accreditation. In 1978, the school moved to Pepperdine’s 830-acre campus, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California.

Pepperdine University School of Law seeks to provide a few highly qualified students with the opportunity to pursue an academically challenging program in a unique and exciting environment. The student body possesses exceptional intelligence, as well as diversity, and rich and varied talents. Students will be surrounded by others who were also at the top of their undergraduate academic class, leaders in extracurricular activities, and active participants in their community. Alumni will leave prepared to enter positions as counselors, advocates, and judges; they will enter careers in business fields, as well as becoming writers and teachers of the law. We urge you to explore our Web site for a glimpse into this exciting place!

The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution

The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law is one of the world’s leading educational programs in the field of dispute resolution. Straus offers two tracks of training; professional training programs and academic programs in dispute resolution including the Certificate, Master’s (M.D.R.) and LL.M. in Dispute Resolution.

Repeatedly recognized as the foremost academic center of its kind, the Institute brings together an unparalleled full-time teaching and research faculty with scholars and practitioners from throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia and Europe. Its broad and deep curricular offerings serve emerging lawyers as well as experienced mid-career professionals, business persons, and religious and community leaders. In the over twenty one years since its founding, the Straus Institute has established itself as a standard of excellence in preparing effective negotiators, peacemakers and problem solvers and a driving force for improving the culture of conflict in America.

The Straus Institute stands as the pillar in conflict resolution research with the acquisition of the world’s leading library from the American Arbitration Association. Consisting of over 24,000 titles, the AAA library includes titles on subjects ranging from international arbitration to consumer disputes and health law to the history and growth of public and private dispute resolution practices in the U.S. and abroad.

The Straus Institute at Pepperdine has been ranked as the #1 law school dispute resolution program in the nation by U.S. News and World Report: Guide to Graduate Schools. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, the International Academy of Mediators, the Southern California Mediation Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association have also recognized Straus for excellence in dispute resolution educational programs for practicing professionals.