Each year, gifts to the Law Annual Fund play a critical role in helping the School of Law maintain high standards of excellence in its programs and activities. The Fund is a source of support for cutting edge programs and academic initiatives, recruiting and retaining a world-class faculty, increasing support for scholarships and the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), and assisting student clubs and organizations, as well as supporting technology enhancements and the Legal Research Center.

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Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP)

This program provides grants for USD law alumni practicing in public interest law to reduce student loan indebtedness. The importance of public interest law cannot be overstated. Many interests worthy and in need of protection—including those of the poor, the environment, and children, among many others—are underrepresented in our legal system. Public interest lawyers working for legal services and other nonprofit organizations ensure that these interests have access to representation in our legal system. However, as law school tuition and accompanying debt burden increase across the nation, most law graduates are precluded from choosing public interest law as a career. Through LRAP, the law school hopes to make careers in public interest law more financially feasible for its graduates. Grants ranging from $2000 to $5000 are available to award each year to public interest lawyers because of the generosity of alumni, students, faculty and friends.

Michael Mohr Memorial Athletic Scholarship

This scholarship was established in 1977 by classmates, family and friends of Michael Mohr, who died tragically during his second year of law school. The scholarship is awarded each school year to two students who have completed their first year in the upper one half of the class, who demonstrate financial need and who have shown good sportsmanship through active participation in the law school's intramural sports program.

Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek Scholarship

For more than a decade, the law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek has funded an annual scholarship for a second- or third-year law student who has prior work experience as a legal secretary or paralegal and who demonstrates good academic progress and financial need.
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Class of 1975 Professorship

The Class of 1975 Endowed Professorship, established by the Class of 1975 as its 25-year reunion gift to the School of Law, recognizes and rewards teaching, leadership and academic accomplishments. A committee of volunteers from the class spearheaded the reunion gift campaign with generous donations of their own and diligent follow-up with classmates to reach the endowment goal. This rotating professorship is typically held by a law faculty member for two consecutive academic years. Professor Ed Ursin was the first faculty member to be named the Class of '75 Professor.

Price Chair in Public Interest Law

In 1990, San Diego philanthropists Sol and Helen Price contributed $1.5 million to USD to establish the Price Chair in Public Interest Law, an endowed faculty chair held by Professor Robert C. Fellmeth, founder of USD's Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL). Founded in 1980, CPIL serves as an academic center of research, learning and advocacy in administrative law; teaches direct lawyering skills in public interest law; represents the interests of the disadvantaged or underrepresented in state regulatory proceedings; and attempts to make the regulatory functions of state government more efficient and visible by serving as a public monitor of state agencies.

Thorsnes Prize for Excellence in Teaching

In 1995, law school alumnus Michael T. Thorsnes '68 established the Thorsnes Prize, which is awarded each year to a law faculty member for excellence in teaching. The faculty recipient of the award is selected by a majority vote of upper division law students.

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Energy Policy Initiatives Center

In January 2005, the law school received $2.7 million from the San Diego District Attorney to create an energy policy and research center. The award came as a result of a settlement from a lawsuit against Duke Energy. The Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) will study energy supply, costs and opportunities and how they affect the San Diego County region and Southern California. It will integrate research, law school study, public education and legal advocacy to provide expertise and information about future energy needs as well information about alternative, environmentally-friendly energy resources.

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