​About the LRC

As one of the premier academic law libraries in the country, the Pardee Legal Research Center (LRC) supports the educational and research needs of the Law School community. In addition to a robust print collection, the LRC provides access to numerous online databases that support legal research, as well as ventures into interdisciplinary studies. Ample quiet study and collaborative spaces are also available within the building. Group study rooms may be reserved by law students for up to two hours.

To help students and researchers locate the resources they need, the LRC provides a highly skilled and deeply experienced team of professional librarians and staff. All of our reference librarians have JDs and MLIS degrees, and several teach courses within the Law School curriculum.

Please do not hesitate to visit the LRC soon!

Mission Statement

The mission of the University of San Diego Legal Research Center is to support the curriculum and programs of the law school, support the university in the pursuit of its mission, promote the advancement of legal scholarship and meet the legal information needs of the university community. As a partner in the law school's goals of preparing a diverse community of competent and ethical lawyers and improving the law, we strive for excellence in the collection, in its methods of access and preservation and in our offerings of teaching and service programs. The Legal Research Center provides leadership in the creative uses of technology in accessing information resources. As a federal depository, we accept the responsibility to make documents selected for the collection available to the public. The Legal Research Center also safeguards patron privacy and champions the right to read.

In furtherance of its mission, the Legal Research Center allocates resources and sets service priorities to serve patrons in the following order:

  1. USD law students and law faculty;
  2. Non-law USD faculty and students;
  3. The San Diego legal community; and
  4. Members of the public seeking documents selected for the LRC collection.

Adopted by the LRC Library Council on September 17, 1998. Updated June 29, 2011.

History of the LRC

The Law School Library originally existed on the third floor of the main USD law school building, Warren Hall. In 1973, the law library moved to the old Knights of Columbus building, founded in 1958. Originally, the Knights of Columbus hall housed the university's College of Men's library. With the generous help of Marvin and Lillian Kratter, the law library was greatly expanded. Fundraising in the eighties led to a two-year construction project, completed in 1990 thanks to the single largest gift in the Law School's history—a $2.5 million commitment from university trustee George M. Pardee Jr. and his wife Katherine. The law library officially became the LRC at a September 21, 1990 ceremony.

The LRC continues to grow to support the educational missions of the School of Law and the University.