[5] The Law School was established in 1986 and operated as a fixed facility law school,[6] accredited by the State Bar of California for twenty-five years, with campuses in both Ventura and Santa Barbara, California, until June 1, 2020.
[6] The institute was established as a fixed-facility part-time evening only law school which catered to working adults.
[10] SCIL is an unaccredited law school registered with State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners as a distance learning unaccredited law school requiring the "study of law diligently and in good faith for at least four years" with each of the four years consisting of at "least 864 hours of preparation and study over no fewer than forty-eight and no more than fifty-two consecutive weeks...evidenced by a transcript that indicates the date each course began and ended.
Its graduates are not automatically qualified to take the bar exam in California without meeting unaccredited school requirements and are not qualified to take a bar exam or practice law outside of California in any event.
[13][14] SCIL sued the State Bar of California over a requirement that California accredited law schools must maintain a 40% percent bar passage rate over a rolling five-year period, arguing that the State Bar had violated the SCIL's First Amendment rights, that the 40% benchmark was arbitrary and capricious, and that it violated the state's separation of powers.