[5] The school was founded as the Beverly College of Law in 1966,[6] and was originally located in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles' Westside.

It was a private, nonprofit educational institution intended to meet the growing need for a law school in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

[7] In 1996, the college acquired the present 14-acre campus in Costa Mesa, remodeled the buildings on the site to accommodate the needs of the Law School, and moved the faculty and students over a period of three years.

[8] In 1997, the move was completed and Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy gave the major address at the opening ceremony.

[8] In 2013, Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye spoke at the grand opening of the law school's 4,400 square feet (410 m2) court room.

It became the first fully accredited law school in the country to announce closure in a time of challenge for legal education institutions.

[13] In 1978, the American Bar Association (ABA) granted Whittier Law School provisional accreditation.

[17] On April 17, 2008, the ABA Accreditation Committee recommended to the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar that Whittier Law School be removed from probation.

[39] In 2015, Whittier was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the country's fourth most ethnically diverse law school.

[40] The Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) selected Whittier to host two seminars for students from diverse backgrounds over the weekend of June 27–28, 2015.

[44] Of 2013 grads who were employed (approximately half were unemployed), nine months after graduation they had a median starting salary of $62,400.

[50] The Law Review was a student-run organization publishing a collection of articles of legal scholarship four times annually.

[51] Whittier Law School regularly hosted symposiums and expert panels for academic discussion of contemporary issues.

In September 2014, in conjunction with Orange County Coastkeeper, the school hosted an all-day symposium with a continuing-education component, called "Our Coast To Keep: Environmental Law Enforcement in Southern California.

[58] Of the jobs as lawyers, 23.9% reported working in law firms, 1.9% in government, and 0.4% in both federal clerkship and public interest.

[61] Martin Pritikin, Whittier's associate dean, said, "Law schools need to view themselves as having responsibility to their students even after they graduate to help them transition.