SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA, UNITED STATES, July 22, 2025 -- San Luis Obispo College of Law (SLOCL), an accredited branch of Monterey College of Law (MCL), is celebrating its ten-year anniversary. “It is hard to believe that we have already reached our first decade,” said Mitchel Winick, president and dean of MCL. “What a wonderful collaborative partnership we have developed with the bench, bar, and SLO community,” said Winick.

To commemorate its 10th anniversary, SLOCL is hosting an open house event on Friday, August 29, from 5:00 - 7:00 PM, 4119 Broad Street, Suite 200, San Luis Obispo, California.

“We welcome students, alumni, faculty, and community partners to join us for the celebration,” says Erica Flores Baltodano, SLOCL Campus Dean. “This will also be a great opportunity to meet Lisa Sperow, who is taking over as the new President and CEO of Monterey College of Law upon the retirement of President Winick at the end of July.”

“One of SLOCL's most important roles is providing a more equitable pathway to the legal profession for working adults and nontraditional students who otherwise would have been denied the opportunity to attend law school,” pointed out Sperow.

Monterey College of Law was founded in 1972 by local lawyers and judges as an evening law school program providing high-quality legal education for individuals living and working in the local community. San Luis Obispo opened as the law school’s first accredited branch campus in 2015. The local campus provides the same curriculum and degree programs as the original campus in Monterey and the school’s other campus locations in Bakersfield and Santa Rosa. Local students have the option of enrolling in onsite courses or in the law school’s hybrid online program.

“The graduates of SLOCL have had great success in working in local law firms, public law careers, and in other business and non-profit leadership roles,” said Baltodano. “The SLOCL program has proven to be a very valuable addition to the higher education community here in SLO.”

Over the past ten years, Monterey College of Law has experienced a period of successful growth, including opening three additional residential campus locations – San Luis Obispo College of Law, Kern County College of Law, and Empire College of Law (Santa Rosa), and the development of one of the first California-accredited online hybrid law school programs. The law school is also the only state-accredited legal education program that offers an advanced graduate LL.M. degree in addition to the J.D. and Master of Legal Studies degrees.

“In addition to the traditional J.D. degree program, our Master of Legal Studies degree expands legal education to those who are not interested in practicing law, but who would benefit in their existing careers from graduate school courses in law,” said Baltodano.

“It has been exciting to watch the community take advantage of these programs,” said Assistant Dean of Market Development Dena Dowsett. “We are always looking for new qualified candidates for our programs here in SLO. Students interested in learning more or who are interested in applying for Spring, Summer, or Fall Semesters are encouraged to go to our website at www.slolaw.org.”

The celebration also includes a special introduction of Lisa Sperow as the new President and CEO of Monterey College of Law, the parent institution of San Luis Obispo College of Law. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the SLOCL Advisory Board Scholarship Fund in President Sperow's honor here: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E347357&id=38.