Using the Gould Name
The full, correct name of USC's law school is the USC Gould School of Law.
About Gould:
The school is named in honor of the Gould family. Judge James Gould was a noted legal scholar who was one of the teachers and proprietors of Litchfield Law School, the first law school in the United States. His descendant Charles Winthrop Gould, a distinguished New York lawyer, bequeathed the Gould family estate to his nephew, Col. John W. Barnes, who earned his LL.B. and LL.M. at USC Law in 1927 and 1929. When Barnes died in the mid-1940s, he left the Gould estate in trust for USC. The full gift came to USC in the mid-1960s, and USC Law became the Gould School of Law.
USC Law has changed a lot through the years - many graduates know us as the USC Law Center, from the days when we housed a paralegal and night program - and the Gould name has been used with varying degrees of consistency. However, under the direction of the Board of Trustees, the university has standardized the use of all school names, and we are conforming our use of the Gould name to those university-wide standards.
Using the name:
In all first references to USC Law, USC Gould School of Law should be used in its entirety. USC may be dropped only if University of Southern California is spelled out within the same sentence as the first reference to USC Law (i.e., the University of Southern California trains future lawyers at its Gould School of Law). In second and later references, USC Law, USC Law, or USC Gould School of Law may be used (please note capitalization styles for each option). USC Law is the preferred reference. Do not use USC Law Center or USC Law (with the "L" and "S" capitalized) as the school's formal name.
USC Law may be used in the title of publications only when USC Gould School of Law is spelled out in its entirety on the cover of the publication. Prominent use of the Gould School of Law logo satisfies this requirement. For instance, USC Law is the name of USC Law's magazine, so it is the most prominent component of the magazine's cover. However, USC Gould School of Law is spelled out in the upper right corner of the publication, and the Gould logo appears on the back cover.
First reference: |
USC Gould School of Law |
Later references: |
USC Law (preferred) |
| USC Law or USC's law school | |
| law school, USC Law | |
| USC Gould School of Law |
|
Do not use: |
USC Law Center (or any variation) |
| Gould School | |
| USC Law School | |
| School of Law or school of law |
