The Recorder, Some Los Angeles Law Schools Begin Spring Semester Remotely:

Some Los Angeles law schools are starting their first week of the spring semester remotely as nearby wildfires continue to burn.

University of California, Los Angeles, located just outside the southeastern perimeter of the Palisades fire in Westwood, announced Saturday that all undergraduate and graduate classes would be held remotely through Friday. …

Pepperdine University, located on the west side of the Palisades fire’s edge in Malibu, also announced Friday that the university would move classes online through Sunday. 

“We are mindful and deeply impacted by the devastation wreaked by the recent fires in the Los Angeles area as we prepare to support our community in the days ahead,” Jim Gash, the school's president and CEO, said in a message to the university community. “We have prayed, and continue to pray, for God’s protection and provision for the University community and communities throughout Los Angeles County.”

Caruso School of Law dean Paul Caron confirmed the Pepperdine campus had not been affected by the fire.

Inside Higher Ed, Some L.A. Colleges to Reopen This Week, Others Stay Closed Amid Wildfires:

Pepperdine University and the University of California, Los Angeles, switched to remote classes this week while others in the L.A. metro area are preparing to resume operations even as the region faces still-burning wildfires that have devastated the region. …

The Palisades fire is about 2.5 miles from Pepperdine, but officials said the blaze doesn’t pose a threat. That’s in part because a burn scar from the December 2024 Franklin fire sits between the blaze and the campus.

Gash told Fox News on Saturday that while the buffer protects the campus, dozens in the Pepperdine community have lost their homes.

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