The University of San Jose-Recoletos opened its College of Law during the academic year of 1952 – 1953 with Atty. Juan Yap, as the first dean who later became Judge of the Court of First Instance of Sorsogon,. The College started with Freshmen and Sophomore classes. In the year 1955 – 1956, Junior and Senior classes were offered. The first graduates took the Bar

Examination in 1956. Dean Yap was followed by Atty. Eddy Deen in 1959 who was in turn succeeded in 1965 by Marcelo B. Fernan who later on occupied the two highest positions in government namely, the Legislative Department, as Senate President and the Judiciary as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was succeeded in 1987 by the Dean, Atty. Alicia E. Bathan. Thereafter, in 2005, the deanship was passed on to Atty. Jonathan P. Capanas who heads the office to this day.

Under the leadership of Dean Jonathan P. Capanas and as approved by the School Board of the University of San Jose Recoletos, the department changed its name to School of Law to accommodate the various programs in line with its academic objectives and legal advocacy.

In 2006, the School of Law of USJ-R merged and established ties with other Recoletos Law Schools in the country particularly San Sebastian College-Recoletos in Manila and opened the Recoletos Law Center. The center houses the Pre-Bar Review, Advanced Pre-Bar Review and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Program among others. To date, the Recoletos Law Center Bar Review in Cebu remains to be the biggest law review center outside Metro Manila while the Recoletos Law Review Center in Manila is biggest law review center in country.