It may have started as a fun, end-of-the-semester get-together among law school students and professors.

It ended, two years later, with the surprise resignation of a nationally known law school dean amid accusations of a drunken, late-night sexual encounter in a female student's apartment.

The news that Boalt Dean John Dwyer may have ``molested'' a student has rocked not just the Boalt Hall School of Law and its vast alumni network but lawyers and educators across the country.

Current students are cramming for finals and wondering if they know the alleged victim. Faculty members are debating whether their own code of conduct should be strengthened. And University of California-Berkeley officials are reviewing their sexual-harassment and sexual-assault policies and facing what will undoubtedly be a politically charged search for a new dean.

``It's a real shame this has happened,'' said Khari Tillery, board president of the Berkeley Law Foundation and a federal law clerk. ``It's a real black eye upon the school.''

Dwyer announced his resignation Nov. 27, almost seven weeks after the former Boalt student filed a sexual-harassment complaint against him.

Exactly what happened two years ago is not clear. There is no police report. The university has not revealed details of its investigation.

Dwyer has refused to comment, other than to say that it was a ``consensual'' encounter that ``reflected a serious error in judgment on my part.''

But the attorney for the woman, whose name is being withheld by the Mercury News, said her client was ``molested'' by Dwyer after a night of heavy drinking.

The former student, now working for a public-interest law firm in San Francisco, claims Dwyer sexually assaulted her while she lay on her bed passed out.

She declined to speak to the Mercury News for this story. But Berkeley attorney Laura Stevens said her client's story begins in December 2000 with a dinner at Caffe Venezia, a stylish and popular Italian eatery on University Avenue.

Three professors and seven law school students had gathered to celebrate a ``successful philanthropic activity,'' Stevens said.

Late night detailed

The alleged victim was very active in the Berkeley Law Foundation, a student-run organization that provides legal services to historically underserved communities.

Dwyer arrived at Venezia after dinner to show his support for the group's work and stayed to drink wine with the five students and one faculty member who had not left.

The group closed the restaurant about 11 p.m., and Dwyer suggested they continue socializing somewhere else.

The Boalt group arrived at Kingman's Lucky Lounge on Grand Avenue in Oakland just before midnight, and Dwyer offered to buy a round of drinks, Stevens said. At 2 a.m., the students and Dwyer trickled out of the bar and onto the sidewalk.

The one male student in attendance, who had not been drinking, suspected Dwyer was not fit to drive and offered him a ride. Dwyer declined.

At that point, Stevens said, the alleged victim was still in the bar. By the time she emerged, everyone but Dwyer had left.

Dwyer, who is divorced, offered a ride home and the two drove to the second-year law student's Oakland apartment. He turned off the ignition, and she invited him up to use her restroom.

``She's extremely intoxicated,'' Stevens said. ``It's obvious. . . . By my calculation, she has ingested about eight ounces of alcohol.''

What happened after Dwyer used the bathroom is a matter of dispute. Dwyer says the two had a ``consensual'' sexual encounter. Stevens said her client passed out on her bed and awoke two hours later -- about 4:30 a.m. -- to find Dwyer lying next to her and fondling her between her legs. Her bra and blouse were pushed up toward her neck and her pantyhose were removed. Dwyer's head was resting on her chest. He was fully clothed.

Dwyer's attorney, Thomas Sinclair of Oakland, would not discuss or refute specific details of the allegations.

Stevens acknowledges that she doesn't know what happened between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m., but insists her client never agreed to a sexual encounter.

When the student awoke, startled, she bolted out of bed and put on a pair of pajamas. Dwyer left and the woman returned to sleep.

Went to group therapy

When she woke again four hours later, she summoned her mother from San Francisco. Her mother took a photo of a mark on her left breast, and the two went to the campus health clinic for an exam. There, she got a therapy referral, eventually ending up in a group-therapy class for survivors of sexual assault.

The woman chose not to file a complaint with the university right away.

``She's in the midst of enormous personal pressure because the next week is final exams,'' Stevens said. ``So, yeah, she decided to do nothing until exams are over.''

In late January or early February 2001, the student contacted Carmen McKines, the university's Title IX compliance officer. The compliance officer, a position created in 1989, is supposed to help ensure equitable treatment of women on campus. The officer investigates formal sex discrimination and harassment complaints and advises students, faculty and staff of their options.

McKines explained the complaint process. But when asked whether procedures differed if a dean was involved, McKines could not answer, Stevens said. McKines could not be reached for comment.

The student held off on filing a complaint and sought the advice of two female law professors at Boalt. One of the professors, Eleanor Swift, said last week that she counseled the woman twice.

``The student told me that she did not think she wanted to do anything, or inform anyone, while she was a student,'' Swift said in a statement. ``She said she wanted to be able to finish law school and concentrate on her academic and public-interest work.''

Months later, the student also confided in a third law professor, Linda Kreiger.

The woman graduated from Boalt in May. On Oct. 11, she filed a sexual-harassment complaint with the university. Seven weeks later, Dwyer resigned.

Dwyer, 51, was a well-regarded expert on environmental law. He received his law degree from Boalt in 1980 and became the second Boalt Hall graduate to serve as dean in the school's history. He joined the faculty in 1984 and in 1997 received the law school's Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching.

``He had some excellent points,'' said attorney Deborah Quick, who graduated from Boalt this spring. ``He was excellent at building up relationships with alumni that you need for fundraising . . . And he was a fantastic professor. Very supportive.''

Janet Yellen, a former Clinton administration official who teaches at the Haas School of Business, spearheaded the university's investigation into the student's complaint. But since Dwyer voluntarily resigned, no further personnel action will be taken.

The campus is in the process of hiring an independent investigator to review both the allegation and the campus' sexual-harassment policies and procedures.

The Boalt Hall Women's Association and the Berkeley Women's Law Journal says Dwyer's resignation is a signal that ``sexual harassment and assault in the law school environment have gone unaddressed for too long.'' The group urges sexual-harassment sensitivity training for all faculty and staff members.

``She didn't feel that she could come forward while she was a student here,'' said Alisa Nave, president of the Boalt Hall Women's Association. ``And that's what needs to change.''