University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on the University's Sacramento campus.
Founded in 1924, the school merged with and became part of the University of the Pacific in 1966. The current dean of McGeorge School of Law is Michael Hunter Schwartz, formerly the dean of the William H. Bowen School of Law at University of Arkansas at Little Rock from 2013-2017. Former CIA General Counsel Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker stepped down on June 1, 2012, after 10 years as dean of McGeorge School of Law. Francis J. Mootz III served as dean from 2012-2017. Michael Hunter Schwartz became the 10th dean of McGeorge on July 1, 2017.
History
The school that eventually became McGeorge began in 1921 when Stanford Law School graduate and Standard Oil executive Verne Adrian McGeorge began teaching law students at night in downtown Sacramento, California. After its formal establishment as a school in 1924, this Sacramento Law School, subsequently renamed in Professor McGeorge's honor as the "McGeorge School of Law," merged with the University of the Pacific in 1966 and came to be known as "Pacific McGeorge." McGeorge became an integral part of the University of the Pacific in 1991.
Accreditation, memberships, rankings
McGeorge has been fully approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) since 1969. As a result of its ABA accreditation, McGeorge is also approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners of The State Bar of California.
The first year curriculum at McGeorge consists of 27 units. McGeorge law students must also complete 29 units of upper-level required curriculum. Therefore, 56 units out of the 88 units to graduate are required courses. All students take the same required courses.
Memberships
McGeorge joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1974. It has a chapter of the Order of the Coif, a national law school honorary society founded for the purposes of encouraging legal scholarship and advancing the ethical standards of the legal profession.
Rankings
In the 2017 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, McGeorge School of Law was listed at #144 in the United States. McGeorge was ranked 146 in the 2015 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
For 2016, the Trial Advocacy program was ranked #10 in the nation, while the International Law program received the #20 national ranking in U.S. News & World Report's annual guide to "America's Best Graduate Schools," placing it in the top 20 for the fourth year in a row. For 2016, the part-time evening program at McGeorge was ranked as #35 in the nation.
Costs
McGeorge's tuition and fees for full-time students during the 2016-2017 academic year cost $49,720 per year, while tuition and fees for part-time students was $33,020 per year.
Academic programs
McGeorge offers degree programs leading to the award of the J.D. (Juris Doctor), the LL.M. (Master of Laws), the M.P.A. (Master of Public Administration), the M.P.P. (Master of Public Policy) and the J.S.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) degrees.
McGeorge offers both a three-year day division program and four-year evening division program. As an ABA approved law school, McGeorge graduates are eligible to sit for the bar examination in any American jurisdiction.
Bar passage rates
Students from McGeorge taking the California Bar Exam for the first time in July 2015 had a 70% pass rate, placing it in the top half of California ABA approved law schools. In July 2014, first time takers had a 61% pass rate. First time California Bar takers from McGeorge in July 2013 had a 67% pass rate. For the February 2015 California Bar Exam, McGeorge students had a 63% pass rate.
Location
The McGeorge School of Law is located on University of the Pacific's Sacramento campus at 3200 Fifth Avenue in the Oak Park area of Sacramento, the capital of California.
Journals and publications
Law journals and student publications
- The University of the Pacific Law Review (formerly titled "McGeorge Law Review" and "The Pacific Law Journal") A student-run, scholarly journal publishing four issues annually. Two issues are published each year containing professional articles and student-authored comments or casenotes; one issue contains the Review of Selected California Legislation, or "Greensheets"; and one issue contains a symposium, focusing on a specific, significant legal topic.
- California Initiative Review An online comprehensive, independent analysis of California ballot initiatives and related issues.
- California Water Law Journal A forum for high quality water law research and academic discourse between students and professionals, and the opportunity to publish candid and current legal analyses.
Noted people
Notable alumni
- Greg Aghazarian â€" California State Assemblyman, 26th District
- Ronald J. Bath â€" USAF, Director of U.S. Air Force Strategic Planning
- Scott Baugh â€" former California State Assembly Republican Leader, 67th District
- Scott Boras â€" sports agent
- Consuelo MarÃa Callahan â€" Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Lloyd Connelly â€" Judge, Sacramento County Superior Court
- Ellen Corbett â€" California State Senator, 10th District
- L. Whitney Clayton â€" Presidency of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Christine Craft - attorney, radio talk show host, and former television news anchor
- John Doolittle â€" US Congressman 1991-2009
- Morrison C. England Jr. â€" Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- Noreen Evans â€" California State Assemblywoman, 7th District
- Dayvid Figler â€" Former Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge, NPR commentator
- Edward J. Garcia â€" Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- John M. Gerrard â€" Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court
- Mikayil Jabbarov â€" Minister of Education of the Azerbaijan Republic
- Bill Lockyer â€" California State Treasurer and former California Attorney General
- Steve Martini â€" attorney and best-selling author of legal thriller novels
- Deborah Ortiz â€" former California State Senator, 6th District
- Johnnie B. Rawlinson â€" Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Ronald B. Robie â€" Associate Justice, Third District California Court of Appeal
- Dana Makoto Sabraw â€" Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Christian Wellisch â€" Former professional mixed martial arts combat athlete
- Victor Plata â€" Olympic athlete in triathlon
- Robert J. Sandoval - Openly Gay Judge Appointed to the California Superior Court.
Notable faculty
- Omar Dajani, former legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiation team in peace talks with Israel.
- J. Clark Kelso, Federal Receiver overseeing healthcare reform in California's prison system, former Insurance Commissioner, former Chief Information Officer of California.
- Anthony Kennedy, an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court since 1988, Pacific McGeorge faculty member since 1965.
- John J. Kirlin, Founding Director of the Department of Public Policy and as Distinguished Professor of Public Policy
Present Dean and Dean Emeriti
- Michael Hunter Schwartz, 2017 - present
- Francis J. â€""Jay" Mootz, 2012 â€" 2017
- Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, 2002 - 2012, Executive Director and CEO of the State Bar of California Former CIA General Counsel
- Gerald Caplan, 1991 - 2002
- Gordon D. Schaber, 1957 - 1991
- John Swann, 1946 - 1957
- Lawrence Dowrety, 1937 - WWII closure
- Gilford Rowland, 1933 - 1937
- Russell Harris, 1930 - 1933
- Vern Adrian McGeorge, Founder, 1924 - 1930
References
External links
- Official website