McGeorge School of Law
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.
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law | |
---|---|
Parent school | University of the Pacific |
Established | 1924[1] |
School type | Private |
Dean | Michael Hunter Schwartz |
Location | Sacramento, California, US |
Enrollment | 388 (Full-time) 174 (Part-time)[1] |
Faculty | 42 (Full and Part-time) 63 (Total)[1] |
USNWR ranking | Not Published (bottom 25%)[1] |
Bar pass rate | 50% (July 2018 first time takers)[2] |
Website | www.McGeorge.edu |
ABA profile | McGeorge School of Law |
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.[3]
History
The school that eventually became McGeorge began in 1921 when University of Chicago Law School graduate[4] 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." [3] McGeorge became an integral part of the University of the Pacific in 1991.[3]
Accreditation, memberships, rankings
McGeorge has been fully approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) since 1969.[5] 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.[6] McGeorge law students must also complete 29 units of upper-level required curriculum.[7] Therefore, 56 units out of the 88 units to graduate are required courses.[8] All students take the same required courses.
Memberships
McGeorge joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1974.[9] 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.[10]
Rankings and Bar Exam Passage Rate
In the 2019 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, McGeorge School of Law ranking was not published, placing it in the bottom 25% of US law schools.[11]
Of the McGeorge alumni who took the California bar for the first time in July 2018, 50% passed, vs. a statewide average of 64% for graduates of ABA-accredited law schools.[12]
Tuition Costs
McGeorge's tuition and fees for full-time students during the 2017-2018 academic year cost $54,496 per year, while tuition and fees for part-time students was $40,776 per year.
McGeorge LLM tuition and fees for an LLM during the 2017-2018 academic year cost $34,436.
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.
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.[13]
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.
Notable people
Notable alumni
- Greg Aghazarian – California State Assemblyman, 26th District
- Mark Amodei - U.S. Congressman from Nevada
- Ronald J. Bath – USAF, Director of U.S. Air Force Strategic Planning
- Scott Baugh – former California State Assembly Republican Leader, 67th District
- Scott Boras – sports agent
- Consuelo María Callahan – Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Lloyd Connelly – Judge, Sacramento County Superior Court
- Ellen Corbett – California State Senator, 10th District
- L. Whitney Clayton – 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 – US Congressman 1991-2009
- Morrison C. England Jr. – Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- Noreen Evans – California State Assemblywoman, 7th District
- Dayvid Figler – Former Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge, NPR commentator
- Edward J. Garcia – Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- John M. Gerrard – Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court
- James William Hardesty - Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada. He was appointed in 2004, and reelected as Chief Justice in 2010
- Mikayil Jabbarov – Minister of Education of the Azerbaijan Republic[14]
- Bill Lockyer – California State Treasurer and former California Attorney General
- Steve Martini – attorney and best-selling author of legal thriller novels
- Deborah Ortiz – former California State Senator, 6th District
- Johnnie B. Rawlinson – Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Dana Makoto Sabraw – Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Robert J. Sandoval - Openly Gay Judge Appointed to the California Superior Court.
- Victor Plata – Olympic athlete in triathlon[15]
- Christian Wellisch – Former professional mixed martial arts combat athlete[16]
Notable faculty
- J. Clark Kelso, Federal Receiver overseeing healthcare reform in California's prison system, former Insurance Commissioner, former Chief Information Officer of California.
- Anthony Kennedy, retired Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (served from 1988 to 2018),[17] Pacific McGeorge faculty member since 1965.[18]
Present Dean and Dean Emeriti
- Michael Hunter Schwartz, 2017 - present
- Francis J. –"Jay" Mootz, 2012 – 2017
- Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, 2002 - 2012, Executive Director and CEO of the State Bar of California[19] 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
- "University of the Pacific (McGeorge)". Best Law Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
- https://abovethelaw.com/2018/12/a-breakdown-of-california-bar-exam-results-by-law-school-july-2018/
- "History of McGeorge". www.mcgeorge.edu. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- "University of Chicago Alumni Directory". 1920.
- "ABA-Approved Law Schools by Year". ABA website. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
- "First-Year Required Curriculum". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- "Upper-level Required Curriculum". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- "Degree Requirements". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- "Member Schools - Association of American Law Schools". Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- Smith, Anesha. "member chart". www.orderofthecoif.org. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "US News Top Law Schools 2019 - University of the Pacific (McGeorge)".
- Zaretsky, Staci. "A Breakdown Of California Bar Exam Results By Law School (July 2018)". Above the Law. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
- "404". www.mcgeorge.edu. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "LL.M. Named to Key Azerbaijan Post".
- "Victor Plata". Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- California, The State Bar of. "Christian Wellisch #255000 - Attorney Search". members.calbar.ca.gov. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "Current Members". www.supremecourt.gov. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "Anthony Kennedy". www.mcgeorge.edu. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "The State Bar of California". www.calbar.ca.gov. Retrieved 13 August 2018.