McGeorge School of Law

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University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Established	1924
School type	Private
President	Dean Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker
Location	Sacramento, California, USA
Enrollment	1,104
Faculty	60 full-time; 40 adjunct
USNWR ranking	100 (2008)
Bar pass rate	73%
Annual tuition	$31,120 (full-time); $20,690 (part-time)
Homepage	www.McGeorge.edu

McGeorge School of Law is a private, ABA-accredited law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California, commonly known as "Pacific McGeorge" as it is part of the University of the Pacific which is located in Stockton, California. Originally founded in 1924, the school merged with and became part of the University of the Pacific in 1966. The university also runs a dental school in San Francisco, California. The current dean of McGeorge School of Law is Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker.

Pacific McGeorge is currently ranked among the top 100 in the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of U.S. law schools.

Additionally, Pacific McGeorge is currently ranked among the nation’s Top 20 International Law programs in the 2007 U.S. News & World Report annual guide to “America’s Best Graduate Schools”.

1 Accreditation and Memberships
2 General Information
3 How McGeorge Rates in the U.S. News & World Report's Annual Law School Rankings
4 Areas of Specialization
5 Location
6 Journals and Publications
7 Notable Alumni
8 Notable Faculty
9 External links

[edit] Accreditation and Memberships

Pacific McGeorge is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and by the Committee of Bar Examiners of The State Bar of California. It is also a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

Pacific McGeorge 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.

[edit] General Information

Pacific McGeorge offers degree programs leading to the award of the J.D. (Juris Doctor), the L.L.M. (Master of Laws) and the J.S.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) degrees.

Pacific McGeorge offers both a three-year day division program and four-year evening division program. Pacific McGeorge graduates are eligible to sit for the bar examination in any American jurisdiction.

The goal of Pacific McGeorge is to educate future members of the legal profession for responsible service in the many roles that lawyers perform. Students acquire legal knowledge and analytic skills through traditional classroom courses, as well as through extensive clinical and advocacy programs.

Pacific McGeorge recently welcomed the entering classes of 2007 and 2008. The 366 members of these entering classes come from over 100 different colleges and universities. More than 50 undergraduate majors, including many in the sciences, are represented. The entering classes come from more than 30 of the United States and from several foreign countries. The range of students is between 20 and 46 years old.

The entering student classes are over 46% female. Ethnic minority enrollment in the entering classes is approximately 21%.

[edit] How McGeorge Rates in the U.S. News & World Report's Annual Law School Rankings

For a few years, Pacific McGeorge's status in the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings put them in the dreaded "4th Tier"--the bottom quartile of U.S. law schools. However, beginning in the late 1990s McGeorge realized a jump to the 3rd tier. In 2004, the annual rankings saw Pacific McGeorge jump from the 3rd Tier to the 2nd Tier, placing it among the Top 100 Law Schools in the United States. They have been able to hold their place in the 2nd Tier ever since, prompting people to examine the factors contributing to Pacific McGeorge's ascendence in the law school rankings.

Extensive renovations of existing classrooms, the implementation of wireless technology throughout the campus, the hiring and retention of top-notch faculty and a concerted attempt to make Pacific McGeorge more visible and active in the local community has likely contributed to Pacific McGeorge's rise in the annual law school rankings. It has also been suggested that alumni have played a key role in boosting the rankings by becoming more active in promoting the school. Part of this effort stems from the fact that up until the mid-1990s, Pacific McGeorge was not well-known outside of Northern California.

Pacific McGeorge once had a notorious reputation for attrition, with some reports suggesting that perhaps 10 to 20 percent of each first-year class failed out of the school. However, in recent years, Pacific McGeorge has made a concerted effort to become more selective in admissions and to provide additional help to first-year students to assist in their transition from undergraduate studies to the demanding and highly competitive environment of law school. These approaches have significantly reduced the attrition rate.

Among knowledgable legal practitioners, judges, and others in the legal community, Pacific McGeorge enjoys a reputation for providing a first-rate legal education with outstanding instructors, high academic standards, and a rigorous curriculum. Pacific McGeorge's increasingly accomplished entering classes combined with its quickly rising national reputation ensures that Pacific McGeorge graduates are well positioned for employment in a wide variety of legal and business positions situated in regions throughout the country.

[edit] Areas of Specialization

In addition to completing requirements for the Juris Doctor degree, Pacific McGeorge students who wish to add additional value to their legal education may elect to complete additional requirements for a specialization or concentration certificate in a number of areas of law.

International Business

Center for Global Business & Development
- Pacific McGeorge Institute for Global Business
- Institute for Sustainable Development

Governmental Affairs

Capital Center for Government Law and Policy

Advocacy

Center for Legal Advocacy and Dispute Resolution

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice Concentration Requirements

Intellecutal Property

Intellectual Property Concentration Requirements

Tax

Tax Concentration Requirements

[edit] Location

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law campus is located in the Oak Park area of Sacramento, California, the capital of the State of California.

Pacific McGeorge Campus Location and Directions: Map

[edit] Journals and Publications

Faculty-edited publications

Journal of National Security Law & Policy

Description and current volume Journal of National Security Law & Policy
- A journal focused on issues of war and terrorism, international relations, democracy, and civil liberties.

Law journals and student publications

Experiential Learning

McGeorge Law Review (formerly titled The Pacific Law Journal)