University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law has become an internationally recognized leader in the field of legal education since its establishment in 1924. Its location in Sacramento, the capital of California, has shaped its focus on public law, international law and advocacy.

Gateway to Opportunities

A degree from McGeorge School of Law is a gateway to dozens of different legal career opportunities. Become one of our nearly 14,000 alumni who work in every state and 64 countries by pursuing a JD full-time or part-time in our nationally ranked evening program. To hear from some of our faculty, alumni, students and staff, check out our Virtual Viewbook.

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The Quad with McGeorge House in the background
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the quad at McGeorge
Learn By Doing

McGeorge has long been a leader in teaching practical lawyering skills hailing back to 1964 when our first clinics opened. Our students learn to apply legal theory to practice, develop professional lawyering skills, and become lifelong learners. Here are a few highlights of our program:

  • The 6th law school in the nation, and the 1st in the West, to require and therefore guarantee that each student complete two authentic, law practice experiences (clinics or externships)
  • The only law school in California to require 11 credit hours of experiential learning
  • One of the few law schools in the country to guarantee every student a judge or practitioner mentor via our innovative Experiential Learning Mentor Program
  • The only law school in California to provide four semesters of classes focusing on the skills lawyers agree are most critical to success in practice: legal research, writing, analysis, and advocacy

McGeorge also boasts Mock Trial and Moot Court Competition Teams ranked in the top-15 in the nation, law journals, and other courses where students learn by doing.

Real-World Curriculum

We offer a wide variety of real-world electives in which our students are immersed in lawyer-like settings with active hands-on methods of instruction to enable the integration of legal theory with professional lawyering skills. Students are involved in projects requiring them to engage in client problem-solving and exercise professional judgment, as lawyers do in practice. Fact-gathering, client interviewing and counseling, negotiation, policy analysis, oral advocacy, and persuasive legal writing are some of the many skills students hone in these innovative practice-focused electives.

legal clinic students at the capitol
Professor Moylan teaching a class outside
Custom Fit

Each student can customize the JD Degree to fit their needs. The choices include Certificates of Concentration in Business, Capital Lawyering, Environmental, Health, Intellectual Property, International, Tax, and Trial & Appellate Advocacy, JD/MPPA Dual Degree Programs, opportunities for International Study, the Fast Track Water Law JD/LLM Program, and our broad array of electives and experiential opportunities.

Whichever course of study students choose, our student-focused faculty will share their enthusiasm for the law through engaging classes, using the same lawyering skills that are deployed in practice. A campus environment of support and cooperation encourages collegiality, and graduates of our JD program are equipped to continue learning from experience as they build their legal career.

Vibrant Sacramento

Known for its natural beauty as the “City of Trees,” the city offers over 300 sunny days per year, pristine lakes and rivers, leaf-shaded neighborhoods with bike paths, art galleries, recreation, nightlife and a historic-meets-new culture. It is also proud home to the Sacramento Kings NBA basketball team, the Sacramento Republic FC professional soccer team and Minor League Baseball’s Sacramento River Cats. Sacramento is a diverse community that is among the top three places where Millennials are moving, and Sunset Magazine recently named it the No. 1 game-changing city in Northern California.

THE CAPITAL CITY ON THE MOVE
the sacramento river downtown
Two people sitting under a tree
Alumni Mentor Program

The program ensures that each student at McGeorge has an alumni mentor. One of only a few law schools in the country to build this into its curriculum, McGeorge matches each first-year law student with an alumnus practicing in an area of law that interests the student. The experience includes a job shadowing opportunity, interviews about the alumnus’ work, and a networking event with the alumnus.