Analea Patterson, ‘03, is the secretary of cabinet affairs for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, serving as the governor’s principal official responsible for managing state government for the fourth largest economy in the world. In this role, she oversees the work of all state agencies and departments within the administration as well as development of the state budget. Patterson has dedicated her career to public service and the legal profession in California and nationally, having served in all three branches of government and in private law practice.

Prior to her appointment as cabinet secretary, Patterson served as Gov. Newsom’s secretary of legal affairs. In this role, Analea provided legal advice and counsel to the governor and state agencies, as well as oversaw all litigation to which the governor or the State of California was a party.

Prior to joining the Newsom Administration, Patterson was a partner in the law firm of Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe until 2018. Her national practice focused on advising emerging technology clients in finance, insurance, and other highly regulated industries to anticipate and solve complex legal and operational challenges. At Orrick, Patterson also led the firm’s national pro bono legal and legislative collaborative project with nonprofit entities to close legal loopholes that prevented full prosecution and denied justice to victims of sexual extortion. She received the Legal Momentum Women of Achievement Award in 2020 for her work on sexual extortion. Patterson also received Orrick’s firm-wide Pro Bono Award for her work on a multi-year collaborative project with Intel Corporation to provide legal representation to families with at-risk children navigating California’s legal guardianship process. That project was recognized by Public Counsel and received the 2009 California State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.

Patterson previously served as deputy political director for the California Democratic Party, and as campaign manager for Bill Lockyer’s successful campaigns for California Attorney General. While attending McGeorge School of Law, Analea worked full-time as special assistant for policy and planning for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, where she managed numerous policy initiatives including obtaining a $50 million state appropriation to implement a statewide project to identify and perform DNA testing on warehoused evidence from unsolved sexual assault cases. The project ultimately identified 30,000 untested rape kits in evidence lockers throughout the state, led to hundreds of cold hits linking perpetrators to unsolved cases, and developed the state’s crime lab infrastructure to support widespread use of DNA testing in sexual assault and other crimes.

Patterson’s public service career also includes serving as policy and legislative director for Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, law clerk for the Honorable Frank C. Damrell (ret.) on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and legislative director for a California State Assemblymember.

Patterson lives in Sacramento with her husband and two children.

Throughout 2024, the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law will celebrate members of its vast alumni network in honor of the school’s 100-year anniversary. This post is part of a series highlighting 100 exceptional McGeorge School of Law alumni.

Stay tuned for more blog posts as we celebrate the law school’s centennial anniversary.