Brittney Barsotti, ’17

The moment I decided to attend McGeorge School of Law is still crystal clear, I stood on the steps outside the courthouse and admissions after Admitted Students Day. I could feel calm and certain to my core. Even though I wasn’t certain what kind of law I wanted to practice and had no idea the shape my career would take, I knew McGeorge was the place this journey would begin. I didn’t want to move to Sacramento. I loved the Bay Area and being close to my family and friends. But, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that to be involved in public policy, McGeorge and the Capital Lawyering Concentration was where I was meant to be.

Now, almost 10 years later, I am so grateful I followed my gut and took full advantage of the courses and Legislative & Public Policy Clinic I never thought I would want to be a lobbyist, but it was the feeling of watching our bill get unanimously off the Senate floor, while I was spending the summer at the Office of Legislative Counsel, that I knew to my core, lobbying was what I was meant to do.

My career didn’t take the path I expected. It was a struggle. I sat for the bar four times, the whole time applying for jobs in and around the building and being told I made it to the final round or “it was so close, but…” I stayed ready. I kept at it. Finally, the day I got sworn in, I interviewed at the California News Publishers Association. As a former journalist, it seemed like a great fit. The Director and General Counsel even knew the attorney who talked me into law school and told me about McGeorge. I got hired and the program at McGeorge enabled me to hit the ground running. A little over a year later, the General Counsel retired and I was promoted. It was like drinking out of a fire hydrant. But again, the Capital Center for Law & Policy had prepared me for success and I had a 10 out of 10 on our top priority bills for the session.

As a member of the Capital Center Alumni Board, I get the honor of supporting the program that I credit with my success and that I know will help others succeed as well. I get to work with my fellow Capital Center alumni, attend and support events, mentor students, and help others find their paths. If nothing else, I can be an example that even if your path doesn’t look like what you thought it would, the Capital Center prepares students for success, no matter the obstacles.

By Brittney Barsotti, JD ’17
General Counsel, California News Publishers Association

Second-year law student Ava Sutton always knew she wanted to be a lawyer. Sutton got involved in mock trial during high school, which cemented her desire to go to law school. Last summer, she externed at the Placer County District Attorney’s Office. Next spring, she has a judicial externship lined up.

Sutton participated in McGeorge’s Global Lawyering Skills Top Oral Advocate Competition recently, which advanced her expertise as an advocate and writer. Sutton received the award for Top Oral Advocate at the competition.

Sutton said the law school is incredibly supportive and encourages anyone thinking about earning a law degree to apply to McGeorge School of Law.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law.

Apply today.

Third-year law student Ilana Shoyket did three externships during her time in law school. She was a legal extern at the California Department of Justice in 2021, a judicial extern at the Office of Staff Attorneys at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2022, and is currently serving as a judicial extern at the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco.

The San Francisco-native decided to pursue a legal education at McGeorge School of Law after falling in love with Sacramento during a fellowship at the California State Capitol during her undergraduate studies. Shoyket was McCarthy Fellow at the California State Treasurer’s Office in 2019.

At the law school, she is involved with the Public Legal Services Society and serves as the president of the Jewish Law Student Association.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law.

Apply today.

The Hon. Margaret Kuroda Masunaga, ’87, is a retired district judge who served the District Court of the Third Circuit in Hawai’i. Judge Masunaga had a lengthy career of public service in Hawai’i in various capacities before serving on the bench for six years.

Judge Masunaga said her favorite professor at McGeorge School of Law was her Constitutional Law professor, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Judge Masunaga said she still has notes from Justice Kennedy’s course.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law.

Apply today.

During Black History Month, McGeorge School of Law celebrates Black students, faculty, and staff and their contributions to the law school community and the legal profession. In this video, campus leaders discuss their legal education, careers, and celebrating Black excellence.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law.

Apply today.

A group photo of 20 people wearing suits posing on stairs outdoors
Students and faculty from the McGeorge School of Law Mock Trial Program in spring 2023.

The Mock Trial Program at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law is consistently ranked among the top 20 programs in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranked the Trial Advocacy Program No. 16 in the nation in its 2023 Best Graduate Schools guide. The program was also one of only 11 in the country to receive an A+ rating from preLaw Magazine in 2022. 

The program was previously led by the dynamic and award-winning teaching duo of Professor Jay Leach and Professor Cary Bricker. They ran the program together for the last 17 years but retired in 2022, when they were awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching Advocacy at the Educating Advocacy Teachers Conference. This award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated a distinct commitment and dedication to improving teaching methodology, advancing the standard of excellence, and fundamentally changing advocacy teaching methodologies. 

Annie Deets joined McGeorge School of Law as the Director of Trial Advocacy and an Assistant Professor of Law on June 1, 2022, and Reza Rezvani joined McGeorge on August 1, 2022 as the Associate Director of Trial Advocacy and an Associate Professor of Law, Legal Practice. 

McGeorge School of Law’s mock trial teams competes throughout the fall and spring semesters at some of the nation’s best intercollegiate competitions. The program’s leadership and student success have earned the law school a national reputation for the quality of its advocacy program. In 2020, McGeorge alumna Simone Leighty, ‘20, won the Top Gun Mock Trial Competition, making her the unofficial national trial advocacy champion, and the team has won many regional and national invitational tournaments over the years. 

The Mock Trial Program trains students to become excellent trial lawyers by teaching them the art of persuasive advocacy in the courtroom. Students compete in trial competitions where they advocate for a client through all phases of litigation, including pretrial motions, opening statements, closings arguments, and direct and cross-examination. The students must analyze the facts and develop a theme and theory of the case. The cases cover both civil to criminal, and the trial fact patterns are often loosely based on real cases. 

National All-Star Bracket Challenge

The Eglet Center for Advocacy & Dispute Resolution’s commitment to excellence persists. Second-year law student Mandi Weburg and third-year law students Alec Watson, Holly Pounders, and Darrin Baluyot won Region Three of the All-Star Bracket on Oct. 9, 2022 and competed at the National Finals in Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida in November 2022. Weburg was one of only two advocates out of 360 students competing in the country to receive an award for Best Advocate in all four rounds of the competition.  

McGeorge’s team competed alongside 63 teams from other law schools in the national finals of the competition. The team was coached by Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho, ‘98, and Sacramento County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Keith Hill, ‘96.

Annual San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association Mock Trial Competition

Second-year law students Razia Bath, Kris Chaney, Kai Ellsworth, and Karla Noyles won the Annual San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association Mock Trial Competition. The competition was hosted at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law on Oct. 29, 2022. This team was coached by Deets and Director of Bar Support Lindsay Harrington, ’03.

“This team showcased their strong advocacy skills, use of courtroom technology, and proficiency in California Rules of Evidence for this competition. They presented their cases with confidence and professionalism while demonstrating advanced trial advocacy skills, especially on both direct and cross-examination of expert witnesses,” Harrington said.

Ellsworth said participating in the mock trial program and on a competition team “was one of the best experiences I have had so far in law school.”

“It really gave us the opportunity to use so many of the skills we have been learning in the classroom and to show members of the legal community what McGeorge students can do,” Ellsworth said.

Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition

Third-year law students Abby Williams and Mark Marsenovic won Region 14 of the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition on Feb. 4, 2023. They will represent McGeorge School of Law at the National Trial Competition Finals in Texas in March 2023. Watson, Weberg, and Pounders were also regional finalists. The team was coached by Ho and Hill.

Jasmine Smith, ’23, knew from a young age that she wanted to be an attorney. She is currently pursuing the Trial & Appellate Advocacy Certificate of Concentration at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.

Smith is a member of McGeorge’s mock trial team and the treasurer for the Trial Advocacy Association. She is also an active member of the school’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA). She served as BLSA’s vice president last year and social media chair this year.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law and the Trial & Appellate Advocacy Certificate of Concentration.

Apply today.

Karla Noyles, ’24, was drawn to McGeorge School of Law because of the school’s location in the California State Capitol. She is exploring her interests in public policy and policymaking through the school’s Capital Lawyering Concentration. 

Karla Noyles serves as the president of the Black Law Students Association. For Black History Month, Noyles and her peers planned a variety of events to educate the community and celebrate what it means to be Black. Noyles is also a member of the Student Bar Association and mock trial team. Through mock trial, she discovered a passion for criminal law and trial advocacy.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law and the Capital Lawyering Concentration.

Apply today.

Khalil Ferguson is a law student, business owner, CEO, community leader, activist, and published author. Ferguson is a native of Richmond, California, but he has lived in Sacramento for the past decade. Before coming to law school, he was the Black Alumni President at California State University, Sacramento and one of the co-founders of their Black Student Union. Last year, he received the Sacramento Bee’s inaugural Top 25 Black Change Makers Award.

Now, Ferguson is a first-year law student at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. He is pursuing the Capital Lawyering Concentration. He is currently exploring his interests in Business Law and Marijuana Law.

Ferguson is also the CEO of a nonprofit organization, the United CORE Alliance. The nonprofit serves disadvantaged communities adversely impacted by the war on drugs and the continuing racial bias in the cannabis industry.

Learn more about McGeorge School of Law and the Capital Lawyering Concentration.

Apply today.

Misael Gutierrez, LLM ’22, recently graduated from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law’s LLM in U.S. Law & Policy Program. He is originally from Guanajuato, Mexico. Gutierrez pursued an LLM degree to challenge himself personally and professionally as well as to open doors to new career opportunities.

In this video, Gutierrez describes some of the challenges he overcame as a first-generation college student and a first-generation law student.

Learn more about: