The Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution programs at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law are once again ranked among the top programs in the country, according to a study released today by U.S. News & World Report.

McGeorge School of Law ranks No. 20 in the nation for trial advocacy and No. 21 for dispute resolution. 

“I’ve met so many great people that have found their voice in the courtroom and their passion for trial through McGeorge School of Law’s Trial Advocacy program,” said third-year law student Vanessa Trujillo ’24. “I am really honored to be a part of the mock trial team. The faculty and alumni coaches have been amazing to learn from.”

Dispute Resolution educates law students in skills related to client counseling, negotiation and mediation. McGeorge School of Law finished No. 7 in the nation in the American Bar Association Competitions Championship for the 2022-23 academic year. This ranking is based on law schools’ performance in all American Bar Association-sanctioned competitions. 

“These rankings demonstrate the exceptional caliber of students who are drawn to McGeorge and flourish in our outstanding programs as well as underscore the faculty's unwavering commitment to excellence in these areas,” said Michael Hunter Schwartz, dean of McGeorge School of Law.

McGeorge School of Law houses the Eglet Center for Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, named in honor of alumnus Robert T. Eglet ’88 and his law partner and wife, Tracy A. Eglet. McGeorge is distinctly able to attract top faculty for these programs by virtue of its faculty chairs in trial advocacy and alternative dispute resolution and its professorship in advocacy. 

“We are delighted to learn that our peers continue to recognize the Eglet Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution as a national leader,” said Professor Michael Colatrella, the inaugural Tracy A. Eglet Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution. “With the recent transformative gift by Robert and Tracy Eglet, McGeorge is poised to do even more to advance advocacy and dispute resolution teaching, practice and scholarship on a national level.”

The school also received national recognition for international law (No. 33), legal writing (No. 40), part-time law programs (No. 38) and part-time law program in California (No. 4). 

While U.S. News does not rank law schools’ moot court programs, McGeorge’s program also has enjoyed extraordinary success during the 2023-24 school year. McGeorge’s moot court program was ranked as the No. 10 program in the nation this fall. 

At the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition in Philadelphia, McGeorge teams tied for third and 15th place.

Third-year law students Ava Sutton ’24 and Morgan Graber ’24 earned the No. 2 Best Brief in the competition out of 178 briefs submitted. Sutton was also named as one of the top 5 oralists out of 202 competitors hailing from 101 law schools across the country.

The McGeorge teams comprised two of the four teams selected to advance to the national round of the competition after winning the final rounds of the regional competition in San Francisco. 

McGeorge is led by professors who have attained national and international renown in their fields, including retired U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the law school's longest serving faculty member who taught from 1965 to 2019. 

McGeorge also houses law clinics that provide students experiential learning opportunities to support community members in bankruptcy, elder and health law, homeless advocacy, immigration, legislative and public policy and prisoner civil rights. 

U.S. News & World Report's rankings evaluate 198 law schools fully accredited by the American Bar Association. The rankings are based on a weighted average of the 12 measures of quality including the law school’s acceptance rate, bar passage rate and employment after graduation. The full methodology be found here.