About Us

Located in the capital of the nation's largest state and the world's eighth largest economy, Pacific McGeorge's Capital Center for Government Law & Policy produces relevant scholarship and analysis to enhancing government functioning and the administration of justice, educates and trains students to excel in the practice of law in or with government entities, and provides service to government and community, from local schools to other nations and global governance entities.

Scholarship

Pacific McGeorge faculty working within the Capital Center contribute to the development of the law and the formation of government policy in a number of different subject areas, and with lenses that cut across disciplines to identify and analyze methods and structures of government law and policy making. Faculty and fellows working within the Institute for the Development for Legal Infrastructure and the Institute for Laws of Health and Aging produce scholarship, conduct ongoing research, and host conferences and symposia aimed at advancing law and policy in those areas. The National Security Law Journal, hosted in part by Pacific McGeorge and located within the Capital Center, publishes articles by academics and professionals twice yearly and is the first law review in the nation devoted to the topic of national security. The Capital Center's Ethics Across the Professions Initiative, funded by a generous grant from the Sierra Health Foundation, hosts yearly gatherings of scholars and professionals to address ethics topics from the perspectives of different fields.

Pacific McGeorge students also contribute through scholarship to the development of government law & policy. Students in the yearly California Initiative Review seminar produce analyses of ballot measures, which the Center publishes on the web and in hard copy to assist voters, legislators, and other interested entities. Each summer, student writers for the McGeorge Law Review create analyses of legislation pending in the California Legislature. These "greensheets" are available on the web as the bills make their ways through the legislative process and in bound volumes of the McGeorge Law Review soon after the governor signs them into law.

Learn more about our scholarship and publications:

Students

The Capital Center offers both a JD Certificate and a master's degree (LL. M.) in Government Law & Policy. Students earn a JD Certificate in Government Law & Policy during their second and third years of law school by completing a series of courses, including an optional field placement, specially designed to train lawyers to draft and argue the interpretation of statutes and regulations, to make or contribute to policy making in the local, state, federal or global arenas, and to assume leadership positions in legislatures, executive branches, government agencies or the judiciary. In the one-year program that yields an LL. M. in Government Law & Policy, students receive comprehensive, real-world training in the knowledge and skills of law practice in or with government entities. Capital Center graduates enter the legal marketplace with a credential that demonstrates that they understand how government works and are ready to practice effectively and successfully in the modern, regulatory and rule-based legal environment.

Capital Center students can enrich their Government Law & Policy education by participating in student government, attending forums and administrative hearings, and publishing analyses of current ballot measures and pending legislation by participating in the California Initiative Review seminar and Greensheets Law Review solicitation described in the Scholarship section above.

Additionally, the Governmental Affairs Student Association (GASA), comprised of Pacific McGeorge students who share a common interest in federal, state, and local governmental affairs, sponsors speakers, organizes a government job fair for students, participates in community service projects, and assists with special events sponsored by the Capital Center.

Scholarships are available for students with a demonstrated interest in public service pursuing either a JD or LL. M. degree.

Learn more about our student programs and activities:

Service

The Capital Center's faculty, staff and students provide service to government and community both through scholarship, reports and analyses advancing the development of law and the delivery of government services and through hands-on activities.

The Institute for Administrative Justice has gained national recognition as a leading expert on administrative hearing practices and dispute resolution. Since 1972, it has provided services to over 45 federal, State, and local agencies, including the U.S. Army, Social Security Administration, California Department of Education, and California Board of Prison Terms. In addition to mediation and administrative hearing services, the IAJ provides hearing officer training and consults on all aspects of administrative adjudication, including the design of hearing procedures and hearing management systems.

Recent and ongoing service activities of the Institute for the Development of Legal Infrastructure include a USAID grant-funded project to advance the development of the rule of law in China through education in methods of advocacy and law teaching, and a program hosted by the U.S. State Department to assist Chile's transition from an inquisitorial to an adversarial legal system through educating Chilean prosecutors in trial skills.

The Institute for Laws of Health and Aging recently hosted a symposium of academics and professionals addressing ways to facilitate voting for the elderly, which has resulted in policy moves at the state and national levels, including a pilot project for the November 2008 election in Vermont using mobile polling sites at nursing homes.

The Educational Pipeline Project engages in a range of activities both nationally and locally, designed to integrate analytical and rigorous law-themed courses, pedagogy, and programs into pre-law school education. The Project provides programs on many levels; however its main focus is on a local Charter High School, where Pacific McGeorge staff and students participate in day-to-day administration, teaching and student activities, structured to encourage at-risk students to succeed.

Learn more about our service activities:

Institute for Administrative Justice
Institute for the Development of Legal Infrastructure
Institute for Laws of Health and Aging
Educational Pipeline Project

Directors

Capital Center for Government Law & Policy

Leslie Gielow Jacobs, Professor of Law
Director, Capital Center for Government Law & Policy
Student Programs and Activities



H. Craig Manson, Distinguished Visitor
and Lecturer in Law
Director, JD Certificate
and LL. M. in Government Law & Policy
Advisor, Government Affairs Student Association

J. Clark Kelso photo J. Clark Kelso, Professor of Law and Senior Counsel,
Capital Center for Government Law & Policy




Institute for Administrative Justice

Glenn Fait, Associate Dean, Special Counsel and Lecturer in Law
Director, Institute for Administrative Justice




Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure

Linda Carter, Professor of Law
Director, Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure
Director, Criminal Justice Concentration


Institute for Laws of Health and Aging

Edward D. Spurgeon, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law
Director, Institute for Laws of Health and Aging
Holder of the Gordon D. Schaber Chair in Health Law and Policy

Educational Pipeline Project

Beth Bulgeron, Educational Pipeline Project Manager
Public Service & Leadership Fellows

Contact Us

Capital Center for Government Law & Policy
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
3200 Fifth Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95817
(916) 739-7104
Fax (916) 739-7072
capital.center@pacific.edu