Governmental Affairs Faculty
Leslie Gielow Jacobs, Director, Capital Center for Government Law & Policy;
Professor of Law
Professor Jacobs currently serves as Director of the Pacific McGeorge Capital Center on Government Law & Policy, dedicated to studying issues of federalism and government structure and aiding government policymakers who must navigate their complexities. She has authored a substantial and important body of scholarship on constitutional doctrine, governance and national security. Professor Jacobs' articles have appeared in law journals at Yale, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State, UC Davis, Rutgers, Tulane, Florida and Indiana. Her separate pieces of scholarship on bioterrorism and national security have appeared as invited submissions to Homeland Security: Law and Policy (William Nicholson, ed. 2005), Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense (J. Wiley, 2005), the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, and the interdisciplinary journal, Biosecurity & Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice & Science. Most recently, she is co-author of Global Issues in Constitutional Law and the pending Global Issues in Freedom of Speech and Religion, both in casebook format and designed to supplement and modernize law school teaching through the introduction of international and comparative cases and materials.
J. Clark Kelso, Senior Counsel, Capital Center for Government Law & Policy;
Professor of Law
Professor Kelso works closely with all three branches of state government. He recently served as acting commissioner of the Department of Insurance in the wake of a scandal that forced the elected commissioner to resign. He won the 1998 Bernard E. Witkin Amicus Curiae Award, which was presented by the California Judicial Council for his outstanding service to the state's courts.
Anne Bloom, Assistant Professor of Law
Professor Bloom holds a Ph.D. in political science, with expertise in public law, American politics and political theory. She was a public interest lawyer in Washington, D.C., with Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, for more than nine years before teaching law and politics at Occidential College in Los Angeles.
Gerald Caplan, Professor of Law
Professor Caplan has worked in public administration for much of his career. His federal government service includes positions as Director of the National Institute of Justice, Acting President of the Legal Services Corporation, and Deputy Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Affairs. Professor Caplan taught for 15 years at George Washington University's National Law Center.
Glenn A. Fait, Associate Dean; Lecturer in Law
Associate Dean Glenn Fait is a nationally recognized expert on administrative law. He heads McGeorge's Institute for Administrative Justice, which trains hundreds of hearing officers for the Social Security Administration and manages the Special Education Hearing Office and the California Parole Advocacy for the state.
Brelend C. Gowan, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Gowan, the Deputy Chief Counsel for the California Department of Transportation, specializes in government tort liability. A former senior trial attorney for CalTrans, he advises that state agency in areas of law such as risk management and OSHA.
J. Michael Hawkins, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Hawkins is a lobbyist for Kaiser Permanente, the country's largest not-for-profit HMO. He monitors proposed legislation before the California State Legislature, tracks bills that potentially impact his company, and represents its interests before individual legislators and committees.
Phillip L. Isenberg, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Isenberg was a Sacramento city council member and its mayor, and spent 14 years in the State Legislature, where he held numerous leadership roles. Since retiring from the Legislature in 1996, he has continued to work in the public policy arena.
Brian K. Landsberg, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professor of Law
Dean Landsberg served as Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice in the first year of the Clinton Administration. He had spent 22 years with the DOJ, including 12 years as chief of the Civil Rights Division's Appellate Section, before beginning his legal academic career as an adjunct at Georgetown University.
Nancy C. Miller, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Miller, the managing partner of the Sacramento law firm of Hyde, Miller, Owen & Trost, serves as legal counsel to local government entities in six northern California counties. She is a member of the Judicial Selection Committee for the Eastern District of California.
Mary-Beth Moylan, Assistant Professor of Law
Professor Moylan joined the faculty in 2000 after four years in private practice as a civil litigator. Prior to that, she clerked for Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California. She co-founded the Miami-based Haitian Refugee Center National Project while a law student.
Lance H. Olson, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Olson is a senior partner in a Sacramento law firm, which represents the California Democratic Party. He co-chaired an alumni advisory board that laid the groundwork for the development of Pacific McGeorge's Governmental Affairs program. Professor Olson has been practicing political law for 20 years.
Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, Dean
Dean Parker's expertise in national security and terrorism comes from 11 years of federal service, first as general counsel of the National Security Agency (1984-1989), then as principal deputy legal advisor at the U.S. Department of State (1989-1990), and as general counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency (1990-1995).
Rachael Salcido, Associate Professor of Law
Professor Salcido was an associate with Pillsbury Winthrop LLP in San Francisco, specializing in environmental law issues, before joining the faculty in 2003. She represented high-profile clients in environmental regulatory compliance, including compliance with the federal Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.
John Cary Sims, Professor of Law
Professor Sims' recent scholarship includes advice to attorneys representing foreign nationals in American criminal courts. He spoke on the extradition case of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet at the Congress of Union Internationale des Advocats in New Delhi, India.
Barry J. Stern, Visiting Professor of Law
Professor Stern, a member of the faculty of the Western New England College School of Law, has worked in state government in Alaska and Vermont. He served as legal counsel to the Alaska Criminal Code Commission and later was special counsel on a law revision project for the Vermont Legislature.
Kirk E. Trost, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Trost, the chief financial officer of a Sacramento law firm that specializes in local government litigation, is legal counsel for a variety of governmental entities, including several California cities and counties. He is a frequent lecturer at programs put on for local government officials by the League of California Cities.
Jefferson D. Vest, Adjunct Professor of Law
Professor Vest is an assistant chief counsel for the Board of Equalization. He has formulated many of the important formal opinions issued by the State of California in the past seven years. Professor Vest oversees the state agency's Appeals Section.
Gregory S. Weber, Professor of Law
Professor Weber has mediated important environmental disputes in Mexico and Canada. He and his family lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, while he was on sabbatical working for the Forest Stewardship Council in its efforts to protect tropical forests there. Professor Weber is a part-time mediator for the Center for Collaborative Policy.
