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School of Law
Malibu, California

Message From the Dean
welcome
“First principles” matter to me. Whether in the law, in one’s faith, or in one’s
personal and professional conduct, the ever-present construct of first principles
must guide us in life’s many endeavors. It was so for me as a judge. It is so for me
as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law.
Our first principles are embodied in our mission statement, which provides that
Pepperdine is committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and
Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service,
and leadership. A fundamental component in the School of Law’s contribution
toward fulfilling this vision is the student-professor relationship. The abiding goal
of our highly qualified faculty is to put students first by maintaining our widely
noted traditions of being both excellent and well-prepared classroom teachers,
superior and engaged scholars, and approachable and available mentors. We seek
to maintain the “open door” as a living reality rather than a mere cliché.
We believe that being a lawyer is much, much more than having a job. It is a
calling and a commitment to engage in all forms of public service. We believe
that all lawyers, no matter where they work or what they do, should be trained
as lawyer-patriots. There are extraordinary lawyers around the globe, including
many Pepperdine law alumni, who shine as patriots for the rule of law in humble,
even hostile, everyday places. We lawyers need to reclaim our sense of a noble
professional calling and at Pepperdine we are seeking to do just that.
We strive to listen, to learn, and to help every member of the School of Law
community define dreams and achieve aspirations. The law school is an
extraordinarily welcoming place where great things are done, with ever-growing
contributions to our law, our country, and our troubled world.
As you consider which law school to attend, I urge you to carefully consider
joining us. May this be an endeavor of joy based on our shared “first principles!”
Deanell Reece Tacha
Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law

Preparing Peacemakers
and Justice Seekers
A Distinctive Law School
The mission
of Pepperdine
University School
of Law is to provide highly
qualified students with a superior
legal education that equips them
to excel in the legal and business
marketplaces.
Pepperdine’s Christian heritage
and values affirm that legal
professionals serve their clients
and communities best when their
educational training incorporates
the professional, ethical, and
moral realms of legal decision
making and counseling. Toward
that end, Pepperdine strives
to prepare its graduates to be
peacemakers and justice seekers
in all that they do.
James Monroe aptly said, “At the
end of each educational step, the
question to be asked is not ‘What
has the student learned?’, but
‘What has the student become?’”
Pepperdine seeks to produce not
only good lawyers, but also good
people.
Students who seek to explore
the intersection of law and faith
will find numerous opportunities
both in and out of the classroom
at Pepperdine. While courses
that specifically explore the
intersection of law and religion
are not a part of the required
curriculum, opportunities to
delve deeply into matters of
faith, policy, and legal practice
are abundant in various elective
courses. Moreover, students have
opportunities to participate in
student- and school-sponsored
formal and informal gatherings
for fellowship, encouragement,
and discussion of important
issues.
As a direct outgrowth of their
abiding faith commitment,
Pepperdine’s faculty and
administration demonstrate
genuine concern for the total
education and personal wellbeing
of all students regardless
of their faith or perspective.
As persons of infinite dignity,
students are the very heart of
the educational enterprise. In
this welcoming environment, the
faculty and deans invite students
into their offices and into
their lives, serving as teachers,
mentors, and co-discoverers.
law.pepperdine.edu

Pepperdine University
Location
Boasting one of the largest legal communities in the world, Greater Los Angeles provides students
with opportunities for hands-on experience outside the classroom, as well as a large potential job
market. Only 30 miles away, downtown Los Angeles is a focal point for the emerging Pacific Rim,
and serves as a center for international trade and finance.
Many Pepperdine students interested in entertainment law take advantage of Pepperdine’s unique
proximity to the entertainment world, enjoying internships and full-time positions with the
surrounding studios and production companies. As a cultural and entertainment center, Greater Los
Angeles provides all of the attractions and diversity of a big city.

Library
The intellectual centerpiece of Pepperdine University School of Law is the
40,000-square-foot Jerene Appleby Harnish Law Library. It provides generous
amounts of comfortable seating, a learning lab, private conference rooms,
wireless network access with mobile printing for laptops and other mobile
devices, legal database access, and more than 400,000 volumes of law-related
materials. While physical facilities are important, it is people who provide the
service, and the library staff is first-rate.
86%
Pepperdine’s FIRST-TIME
pass rate on the july
2012 California bar
exam
CALIFORNIA Overall
FIRST-TIME pass rate
67.3%
law.pepperdine.edu

Pepperdine University
Pepperdine is consistently
ranked among the most
beautiful campuses
by The Princeton Review.

law.pepperdine.edu

Students
Ashley Cook
Every summer since her college
sophomore year, Ashley Cook has
volunteered at a secondary school
in Uganda. “I had worked in developing
countries as part of my undergraduate
experience,” says Cook, who graduated magna
cum laude from UCLA. “And what resonated
most with me were the legal issues, primarily
those involving child advocacy.”
Cook chose Pepperdine for its Global Justice
Program and other global opportunities, and
after completing her first year of law school,
she returned to Uganda to work at the Uganda
Supreme Court where she assisted the chief
justice with formulating policy and drafting
opinions. She also worked on advocating for
children left in custody, sometimes for periods
that would have met their original maximum
sentences. According to Cook, Pepperdine has
been instrumental in helping to expedite trials
through plea bargaining.
Currently ranked at the top of her class,
Cook is the note and comment editor for the
Pepperdine Law Review and is a co-chair for
the Interschool Moot Court Team. Cook was
selected as a summer associate with Jones
Day, ranked among the world’s best law firms
providing legal counsel to approximately
half of the Fortune 500. She has accepted a
position with the firm following graduation.
She also continues to advocate for others
through her pro bono work at Pepperdine’s
Appellate Advocacy Clinic.
According to Cook, while law is inherently
competitive, Pepperdine offers a different
experience. “The attitude that we can all do
well has been incredibly important to my
legal education and has been one of the most
enriching aspects of my time at Pepperdine.”
Joseph Cardosi
As a fire support and information operations officer
serving in Afghanistan, Joe Cardosi witnessed
the struggles of a nation fighting corruption and
lawlessness. A former U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
economist, Cardosi joined the U.S. Army in 2007 out of
a sense of patriotic duty. When he returned stateside, he
realized he had a different calling.
“Seeing such a broken and corrupt system in Afghanistan
made me appreciate our legal system in the U.S. I wanted
to be a part of maintaining and improving it,” says
Cardosi.
Cardosi graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s
degree in economics and international affairs from Florida
State University. He completed Army Officer Candidate
School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, in 2008 and deployed to
Afghanistan the following year, where he was awarded a

Brittany Takai
Bronze Star Medal for actions in combat. During his
time at Pepperdine, Cardosi has served as lead articles
editor for the Pepperdine Law Review and has interned
for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in its National Security
and Narcotics Section. He was a judicial extern for the
chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia and a summer associate for the law firm Jones
Day.
One of the most rewarding aspects of Cardosi’s
experience at Pepperdine has been the focus on
values such as service and leadership. “The School of
Law’s values are very similar to those I lived by in the
military,” says Cardosi. “There is a stereotype of lawyers
as selfish and immoral. It’s refreshing to be part of a
community that is focused on fostering the personal and
professional integrity that is necessary to be a leader in
this noble profession.”
“ When I first visited Pepperdine,
I immediately felt the sense of
community. Just by observation, I
could see that the faculty, staff, and students
were so supportive of each other,” says
Brittany Takai, a graduate of UCLA. Takai
fully immersed herself in the Pepperdine
community by pursuing the JD/MBA jointdegree
program. Her love of entrepreneurship
and her desire to enhance her relationship
with future clients also made the Palmer
Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law an
attractive opportunity for her educational
career. “Lawyers are risk assessors and
tend to stifle the innovative processes of
business people. I want to be a risk assessor
for businesses but also want the ability to
understand what business owners’ goals are
and why they take certain risks to achieve
those goals,” explains Takai.
As a Palmer Fellow, Takai also became involved
with the Palmer Center’s Micro-Enterprise
Program, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
that helps underprivileged members of the Los
Angeles community seek gainful employment
and launch micro-businesses. Takai has
served as lead consultant within the program,
managing teams and leading marketing
initiatives to support the mission.
Takai reflects on her experience at Pepperdine
by noting, “I have learned that something
as taxing and challenging as law school can
be a positive and enjoyable experience when
you have supportive people around you.
Pepperdine seeks to cultivate lawyers who
do good in the world, and you will come out
of law school more intelligent, analytical,
compassionate, and ready to make a positive
impact on your clients.”
law.pepperdine.edu

Students
John Niemeyer
Jessica Covington
John Niemeyer’s decision to attend Pepperdine
took place nearly half a world away from
Southern California. He was serving as country
director for Restore International Ltd. in Kampala,
Uganda, when he encountered the faculty and
students behind Pepperdine’s Global Justice
Program.
“Professor Jim Gash and (then) Vice Dean Perrin
had huge impacts on my perception of what law
school entailed,” recalls Niemeyer, who is now a
Dean’s Scholar at Pepperdine. “I saw in them, and
in the students who traveled to Uganda, a school
that was focused on more than just accolades.
Pepperdine is a school that values service.”
As a research assistant, Niemeyer is working
with Professor Gash in the creation of a book on
Pepperdine’s work in Uganda. Niemeyer is also a
member of the Pepperdine Law Review and the
Interschool Moot Court Team. During his tenure
with Restore International, Niemeyer launched
the Restore Leadership Academy, serving more
than 250 high school students, and formed two
rehabilitative homes for girls rescued from human
trafficking. He also aided the honorary consul
of Uganda to the U.S. as a representative in
discussions on child trafficking.
“The Pepperdine students working in Uganda
were intelligent and driven, and they were using
their abilities to help others. I knew that if I were
to go to law school, I’d want to be in whatever
environment produced them,” says Niemeyer. He
also credits Pepperdine faculty for their active
involvement in their students’ welfare. “Students
spend hours in professors’ offices talking about
anything from the subject matter of the class
to deep, personal, life decisions. That makes
Pepperdine’s faculty quite unique.”
I
knew from age 12 that I wanted to go to law
school,” says Jessica Covington, a University of
Michigan graduate and the current president
of the School of Law’s Student Bar Association. “I
had the lofty dreams that I wanted to help people
and be an advocate.”
“
In her work with the Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic,
Covington is making her childhood dream a
reality. As a law clerk, she assists individuals
in expunging their criminal records in order
to secure employment and start a new chapter
in their lives. She also assists families with
child custody and visitation rights. According
to Covington, Pepperdine helped her to make
service a priority. “Service is such a huge part
of the Pepperdine mission,” she says. “And I feel

John Adams
thankful that these individuals let me into their lives, and
allow me to help them. The opportunity to learn drew me to
the clinic, but the service aspect keeps me coming back.”
Pepperdine’s proximity to Los Angeles was also a draw to
Covington. Ultimately she would like to pursue a career
in entertainment, building on her interests in music
and television. She recently completed an internship
with a leading talent agency, William Morris Endeavor
Entertainment.
Covington describes the Pepperdine community as almost
like a second family. When Covington was struggling with
the demands of school, she credits a Pepperdine faculty
member for helping her to move forward. “I thought I was
going to leave, but this faculty member said to me: ‘We’re
on your side. We want you to be here,’” says Covington. “It
made a huge difference.”
Having an eclectic background as
a salesman, a basketball coach
and mentor for inner-city youth,
and a television actor, John Adams decided
to pursue a legal education in order to do
something that would have a lasting effect
on his family, his culture, and his country.
“In a word, ‘legacy’ is the reason I decided to
enroll in law school,” says Adams, a graduate
of The Master’s College.
During his time at the School of Law, Adams
has been involved as a member of the trial
teams, the Christian Legal Society, and the
Black Law Student Association. He also
has served as a judicial intern with the Los
Angeles County Superior Court of California
and as a law clerk for the Los Angeles County
District Attorney’s Office in the Hardcore
Gang Unit. Adams’ work experience speaks
to his goal of becoming a prosecutor for a
Southern California district attorney’s office
after graduation.
Adams was drawn to Pepperdine because
of its commitment to service. “The law
school and its students emanate a desire to
help others by using the law,” says Adams.
When making his decision of where to
attend law school, Adams explains, “I never
felt pressured to choose Pepperdine. The
people revealed the spirit of the school, and
the decision made itself. I don’t know how I
could have made any other choice.”
law.pepperdine.edu

Journals and Organizations
Journals
Pepperdine Law Review
The Pepperdine Law Review is a scholarly legal journal edited and published
by students selected on the basis of scholarship and the ability to do effective
research and writing. Students write comments and notes on legal developments
and significant cases, as well as edit the lead articles and book reviews written by
professors, lawyers, judges, legislators, and other scholars. Staff membership on the
Pepperdine Law Review is recognized as both an honor and a unique educational
experience.
Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal
The law school published the inaugural issues of the Pepperdine Dispute Resolution
Law Journal in 2001. Focusing on the area of dispute resolution, the journal features
scholastic contributions similar to those found in traditional law reviews, as well as
material written from the dispute resolution practitioner’s perspective.
Journal of the National Association
of Administrative Law Judges
In collaboration with the National Association of Administrative Law Judges
(NAALJ), the law school publishes the Journal of NAALJ. This journal is recognized
as the finest and most scholarly publication exclusively focused on developments
affecting the administrative judiciary. A student staff works with a faculty editor in
publishing the journal.
Pepperdine Journal of Business,
Entrepreneurship, and the Law
The Pepperdine Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Law (JBEL) is
sponsored by the Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law.
The primary objective of the journal is to contribute to the body of legal knowledge
in the fields of entrepreneurship and business through publication of a high-quality
and professional periodical.

Student Organizations
Organizations on Campus*
Numerous student organizations give students the opportunity
to explore varied interests and supplement their classroom
experience while in law school. The organizations are primarily
student-run, and events are as varied as social gatherings,
guest speakers, fundraising drives, and an annual dodgeball
tournament. Each member of the student body is a member of
the Student Bar Association (SBA). The SBA serves the student
body by sponsoring social and educational functions during the
year, and by representing the students in matters involving the
school administration. It also maintains relations with the local
bar associations in order to assist students in fostering social
and professional relationships within the local legal community.
ABA/LSD Law Student Division
Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL)
Animal Welfare League
Asian-Pacific American Law Student
Association (APALSA)
Armenian Law Students Association
Black Law Student Association (BLSA)
Business and Tax Law Society
Christian Legal Society (CLS)
Criminal Law Society
Dispute Resolution Society
Environmental Law Society
Federalist Society
Honor Board
Interfaith Council
International Justice Mission (IJM)
International Law Society
J. Reuben Clark Law Society
Labor and Employment Law Association
Latin American Law Students’
Association (LALSA)
LGBT Legal Society
Moot Court Board
Pepperdine Law Quiz Bowl Club
Pepperdine Law Veterans Association
Phi Alpha Delta
Phi Delta Phi
Simply Service
Special Education Advocacy Law Society
Sports and Entertainment Law Society
(SELS)
Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
Student Bar Association
Student Mentor Program
Women’s Legal Association
Jewish Law Students’ Association (JLSA)
*partial list
law.pepperdine.edu

Faculty
Jim Gash
After graduating from the School of
Law first in his class in 1993, Jim Gash
(JD ’93) went to work for a small
litigation firm before serving as a law
clerk to the Honorable Edith H. Jones,
Unites States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit. He then joined the office
of Kirkland & Ellis in Washington,
D.C., where he focused on appellate
and commercial litigation.
Gash is now a professor of law in
his 15th year at Pepperdine and
teaches Torts, Evidence, and Legal
Ethics. He also serves as the director
of the Global Justice Program in
Pepperdine’s Nootbaar Institute on
Law, Religion, and Ethics. From 2005
until 2012, he served as associate dean
for student life.
In 2010 a new chapter in Gash’s life
opened when he traveled to Uganda to
help a group of juveniles who had been
languishing in a children’s prison for
nearly two years—waiting for their day
in court. Over the next two years, he
returned to Uganda five times to help
other juvenile prisoners get access to
justice.
At the invitation of the chief justice
of Uganda, Gash became a specialist
advisor to the High Court in January of
2012 and moved his family to Uganda
for six months. Over the course of
those six months, he designed and
helped implement a juvenile-justice
structure that seeks to ensure Ugandan
children will never again be forgotten
by the judicial system.
In March of 2013, Gash became the
first American ever to argue a case in
the Ugandan Court of Appeals. The
appeal concerned the case of one of
the boys he met on his first trip to
Uganda in 2010. He returns to Uganda
every few months to continue his work
with the Ugandan judiciary. He says,
“I have had the privilege of working
on some very high-profile and highstakes
cases in my legal career, but the
emotional and spiritual satisfaction
that accompanies helping a nameless
and voiceless child gain access to
justice, and ultimately freedom, cannot
be topped.”
In recognition of his work in Uganda,
Gash was named the recipient
of the 2013 Warren Christopher
Award, which is presented by the
International Law Section of the
California Bar Association to its
selection of California’s International
Lawyer of the Year.

ecognized advocate for updating state laws
to protect individuals against electronic
harassment. She has also worked with
a variety of international human rights
organizations including the International
Justice Mission.
Professor ed larson
Naomi Goodno
“Law school isn’t just about the books,”
says Naomi Goodno, director of the Byrne
Judicial Clerkship Institute and associate
professor of law. “I tell my students that they
do have the power to make a difference.”
Goodno’s own career path has followed this
philosophy, focusing on crimes that lack
legal jurisdiction but impact society’s most
vulnerable populations, including women
and children. After publishing a law review
article titled “Cyberstalking, a New Crime:
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Current State
and Federal Laws,” Goodno has become a
After earning her bachelor’s degree at
Princeton University, Goodno attended UC
Berkeley School of Law and served as an
articles editor for the California Law Review.
She spent her third year at Harvard Law
School where she was an active member of
the Mediation Program.
Goodno joined the Los Angeles firm of
Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan after
graduation. There she litigated civil litigation
cases including white-collar crime and class
actions. She then clerked for the Honorable
Arthur L. Alarcon of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She joined the
Pepperdine School of Law faculty in 2005.
As director of the Byrne Judicial Clerkship
Institute, Goodno oversees a training
program for students accepted into federal
judicial clerkship positions.
“Pepperdine is a special place,” said Goodno.
“I can’t imagine another law school where I
could live my faith in a legal aspect the way I
am now in my teaching and research. I think
students are drawn to Pepperdine for the
same reason.”
On the strength of its
faculty scholarship,
Pepperdine was elected
to membership in
the prestigious
Order of the Coif
in 2008.
law.pepperdine.edu

Faculty
Christine Chambers Goodman
After graduating cum laude from Harvard College, Goodman
attended Stanford Law School, where she participated on the
board of directors for the annual Women of Color and the Law
conference, worked as a teaching assistant in the political science
department, and was an assistant editor for a new journal on
gender issues. After law school she worked as an associate at
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, and at Gipson, Hoffman & Pancione,
engaging in civil litigation in state and federal courts.
Beginning her career in academia at UCLA in 1995, Goodman
joined the faculty at Pepperdine in 2001, where she teaches
Race and the Law, Evidence, and Community Outreach: Youth
Mentoring in Law. She also serves as an advisor to the Black Law
Student Association and the Women’s Legal Association.
A Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) member since
1998, Goodman was unanimously appointed to the LACBA
Board of Trustees and has served as chair of its Diversity in the
Profession Committee.
“I like keeping involved in what real lawyers do day-to-day in Los
Angeles,” says Goodman. “One contribution I hope to make to the
board is to be a role model for others, to show young people that
they too can be leaders in their communities.”

Robert Anderson IV
As an associate professor of law, Robert Anderson’s research blends
politics and economics with the law. He has worked extensively on
modeling judicial behavior and developing computational and empirical
techniques for analyzing corporate transactions and corporate
governance.
“I would describe my interests as encompassing political organizations
generally, in which I would include both those organizations
traditionally studied by political scientists—such as legislatures,
executives, bureaucracies, and courts—as well as those organizations
traditionally studied by economists,” says Anderson.
“I chose political science as a graduate discipline because I was
interested in researching the common elements of how political
organizations, including both governments and firms, make decisions.”
After earning his JD from New York University School of Law,
Anderson worked at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP where his
practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and financial institutions
regulation. In 2003 he chose to return to school to pursue his doctoral
degree in political science at Stanford University.
He joined the Pepperdine School of Law faculty in 2007 and teaches
Contracts, Corporations, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Admiralty and
Law of the Sea.
Anderson has published in the American Political Science Review, the
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the University of Miami Law
Review, and the George Washington Law Review. In addition, he has
presented on panels at the Midwest Political Science Association and
the American Political Science Association annual meetings, and is a
reviewer for the American Political Science Review. He is the author of
the blog Witnesseth: Law, Deals, & Data.
law.pepperdine.edu

Faculty
Gregory McNeal
Gregory McNeal is a national security specialist with expertise in criminal
and international law. In 2013 McNeal testified before the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on the Judiciary regarding the use of unmanned
aerial systems, or drones, for surveillance purposes inside the U.S. This was
his second time testifying before Congress; he previously testified before the
House Foreign Affairs Committee during his first year at Pepperdine.
As an associate professor of law, McNeal offers his students the context behind
legal issues. “When we are in class, we discuss what’s going on in the real
world,” says McNeal. “I can bring my current experience advising policymakers
and government officials right into our discussion.”
McNeal is currently advising members of Congress on matters related to
cybersecurity and the legal authorities governing U.S. armed conflicts. He
is also advising state governments as they work with industry to craft laws
governing commercial use of unmanned systems. Last year, he helped the
Department of Defense draft the first manual in the history of warfare aimed at
preventing harm to civilians in conflict.
Prior to joining the School of Law, McNeal served as assistant director of the
Institute for Global Security, codirected a transnational counterterrorism
program for the U.S. Department of Justice, and served as an advisor to the
chief prosecutor of the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions
on matters related to the prosecution of suspected terrorists held in the
detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Additionally he provided legal
support to the Iraqi High Tribunal and the Regime Crimes Liaison Office
during and after the prosecution of Saddam Hussein. His coedited book
Saddam on Trial: Understanding and Debating the Iraqi High Tribunal was
selected as one of three finalists for L’Association Internationale de Droit
Péenal’s Book of the Year Award.
A Forbes contributor, McNeal’s commentary has also appeared in publications
such as the New York Times, the Washington Times, and the Baltimore Sun. He
has appeared on Fox News Channel, NPR, BBC, C-SPAN, and CNN.

The Pepperdine
law faculty has been
ranked
NUMBER ONE
by The Princeton Review
for the most accessible faculty in the
country for five consecutive years.
professor babette boliek
law.pepperdine.edu

institutes and programs
The Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for
Entrepreneurship and The Law
In today’s high-tech business world, lawyers who have business
skills have an advantage over their peers. The Palmer Center
for Entrepreneurship and the Law at Pepperdine, endowed by
1975 School of Law alumnus, Geoffery H. Palmer (JD ’75), is
designed to prepare students for the heightened demands and
unique opportunities in such areas as business, entertainment
law, securities regulation, and intellectual property rights.
With a diverse curriculum, the center offers a multidisciplinary
certificate program that integrates the study of law, business,
and technology, preparing each student (Fellow) to be a hybrid
of lawyer, business consultant, and financial strategist.
professor Peter Robinson
The Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the
Law offers the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and the Law. The
certificate focuses on tracks in real estate, entertainment and
intellectual property, and corporate law. The program emphasizes
that innovation, leadership, ethics, social responsibility, and
entrepreneurship should go hand in hand. This unique approach
offered by an ABA-accredited law school remains ahead of the curve.
Grant Nelson
William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law
Interim Director, Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship
and the Law
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution
Pepperdine students have the unique opportunity to contribute to the emerging
dispute resolution field while gaining valuable tools for professional practice
through study at the top-ranked Straus Institute. The internationally acclaimed
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution is at the forefront of preparing lawyers
and neutrals to settle conflicts by utilizing the full range of dispute resolution
processes, including negotiation, conciliation, mini-trials, judicial settlement,
mediation, arbitration, and litigation.
The U.S. News & World Report ranking is symbolic of the continuing strength of a
program that combines a uniquely broad and deep academic curriculum with first-rate
professional skills offerings. The institute is breaking new ground as a leader in the
development of mediation worldwide, in the innovative use of media to encourage
changes in the culture of conflict management, and in empirical research.
Tom Stipanowich
Academic Director of the Straus Institute,
William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution, and Professor of Law

Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar
Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics
The Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics was
created to explore the nexus between these three disciplines, with particular
emphasis on the intersection of faith and law. The institute encourages
the examination of law as a theological vocation from the broad range of
Christian, Jewish, and other religious perspectives represented in the law
school’s students, staff, and faculty.
While affirming Pepperdine University’s Christian identity, the Herbert and Elinor
Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics draws from the largest possible pool
of religious voices, seeking dialogue and common ground with other faith traditions.
Robert F. Cochran, Jr.
Director of the Nootbaar Institute and Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law
The Straus Institute for
Dispute Resolution is the
number one dispute
resolution program
in the country
according to U.S. News &
World Report for the ninth
consecutive year.
A Pepperdine law student
talks with women about sex
trafficking in Hyderabad, India.
law.pepperdine.edu

institutes and programs
Global Justice Program
The Global Justice Program touches all
corners of the globe through its initiatives
in international human rights and religious
freedom, advancement of the rule of law, and
global development. Through these initiatives,
students and faculty collaborate to seek justice
and create a lasting impact in some of the
world’s most vulnerable places. Under the
umbrella of the Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar
Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, the
Global Justice Program is growing rapidly in
response to student interest and demand from
global partners.
Professor Jim Gash interviews a juvenile prisoner at
the Ihungu Remand Home in Masindi, Uganda.
“On my trip to Uganda, I personally experienced the transformational impact of Pepperdine’s Global Justice Program on individual lives, on those served and those serving.
I also encountered face-to-face the enormous need in the world for justice and our responsibility as lawyers and people of faith to do what we can to restore freedom and
dignity to victims of injustice. My wife Kathy and I created the David J. and Katherine M. Barrett Scholarship to help others benefit from this important work.”
David Barrett (JD ’91)
Assistant General Counsel, San Diego Gas and Electric Company
School of Law Board of Visitors

Advocacy Program
Pepperdine has a national reputation for
excellence in advocacy. The excitement starts
early each school year with the fall intraschool
Armand Arabian Advocacy Tournament,
where 2L and 3L students compete individually
for honors and prize money in an appellate
format. In the spring, the Vincent S. Dalsimer
Intraschool Team Appellate Advocacy
Competition takes place, with the exciting
final round and the elegant law school dinner
occurring on the same Saturday. In past years,
the final-round bench has included United
States Supreme Court justices Sandra Day
O’Connor, Byron White, Clarence Thomas,
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Chief Justice John
Roberts. The intraschool moot court calendar
concludes with all 1L students participating in
an appellate argument.
Interschool Trial and
Appellate Advocacy
Competitions
Pepperdine fields outstanding teams each
year to compete against law schools from
across the nation. Professor Harry Caldwell
(JD ’76) coordinates the interschool trial
teams, guiding students through intense,
challenging training through the Honors Trial
Practice course. Professor Nancy McGinnis
(JD ’85), faculty advisor to the Moot Court
Board, coaches the appellate team members
who have been selected by the Moot Court
Board’s tryout process. Both the trial and
appellate teams have a remarkable record
of success, winning numerous regional and
national competitions.
Pepperdine’s trial teams continue to have great success in national competitions. The training these select students receive
is invaluable in their future careers as trial lawyers. The preparation and effort for these interschool competitions mirror that
preparation and effort essential in the actual world of trial advocacy. Moreover, the poise and confidence so essential to success
in the fiercely competitive world of trials is honed and shaped by the intensity these students experience in competition.
Harry Caldwell Professor of Law
law.pepperdine.edu

off-campus education
washington, D.C. Externship program
The School of Law currently offers
upper-division students the opportunity
to work in an approved full-time legal
externship in Washington, D.C., during
the spring semester. Students live in our
nation’s capital and gain valuable work
experience at externships in government
positions, courts, lobbying firms, and
in myriad legal positions at NGOs. In
addition to the full-time externships,
students take additional course work at
Pepperdine’s facility on Pennsylvania
Avenue, just blocks from the White
House. A limited number of graduatestudent
apartments are available in the
Pepperdine facility, or students may
choose to find their own housing.

Our D.C. externship students enjoy a depth of experience and
learn specialized legal skills that will set them apart and increase
the contribution they can make to future employers—in D.C. or
elsewhere. Living in our nation’s capital gives students a close
perspective on current legal debates and energizes them about how
far a career in the law can take them. Former participants in the
Washington, D.C. Externship semester are now working on Capitol
Hill, for lobbying firms, for federal agencies, and in D.C.-area law
firms.
Nancy Hunt
Director, Washington, D.C.
Externship Program
exchange programs
During the 2013–2014 academic year,
the School of Law is participating in
student exchange programs with the
University of Augsburg School of Law
in Augsburg, Germany, and Universidad
Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
law.pepperdine.edu

clinical education
Clinical Programs
Through the clinical education program,
Pepperdine students have significant opportunities to experience the real practice of law.
Clinics and externships advance students’ formation as effective, ethical professionals
and public citizens. In clinics, students synthesize knowledge and skill in client-centered
practice with discipline, wisdom, creativity, integrity, and purpose. Students learn for
transfer so that they may translate their legal education readily into their careers. Through
the externship program, students earn credit for work in field placements with hundreds
of attorneys and judges throughout Los Angeles, California, the nation, and the world.
Students work in public interest, judicial, governmental, and select corporate law offices
where they apply their education to real-world cases and clients. Students gain essential
insight into the work, roles, and culture of practicing attorneys while cultivating valuable
relationships in the profession.
Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic and Family Law Clinic
In 1999 Pepperdine partnered with the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission to develop the Pepperdine Legal
Aid and Family Law Clinic at the Union Rescue Mission. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the mission
provides emergency food and shelter, health services, recovery programs, education, job training, and
counseling. Students and professors staff the clinic at the mission, where they meet with residents and others
in need of legal assistance and provide direct legal services. The Family Law Clinic helps clients resolve issues
such as child custody and support.
In Pepperdine’s legal clinics, students advance from “thinking like lawyers” to being lawyers. Students represent real
clients with real cases and bear heavy responsibility for their advice, counsel, and advocacy. The experience forms
students into professionals ready to practice law and develops the virtues necessary for great, ethical lawyers. We do
this while seeking justice for vulnerable people in our community, and expressing our mission by providing excellent
legal services for people in need.
Jeffrey R. Baker
Director of Clinical Education and Associate Clinical Professor of Law

Special Education
Advocacy Clinic
The Special Education Advocacy Clinic,
housed at the law school, gives law students
an opportunity to gain valuable experience
advocating for children with developmental
disabilities and their families. The clinic
empowers parents of these children by assisting
them both as counselor and advocate to obtain
the appropriate educational services for their
children as mandated by law.
Appellate Clinic
In the Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy
Clinic, students represent indigent clients with
appeals before the federal Ninth Circuit Court
of Appeals. Students brief and argue courtappointed
cases in federal court under the
supervision and guidance of expert appellate
lawyers. This affords students with advanced
experience in practice at a very high level, with
significant consequences for the clients and law
and policy nationally.
Investor Advocacy Clinic
Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute
Resolution recently launched the Investor
Advocacy Clinic, funded by the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor
Education Foundation. Under supervision, law
students handle arbitrations and mediations
before FINRA on behalf of California investors
who have claims of less than $100,000, household
incomes of less than $100,000, and who have
arbitral disputes with their securities brokers
and/or brokerage firms.
Each summer
more than
50 students
participate in public
interest work in the
U.S. and abroad.
law.pepperdine.edu

courses and clinical opportunities
externships
Pepperdine works to establish continuing, high-quality placements with excellent lawyers who provide rich experiences and critical feedback to students as
they advance toward practice. With the Career Development Office, students have access to hundreds of field placements with lawyers and judges across
scores of practice areas and contexts. These are a few of the offices where our students have worked recently:
Public Interest
AARP Foundation
Alliance for Children’s Rights
Anti-Defamation League
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
Children’s Law Center of California
Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles
Human Rights Project
Mental Health Advocacy Services
National Association of Securities Dealers
National Center for Victims of Crime
St. Joseph Health System
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Public Service
California Attorney General
California Department of Fair Employment
and Housing
California Department of State Dependency
Court Legal Services
California National Guard
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Trade Commission
Internal Revenue Service
Los Angeles City Attorney
Los Angeles County Counsel
Los Angeles District Attorney
Los Angeles Public Defender
Orange County District Attorney
San Diego County District Attorney
Santa Clara County District Attorney
Securities and Exchange Commission
United Nations
United States Attorney
Ventura County
Judicial
California Superior Court
California Courts of Appeal
California Supreme Court
United States Bankruptcy Court
United States Courts of Appeals
United States District Courts
United States Immigration Courts
Entertainment
Activision
BET Networks
Comedy Central
Dreamworks, SKG
Fox Broadcasting
Fox, Inc.
Fox Television
Lionsgate
MTV
NBC Universal
Paramount Pictures
Screen Actors Guild
Sony Music
Sony Pictures
Warner Bros.
Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Writers Guild of America

courses
Required Courses
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Corporations
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Evidence
Federal Income Taxation
Legal Ethics
Legal Research and Writing
Property
Remedies
Torts
Wills and Trusts
Elective Courses in the
following areas
Business and
Commercial Law
Civil Litigation
Constitutional Law
Criminal Law and Procedure
Dispute Resolution
Entertainment and
Sports Law
Family Law
Intellectual Property
International and Comparative Law
Labor Law
Professional
Lawyering Skills
Property and
Environmental Law
Public Interest Law
Taxation
Technology and Entrepreneurship
Tort Law
Joint-Degree Programs
Offered
Juris Doctor/Master of Business
Administration
Juris Doctor/Master
of Dispute Resolution
Juris Doctor/Master
of Public Policy
Juris Doctor/Master
of Divinity
Pepperdine’s
first-year class has a
median LSAT of
160
and median GPA of
3.59.
law.pepperdine.edu

career development
career development office
The Career Development Office assists students
as they navigate their transition from student to
professional. Experienced staff members are available
for individual appointments to discuss job-search
strategies, resume-writing and interviewing skills,
networking opportunities, and other aspects of career
counseling. Throughout the academic year, the Career
Development Office offers workshops and programs
designed to illuminate the job-search process.
The Career Development Office also hosts
a large number of employers, including law
firms, government agencies, businesses, and public
interest organizations, who interview students
during the office’s fall and spring recruiting programs,
and an active, online job-posting service through
which employers can solicit student applicants
throughout the year.
Pepperdine School of Law’s Career Development Office
provides students and alumni with comprehensive and
individualized services through proactive placement
assistance, career counseling, professional development
programs, and marketing to employers. All of our
career counselors have several years of law-practice
experience and are familiar with recruiting trends in a
variety of legal practice and geographic areas.
Selina Farrell Brandt (JD ’92)
Assistant Dean for Career Development

LEGAL EMPLOYERS*
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
Alverson, Taylor, Mortenson & Sanders
Alston & Bird
Best, Best & Krieger
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
Bingham McCutchen
Bremer, Whyte, Brown & O’Meara
Bryan Cave
California Department of Justice
Chapman, Glucksman, Dean, Roeb & Barger
Christie, Parker & Hale
Dechert
Disability Rights Legal Center
District Attorney’s Office
(various locations)
Fisher & Phillips
Fitzpatrick & Hunt
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service,
Office of the Chief Counsel
Jones Day
K&L Gates
Katten Muchin Rosenman
Keesal, Young & Logan
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
McDermott, Will & Emery
McKenna, Long & Aldridge
Milstein Adelman
O’Melveny & Myers
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
Proskauer Rose
Public Defender’s Office (various locations)
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold
Sheppard Mullin
U.S. Army & Navy JAG Corps
U.S. Attorney General (various locations)
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Venable
White & Case
Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman
*partial list
law.pepperdine.edu

alumni
André Birotte
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California
At the helm of the United States Attorney’s Office
for the Central District of California is Pepperdine
alumnus André Birotte (JD ’91), who was nominated
by President Obama and took office in early March
2010.
“It’s so far beyond my wildest dreams that I would
even get this job,” says Birotte, who is the first African
American man to serve in the post. “I am honored
and humbled to be given this incredible opportunity.”
Birotte’s office is the second largest U.S. Attorney’s
Office in the country and has roughly 275 assistant
U.S. attorneys with a rotating number of special
assistants on loan from other departments. The
office also has one of the most diverse practices of
any public law firm. “We have a civil division, a tax
division, and a criminal division,” Birotte explains.
“You name it and we probably cover it. One of the
beauties of the job is that these are the kinds of cases
that have a direct impact on the communities that we
serve.”
Getting to the top of the U.S. Attorney’s Office was a
long road for Birotte, who attended Tufts University
for his undergraduate studies before Pepperdine
brought him to the West Coast. Pepperdine professors
who served as mentors made the difference for him.
“I always felt from the moment I got there that I was
supported by the school.”

Beverly Reid O’Connell
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
“What attracted me to Pepperdine is the accessibility of
faculty and the family-like atmosphere,” says U.S. District
Court judge Beverly Reid O’Connell (JD ’90). “What my
Pepperdine experience taught me was that ethics and
integrity matter, and that no case is more important
than your own reputation. I don’t think I could have
passed the high level of scrutiny that comes with being
appointed a district court judge without embracing these
principles, and that started for me at Pepperdine.”
Judge O’Connell was confirmed to the U.S. District Court
by a unanimous vote in 2013. She previously served as a
judge with the Los Angeles County Superior Court. She
is the first Pepperdine alumnus appointed to an Article
III court.
Her legal career began in civil litigation with the law firm
Morrison & Foerster. She then served as an assistant U.S.
attorney for the Central District of California before her
appointment to the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Judge O’Connell also sat by designation on the California
Court of Appeal for the Second District, Division Eight,
and served as supervising judge of the North Valley
District of the Superior Court.
“Pepperdine gave me an education for which I’m
eternally grateful,” says Judge O’Connell. “I received
a scholarship which enabled me to graduate without
student loans and permitted me to work in the public
sector. That trust gave me a desire to give back, both
to my community and my school.” Judge O’Connell
regularly participates in moot court competitions and
serves as an adjunct professor, as well as a mentor to
Pepperdine students.
law.pepperdine.edu

alumni
Rich Cho
General Manager, Charlotte Bobcats
Current general manager (GM) for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association, Rich Cho
(JD ’97), has traveled a long road to the top. Cho was born in Burma and moved to Seattle with his family
when he was 3 years old. Early on, his father worked the graveyard shift at 7-Eleven, and his mother
worked in a library and took an hour-long bus ride to work every day. “Coming from a humble background
made me not only hungry to succeed, but I also wanted to make my parents proud,” he explains.
After earning a degree in mechanical engineering, Cho was an engineer for Boeing for five years. A
longtime sports fanatic, Cho decided to get into sports management and chose Pepperdine for law school.
During law school summers, Cho interned for the Seattle SuperSonics, working for GM Wally Walker. It
was there that Cho developed a sophisticated software program to rank
players and even did scouting for the SuperSonics while studying for
the Washington State Bar exam.
After interning with the SuperSonics, Cho was hired full-time in
1998. When the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
he relocated with the team, working as assistant general
manager for nine seasons. “I’ve been really lucky to work for
people like Wally Walker and Rick Sund, the GM after Wally,
and Sam Presti in Oklahoma City,” says Cho of his early training.
When Cho was named GM of the Portland Trail Blazers in July
2010, he became the first Asian American GM in the history of
the NBA. He was tapped by the Charlotte Bobcats, a team
owned by the legendary Michael Jordan, in June 2011.
“As an engineer and an attorney, you develop a
problem-solving approach on a lot of issues
and you learn to think more analytically,” Cho
explains. “I think the best conversations in
this business happen when you’re determined
to get something done, whether it’s trying
to make a trade or working with a player’s agent.
It’s really helpful to put yourself in the other guy’s
shoes, and the law helps you do that.”
Barbara Stettner
Managing Partner, Washington D.C.,
Allen & Overy
As a partner in the U.S. Financial Services
Regulatory Practice and managing partner
of the global law firm Allen & Overy in
Washington, D.C., Barbara Stettner
(JD ’94) advises domestic and foreign
financial institutions on a wide range of
regulatory and compliance issues. It’s
a leadership role for which Stettner is
uniquely qualified, having earned both her
MBA and JD from Pepperdine University
and subsequently working for the SEC’s
Division of Trading and Markets and the
Office of International Affairs prior to
joining private practice.
“I’ve always been interested in how the
securities markets drive growth and
raise the standard of living in emerging
economies,” says Stettner, a former member
of the School of Law Board of Visitors. She
credits Pepperdine faculty in helping her
to combine her interests in finance and
law. “Faculty like Janet Kerr (JD ’78) at the
School of Law and Wayne Gertmenian at
the Graziadio School, among others, helped
me to focus on what I wanted to do,” she
says. “The faculty are the crown jewels of
the University.”
While at the Securities and Exchange
Commission, Stettner served as special
counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel
and as an attorney-advisor in the Office of

Jim M. Rishwain, Jr.
Firm Chair, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Risk Management and Control. Previously
she served as senior counsel in the SEC’s
Office of International Affairs. As a
member of the Financial Services Volunteer
Corps, Stettner also provides pro bono
technical assistance to emerging markets
including Russia, Romania, and Jordan.
Looking ahead, Stettner sees opportunity
for recent graduates in financial services
given the many changes in the law since
the market crash in 2008. “A young person
starting out can make herself relevant early
on in her career because it’s all new; we are
all learning the recently enacted Dodd-
Frank regulatory framework at the same
time, which has leveled the playing field a
bit for new lawyers,” she says.
“Leadership is not about rank, title, or privilege,”
says James Rishwain, Jr. (JD ’84), chair of the
international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop
Shaw Pittman LLP and the 2011 School of Law
Distinguished Alumnus. “Leadership is about
responsibility.” He credits his Pepperdine education
for instilling a set of guiding principles that has
developed trust, empathy, and confidence within
his firm.
In his leadership role, Rishwain has expanded
the firm’s international reach while intensifying
its industry focus and its focus on client service
and firm integration. Within the firm’s real estate
practice, Rishwain conducted the financing for
such landmarks as the Beverly Hills Le Meridien
Hotel and the Sahara Hotel and Casino. He was
also lead counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School
District on a nearly $1 billion project of public
improvement that led to the development of more
than 100 schools.
Rishwain’s interest in law began at age 7, when he
witnessed his mother struggling to read the fine
print of a “book of the month” club contract. He
vowed at that young age to become an attorney and
understand contracts. Today Rishwain is highly
acclaimed as a leading real estate professional. He
has been named to Who’s Who in L.A. Law by the
Los Angeles Business Journal and was California
Lawyer’s 2005 Attorney of the Year. He was recently
appointed chair of the board of directors for
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of
Los Angeles, which advocates for children in foster
care.
In 2010 Rishwain established the Pillsbury
Scholarship to recruit the best and the brightest to
Pepperdine. “In order to be a successful attorney in
this marketplace, you must couple being talented
with a keen sense of determination,” says Rishwain.
“Graduates from Pepperdine are both.”
law.pepperdine.edu

accelerated option
Accelerated Option
Pepperdine University School of Law offers an accelerated, two-year
juris doctor (JD) degree option that is paired with the opportunity to
simultaneously earn a certificate from the number one-ranked Straus
Institute for Dispute Resolution. This distinctive and innovative
approach blends rigorous legal education at a leading institution
with significant skills and training geared toward practicing law
in the 21st century. The Accelerated Option may be a good choice
for motivated students willing to work at a faster pace to finish law
school sooner.
The Accelerated Option provides graduates with the opportunity to
enter the workforce a year before the traditional three-year degree
program, gaining an early advantage on the path to professional
success. After an initial summer session beginning in May, the
Accelerated Option students will enroll in the regular first-year
JD classes and continue to matriculate in the regular JD program.
In total, the Accelerated Option students will take classes in four
semesters and two summer sessions.
With the rising cost of legal education in mind, the two-year
approach enables students to earn income from their careers sooner
and may allow them to limit some living expenses. Tuition costs
under the Accelerated Option are not necessarily less than under the
regular JD, as the overall unit requirement is the same.
Earn a Certificate from the number one
Dispute Resolution Program in the Nation
In the initial summer, Accelerated Option students will attend
classes offered by the School of Law’s highly regarded Straus
Institute for Dispute Resolution. These classes will meet in the
evenings and on Saturdays. Because the Accelerated Option students
will have such intensive involvement in the institute, they will also be
able to earn the Certificate in Dispute Resolution.
alexandra wolter
I believe Pepperdine’s reputation for leadership
in the legal field comes from its combination of
rigorous academics and purposeful service. The
accelerated JD degree option allows someone like
me, a professional with advanced degrees already,
to be a part of the Pepperdine legacy by offering
that same superlative legal training in a format
that makes the most of my time.

preceptor program
Launched in 2012, the Preceptor Program connects Pepperdine
law students to legal practitioners from the very first day of law
school. All first-year JD students at the Pepperdine University
School of Law are randomly assigned in groups of two or three to
a practicing attorney or judge in the local area. These "preceptors"
agree to serve as mentors for the students throughout their first
year of law school. The term "preceptor" simply refers to an expert
that provides practical experiences to a student, which is an
important component of legal education.
preceptor program
The preceptors meet with their mentees two times each semester.
Although the meetings may take different forms for different
situations, the preceptors are encouraged to take the students
to work to witness the preceptor in action, and to either attend
a class with the students or meet with the students in a social
environment for coffee or lunch. The hope is that such meetings
will serve as a springboard for discussions that produce valuable
learning experiences that would not have occurred in a traditional
classroom.
Anthony Ellis
The number one reason I chose Pepperdine
was for its sense of community. The faculty and
students really help and support one another.
With the Preceptor Program, every first-year
student is assigned a mentor. Right off the bat, my
preceptor was more than a mentor—he invited
me to his home and became a friend. As a result,
we established a comfort level that allowed me to
ask him anything.
After spending time with these students, I realized that it was not about
what you accomplished as a successful attorney, but rather what you
have done with those accomplishments. It’s about who you helped realize
their goal. It is about what you have given back. And when you know
that you have helped a mentee succeed, the rewards from that sense of
achievement actually belong to you as much as the mentee. It has been
an emotionally fulfilling experience.
Gerry DeSimone (JD ’83)
Partner, DeSimone & Huxter
2013 Preceptor of the Year
law.pepperdine.edu

admission
Apply online at LSAC.ORG via the LSAC Electronic Application.

For more information
visit law.pepperdine.edu
or contact:
Shannon Phillips
Assistant Dean, Admissions,
Student Information and
Financial Services
310.506.4631
shannon.phillips@pepperdine.edu
Steve Chaparro
Director, Financial Assistance
310.506.4633
steve.chaparro@pepperdine.edu
Selina Farrell Brandt
Assistant Dean, Career Development
310.506.4634
selina.farrell@pepperdine.edu
Carol A. Chase
Director, Off-Campus Education
310.506.4675
carol.chase@pepperdine.edu
Peter Robinson
Managing Director
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution
310.506.4655
peter.robinson@pepperdine.edu
Thomas Stipanowich
Academic Director
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution
310.506.4655
thomas.stipanowich
@pepperdine.edu
Joint-Degree Programs
JD: Shelley R. Saxer
Vice Dean
School of Law
310.506.4623
shelley.saxer@pepperdine.edu
MBA
Full-time Programs: Recruitment
Graziadio School of Business
and Management
310.506.4858
gsbmadm@pepperdine.edu
MDR: Sarah Gonzales (MDR ’07)
Assistant Director
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution
School of Law
310.506.7454
sarah.gonzales@pepperdine.edu
MPP: Melinda van Hemert
Assistant Dean for Student Services
School of Public Policy
310.506.7492
melinda.vanhemert
@pepperdine.edu
MDiv: Timothy Willis
Chair, Religion Division
Seaver College
310.506.4513
timothy.willis@pepperdine.edu
School of Law
Administration
Deanell Reece Tacha
Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean
deanell.tacha@pepperdine.edu
Shelley R. Saxer
Vice Dean
shelley.saxer@pepperdine.edu
Robert J. Pushaw
Associate Dean, Research and Faculty
Development
robert.pushaw@pepperdine.edu
Peter Robinson
Associate Dean, Business and Finance
peter.robinson@pepperdine.edu
Stephanie Buckley
Associate Vice Chancellor,
Advancement, Alumni and
Public Affairs
stephanie.buckley@pepperdine.edu
Selina Farrell Brandt
Assistant Dean, Career Development
selina.farrell@pepperdine.edu
Albert Sturgeon (JD ’11)
Assistant Dean, Student Life and
Director, Academic Success
albert.sturgeon@pepperdine.edu
Herbert E. Cihak
Associate Dean,
Library and Information Services
herbert.cihak@pepperdine.edu
University Administration
Andrew K. Benton
President and Chief Executive Officer
Darryl L. Tippens
Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Gary A. Hanson (JD ’80)
Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer
Charles J. Pippin
Senior Vice President for Investments
and Chief Investment Officer
S. Keith Hinkle (JD ’97)
Senior Vice President for Advancement
and Public Affairs and Chief
Development Officer
Accreditation
Pepperdine University School of Law is approved by
the American Bar Association, holds membership in
the Association of American Law Schools, and is fully
accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners, State Bar
of California. Graduates are eligible to apply for admission
to practice in any state.
University Student Conduct Policy
Pepperdine University expects all its students to adhere
to the highest standard of moral and ethical behavior
in harmony with the school’s Christian philosophy and
purposes. Engaging in or promoting conduct inconsistent
with traditional Christian values is not acceptable.
Nondiscrimination Policy
Pepperdine University does not unlawfully discriminate
on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin,
religion, age, gender, disability, or prior military service
in administration of its educational policies, admissions,
financial aid, employment, educational programs, or
activities. Although Pepperdine University is religiously
affiliated with Churches of Christ, students of all faiths are
welcomed.
The School of Law does not discriminate against any
person on the basis of any sexual orientation that such
person may have. However, sexual conduct outside
of marriage is inconsistent with the school’s religious
traditions and values. Therefore, as a matter of moral and
faith witness, the faculty, staff, and students of the School
of Law are expected to avoid such conduct themselves and
the encouraging of it in others.
Pepperdine University is committed to complying with all
mandates set forth in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students
with disabilities requesting accommodation should
contact the University’s Disability Services Office (DSO)
before their academic program begins. Upon verification
of the student’s disability, the DSO will work with each
student on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate
accommodations. Inquiries should be directed to the
director of disability services at 310.506.6500.
For further information, please visit the DSO website at
www.pepperdine.edu/disabilityservices.
law.pepperdine.edu
LS1306002

School of Law
law.pepperdine.edu