STUDENT SUPPORT “Pepperdine gave out close to $90,000 in stipends to 20-30 students doing public interest work during the summer,” Baker says. “In this last year, we have had over 200 externship placements for students. Even discounting repeat placements, I estimate conservatively that we had 150 students in field placements for credit through the fall, spring and summer.” To support these efforts, the School of Law has created a new position, director of externships. The school hired Terry Adamson, professor and formerly the school’s Distinguished Jurist in Residence, to serve as the first director. The School of Law is also greatly expanding space for the clinical program, including vastly expanded student work areas, confidential client meeting rooms, faculty and staff offices, and a classroom dedicated to clinics, externships, and practicum courses. THE BIG PICTURE At the School of Law, experiential learning is one aspect of a general, deep-rooted focus on mentoring and results-focused dispute resolution at Pepperdine. Other national rankings such as the 2013 Princeton Review continue to recognize the Pepperdine law faculty as among the most accessible and competent in the country. The recent launch of the Parris Professionalism Institute for all first-year law students addresses the fact that “practicing to practice” requires more than legal skills. The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, which just celebrated its 10th consecutive year as the nation’s topranked dispute resolution program, reflects that an awareness of the many paths to resolving disputes. “At Pepperdine, we have two foundational goals for experiential education,” says Baker. “We advance students’ formation as excellent, ethical lawyers, and we do this through world-class practice that advances our missions of service and justice. Through clinics, externships, practicums, public interest programs, and pro bono, we can promote justice, increase access to justice, and generate economic development, while empowering law students for the profession.”
Pepperdine Law Welcomes Three Real Estate Elites to Campus By Tom Inkel Rick Caruso
David Feingold, a senior real estate finance executive with over 30 years of experience in highly structured mortgages and asset management, has joined Pepperdine University School of Law as the new executive director of the Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law. Feingold succeeds the Palmer Center’s founding director, Professor of Law Emeritus Janet Kerr, who oversaw the center’s rapid evolution from its 2000 launch to a fully realized Geoffrey Palmer entrepreneur skills program endowed by alumnus and Los Angeles real estate developer Geoffrey H. Palmer (JD ’75). Before coming to Pepperdine, Feingold was a managing director at Emigrant Realty Finance and Citicorp Real Estate, managing portfolios in excess of a billion dollars. Professor Grant Nelson, the William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law and interim director of the Palmer Center during the past year, describes Feingold as an “an outstanding appointment who will bring increased attention to the center among real estate professionals and academics alike. The law school is so very fortunate to have secured his services.” The hiring of Feingold was a milestone during an exciting year for entrepreneurship and real estate. Nelson and Dean Tacha were also able to facilitate on-campus presentations by Palmer and Rick Caruso (JD ’83), both School of Law alumni and nationally known real estate entrepreneurs. Palmer spoke to students on February 4. His company, G. H. Palmer Associates, currently owns a portfolio of over 9,200 apartments in Southern California. His presentation gave the audience unprecedented insight into his business and success, achieved even during some of the most challenging market conditions in Los Angeles history. Only weeks after Palmer’s visit came the presentation by Caruso, founder and chief executive officer of Caruso Affiliated, one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the United States. Caruso also serves as a member of the School of Law Board of Visitors. On February 12, Caruso spoke to students packing the Henry J. and Gloria Caruso Auditorium—named for his parents—about how he has adapted the concept of “shopping mall” to meet changing economic circumstances, particularly online competition. “The students were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about [Palmer and Caruso’s] presentations,” Nelson says. “Dozens remained after the speeches to seek advice from Palmer and Caruso. Pepperdine is indeed blessed to have these two highly successful and nationally renowned real estate developers as our alumni. Their close connection to the School of Law clearly enhances the school’s growing reputation as one of the nation’s leading Christian law schools.” 9
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