McGeorge's nationally ranked advocacy programs will receive a big boost from the law school's new Advocacy Board of Advisors that was launched this spring.

Thirty-seven alumni, many of them former members of the law school's trial advocacy and moot court competition teams, held a virtual organization meeting to discuss plans for the infant advisory board.

The participants represented more than four decades of McGeorge graduating classes and included retired Superior Court Judge Allan Hardcastle, '79, former Capital City Trial Lawyers Association Advocate of the year Dan Wilcoxen, '72, and Parker White, '80, for whose late wife Noël Ferris, '79, the law school's modern courthouse is named after.

The board is charged with providing guidance and support to McGeorge's faculty, administration, and students with regard to educational programs and professional development in the fields of advocacy and dispute resolution. The board will consist of 10 to 15 members serving three-year terms led by an elected chair and vice chair.

McGeorge's trial advocacy program is rated No. 8 in the nation in the latest U.S. News & World Report. The law school's appellate advocacy program, which traces its illustrious history back to international law moot court national championships in the early 1980's, is also highly rated.

"We have enjoyed tremendous support from our alumni over the years." says Cary Bricker, the Noël M. Ferris Professors of Trial Skills. "Dozens of our former student advocates act as coaches for our teams, and we're also extremely fortunate to have law firms such as Dreyer Babich lend significant financial support."

"Many of more well-known law schools in the country are pouring more resources into their intercollegiate competition teams in an effort to gain more recognition for their lawyering skills programs," Bricker says. "We welcome the involvement of an Advocacy Advisory Board to keep us abreast of what's going on in the profession to make sure our graduates are practice-ready."