Pacific alumnus Arthur Scotland, a prominent attorney and former presiding justice for the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, has been elected to serve as a member of the University of the Pacific Board of Regents. His three-year term begins July 1.
Former state justice named to Board of Regents
Arthur Scotland, a prominent attorney and former presiding justice for the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, has been elected to serve as a member of the University of the Pacific Board of Regents. His three-year term begins July 1.
Scotland's distinguished career includes serving as a law enforcement officer, prosecutor, appellate attorney, policy adviser to a governor, trial judge and appellate justice. Scotland is an alumnus of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. "We are delighted to welcome Art to the board," said Kathleen Lagorio-Janssen, chair of the Board of Regents.
"His experience and commitment to Pacific will be invaluable in guiding the university as we work to make Pacific ever stronger and find new ways to serve our students."
Scotland began his career as an undercover agent for the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, experience that led him to pursue a law degree. Upon graduating from McGeorge, he served as a deputy district attorney in Sacramento and a deputy in the state Attorney General's Office. After serving in the policy office of then-Attorney General George Deukmejian's successful 1982 gubernatorial campaign, he became Cabinet Secretary to the Governor and liaison to state agencies in Gov. Deukmejian's administration.
Scotland was appointed to the state Superior Court for Sacramento County in 1987 and two years later to the state Court of Appeal. He served as an associate justice on the appellate court from 1989-1998 and as the presiding justice from 1998-2010. In 2000, Scotland initiated a court outreach program that included court sessions at public high schools in most of the 23 counties within his judicial district.
His career also included service on the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal and the Judicial Council of California. The Sacramento County Bar Association named him Humanitarian of the Year in 2002 for his work on behalf of the Sacramento Children's Home and Judge of the Year in 2004. The Judicial Council gave him the Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence in 2010 honoring a member of the judiciary for "extraordinary dedication to the highest principles of the administration of justice." In 2014, the Sacramento County Bar Association named him the Distinguished Attorney of the Year.
Scotland serves on the executive committee of the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court, founded in 1988 by then-Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, U.S. District Court Judge Milton L. Schwartz, and former University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law Dean Gordon D. Schaber as a forum of judges, attorneys, and law students to promote ethics, civility and professionalism in the practice of law.
In 2012, Scotland joined Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross & Leoni LLP, a government law, political law, and lobbying firm in Sacramento.
Active in the community, Scotland volunteers for the Sacramento Children's Home, the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, McClatchy High School's Law and Public Policy Academy and other causes, including the education of school children about the legal system and their rights and responsibilities.
Pacific's Board of Regents is entrusted with final responsibility for the quality and integrity of the education provided by the university. It selects the university president, approves the mission of the university, and ensures provision of adequate resources to support that mission. In addition, the board protects the university from external pressures antithetical to academic freedom and to university autonomy or integrity. The board currently has 29 members.
About University of the Pacific
Established in 1851 as the first chartered institution of higher education in California, University of the Pacific prepares students for professional and personal success through rigorous academics, small classes, and a supportive and engaging culture. Widely recognized as one of the most beautiful private university campuses in the West, the Stockton Campus offers more than 80 majors in seven schools. The university's distinctive Northern California footprint also includes its San Francisco Campus, home to the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry and new graduate programs in health, food and technology fields, and Sacramento Campus, home to the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and new graduate programs in health, education, business, public policy and analytics. For more information, visit students.pulse.pacific.edu.
Media contact: Claudia Morain | 209.946.2313 (office) | 209.479.9894 (cell) | cmorain@pacific.edu
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