Deans • Ronald F. Phillips (1970–1997) • Richardson R. Lynn (1997–2003) • Charles Nelson (2003–2004) •
Ken Starr (2004–2010) • Thomas G. Bost (2010–2011) •
Deanell Reece Tacha (2011–2017) • Paul L. Caron (2017–present)
Faculty •
Nancy D. Erbe (LLM, JD) — Faculty (2000–2003). Professor of Negotiation, Conflict Resolution & Peacebuilding. Awarded five Fulbright honors including Fulbright Distinguished Chair •
Colleen Graffy — Former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy for Europe and Eurasia • Amb.
Douglas Kmiec — Former White House Counsel to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and Former Ambassador to Malta •
Edward Larson — Pulitzer Prize–winning author •
Grant S. Nelson — Specialist in
real estate law •
Ken Starr — Former Dean, former D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, and former
United States Solicitor General •
Deanell Reece Tacha — Former Dean and retired Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals •
Ben Stein — Former faculty (1990–1997), writer, lawyer, actor, and commentator •
L. Timothy Perrin — Former faculty (1992–2012) and president of
Lubbock Christian University (2012–2019) •
Jim Gash — Eighth president of
Pepperdine University Visiting faculty •
Samuel Alito —
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States •
Akhil Amar — expert in constitutional law, professor at
Yale Law School •
Bob Goff — NY Times bestselling author and humanitarian •
Gary Haugen — CEO of the
International Justice Mission •
Antonin Scalia —
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Notable alumni •
C. David Baker — President & CEO of the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. •
André Birotte Jr., 1991 — United States District Judge in the
Central District of California. •
Rod Blagojevich, 1983 — Former Governor of Illinois (2003–2009). •
Raymond Boucher, 1984 — Noted trial attorney. •
Derek Brown, 2000 — Chairman of the
Utah Republican Party and former member of the
Utah House of Representatives. •
Jeffrey S. Boyd, 1991 — Justice of the
Texas Supreme Court, 2012–present. •
Ronald B. Cameron, 1973 — Former Congressman for
California's 25th congressional district. •
Rick J. Caruso, 1983 — CEO of Caruso Affiliated. •
Mike Cernovich, 2004 — Political commentator, social media personality, and conspiracy theorist. •
Rich Cho, 1997 — General Manager of the
Charlotte Hornets. •
Travis Clardy, 1988 — Member of the Texas House of Representatives, 2012–Present. •
Talis J. Colberg, 1983 — Attorney General of Alaska, 2006–2009. •
Chris DeRose (author), 2004 —
New York Times Bestselling Author, law professor, and political strategist. •
Jennifer A. Dorsey, 1997 — United States District Judge for the
United States District Court for the District of Nevada. •
Charles R. Eskridge III, 1990 — United States District Judge in the
Southern District of Texas. •
James Hahn, 1975 — Mayor of
Los Angeles, 2001–2005. •
April Haney — Actress known for her roles in
Annie and
Charles in Charge. •
Randall Hicks — Adoption attorney, author, and novelist. Winner of the 2006
Gumshoe Award. •
Edward C. Hugler — Acting
Secretary of Labor under both Presidents
Barack Obama and
Donald Trump. •
Faith Ireland, 2005 (Straus Institute Certificate) – Former Justice of the
Washington Supreme Court. •
Alan Jackson, 1994 – Criminal defense lawyer noted for the Karen Read trial and defending
Harvey Weinstein. •
Candice Jackson, 2002 – Former acting Assistant Secretary of Education for the
Office for Civil Rights, Author, Media Figure. •
Brent A. Jones, 1991 — Republican member of the
Nevada Assembly. •
Theodore Kanavas — Former member of the Wisconsin State Senate, 2001-2010. •
Lisa Katselas, 1985 - Film Producer and BAFTA Award Nominee •
Mike Leach, 1986 — College football coach at several schools, former head coach at Mississippi State University. •
Rachel Luba, 2016 - Sports agent and founder of Luba Sports. •
Greg Nibert — Member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, 2017–Present. •
Wiley Nickel — United States Congressman from North Carolina. •
Beverly Reid O'Connell, 1990 — United States District Judge for the
United States District Court for the Central District of California. •
Geoffrey Palmer — Billionaire real estate developer. •
Kate Payne, 1989 — Bioethicist and professor at Vanderbilt University. •
Amy Peikoff — Chief Policy Officer of Parler. Attended first year at Pepperdine Law before transferring to UCLA. •
Doug Peterson, 1985 — Attorney General of Nebraska, 2015–2023. •
Jason Peterson — Chairman of
GoDigital Media Group. •
Todd Russell Platts, 1991 — U.S. Congressman from
Pennsylvania, 2001–2013. •
Pierre-Richard Prosper, 1989 — United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, 2001–2005. •
Michael Reardon – Famous rock climber, and former head of business affairs at
Harvey Entertainment. •
Michael Reinstein — Chairman of Regent Private Equity. •
Charles Rettig —
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, head of the IRS, 2018–2022. •
Steve Roberts – Missouri State Senator. •
Rachel Rossi — Former counsel to Senator
Dick Durbin. Director of the Office for Access to Justice at the
United States Department of Justice. •
Meredith Salenger (Straus Institute Certificate) — Actress, vocalist and mediator. Known for her roles in
The Journey of Natty Gann,
Dream a Little Dream, and as Barriss Offee in
Star Wars: The Clone Wars. •
Jenna Sanz-Agero, 1995. — Media executive and former member of the band
Vixen. •
Robin Sax, 1997 — Author, legal analyst, and former prosecutor. •
Troy Slaten — Attorney, media pundit, and former child actor in
Cagney & Lacey and
Parker Lewis Can't Lose. •
Izabella St. James — Reality TV star. Former girlfriend of
Hugh Hefner. •
Brian Tucker (MDR) – Businessman and Real Estate Developer. •
Ted Weggeland — California State Assemblyman, 1992-1996. •
Edward Ulloa, 1995 — Prosecutor who handled many of the first internet child sexual predator cases. •
Ehsan Zaffar, 2007 — Senior government advisor, law professor, and author. ==Honor societies==