Alumni Success

Explore the diversity of our Alumni careers, to learn what a Juris Doctor degree can provide. One Degree. A World of Option.

Over the years, Ben has developed an extraordinary legal expertise in human exploitation and trafficking. His career began as a research attorney for the California District Attorney’s Association (CDAA) and from there a Legal and Legislative Consultant to the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST). In August of 2011 he became a Special Deputy Attorney General for the California Department of Justice . In that capacity his team wrote a comprehensive report for the Attorney General entitled, “The State of Human Trafficking in California in 2012.” They also delivered a comprehensive analysis of California’s anti-trafficking law enforcement and victims support response, with recommendations for improvement. Ben has traveled to 12 countries lecturing on human trafficking and trained police forces in 4 countries. He has published 15 articles in national and international journals, some of which have been cited by appellate courts. In addition, Ben served for three years as Staff Counsel for the California Department of State Hospitals conducting involuntary medication & treatment hearings and serving on the Sexually Violent Predator Review Panel. Working as Senior Staff Counsel for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Marijuana Control, he helped to draft business regulations for the dozens of emerging cannabis industry’s license types contemplated under California law.

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Extensive and Diverse Alumni Network

Our success can be seen in the extraordinary achievements of our graduates in bar passage rates and dynamic careers. San Joaquin College of Law graduates serve as District Attorneys, Superior Court judges, court commissioners, administrative law judges, general counsel of large corporations, in-house counsel to agricultural enterprises, and much more. Alumni have benefitted from launching their careers in a region where the population is growing and the prospect of getting into a prominent position quickly is proven higher. If a graduate desires to leave the Valley, he or she is in a strategic position to make a lateral move to a city of their choice or obtain a leadership position nationally or internationally.

More than 30% of the practicing lawyers in the Fresno-Clovis area are SJCL graduates. Of the women lawyers in the area, nearly 44% are SJCL graduates. More than 37% of the minority lawyers are graduates.

Careers of SJCL Alumni in the Area Include

  • Administrative Law Judge
  • Baker, Manock & Jensen
  • Bankruptcy Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • California State Assistant Attorney General
  • Centex Homes In-House Counsel
  • Children’s Hospital of Central California Counsel
  • City Attorney
  • County Counsel
  • District Attorney
  • Dowling Aaron
  • Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
  • McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth
  • Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • Member, Fresno County Board of Supervisors
  • Pappas Telecasting, Special Counsel & Vice President
  • Private Practitioners in every area of practice
  • Public Defender
  • Saint Agnes Medical Center Counsel
  • Superior Court Commissioner
  • Superior Court Judge
  • Research Attorney, Fifth District Court of Appeal
  • Research Attorney, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • Trinity Fruit In-House Counsel

Careers of SJCL Alumni Outside the Area Include

  • California Environmental Protection Agency, Deputy Director
  • California Secretary of Health & Human Services
  • California State Water Resources Control Board, Member & Chair
  • Chevron Human Resource Manager, Asia south Business Unit, Thailand
  • Chief of Staff for California State Assemblyman
  • Contra Costa County Court Commissioner
  • Delta Dental, In-House Counsel, San Francisco
  • Glenn County Superior Court Judge
  • Honeywell Corporation, Phoenix, Arizona
  • Monterey County Superior Court Judge
  • Nevada Care Counsel & CEO
  • Point Loma Nazarene University, Fermanian Business Center Director
  • San Francisco Assistant City Attorney
  • San Luis Obispo County Court Commissioner
  • Santa Barbara County Counsel
  • TelePacific Communications Corp, Assistant General Counsel, Nevada
  • U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Washington, D.C.
  • Wells Fargo Bank, Trust Counsel, North Carolina