President and Dean Mitchel L. Winick to Retire from Monterey College of Law after 20-years of Leadership

Monterey College of Law's long-standing president and dean, Mitchel L. Winick, will be retiring in July 2025 after 20 years of leading the nonprofit law school.

SEASIDE, CA, UNITED STATES, September 5, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Monterey College of Law has announced that its long-standing president and dean, Mitchel L. Winick, will be retiring in July 2025 after 20 years as leader of the nonprofit California-accredited law school. Winick began his tenure as dean of Monterey College of Law in 2005 and was named president and dean in 2011. During his tenure as chief executive and academic officer, Winick has directed the vision of the institution's growth from a single campus in Monterey to three additional campus locations in San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, and Santa Rosa. Known for having an "entrepreneurial" approach to legal education, Winick initiated many "firsts" at Monterey, including establishing a policy guaranteeing fixed tuition rates during a student's degree program, initiating a two-year Master of Legal Studies degree and a 24-unit graduate LL.M. degree, integrating mediation certification into the traditional J.D. curriculum, expanding mandatory clinical and practical skills training, establishing Monterey as one of the first California law schools to offer an accredited online hybrid J.D. degree program in addition to the traditional onsite program, and building one of the first Platinum LEED certified "green" law school buildings in the U.S.

Responding to news of Winick's intended retirement, David Kirkpatrick, MCL's founding dean, reflected on the school's original 1972 vision, "The law school was founded by local lawyers who wished to have a program that served the entire community with all of its racial, social, and political diversity, rather than a prestigious school only providing training for major urban law firms. Initially, the school had limited resources other than its highly capable students and dedicated adjunct faculty. But to achieve the goals of the school, resources had to be marshaled, relationships within the community created, diverse programs developed, and a track record established to give the school credibility," said Kirkpatrick. "The last 20 years of Mitch Winick's leadership have not only met that goal but expanded the same values and opportunities to many other California communities. In addition to Monterey College of Law, our family of schools now includes San Luis Obispo College of Law, Kern County College of Law, and Empire College of Law (Santa Rosa). I take great satisfaction in seeing the success achieved under Mitch's leadership."

In reflecting on his pending retirement, Winick commented, "I think that if you are fortunate, you get to look back over a long career and feel that your effort has been more a labor of love than the burden of work. In my case, this has been the absolute truth. As I look back over my two decades at Monterey, I consider my experience more of a privilege than a job . . . with the great fortune of working with colleagues, staff, faculty, and community members who are equally committed to expanding access to justice through local legal education. I am also confident that I leave the school in great hands with an administration, board of trustees, faculty, and alumni who will continue to support the program and our students."

Winick received his Bachelor of Arts from University of the Pacific and Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Following retirement, Winick intends to remain engaged in volunteer nonprofit leadership in the Monterey area where he lives with his wife, Debbie, a retired bank executive who is also active in local nonprofit board leadership. He also intends to continue co-hosting the successful podcast SideBar on The Legal Talk Network where law and policy experts are invited to discuss current challenges to our individual constitutional and civil rights.

The law school board of trustees has initiated a search for Winick's replacement this Fall for a position that is anticipated to start in Summer 2025.

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