University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law alumnus Brad Lee ’91 has committed a substantial estate gift to support the legal writing program, creating the Bradford H. Lee Endowed Chair in Legal Writing. 

“This extraordinary estate gift will make a difference for generations of law students in a meaningful way,” said Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz. “The gift will also help the law school recruit and retain top faculty for one of our strongest programs. I am grateful for this investment into the future of McGeorge and its innovative legal writing program.”

The gift will help students develop legal analysis and writing skills.

“It was just the right thing to do. I was trying to give back to the school because for me, the greatest benefit of McGeorge was teaching me a different way of thinking about and looking at problems,” Lee said. “I learned to analyze problems from a different perspective.”

McGeorge is ranked No. 31 in the nation for legal writing, according to U.S. News & World Report. McGeorge’s distinctive, three-semester Global Lawyering Skills legal writing program is an intensive, immersive experience in research, writing and oral advocacy that develops law students into practice-ready graduates.

“I wanted to make sure that my gift was something that would help students in their law careers in terms of skills they would actually use,” Lee said.

Third-year law student Bethany Samarin called the program “phenomenal.” 

“I had the opportunity to practice and receive feedback from professors on a variety of writing assignments that are critical for attorneys to master, including: memorandums, letters to clients, motions, mediation and appellate brief,” Samarin said. “The program also helps students develop speaking skills related to their writing, such as oral arguments and mediation. After taking these writing classes, I feel exceptionally prepared for practice.” 

Lee received his law degree from McGeorge in 1991 through the school’s evening program to develop critical thinking skills that he applied to his career as a physician. He has a Doctor of Medicine degree from Howard University College of Medicine and a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Now retired, Lee served in a variety of roles throughout his 30-year career in the United States Air Force, including emergency medicine physician, flight surgeon, hospital commander, chief of the medical staff and command surgeon.

Lee has also worked for the past decade as a ringside physician for the Nevada State Athletic Commission where he protects the health of boxers and mixed martial artists by determining their suitability to compete.

The Lee chair will be McGeorge’s 9th endowed faculty position.