The Career Development Office (CDO) at McGeorge provides students with tools and resources for lifelong professional development in the legal community. Whether you are a 1L still trying to figure things out or a recent graduate, the CDO is here to help you be your best when looking for a job. Join us at one (or several!) of our many career-oriented events throughout the year, take advantage of our networking resources, or make an appointment to review your application materials and discuss your career goals and the best path to achieve them. With an experienced team leading the way, the CDO gives students at McGeorge a leg up on the competition.
Dean Molly Stafford is the Assistant Dean of the Career Development Office & External Relations and is a 2002 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law. She came to McGeorge from California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA), where she was a staff attorney and manager of the CRLA Rural Fair Housing Center (RFHC). During her 4 years at CRLA, she practiced civil litigation in many areas of law — wage/hour, landlord/tenant, real property, unlawful termination and special education — and provided state-wide fair housing litigation support to CRLA’s 21 offices.
She passed the California State Bar in 2003 and began practice at the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco where she represented tenants relating to all aspects of their housing, presented training on fair housing law for clients, staff and major law firms. Molly taught practical legal skills to students in the Honors Lawyering Program as an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco.
Professor Leah Adams, a 2007 graduate of McGeorge School of Law, is the Director of CDO Communications, Programming, & JD Employment, and an Adjunct Professor of Global Lawyering Skills. Before returning to McGeorge, Prof. Adams managed her own practice as a criminal defense attorney and family law litigator in the Bay Area. Prior to that, she worked for a litigation boutique law firm in San Jose and as a volunteer attorney with the Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley. Leah also has experience working for public agencies, including an Arizona public defender and the State of California.
In addition to general career advising and document review (for all McGeorge students and alumni), Prof. Adams is our go-to networking expert and is available to work with students and alumni to develop their individual career search and networking plans. She works with on-campus student organizations, professors, alumni, and outside legal organizations to plan and implement innovative career-related programming, and she also manages and oversees the CDO’s communications strategies.
Professor Erin O’Neal Muilenburg is the Director of Capital Lawyering Concentration and Government & Capital Employment, as well as a professor of Global Lawyering Skills. She is a 1997 graduate of Stanford Law School. Prior to joining McGeorge, Prof. Muilenburg worked as a federal civil litigator for a national law firm in San Francisco as well as a boutique law firm in Sacramento. Erin also has clerkship experience, having served as a judicial clerk for federal district Judge Jon P. McCalla in the Western District of Tennessee. Prior to attending law school, Erin was a California Senate Fellow in the office of Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Lockyer.
In addition to working with all JD and LLM students and alumni, Prof. Muilenburg places emphasis on strategizing with those interested in McGeorge’s Capital Lawyering concentration, government and public interest employment, legislative work, judicial clerkships, and lobbying, and students in our MPP, MPA, and MSL graduate programs. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Global Lawyering Skills, and works to provide in-depth instruction on persuasive written and oral advocacy in order to enhance and deepen students’ experience in legal research, writing, and analysis and prepare McGeorge graduates to be practice-ready as they begin their careers.
Ms. Isabella Hannon is the CDO’s Assistant Director of Recruitment. She came to McGeorge with more than 10 years administrative experience, primarily as the executive assistant to the CEO of Tesco Controls, Inc., an environmental controls systems and manufacturing corporation. She also has experience as a staffing recruiter for Spherion, Inc, making her ideally suited to help students prepare for interviews and learn the “do’s and do not’s” when meeting employers. At the CDO, Isabella manages the On-Campus Interview Program (OCI), handles job postings on McGeorgeCareersOnline, organizes major CDO events, and much more.
Mr. Rydder Kramer is the Coordinator for the CDO, the Externships Program, and the Faculty Support Office. At the CDO, Rydder helps organize the various events and programs the office hosts throughout the year, coordinates reciprocity with other law schools, and manages the CDO’s blog site, McGeorge @ Work. He previously worked at a mergers and acquisitions firm in Seattle, WA, where he served as the Senior Marketing Coordinator with an emphasis on event management, digital marketing, prospect management, and staffing within the marketing department. He also brings large-scale project coordination experience from his time with Boeing, and has previous experience working closely with students as a Spanish tutor at Gonzaga University.
Come by Northwest Hall or make an appointment to start planning your career!