[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 3, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1117]]
     HONORING DEAN REX R. PERSCHBACHER OF DAVIS, CALIFORNIA ON HIS 
            RETIREMENT AS DEAN OF THE UC DAVIS SCHOOL OF LAW

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 3, 2008

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize Dean Rex R. Perschbacher on the occasion of his retirement as 
the Dean of the UC Davis School of Law. Dean Perschbacher served as 
Dean and in the Dean's office longer than anyone in the history of the 
UC Davis School of Law. He served for 10 years as Dean from 1998 to 
2008. Before becoming Dean, he served for five years as associate dean 
for academic affairs in the School.
  Dean Perschbacher is best known for strengthening the 40-year-old UC 
Davis School of Law's reputation as one of the nation's best public law 
schools. Students are recruited nationwide, and the School is 
frequently honored for the diversity of its faculty and student body. 
Under his leadership, the Law School recruited 26 ladder-rank faculty 
members, expanded the clinical program, started a master's program in 
international commercial law, and established an outreach program for 
underserved college students--many of whom have gone on to law school.
  He worked with campus, university, and state officials to secure 
campus and state funding for the first significant expansion to the 
School's facilities since the completion of the Law School 40 years 
ago. He built a strong foundation of alumni philanthropy and 
volunteerism upon which the next generation of leadership at UC Davis 
School of Law can expand and is credited with increasing private giving 
over tenfold. During his tenure, the School added five endowed chairs 
and professorships, bringing the total number of seats to six. He also 
raised more than $3 million in private donations for the building 
expansion and renovation project.
  Dean Perschbacher taught at UC Davis since 1981 with an emphasis on 
the areas of Civil Procedure, Professional Responsibility, and Clinical 
teaching. He received the Law School's Distinguished Teaching Award in 
1992 and a Special Citation Affirmative Action and Diversity 
Achievement Award in 2001. He has published articles in the areas of 
civil procedure, professional responsibility and lawyers' negotiations. 
He is co-author of United States Legal System: An Introduction (1st and 
2d eds.); Cases and Materials on Civil Procedure (1-5th eds.); 
California Civil Procedure; California Legal Ethics (1-6th eds.), and 
Problems in Legal Ethics (3-8th eds.).
  The Dean has also been involved in law school accreditation 
activities having served for six years on the American Bar 
Association's Accreditation Committee; and on two separate standing 
committees of the Association of American Law Schools, AALS, and two 
section executive committees. Currently, he is Chair of the AALS 
Section of the Dean. From 1990-1996, he served on the Board of 
Directors of the Legal Services of Northern California and two related 
boards. He has also served on the Governing Committee on Continuing 
Education of the Bar from 2000-2003.
  Dean Perschbacher received his J.D. degree from UC Berkeley School of 
Law (Boalt Hall), where he was Articles Editor of the California Law 
Review and elected to Order of the Coif. After graduation, he served as 
law clerk to The Honorable Alfonso J. Zirpoli of the United States 
District Court for the Northern District of California. Later he 
entered private practice with Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe in San 
Francisco. He has taught at UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), the University of 
Texas, Santa Clara University, and the University of San Diego law 
schools.
  Madam Speaker and colleagues, now is the appropriate time for us to 
acknowledge Dean Perschbacher for his years of work and service to UC 
Davis and the broader legal community. Please join me in thanking him 
and wishing him the very best as he enters retirement.

                          ____________________