Adrian Carpenter

Adrian McKinney is an Assistant Professor of Law, Legal Practice at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. McKinney teaches Global Lawyering Skills I and II.  

McKinney joined McGeorge’s adjunct faculty in January 2020 and taught courses on Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. McKinney joined the full-time faculty in August 2021. She also teaches effective writing for appeals at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In 2020, McKinney received a Woman of the Year Award from U.S. Congressman John Garamendi. In 2019, she received the Erica J. Murray Young Alumnus Award from Occidental College and a 40 Under 40 Award from the Sacramento Business Journal.

McKinney previously served as senior staff counsel at the California Department of Corrections, an appeal panel judge at the California Cannabis Control Appeal Panel, deputy legal affairs secretary officer for former California Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and Deputy City Attorney for the City of Sacramento. She was also the deputy district attorney for the County of Sacramento.

McKinney clerked for the Honorable Sandra B. Armstrong of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College, a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law.