University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law celebrated four outstanding alumni — renowned for their leadership, expertise, and lasting impact — naming each an Alumnus of Honor.

McGeorge School of Law’s Alumni of Honor award recognizes alumni who have exhibited outstanding professional achievements, demonstrated a commitment to the legal profession, and diligently served the communities they live in.

The recipients were recognized during the law school’s annual Alumni of Honor Award Ceremony on May 16.

The 2025 Alumni of Honor Award honorees are:

• Pat Lundvall ’89 is the Chair of the Commercial & Complex Litigation Practice at McDonald Carano LLP in Nevada. She has been recognized as a trailblazer for her litigation successes and public service.
• Jessie Morris, Jr ’78 served as a public defender in Sacramento for over 40 years and is celebrated for his excellent and innovative work as a public defender and in advancing social justice.
• Sue Ann Van Dermyden ’93 is the founding and senior partner of Van Dermyden Makus Law Corporation. She is a nationally recognized expert in workplace investigations.
• Parker White ’80 has been a highly respected and repeatedly honored trial attorney in Sacramento for more than 40 years. He co-founded Poswall & White in 1993 and has shared his expertise through teaching and coaching.

Pat Lundvall ‘89

Lundvall was the valedictorian of her class. Her exceptional legal career is marked by trailblazing leadership, award-winning victories, and dedicated public service. She is a partner at McDonald Carano in Nevada and chairs the Commercial & Complex Litigation Practice. Lundvall holds dual board certifications in Civil Trial Law and Civil Practice Advocacy from the National Board of Trial Advocacy and is certified as a Civil Trial Advocacy Specialist by the Nevada State Bar — the first attorney in Nevada to achieve these credentials. Pat received the NBTA President's Award in 2023.

Lundvall is recognized in Chambers USA as the only woman in Nevada in the highest Band 1 category in Commercial Litigation and the only woman leading a Band 1 litigation practice in Nevada. Recent successes include a $62.7 million jury verdict recognized as the largest contract law victory in the western U.S., and a complete defense verdict in a case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court three times during 24 years of litigation and became a matter of national interest as it evolved from a state income tax dispute to a dispute over constitutional concerns about state sovereignty. Lundvall’s trailblazing public service includes being the first woman Chair of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and serving on the Nevada Military Support Alliance Board of Directors since its founding in 2003.

Jessie Morris ‘78

Morris has devoted more than 40 years to public defense, with a focus on criminal law and a passion for social justice. Since 2008, Morris has served as an Assistant Public Defender in Sacramento County. He previously was the Chief Deputy Public Defender in Yolo County. In 2021, Morris made history as the first public defender to receive the Sacramento County Bar Association’s Attorney of the Year award.

Morris is widely recognized for his advocacy on behalf of underrepresented communities, particularly his efforts to fight systemic bias and empower attorneys of color. One of his most impactful plans is his work providing expungement services to individuals experiencing homelessness. Beginning as a class project in a Criminal Law course he taught at American River College, Morris trained students how to interpret arrest records and complete expungement paperwork. That class project grew into a model program, offering monthly clinics in partnership with local bar associations and was expanded thanks to state grant funding.The clinics have helped hundreds of citizens clear criminal records that would otherwise block access to jobs, housing, and education. Morris also is known for his work to assist legal communities in creating their own Unity Bar Organizations, an effort that has facilitated the diversification of the judiciary in California. Morris’ lifelong dedication to justice and equity has left a lasting mark on Sacramento’s legal community.

Sue Ann Van Dermyden ‘93

Van Dermyden is a founding and senior partner of Van Dermyden Makus Law Corporation, and she is the managing partner of the firm’s San Diego office. An employment attorney since 1993, her practice now focuses on conducting workplace and Title IX investigations. Van Dermyden also serves as an expert witness on employment matters and frequently delivers training seminars.

A dedicated educator, Van Dermyden has served as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, McGeorge School of Law, where she teaches a course she created on Workplace Investigations. She is also an active member of the McGeorge Alumni Association Board of Directors and has served on the Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court Executive Committee since 2022. Her professional excellence has been recognized through repeated listings in Northern California Super Lawyers since 2010 and Sacramento Business Journal’s Best of the Bar since 2015. In 2015, she was elected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and, in 2022, she was honored with the San Diego Woman Who Mean Business award.

Van Dermyden is also a founding member and past president of the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI) and serves as senior faculty for AWI’s five-day training institute. Her passion for elevating the quality of workplace investigations is evident in her leadership, teaching, and ongoing contributions to the field.

Parker White ‘80

White praises McGeorge School of Law for sparking his love of trial work and continues to demonstrate dedication to legal education and philanthropy. While at McGeorge, White excelled in mock trial competitions, where he met his future wife, Noël M. Ferris ’79, also a standout on the mock trial team.

After earning his JD, White joined Friedman, Collard & Poswall in 1984, becoming a partner just three years later. In 1993, he co-founded Poswall & White where he continued his legal career. He also taught trial advocacy at Stanford University Law School and the University of San Francisco School of Law.

White’s professionalism and courtroom excellence earned him recognition from the American Board of Trial Advocates, including the Civility Award and Trial Lawyer of the Year honors, the first person so honored. He was also repeatedly named a Northern California Super Lawyer in the field of plaintiff medical malpractice, and he was named a Fellow to the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only organization limited to 500 trial lawyers in the United States.

A committed McGeorge alumnus, White endowed the Noël M. Ferris Professor of Trial Skills and established a scholarship in Ferris’ name. Together, they created the Ferris-White Advocacy Prize and named the on-campus courtroom in Ferris’ honor, continuing their legacy of excellence as trial lawyers.