Starting at McGeorge in the ‘90s, Professor Micheal Vitiello has seen a number of changes throughout the years but points out that the community of supportive faculty and staff has constantly stayed the same. 

Distinguished Professor of Law Professor Micheal Vitiello has been teaching at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law since 1990. For over 35 years he’s taught many courses and has worn multiple hats at McGeorge including advisor for the University of the Pacific Law Review for years and Associate Dean for Scholarship in 2023-2024.  

Starting his teaching career in 1977 at the University of Loyola in New Orleans, Vitiello taught at Loyola for over a decade. After gaining a position at McGeorge, Vitiello and his family packed up for California and has not looked back since. 

“Things have changed, but one of the things I realized is how different it [McGeorge] was as an institution,” Vitiello said. “At other places you don’t get the sense that support staff and administrators really were all that interested in supporting the faculty. But from the day I pulled into the parking lot, people wanted to help. That sense that we are in this together, the small community, is one of the things that has really continued to today.”  

Vitiello has published close to 100 articles and over 15 books that he uses in his classes to animate the courses. Adding to his growing list of publications is Vitiello’s latest casebook published earlier in 2026 “Animating Civil Procedure Second Edition.”  

“There are a number of courses I love, but my favorite course to teach is Civil Procedure,” Vitiello said. “Civil Procedure is so exciting to teach. Because what I’m doing is I’m showing students that the course they thought was going to be the most boring, is not only the most difficult, but also the most exciting when you become a real procedural lawyer.” 

Throughout his time at McGeorge, Vitiello has taught 15 different courses including Marijuana Law. He began writing articles about California Proposition 215 back in the ‘90s when the prop was first introduced to legalize medical marijuana.  

Despite supporting Prop 215, Vitiello was fascinated by it and began digging deeper into the legal workings of it. His curiosity evolved into multiple articles over time, but in 2017 with the suggestion of then associate dean, now current Dean Micheal Colatrella, Vitiello taught a short course on Marijuana Law before teaching a class in Italy at the University of Parma.  

Since then, Vitello has helped write a casebook on marijuana law and continues to teach it regularly at McGeorge. Along with returning on numerous occasions to the University of Parma to teach English courses on Italian and American sex offenses.  

“A lot of the time when I am teaching these courses, the fact that I’ve written in a field helps me go into greater depth and when students ask questions, I can refer them to the work I’ve done,” Vitiello said. 

Vitiello has been prepping his graduating students for the Bar Exam since the first day of class and continuously shares advice on what is to come after the exam.  

“Remember the basic lessons,” Vitiello said. “Your reputation matters. You are still on a steep learning curve. You have to do the heavy lifting. There is no shortcuts. And make sure that the work you do lines up with your values.” 

Vitiello, along with 27 Sacramento campus colleagues, will be recognized for serving between five and 35 years of service at the University of the Pacific’s Annual Years of Service Brunch hosted on May 12 at McGeorge's Quad from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PT.