After 20 years at the helm of Monterey College of Law, Mitch Winick announces retirement.

After 20 years leading Monterey College of Law, Dean/President Mitch Winick has announced his plan to retire in July 2025. He was named as dean in 2005, then president and dean in 2011, giving him responsibilities as both academic officer and CEO of the institution. 

During Winick's years at the helm, he expanded from the Seaside campus (next to CSU Monterey Bay) to include three other campuses in the law school's network: San Luis Obispo College of Law, Kern County College of Law in Bakersfield and Empire College of Law in Santa Rosa. It's one example of what Winick describes as his "entrepreneurial" approach to legal education.

Among other projects, Winick co-hosts the podcast Sidebar, addressing legal issues. Winick presided over the construction of a LEED-certified freestanding building to house the Mandell Gisnet Center for Conflict Management, which provides mediation and other services. 

But mostly, Winick and MCL's founding dean, David Kirkpatrick, emphasized Winick's dedication to fulfilling the original mission of the law school, which was established in 1972. 

“The law school was founded by local lawyers who wished to have a program that served the entire community with all of its racial, social, and political diversity, rather than a prestigious school only providing training for major urban law firms," Kirkpatrick said in a statement. 

That is echoed by attorney Michelle "Mickey" Welsh, who graduated in the second class ever from MCL, and has continued to teach there for 30 years. (She's also been a leader in the local chapter of the ACLU, and helped create the Monterey County Women Lawyers Association.) 

"Monterey College of Law has expanded the opportunity for legal education to diverse members of our local communities who, like me, might never have gone to law school, but thanks to MCL, we have become practicing lawyers, judicial officers, and other professionals giving back to our communities," Welsh said.

In keeping with that mission, Winick has long been a champion of a proposal to change the passing score on the California bar exam. (The passing score, 1440 out of a possible 2,000, is the highest in the U.S.) 

The Board of Trustees of MCL has begun a search for a replacement, and expects to hire someone who will begin in the summer of 2025, before the 2025-26 academic year.