2016 Preceptors of the Year: mentors honored by Pepperdine Law

March 30, 2016 -- The Otto P. Cipolla, Jr., Preceptor of the Year Award at Pepperdine School of Law recognizes outstanding service by the school's Preceptors—a group of practicing attorneys and judges who mentor one or more first-year law students at Pepperdine each year. The initiative is now in its fourth year at Pepperdine Law, which is one of just a handful of law schools in the country and the only law school in Los Angeles with such a program.

During the 2016 Annual Law Dinner, Dean Deanell R. Tacha conferred awards on two exceptional preceptors.

2016 Preceptors of the Year: The Honorable Terry Bork

The first recipient, The Honorable Terry Bork, is a judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and a member of Pepperdine Law Class of 1985.

2016 Preceptors of the Year: John P. White

John P. White is an associate at Sidley Austin LLP in the firm's corporate reorganization and bankruptcy group. He is a 2011 graduate of Pepperdine Law and has taught media law as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine.

While presenting the awards, Dean Tacha quoted from one of the student nominations for White: "preceptor provided exceptional advice, would come to us, would meet with multiple preceptees at a time, bought coffee and meals, and offered professional contacts of his for additional advice. Plus, he's a heck of a nice guy. I honestly feel that when you combine his multi-decade involvement with the school, his incredible level of commitment to his preceptees, his professional success, and his very valuable advice on legal careers, it's hard to imagine a person who more solidly embodies a perfect preceptor."