St. Francis School of Law Dean Carole J. Buckner announced that St. Francis School of Law is very pleased to welcome Professor Jeff Price to our distinguished St. Francis faculty. Professor Price holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oregon.

Professor Price has handled criminal law and civil rights matters in both Oregon and California. He currently practices in Santa Monica, California. Before beginning his practice, Professor Price worked as a law clerk in the United States Attorneys’ Office for the District of Oregon. Professor Price is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist. The certification requires extensive appellate practice experience, additional education beyond the Juris Doctor degree focused on appellate practice, and passage of a separate specialists’ examination administered by the California State Bar.

Professor Price has practiced law since 1989 including both state and federal trial level and appellate level courts. He has handled over 30 jury trials in both criminal and civil cases. Prof. Price also has argued cases before the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals. His cases include a wide range of issues including corruption and conspiracy, unconstitutional use of force, official misconduct, abuse of process, malicious prosecution and human rights law. Professor Price focuses his current practice on handling appeals, which he has done since 1995, obtaining several reversals and published decisions.

Professor Price’s training includes the Los Angeles American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Trial Advocacy Skills Training Course, and the National Police Accountability Project’s Training on civil rights cases, as well as the University of California, Irvine, School of Law’s program on Prisoners’ Access to Justice, as well as Bryan Garner’s well-respected organization Law Prose, including Advanced Legal Writing and Editing.

Professor Price will teach criminal procedure. This Criminal Procedure course covers a host of important issues that are integral to the integrity of our criminal justice system, many of which are highly newsworthy lately. The course highlights the rights of criminal defendants under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and examines the limits on prosecutors, including the scope of permissible searches and seizures. The United States Supreme Court recently decided to address search and seizure doctrine in Utah v. Streiff, challenging whether an officer had reasonable suspicion for searching and arresting the defendant after learning about an outstanding arrest warrant during a stop that turned out to be illegal.

In addition, the St. Francis criminal procedure course addresses the scope of interrogation in view of the right against self-incrimination granted under the Fifth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is also explored, including rights to counsel prior to charges and in connection with trials and appeals, as well as the right to represent oneself.

In addition, St. Francis will continue to focus on further expanding our law students’ practical, professional lawyering skills in connection with the upcoming criminal procedure course. Students will engage in simulated scenarios designed to train them on important skills that are used by lawyers practicing in the area of criminal law, including drafting search warrants, resisting motions to suppress evidence, assessing whether consent to a search meets legal requirements, evaluating whether Miranda rights are properly given, and whether suspects have invoked their Miranda rights, among other important practical skills.

We look forward to having Professor Price on the St. Francis faculty.