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About John G. Sprankling

"Look around you. Almost everything you see is owned by someone. Life as we know it would be impossible without property."

Professor John Sprankling is an internationally-recognized expert on property law and the author of six books on this subject. His casebook Property: A Contemporary Approach, written with Ray Coletta, was the first property textbook published in both hard copy and electronic formats, and has been adopted at more than 100 law schools. His treatise Understanding Property Law is used by law students across the United States; it has also been translated into Chinese and published by Peking University Press. His articles have appeared in many journals, including the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, the Cornell Law Review, the Stanford Journal of International Law, the UCLA Law Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review,

Professor Sprankling is a pioneer in the emerging field of international property law. His book The International Law of Property, published by Oxford University Press, analyzes how international law increasingly creates, regulates, and otherwise affects the property rights of individuals, business entities, and other non-state actors. As part of this work, he advocates for the recognition of a global right to property ― a right that arises under international law rather than the law of a particular nation.

Another strand in Professor Sprankling’s scholarship is the relationship between property law and the environment. His writings explore how wilderness conditions shaped early American property law; how property rights might exist in global commons regions such as Antarctica, the high seas, and outer space; and how climate change will transform property law in the future.

At McGeorge, Professor Sprankling has served as Interim Dean and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. He received the Eberhardt Teacher-Scholar Award from the University of the Pacific, and has been selected as Teacher of the Year by McGeorge students. He has taught in summer law programs in Austria, China, and Russia.  

Professor Sprankling has served as the Chair of the Property Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools. He has also been a consultant for two major law publishers, LexisNexis and West.

Before joining the McGeorge faculty, Professor Sprankling was a partner with Miller, Starr & Regalia, the leading California law firm specializing in property law. He represented a wide range of clients in property and environmental law matters, including American Savings and Loan Association, Bank of America, Clos Pegase Winery, First American Title Insurance Company, Great Western Bank, Kaiser-Aetna, McKesson Corporation, and Safeco Title Insurance Company.  He also served a term as the firm’s managing partner. During this period, he taught at the University of California, Hastings College of Law and Stanford Law School.

Professor Sprankling received his BA degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, his JD degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his JSM degree from Stanford University.

Positions

2018 - Present Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
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January 2018 - May 2018 Visiting Professor of Law, University of California Law San Francisco
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2003 - 2018 Distinguished Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
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2015 Professor, Institute for International Legal Studies Program
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2010 Professor, St. Petersburg College ‐ Summer Law Institute
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2007 Professor, Soochow University ‐ Kenneth Wang School of Law
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2006 Professor, Institute for International Legal Studies Program
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2000 - 2005 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
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1995 - 2003 Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
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2001 - 2002 Interim Dean, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
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2000 Professor, Institute for International Legal Studies Program
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1992 - 1995 Associate Professor of Law, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
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1991 - 1992 Visiting Associate Professor, University of Santa Clara ‐ School of Law
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1982 - 1992 Partner, Miller, Starr & Regalia
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1984 - 1991 Adjunct Professor of Law, University of San Francisco ‐ School of Law
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1981 - 1982 Teaching Fellow, Stanford University ‐ School of Law
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1976 - 1981 Associate, Miller, Starr & Regalia
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1977 - 1979 Instructor, University of California Law San Francisco
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Curriculum Vitae




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Honors and Awards

  • Professor of the Year Award, McGeorge School of Law, 2012, 2017, 2020
  • Christine Manolakas Extraordinary Contribution Award, McGeorge School of Law, 2016
  • Eberhardt Teacher-Scholar Award, University of the Pacific, 2011
  • John G. Sprankling Faculty Scholarship Award, 2005
  • Distinguished Professor of Law, University of the Pacific, 2003-18
  • Member, Order of the Coif

Courses

  • Property
  • Land Use Planning
  • International Environmental Law
  • Professional Responsibility
  • Copyright Law
  • Intellectual Property Law
  • Law of China
  • Climate Change Law
  • Space Law
  • Wills & Trusts

Education

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1984 J.S.M., International and Comparative Law, Stanford University
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1976 J.D., University of California - Berkeley
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1972 B.A., High Honors, Scholars Program, University of California, Santa Barbara
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Contact Information

University of the Pacific
McGeorge School of Law
3200 Fifth Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95817
(916) 739-7225

Email:


Books and Book Chapters (14)

Articles (18)