When Barry Cappello, managing partner at Santa Barbara’s Cappello & Noël LLP, was attending law school in the 1960s, there were no trial advocacy programs at major law schools. Back then, law schools didn’t teach students how to try cases. They had to learn once they became a lawyer. Cappello and his foundation have donated over $3 million to his alma mater, UCLA School of Law, to modernize its courtroom where students can learn and practice their trial skills and build its Trial Advocacy program, both of which were named after him. Importantly, the funds also provide significant law school scholarships for students wanting to specialize in litigation. This month, the Cappello Foundation added another $100,000 to the A. Barry Cappello Endowment Scholarship Fund for students enrolled in the trial advocacy program.
Since the Cappello Trial Advocacy Program was established, and under the guidance of Justin Bernstein, its Director, the UCLA Trial Team has won 24 national mock trial titles including the title in 2023. The mock trial team has ranked number one in the country since 2019 in all three major school rankings. Many of these team members are scholarship recipients.
“When I was in law school, there weren’t scholarships based on financial need,” says Cappello. “Law school is financially out of reach for a generation of students who would make excellent trial lawyers. In the letters I receive from scholarship recipients, many say they would not be able to attend, much less specialize in Trial Advocacy, without the scholarship funds. It’s gratifying to know that these scholarships are making a difference.”
Cappello is one of the top trial attorneys in the country, securing billions of dollars in awards and settlements in his decades-long career. Cappello earned his undergraduate and law degrees at UCLA. He is a member of the UCLA Law Board of Advisors (Emeritus Advisor).
Cappello intends to continue the foundation’s philanthropy to ensure UCLA School of Law remains one of the most prominent law schools in the nation. For more on the school and donation opportunities, go to https://law.ucla.edu.
