Michael Peffer

ADJUNCT PROFESSOR

Education

  • A.A., Orange Coast College
  • J.D., Simon Greenleaf School of Law

Contact

Michael Peffer spent the first ten years of his adult life pursuing pastoral ministry. Thereafter, God opened the doors for ministry through the law. In his early adult years, Professor Peffer worked in various pastoral ministries at churches in California, as well as a church in Ontario, Canada. He worked in insurance claims for over 12 years prior to and during the time he was attending law school at Simon Greenleaf University, now called Trinity Law School, in Santa Ana where he graduated Cum Laude. Professor Peffer is currently Senior Counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute and Director of its Santa Ana, CA office. He began practicing law at Lynberg and Watkins in downtown Los Angeles and worked there for two years. He then practiced at McCune & Harber, also in downtown Los Angeles, for seven years. He managed his own law practice, The Law Office of Michael J. Peffer, for nearly 3 years before coming to work for Pacific Justice Institute. His work in civil litigation often intersected with religious liberties. This included a case where the plaintiff was arguing that the religious corporation exemption for the California Fair Employment and Housing Act was unconstitutional, a case in which a liturgy teacher in a Catholic school was arguing that the “Ministerial Exception” did not apply to her, and cases where he argued that particular piece of litigation would put the court in the improper position of deciding doctrinal issues. Professor Peffer attends Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and is active in the Men’s Ministry, known as the Iron League. He has also taught classes at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Costa Mesa.

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