Robert Muth

Clinical Education, Veterans Law, Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation, Consumer Law, Military Justice

Professor Muth teaches in the areas of veterans law and legal ethics. Prior to stepping into the role of Vice Dean, he served as the Academic Director of the award-winning legal clinics program at USD, where he was responsible for academic oversight and strategic planning for USD’s twelve client-services legal clinics. Additionally in 2012, Muth founded and became the managing attorney of the USD Veterans Legal Clinic, which provides pro bono legal services to low-income, indigent and homeless veterans and their families. 

Muth previously served as a judge advocate in the United States Marine Corps. As a Marine Captain, he deployed for 13 months to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Prior to receiving an honorable discharge in 2009, he received multiple awards for superior service and was also named the Defense Counsel of the Year for the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, Western Judicial Circuit in 2008-09. While on active duty, Muth handled a wide variety of cases including those involving allegations of war crimes and breaches of national security.

He is admitted to the bar in California and Illinois and is a Department of Veterans Affairs accredited attorney. He is a Fellow of the Truman National Security Project and is the Chairman of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of the California Lawyers Association (formerly the California State Bar). In addition to his military awards, he has been named an Evans Scholar and a Bartholomay Scholar and he is a past recipient of the Evans Scholars Foundation’s National Leader of the Year award.

Muth has been honored by the Law Library Justice Foundation with its prestigious Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in Legal Education in 2016 and was named the 2017-18 San Diego County Veteran of the Year for his work serving the veterans community.

He has testified before Congress and the California State Assembly and State Senate on issues related to veterans education and consumer protection. Muth makes frequent media appearances on television, radio and print including HBO, CNBC, PBS, NPR, and many others to discuss a variety of topics related to veterans’ law, military justice, higher education, legal ethics and consumer protection.

Muth was named the 2017-18 San Diego County Veteran of the Year for his community service efforts assisting veterans and military families. In 2016, Muth received the prestigious Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in Legal Education from the Law Library Justice Foundation. While on active duty, Muth received numerous awards for meritorious service and was named the Defense Counsel of the Year, Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, Western Judicial Circuit in 2008-09. In 2017, Muth was appointed to the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of the California Lawyers Association (formerly the California State Bar). He is a Fellow of the Truman National Security Project. Muth also serves on the board and is past chair of the San Diego Veterans Coalition, a prominent local non-profit veterans collaborative organization. Muth is admitted to the bar in both California (2009) and Illinois (2005) and is a VA accredited attorney. In 2022-23, Muth was awarded the Don Weckstein Professorship in Professional Responsibility in recognition of his achievements.