Mr. Gilliland graduated from the University of Washington in 1985 with a BA in English. He attended the University of Oregon School of Law where is served as an assistant and associate editor on the Oregon Law Review and teaching assistant in Torts. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1990 with his Juris Doctorate (law degree). Mr. Gilliland was then accepted into the Master of Laws program at the University of San Diego School of Law. He graduated from the Univeristy of San Diego in 1991 with an L.LM degree (Master of Laws). He passed the California Bar Exam and was admitted to practice before all courts of the state of California and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California that same year.

Mr. Gilliland has a trial practice with an emphais on civil rights, criminal defense and personal injury. He has a settement or veridict in excess of $1,000, in each of the four largest counties in the state of Califonria (Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and San Francisco).