Alumni Newsletter | March 2021 |
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Bryan Stevenson at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The memorial is run by the Equal Justice Initiative, which Stevenson founded in 1989. Photo: Rog and Bee Walker for EJI
Acclaimed author, iconic criminal justice reform advocate, and renowned professor Bryan Stevenson has accepted an invitation to speak at commencement May 21. He is widely known for his best-selling 2015 book Just Mercy, which chronicles his career as a legal advocate for wrongly condemned and harshly sentenced individuals. Read more>>
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Big Give! Big Thanks!
Thank you to our generous donors and alumni community for your support on Big Give Day, March 11. The law school raised more than $200,000 from nearly 600 donors.These results are twice as much as we saw in 2020! We couldn't have done it without you. Thank you!
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Environmental Law Clinic students tour Richmond, California with lifelong resident and organizer Andrés Soto of Communities for a Better Environment to explore how oil refinery pollution, racism, and city council politics define a community’s challenges and its sources of resilience. |
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Passionate about sustainability, Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie ’96, his family, and the firm pledged $250,000 to Berkeley Law’s Environmental Law Clinic — which also unlocked an anonymous $1 million gift made on a 4-to-1 matching basis. Read more>>
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Video game lawyer Anais Jansen-Fernandez moved from Venezuela to The Netherlands as a teenager, and later lived in Malaysia. Real estate and corporate lawyer Shabna Ummer-Hashim grew up in India and has since worked in Oman and Dubai. Global investments analyst Caroline Haber, raised in Brazil, launched a sustainability project in Kenya and once traveled to 15 countries in seven months. These new students in Berkeley Law’s LL.M. Program are emblematic of its vast legal experience, international diversity, and outside-the-box thinking. Read more>>
Working tenaciously to level the playing field — in their own community and across the world — is a hallmark of Berkeley Law students. Cases in point: Allaa Mageid ’21, Ian Good ’22, Rachel Terrell-Perica ’21, and Marta Rocha ’21, each of whom is helping a different small nation assess United Nations Human Rights Council resolutions through field placements at the UNHR Program in Geneva. Read more>>
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The hard-fought 2020 election pushed many Berkeley Law students to advocate for campaigns, organizations, and causes. For those in the student-led Political and Election Empowerment Project (PEEP), a new partner is stretching their work into the critical 2021 redistricting year. Read more>>
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Calling on Alumni Graduates from 1970
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A Celebration of Paving the Way by Herma Hill Kay
Thursday, April 8, 12:50 pm PT
The late Herma Hill Kay, our beloved former colleague and dean who spent nearly six decades teaching at Berkeley Law, worked for years on a book profiling the first women law professors. Paving the Way: The First American Women Law Professors, was just published. Dean Chemerinsky and several professors will speak about the book and its significance. Register here>>
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Critical Race Theory: A Primer
Thursday, April 22, 12:00 – 1:00 pm PT
In this talk, Professor Khiara M. Bridges will describe the origins of critical race theory, explain its foundational commitments, and use it as a lens for understanding current events. This event will be open to all alumni and eligible for 1.0 Elimination of Bias credit. Register here>>
Los Angeles Alumni Chapter Event With Dean Chemerinsky Discussing “The Path Forward for American Democracy”
Wednesday, May 5, 5:00 – 6:00 pm PT
The dean will provide an update on the law school and then talk about the guardrails and fragility of our democracy, addressing the most immediate challenges and ways to strengthen our institutions going forward. Registration forthcoming.
Silicon Valley Alumni Chapter Event With Dean Chemerinsky Discussing “The Path Forward for American Democracy”
Wednesday, May 12, 5:00 – 6:00 pm PT
The dean will provide an update on the law school and then talk about the guardrails and fragility of our democracy, addressing the most immediate challenges and ways to strengthen our institutions going forward. Registration forthcoming.
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A new program, created by Professor Christopher Kutz, aims to provide students with close academic support and foster a community dedicated to thinking about questions of justice. Read more>>
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In a recent article, Professor Seth Davis argues Indian Tribalism is at its core compatible with democracy, largely because it leans heavily on discourse and negotiation. Read more>>
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International Assistance
Professor Eric Stover has been appointed to the Panel of Experts of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). The ICMP is an intergovernmental organization that addresses the issue of persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, violations of human rights, and natural disasters. It assists governments in the exhumation of mass graves and DNA identification of missing persons, provides support to family associations of missing persons, and assists in creating strategies and institutions to search for missing persons.
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Scientists as Expert Witnesses
Professor Daniel Rubinfeld's recent article on scientists as expert witnesses was cited by California Court of Appeal Justice John S. Wiley, Jr. '80 in his concurring opinion in the soon-to-be-published Brown v. LA Unified School District (reversing a dismissal of a disability discrimination case for failure to state a claim).
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Professor Tejas Narechania and Erik Stallman, associate director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, urge a federal district court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by internet service providers challenging California’s law requiring that ISPs follow net neutrality rules. Read more>>
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Professor Sonia Katyal says existing whistleblower law is totally insufficient and essential to protect talented researchers from being effectively muzzled. Read more>>
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Kristin Theis-Alvarez, assistant dean of admissions & financial aid, discusses Berkeley Law’s commitment to recruiting Native American students. Read more>>
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Professor Daniel Farber says a suit by 14 Republican attorneys general accusing President Joe Biden of exceeding his powers in an executive order regarding climate change appears tenuous. Read more>>
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Professor Eric Biber discusses politically viable steps President Biden can take to reach his ambitious goal of putting the nation on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050. Read more>>
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Virtual Enrichment Programs |
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Review virtual program recordings on the alumni website. Three recent offerings include:
On March 4, the Berkeley Law Conversations series addressing race and the law continued with a panel on race and the legal profession. Moderated by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, the event featured California Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Berkeley Law Professor Goodwin Liu and three other experts. Watch the video here>>
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*Discounted tuition available for Berkeley Law alumni.
Executive Summer Courses
Seats are limited so we encourage you to apply early
Berkeley Law Executive Education offers lawyers the opportunity to participate in single courses in the areas of business law, technology, international and comparative law, and bar subjects, or a package of courses culminating in a certificate. Courses are three weeks in length and run during the professional track summer semester from mid-May through mid-August. Due to the continuing pandemic, all courses will be offered online. Learn more and apply today>>
Sustainable Capitalism & ESG Online
Next class opens May 11 | Registration is now open
Sustainable Capitalism and ESG Online demonstrates how to incorporate environmental, social, and governance considerations into business and investment strategy through a combination of focused lectures and case studies, curated readings, and in-depth interviews with over 50 thought leaders. Learn more and register today>>
Berkeley Boost Webinars
Free webinars every month; many offering MCLE credit
Berkeley Boosts is a monthly series of free webinars ranging in length from 30 minutes to two hours. The longer programs typically offer MCLE credit for those who participate in the live, online program. Webinars cover a wide range of topics and are curated by the Berkeley Center for Law and Business and Berkeley Law Executive Education. Learn more and subscribe today>>
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Education: Trinity College, Fulbright ETA Program
Affiliations: Law Students of African Descent, First Generation Professionals, Berkeley Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law
My dad was a professional boxer. He was a United States Boxing Association champion, a Latino International champion, and two-time contender for the International Boxing Federation welterweight championship. Many of my uncles and cousins became pro boxers as well. Over the years, my dad fought for Don King’s Promotion and Roy Jones’ Boxing Promotion. My dad and uncles often had to deal with difficult contract negotiations. As a child, many of these memories are etched in my mind. Growing up in Brooklyn as the son of a professional athlete, I always thought about how I could be helpful to the family and to my black and immigrant communities. Read more>>
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