April 18, 2023


Dear Berkeley Law Alumni,


It’s hard to believe that the school year is winding down. After a fall semester that was difficult in many ways, it has been a thankfully quiet spring semester. Overall, there is a strong sense that this was a year of returning to normal. After a year entirely online and then a year with many COVID-related restrictions, it was wonderful to have a return to normalcy. I always have felt that Berkeley Law is the most intellectually vibrant community that I have seen and it was very much in evidence this year with many speakers every day and symposia and conferences every week. 


I wanted to provide an update on what has happened since my last quarterly message in January. I have much good news, but also some sad news to report. I also want to say a few words about freedom of speech at Berkeley Law.


Development news: We received a $3.6 million gift to create the Thomas David and Judith Swope Clark Chair in Constitutional Law. An unusual aspect of this gift is that it will fund an annual conference at Berkeley Law on constitutional interpretation. Tom Clark is a 1972 graduate of Berkeley Law. He entered in 1967, but was drafted and served in Viet Nam for 14 months. He and Judie, who passed away in 2022, were married for 54 years. Both received their undergraduate degrees from UC Berkeley. Tom spent his career, from 1973 to 2006, as an attorney for the Port of Oakland, working on legal matters involving the Oakland Airport, Port commercial real estate, and Port maritime facilities. Tom has expressed his and Judie’s love for UC Berkeley and the wonderful education they obtained. He has said that his Berkeley Law education was the greatest gift he received. 


Gifts such as this are tremendously important in supporting our faculty and also allowing for its expansion. I know I speak for our community in expressing our enormous thanks to Tom for this generous gift.


Also, a heartfelt thank you to our amazing alumni community for making Big Give 2023 a terrific success. On March 9, UC Berkeley’s one-day annual fundraising campaign raised $511,000 for the Law School to help us recruit talented students from all financial backgrounds, retain top faculty, fuel our vital training programs, and more. Berkeley Law had 629 donors — our highest total in five years and 25.5% more than last year. The Law School also won $2,000 for having the fund with the most donors (our Summer Public Interest Scholarship Fund) between 6 and 7:30 p.m. Thank you so much for your wonderful support. It makes an enormous difference. My thanks to our terrific development team for their tireless work in helping with the Clark gift and Big Give.


Executive Education: We decided to significantly expand our executive education efforts as a way to serve our alumni and the profession. Last year, we created a new position of Assistant Dean for Executive Education and named Adam Sterling ’13 to this role. He has created the Berkeley Law Executive Education platform, which offers a range of professional development programming year-round for alumni at reduced rates, in addition to CLE and certificates of completion. Whether you are looking to change your practice area, enhance your leadership skills, embark on a new professional path, seek a promotion, or gain a deeper understanding of a particular subject area, our Executive Education team has a program that can benefit your career. I encourage you to peruse the many offerings and join us to make an immediate, positive impact on your career and your organization.


Placement success: I’m happy to report that more than 96% of the J.D. Class of 2022 was employed in full-time jobs as measured 10 months after graduation. And that does not include two members of the class who are in full-time graduate or professional programs, four who obtained great jobs but have start dates occurring after the ABA’s graduate employment status date, and a few who decided not to enter the job market immediately. This is a tribute to the tremendous quality of our students, and also to the tireless efforts of our Career Development Office staff.


Upcoming events:

  • Alumni Reunion Weekend 2023: Please save the date for this year’s Alumni Reunion Weekend, Sept. 22-23. Reconnect with classmates, renew law school friendships, and regain CLE credits in engaging programs. It was wonderful to visit with our alumni community in September, when we held our first in-person reunion event since 2019. We would also love your feedback regarding our reunion program — please complete the reunion survey to share your thoughts. We look forward to seeing you in September.
  • Commencement: Commencement for the Class of 2023 will be held on Friday, May 12, at 9:00 am in the Hearst Greek Theatre. A reception for graduates and their guests will immediately follow at the law school. More information will be posted on the Berkeley Law commencement website as we get closer to the ceremony.


Challenge ahead: I try in these messages to report all of what is happening and what we face, good news and bad news.


I fear, as has too often been the case, we again face a challenging budget situation. Many factors contribute to this. For many years, the University of California Office of the President has provided funds to the UC law schools for public interest fellowships for students during the summers between school years and after graduation. We were receiving $1.8 million a year. These funds will end on June 30 and not be provided in the future. We are going to make this up from our budget and not cut fellowships at all, but it is significant for us. At the same time, we have greatly improved our Loan Repayment Assistance Program to make it one of the very best in the country, though with significant costs to pay for this.


The settlement of the strike by graduate student workers imposes substantial additional costs on the Law School and on the campus. Unfortunately, the settlement did not include a source of revenue to pay for this; there are not additional funds from the legislature or an increase in tuition. At the same time, starting in July there will be a 4.6% pay increase for faculty and unrepresented staff mandated by the UC Regents. And there is a substantial increase in costs for everything.


For the Law School, it means we must do even more to raise and generate revenue. We will dip into our reserves if needed rather than lay anyone off or cut any programs. We will not compromise our excellence.


For the campus, it creates serious issues in terms of having the resources to maintain excellence and access. The reality is that the campus is being required to take more students, but without the revenue to cover their costs. Provost Ben Hermalin has created a financial sustainability initiative to address this for the campus. There is a dean’s advisory group, of which I am a member, and I will report on the direction and progress of this initiative as it goes forward.


A word about free speech at Berkeley Law: There has been much attention in the press recently to the issue of free speech in law schools. I have received many questions from our alumni about our policy. At the beginning of each fall semester, I send a message to the Law School community. My message from last September stated:


“Our goal is to be a place where all ideas and views can be expressed. The First Amendment does not allow us to exclude any viewpoints and I believe that it is crucial that universities be places where all ideas can be voiced and discussed. At times, this may mean that there can be expression of views that we dislike or even find offensive. But I long have believed that the only way my speech can be free tomorrow is to support protection for speech that I dislike today. I also am hopeful that there is a benefit in hearing views different from our own, though it can be unsettling and even painful.


“In addition, the Law School has an ‘all-comers’ policy, which means that every student group must allow any student to join and all student group organized events must be open to all students. This is important to being an environment where all can feel included and that they belong.


“Disruption of speakers and events will not be tolerated. There were unfortunate instances last year at other law schools where students disrupted events so that speakers could not be heard. That is a violation of the Law School’s policies and such behavior will be a basis for student discipline. The First Amendment does not protect a right to use speech to silence others. The appropriate response to an objectionable speaker is to invite your own speaker or to engage in non-disruptive protests.”


Indeed, we have a long-standing protocol in place to prevent disruption of events and to make clear that those who disrupt will face discipline. Our law school must be a place where all views on even the most controversial issues can be expressed.


Sad News: Finally, I have very sad news to report. Laurie Edelman, a 1986 Berkeley Law graduate and a professor here since 1996, passed away on Feb. 7. She was a beloved teacher and mentor, as well as an award-winning scholar for her seminal work on employment law issues. Laurie also held vital positions at the school, including as director of our Center for the Study of Law & Society from 2004 to 2009 and associate dean of our Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program from 2010 to 2013. She was elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and served as both secretary and president of the Law and Society Association. The law school held a memorial service for Laurie on April 4. She was an integral and extraordinary member of our faculty, and she will be deeply missed.


As always, I welcome hearing from our wonderful alumni community. I can be reached at echemerinsky@law.berkeley.edu and (510) 642-6483.


Warmly,

Erwin Chemerinsky

Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law

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