Carlson Joins Biden Administration
to Combat Climate Change

Professor Ann Carlson, faculty co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and a nationally renowned leader in performing groundbreaking work in air pollution law and policy, has been appointed to serve as chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency that has joint authority with the Environmental Protection Agency over car and truck greenhouse gas standards. Plus: a Q&A with Carlson on why Biden’s election causes optimism on climate policy.

In Memoriam: Professor David Dolinko ’80

Professor Emeritus David Dolinko, a noted authority in criminal law and the philosophy of punishment, former editor-in-chief of the UCLA Law Review and member of the Class of 1980, died on Dec. 30 at age 72 due to complications from COVID-19. A devoted member of the UCLA Law community for more than four decades, Dolinko received the Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching and was remembered as a generous colleague who had “a gift for rigorous analytical thinking and writing” and a wry sense of humor.

‘Hallelujah!’: Video of UCLA Law Grad Passing the Bar Exam Goes Viral

Omarr Rambert ’20 shares the story behind the emotional 42-second clip showing the moment when he and his family found out that he passed the California Bar Exam. Since Rambert and his mother posted the video to their Instagram accounts in mid-January, it has become a viral internet sensation. “The reaction has been amazing,” says Rambert, who is working at Ballard Spahr. “I have been contacted by people all over the world: Germany, Australia, Japan, the U.K., et cetera. So many people have been inspired.”

Please Join Us for UCLA Law’s
Inaugural Black History Month Lecture

On Feb. 10 at 12:10 p.m. PT, Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, Ph.D., will deliver the Inaugural Black History Month Lecture, “The N-Word: Race, Language and the University Classroom,” presented by the Office of the Dean, Critical Race Studies program and Black Law Students Association. She is an associate professor of history at Smith College and the author of the article “The Etymology of [N-Word]: Resistance, Language and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North” and the monograph “Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War.” Register here.

Gómez Wins American Bar Foundation Outstanding Scholar Award

Professor Laura E. Gómez has been honored with the 2021 Outstanding Scholar Award from the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. A leader in pathbreaking scholarship that promotes social justice, Gómez holds the Rachel F. Moran Endowed Chair in Law and is a co-founder and the faculty director of the Critical Race Studies program. She will receive the award – among the highest honors for scholarship in law or government – at the ABF’s banquet, which will be held virtually on Feb. 16.

Crenshaw Earns Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award

Distinguished Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw has received the 2021 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Women in Legal Education. Holder of the Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights, Crenshaw is among the most widely cited legal scholars in the country, a leader in critical race theory and a co-founder of the Critical Race Studies program. She is the ninth recipient of the award, which was first presented to Ginsburg in 2013.

Abou El Fadl Garners Top Honor From American Academy of Religion

Distinguished Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl was presented with the American Academy of Religion’s Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion in a virtual ceremony on Dec. 7. The Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law, Abou El Fadl is an internationally renowned authority on Shari’ah, Islamic law and Islam, a prominent scholar in human rights and a prolific author of scores of articles, chapters and books that present a scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view.

Alumni on the Move

Teri Vasquez ’94 is appointed to serve on Colorado’s 17th Judicial District Court. Jennifer Jean Kropke ’00 joins the senior leadership of the Biden administration’s Department of Energy as Director of Energy Jobs. Stacey Rosenberg ’96 joins the Los Angeles office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as a partner in the firm’s finance and bankruptcy practice. Stephen Going ’90 is appointed chief financial officer of the Silicon Valley fintech company Zact. Real estate finance attorney Katherine (KC) Bissett ’11 is named partner in the Los Angeles office of Cox, Castle & Nicholson. Securities and corporate governance lawyer Emily Johns ’16 is made partner at Honigman in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fox Rothschild partner Julie Goldstein ’05 becomes president-elect of the Bucks County Bar Association in Pennsylvania. Jessamyn Vedro ’11 is elevated from associate to counsel in the healthcare practice in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Entertainment attorney Irwin Rappaport ’90 retires from practice to chair the board of directors of the Foundation for the AIDS Monument in West Hollywood.

Cappello Program Launches Innovative Partnership With County Coroner

The A. Barry Cappello Program in Trial Advocacy at UCLA Law has launched a collaboration with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, creating an innovative educational opportunity for law students and pathologists alike. The partnership operates through the Advanced Trial Advocacy course, where students participate in a series of simulated trials. To “make our experiential courses as realistic as possible,” this year, for the first time, expert witnesses were portrayed by real-life pathologists.

Law Review Symposium to Spotlight Structural Inequality and the Law

All are invited to attend the UCLA Law Review’s virtual 2021 symposium, “Structural Inequality and the Law,” on Feb. 5 and 6. The two-day event will feature an array of leading scholars from UCLA Law’s faculty and beyond and will examine the role that law plays in both entrenching structural inequality and racial subordination, while creating, or re-imagining, structures and institutions with equity-producing ends. Please click here to register and learn more about the impressive lineup of speakers and panels.

Joan Dempsey Klein ’54: Remembering a Trailblazer in the Law and Women’s Rights

Following her death on Christmas Eve at age 96, we reflect on the life and career of alumna Joan Dempsey Klein. A pioneer in the judiciary, Klein was the first woman to serve as presiding justice on the California Court of Appeal and remained closely connected to her alma mater. In 2013, she created the Justice Joan Dempsey Klein Scholarships in Law, which have so far supported 21 UCLA Law students committed to advocating for gender equality or to promoting the advancement of women in the law and society.

Law Deans Issue Joint Statement on the 2020 Election and Events at the Capitol

UCLA Law Dean Jennifer L. Mnookin joined in a statement from 157 law school deans after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “On rare occasions, despite our differing situations and views, [we must] speak as one to defend the fundamental commitments of our profession. This is such a moment. The violent attack on the Capitol was an assault on our democracy and the rule of law,” they wrote. “We call upon all members of the legal profession to join us in the vital work ahead.” Download the full statement here.

Eugene Volokh writes an op-ed in The New York Times about corporate power over political speech after Twitter kicked Donald Trump off its service. Hiroshi Motomura talks to KPBS about the Biden administration’s immigration policy at the border. Sharon Dolovich speaks with the Los Angeles Times about prioritizing COVID-19 vaccinations for people in prison. Cara Horowitz is quoted in HuffPost about climate federalism in the Biden administration. Joanna Schwartz talks with Arnold Ventures about police misconduct litigation. Jonathan Zasloff writes about “How to Finally Win the Civil War” in Democracy. Adam Winkler discusses what’s next for the NRA in The Economist. Sean Hecht speaks to The New York Times about the technical legal question that could impact lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. Alex Alben writes an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on efforts to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and he speaks with Wired on tech companies’ Parler bans. Jennifer Mnookin is quoted by The Marshall Project on scientific evidence and Biden’s nominee for top science adviser. Ann Carlson talks to National Geographic about the Clean Air Act’s 50th anniversary. Plus, LaToya Baldwin Clark on the pandemic’s impact on Black and Brown children in Medium, Máximo Langer on international human rights in The Economist, Doug Lichtman on litigation finance in the Daily Journal (subscription required) and much more.