Happy Holidays from UCLA Law!

All of us at UCLA Law wish you and yours a healthy and safe holiday season. Click here to watch a video holiday card from Dean Jennifer L. Mnookin and some special guests.

Students Earn Prestigious Skadden Fellowships in Public Interest Law

Continuing UCLA Law’s proud and long-term commitment to public service and public interest legal work, students Nicole Hansen ’21, Amaris Montes ’21 and Anusha Ravi ’21 have received Skadden Fellowships – among the most prestigious and competitive awards for public interest law students – to pursue public interest law after they graduate. UCLA Law ranks among the top five law schools for graduating students who garner Skadden Fellowships, and this marks the third straight year, and fourth year out of the past five, in which three UCLA Law students have been so honored. Congratulations!

‘Native Nations Rising’: Distinguished Panel Discusses the Impact of Advocacy

UCLA Law hosted a high-level conversation on Dec. 4 that detailed the role that legal advocacy has played in advancing Native American communities across the country. Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita Carole Goldberg moderated the discussion featuring a panel of experts, including UCLA Law Professor Angela Riley, John Echohawk of the Native Americans Rights Fund and Greg Sarris of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, whose transformative recent gift boosted UCLA Law’s Native Nations Law and Policy Center. The event was the latest in the “From the Front Line” series of conversations on the most important topics of the day. Watch it here.

Alumni on the Move

Gov. Newsom appoints Liane Randolph ’93 to chair the California Air Resources Board, saying, “Randolph is the kind of bold, innovative leader that will lead in our fight against climate change with equity and all California’s communities at heart.” Tanya Franklin ’13 joins the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District, representing District 7. Christopher Pearson ’09 is named to the board of regents of Loyola Marymount University. Elizabeth Levin ’12 is named partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Joy Odom ’12 is elected partner at Selendy & Gay. Paul Eckles ’95 joins K&L Gates as a partner in its Charleston, South Carolina, office, moving from the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The Los Angeles Business Journal includes several UCLA Law alumni among its 2020 Leaders in Law, including honoree David Gindler ’84 of Milbank and finalists Peter Anderson ’79 of Davis Wright Tremaine, Susan Grueneberg ’79 of Cozen O’Connor, Patrick Kirby ’11 of Webcor, Luis Perez ’10 of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Bita Rahebi ’00 of Morrison & Foerster and Karen Thorland ’94 of the Motion Picture Association. Cooley partner Karen Deschaine ’07 is named a 2020 Leader in Law by the San Diego Business Journal. Learn more about UCLA Law alumni and submit your own Class Notes.

Gómez Book Named to Year’s Best List

The acclaimed new book by UCLA Law Professor Laura E. Gómez, Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism (The New Press, 2020), was honored as one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020. Gómez, who holds the Rachel F. Moran Endowed Chair in Law and is the faculty director of the Critical Race Studies program, is the only law professor with a book on the list of nonfiction titles. In a Q&A for the UCLA Law Magazine, Gómez speaks about the book’s significance during the current moment. She shares more with the UCLA Newsroom on how the book reframes the story of Latinos in the United States.

Support UCLA Law’s Student Programs, Scholarships and Job Opportunities

The commitment of every member of the UCLA Law community is more important now than ever. In these challenging times, donations ensure that we will continue to provide our students with programs, scholarships and employment opportunities that depend on the ongoing generosity of our alumni, faculty and friends. As the year concludes, please consider giving to UCLA Law to support the premier legal education that we offer – and that drives the success of our exceptional students from all backgrounds. Thank you!

Scott Cummings and colleagues write in Slate on the ethics of Trump’s legal team and whether state bar penalties are merited, and Cummings is quoted in The Washington Post on the damage that Rudy Giuliani has caused. Ann Carlson talks to The New Republic about how California is a laboratory for climate change policy on a national scale, and she tells The Intercept that a statutory fix for regulation of cross-state air pollution is warranted. Hiroshi Motomura and colleagues write on advocacy for immigrants in Colorado Lawyer. Sharon Dolovich speaks to CNN about coronavirus spread in overcrowded prisons, and Aaron Littman discusses COVID-19 infection rates in prisons with KCET. Sunita Patel talks to the Vancouver Sun about allegations of police racism and misconduct. Sean Hecht and Ethan Elkind speak to the San Francisco Chronicle about the benefits of having a Biden administration that supports action to protect the environment. And Jon Michaels discusses Trump’s impact on the norms and fundamental tenets of democracy and the rule of law in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Plus, Ingrid Eagly on immigrants’ rights in The American Prospect, Julia Stein on impending Biden administration environmental standards in The Sacramento Bee and CalMatters, Gary Blasi on evictions in the Los Angeles Times and much more.