UCLA School of Law Newsletter

Williams Institute Receives Major Gift

A $5.5 million gift from philanthropist Charles R. “Chuck” Williams will support the leadership of the Williams Institute—the first and only law school initiative dedicated to the study of sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy—and foster the institute’s growth in the next decade. Since its founding in 2001 with an inaugural $2.5 million gift from Chuck Williams, the institute has gained national renown as an academic research center dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. Experts at the Williams Institute have authored dozens of public policy studies and law review articles; filed amicus briefs in key court cases; provided expert testimony at legislative hearings; been widely cited in the national media; and trained more than 3,000 judges in the area of sexual orientation law.

 

Chuck Williams reflects on the impact of Williams Institute research on public policy and the nation in a video that can be viewed here.

Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy Established

UCLA School of Law recently received a $4 million gift from the Resnick Family Foundation—and as much as $3 million in additional matching funds—to establish the first program at a top-tier American law school that will explore ways to hasten improvements in the modern food system. The new Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy will attract and develop first-rate scholarship to evaluate and reform food law and policy for the benefit of the consumer. The program also will feature an educational component with conferences, classes, workshops and scholarly publications to foster future leaders in the food law and policy arena.

 

Michael T. Roberts, whose background in food law and policy blends academic activity and private practice, has been appointed as the program’s founding executive director.

Gift Funds Student Scholarships

UCLA School of Law has received a gift of $1.025 million from Justice Joan Dempsey Klein ’54 and her husband Conrad Lee Klein to fund student scholarships. The gift, which creates the Justice Joan Dempsey Klein Scholarships in Law at UCLA School of Law, will provide support to law students who have demonstrated financial need and excellence in their academic achievements, as well as leadership qualities and traits of good citizenship. The scholarships will be awarded to students who also demonstrate a strong commitment to advocating gender equality or to promoting the advancement of women in the law and society.

 

Joan Dempsey Klein is the presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three in Los Angeles, a post she has held since 1978.  She is the first graduate of UCLA School of Law to be appointed to the bench in California, and she is currently the most senior appellate justice in the state. Please click here to read more.

Medical-Legal Partnership Clinical Program

A two-year grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation will establish the innovative Medical-Legal Partnership Clinical Program at UCLA Law—a collaboration with St. Francis and St. Vincent Medical Centers, members of the Daughters of Charity Health System, and Bet Tzedek Legal Services to expand legal services in health care settings for low-income community members in downtown and southeast Los Angeles. The new partnership project will combine traditional legal services and policy research to help alleviate unmet legal needs that stem from, and worsen, persistent poverty and its associated health effects. Through both classroom and onsite clinical components, UCLA Law students will work to address concerns—ranging from substandard housing and education, to health care access and issues of guardianship—that can have a dramatic impact on health and wellbeing.

 

Please click here to read more about the program.

Clinically Proven

An excerpt of the Fall 2013 UCLA Law Magazine feature article

 

Since pioneering clinical legal education more than 40 years ago, UCLA School of Law’s Clinical Program has blazed an outstanding path of innovation and excellence. Providing students with high-quality, hands-on training to bridge the gap between what goes on in the classroom and what skills are needed in “real-world” practice has been a hallmark of the law school’s clinical program since its establishment in 1970. Under the direction of Professor David Binder and the law school’s superlative clinical faculty members, UCLA Law’s clinics were among the first in the nation to systematically link theory and practical skills.

 

Today, the law school’s commitment to integrating theory and practice continues with an array of clinical offerings that cover a wide range of topics, from negotiating business contracts to drafting briefs for Supreme Court cases and representing clients at trial. Please click here to read the entire feature article.

New Faculty Appointments

James Park, a widely published scholar in the field of securities regulation and corporate law, joins the faculty from Brooklyn Law School. His articles have appeared in the California Law Review, Duke Law Journal and the Michigan Law Review. He teaches Civil Procedure and Securities Regulation.

Rebecca Stone comes to UCLA Law from New York University School of Law, where she served as a Furman Fellow. Formerly a law clerk to Judge Richard Posner and Justice Stephen Breyer, she has focused on law and economics, legal philosophy, contracts and torts. Her scholarship lies at the intersection of contract law, economics and philosophy.

Sherod Thaxton joins the faculty after serving as the inaugural Earl B. Dickerson Fellow and lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School.  His primary research and teaching interests include criminal law and procedure, capital punishment, habeas corpus and the sociology of law.

Alex Wang comes to UCLA Law from UC Berkeley School of Law. He was previously a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the director of the NRDC’s China Environmental Law & Governance Project. His research and teaching interests are in environmental law, Chinese law, comparative law and torts.

Endowed Chair Appointments

Six esteemed members of the UCLA Law faculty have recently been appointed to endowed professorships in recognition of their outstanding records of accomplishment.

Steven Bank was named Paul Hastings professor of business law. He served as vice dean for curriculum from 2007-2013 and as faculty director of the Program in Business Law & Policy from 2005 to 2007. Professor Bank teaches Introduction to Federal Income Taxation, Taxation of Business Enterprises, the Tax Policy and Public Finance Colloquium, Tax Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions, Business Associations and Corporate Tax Policy.

Devon Carbado was named The Honorable Harry Pregerson professor of law. He served as vice dean for faculty and research from 2006-2007, and again in 2009-2010. In 2003, he received the law school’s Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching, and he has also received UCLA’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Professor Carbado teaches Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law, Critical Race Theory and Criminal Adjudication.

Russell Korobkin was named Richard C. Maxwell professor of law. He is the author of the leading negotiation textbook, Negotiation Theory and Strategy, and he has published more than 50 law journal articles in the fields of behavioral law and economics, negotiation and alternative dispute resolution, contract law, health care law and stem cell research. Professor Korobkin teaches Contracts, Negotiation and Health Care Law.

Jennifer Mnookin was named David G. Price and Dallas P. Price professor of law. She served as vice dean for faculty and research from 2007 to 2009, and vice dean for faculty recruitment and intellectual life in 2012-2013. Professor Mnookin regularly teaches Evidence and Torts, as well as seminars on topics relating to expert evidence and law and popular culture.

Ted Parson was named Dan and Rae Emmett professor of environmental law. He studies international environmental law and policy, the role of science and technology in policy-making and the political economy of regulation. Professor Parson has led and served on multiple advisory committees, for the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Global Change Research Program and other national and international bodies.

Kirk Stark was named Harry Graham Balter professor of law. He served as vice dean for faculty development from 2010-2013. He received UCLA’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2003 and the law school’s Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2008. Professor Stark teaches Federal Income Taxation, Taxation & Distributive Justice, Financing State and Local Government and the first-year Property course.