October 2021
Clinic Gains Compassionate Release
for Clients Serving Life Sentences
Thanks to the work of students and faculty in UCLA Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic, two Southern California men serving life sentences in federal prison for non-violent drug convictions were granted compassionate release this year, allowing them to return home to their families. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in criminal justice reform, and the work in the clinic was a chance to see the kind of impact I’d like my legal work to have on the world,” says Petar Nalbantov ’23, who interned with the clinic in the summer and had the opportunity to draft the briefs in the case.
Achiume Earns Faculty Chair Appointment
UCLA Law professor E. Tendayi Achiume has received a faculty chair appointment that recognizes her global leadership in scholarship and advocacy for human rights and the dignity of migrants and refugees around the world. She is now the inaugural holder of the Alicia Miñana Chair in Law, designed to support a faculty member with interests at the intersection of human rights, immigration, migration, or a combination thereof. Achiume is a driving force behind the school’s renowned work in international human rights, critical race studies, and public interest law.
Clinic Students Score Ninth Circuit Wins
When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit convened over Zoom on May 4, a panel of judges heard oral arguments that were delivered by several highly skilled advocates — four of whom were UCLA Law students. “Arguing before the Ninth Circuit was truly a thrill. As someone who intends to pursue appellate litigation, I feel very fortunate to have had my first oral argument experience at such an early stage in my career,” says Alberto De Diego Carreras ’21, who now clerks for Judge Diane Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. And when the judges delivered their opinion in September, his side prevailed.
Wiley to Join UCLA Law Faculty
Lindsay F. Wiley, an internationally renowned expert and leader in health law and policy, will join the UCLA Law faculty as a professor of law starting in January 2022. A widely published author and frequent speaker in the field, Wiley comes to UCLA Law from American University Washington College of Law, where she has served on the faculty for more than a decade and directs the Health Law and Policy Program.
Pro Bono Program Launches
To meet the growing need for pro bono legal representation to address myriad social challenges in Los Angeles, UCLA Law has launched the Judge Rand Schrader Pro Bono Program, bringing the school's existing pro bono opportunities under one umbrella. The program's inaugural director, Grace Meng (pictured), has joined UCLA Law from Human Rights Watch. Meng is a researcher, advocate, and writer whose work has focused on the rights of immigrants in the United States. The program launch coincides with the kickoff of our annual Public Service Challenge for students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Pregerson Family, Clerks Visit UCLA Law
to Screen New Film, ‘9th Circuit Cowboy’
UCLA Law hosted its first in-person event since March 2020, the law school premiere of 9th Circuit Cowboy: The Long, Good Fight of Judge Harry Pregerson. The special screening was followed by a discussion with its Oscar-winning director, Terry Sanders; Pregerson's son, Judge Dean Pregerson; and former Pregerson clerk Marisa Hernández-Stern '10. UCLA Law professor Joanna Schwartz, another former Pregerson clerk, moderated the panel.
Alumni on the Move
- Katrina Mulligan ’07 is named the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict in the U.S. Department of Defense.
- Adrianna Marshack ’07 joins Goodwin Procter as partner.
- Sandra Fujiyama ’98 is named executive director of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business.
- Heather Anderson ’97 joins ESPN as vice president, programming and acquisitions.
- Edwin Sadik ’08 joins Kemp Klein in Troy, Michigan, as a shareholder.
- Sarah E. Moses ’13 joins Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as counsel.
- Rebecca Ney Robinson ’18 joins Eden Health as corporate counsel.
- Kevin Davis ’94 is elected to the advisory board of the Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance.
- Mary Rodriguez ’88 receives the Latina Commission Mari Carmen Aponte Award at the 2021 Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Convention.
Visit our alumni website to read the latest news and submit your update.
Nelson '96 is 2021 Margaret Levy Fellow
Janai Nelson '96 is the Fall 2021 Margaret Levy Public Interest Fellow and delivered her powerful lecture, "Fighting Racial Justice in a Vacuum of Truth," to members of the law school community on Oct. 27. "In the current anti-truth climate, the fight for racial justice is threatened in unprecedented ways," said Nelson, the associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "Lawyers who rely on centering the harsh truths of past and present discrimination face a unique challenge — and opportunity — in their advocacy."
Public Service Challenge
UCLA Law students, faculty, staff, and alumni are pledging two hours of pro bono service between Oct. 24 and Nov. 3.
Power and Accountability in Tech
A series of conversations framing our understanding of power and accountability in the tech space takes place Nov. 1-5.
Restorative Justice
Join faculty and students for a series of three virtual symposia on the foundations of restorative justice, Nov. 3, Nov. 5, and Nov. 10.
Join Us for These Events!
Terrific events are always happening at UCLA Law, and you are invited. Highlights:
Oct. 24-Nov. 5 – Public Service Challenge
Nov. 1-5 – Power and Accountability in Tech
Nov. 8 – Journal of Free Speech Law Series
Nov. 12 – Master of Legal Studies General Program & Application Q&A
Nov. 22 – Master of Legal Studies Application Q&A
Visit the UCLA Law events page for more events and information.
Kimberlé Crenshaw writes a New York Times opinion piece on "How R. Kelly Got Away With It." Kal Raustiala pens a Los Angeles Times op-ed on the inspiring legacy of Ralph Bunche. Joanna Schwartz writes an opinion piece in USA Today on the Supreme Court’s latest qualified immunity opinions. Scott Cummings publishes in Slate on John Eastman’s Jan. 6 defense. Brad Sears writes an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on the lack of LGBTQ federal judges. James Salzman co-writes an op-ed in the New York Daily News on airplane passengers’ ownership expectations. Ahilan Arulanantham pens a Daily Journal piece on Ninth Circuit cases involving racism in immigration. Adam Winkler talks to the Los Angeles Times about the Supreme Court’s upcoming gun rights case. Sharon Dolovich co-publishes research from UCLA Law’s COVID Behind Bars Data Project in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Victor Narro talks to Marketplace about an hourly wage for California garment workers. And Eugene Volokh is quoted in the Los Angeles Times about laws criminalizing promotions of illegal street racing.
Watch Now: Whither the Court 2021
Following a U.S. Supreme Court term that included several impactful cases and a summer in which the so-called shadow docket made headlines, and with potentially landmark matters involving abortion and gun rights on the horizon, an esteemed panel of constitutional scholars from UCLA Law and elsewhere delivered a probing analysis at the 20th Whither the Court: The Allan C. Lebow Annual Supreme Court Review on Sept. 29.
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