Student Organizations
Boalt Hall Student Association (BHSA)
The Boalt Hall Student Association (BHSA), the law school's student government organization, is composed of all registered law students. BHSA organizes activities of general law school interest and helps new students adjust to life at Berkeley Law by sponsoring social, athletic, and law-related events. The BHSA council represents student interests in curriculum planning, admissions policy, faculty hiring, administration of the library, professional placement, and many other areas; the council also appoints student representatives to faculty-student committees. In addition, BHSA allocates funds to each of the student groups at Berkeley Law.
You can contact the BHSA at:
Boalt Hall Student Association
Email: bhsa@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://bhsa.boalt.org/bhsa
Organizations
Advocates for Drug Law Reform
Our mission is to eliminate all drug enforcement policies which support violence, inefficiency, and injustice, recognizing that the "War on Drugs" harms, rather than helps, communities. To this end, we seek to provide an all-inclusive forum in which students are able to: 1) engage with and learn from practitioners working on cutting-edge drug law issues; 2) contribute to the abolishment of unjust drug laws, through political activism, community building, and academic research.
Advocates for Youth Justice
Advocates for Youth Justice (AYJ) provides law students with training and opportunities to serve Bay Area youth through four student-run initiatives: Juvenile Hall Outreach, a know-your-rights program at Alameda County juvenile hall; the Expulsion Representation Clinic, providing advocacy for Bay Area youth facing school expulsion; the Education Advocacy Program where law students are certified as educational surrogates for foster youth; and the Berkeley High School Student Court, a restorative justice court at Berkeley High School. AYJ seeks to engage the broader law school community in discussion of issues involving youth and the law by hosting a speaker series called
Learning from Leaders. Finally, AYJ provides opportunities for career guidance and networking, with the aim of fostering a spirit of service within our school and profession.
Website: http://ayj.berkeley.edu
American Constitution Society
The mission of the American Constitution Society is to harness the values of compassion and respect for each individual, and to reincorporate them into American law and politics, in order to build a stronger and more decent national community. The society's role is to influence the debate on the law, both in its interpretation and its creation, and to restore these traditional American values to their rightful place in legal and political debate. Our goal is not the restoration of a failed approach to government, but a rekindling of the hope that by reason and decency, we can create an American that is better for us all.
Email: constitution@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.acslaw.org/chapters/ca/uc-berkeley-school-of-law
Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) strives to meet the political, cultural, social, academic, and career needs of Berkeley Law students interested in Asian Pacific Islander issues. In addition, the group's mission includes recruitment of under represented students, particularly Southeast Asian and Filipino students.
Email: apalsa@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.boalt.org/APALSA/
Association of Trial Lawyers of America-Boalt Chapter
Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is the world's largest trial bar, with over 60,000 members worldwide. We are dedicated to promoting and protecting consumer safety, the right to trial by jury, and America's civil justice system. Our goal is to assist students in developing the skills, knowledge, and professional contacts needed to become a successful trial attorney. Chapter members have the opportunity to participate in the ATLA annual Student Trial Advocacy Competition, the nation's premier mock trial competition. Members also participate in ATLA's mentor program, receive career-enhancing information with TRIAL magazine, and much more.
Email: boalt-atla@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.boalt.org/atla
Berkeley Chinese Law Society
The Berkeley Chinese Law Society is a forum for students and faculty interested in the study of legal practice and development in contemporary China.
Email: chineselaw@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://china.boalt.org/
Berkeley Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society (CAPS)
The Berkeley Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society (CAPS) is dedicated to fostering research, discussion, and advocacy in the field of Consumer Protection Law. We are committed to strengthening ties between consumer law groups and the Berkeley Law community. We work to: create networks between consumer law attorneys, advocacy organizations, and the Berkeley Law student body in order to promote the field of consumer protection law and provide training opportunities for students; foster community among student advocates whose interests intersect with consumer protection; and encourage and maintain consumer protection curriculum and clinic opportunities at Berkeley Law. Please visit caps.boalt.org for more information.
Email: charlie.carriere@gmail.com or berkeleycaps@gmail.com
Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative
The Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC) is a student-led organization whose mission is to connect and develop the UC Berkeley energy and resources community. The group acts as a bridge between the university's many schools, programs, and labs, and forges connections with the larger energy and clean-tech cluster within the Bay Area and beyond.
BERC @ Boalt is the law school's connection to BERC. We hope to make UC Berkeley the number one school at which to study energy law in the nation through continued curriculum development, an expanding alumni and professional network, and the promotion of energy-related events and discussions.
Email: berc.boalt@gmail.com
Website: http://berc.berkeley.edu/
Berkeley Law Critical Race Scholars Society
The Berkeley Law Critical Race Scholars Society (CRS) is a student-run organization dedicated to exploring perspectives of race and its intersection with other modes of oppression including, but not limited to, gender, class, and sexual orientation. The CRS Society strives to bridge critical race theory (CRT) scholarship and activism by analyzing historical and contemporary legal issues affecting communities of color and developing skills to bring this knowledge into the professional world through "praxis." As a group of emerging academics and activists, we aim to provide students with a setting in which to develop and advance CRT scholarship as well as provide opportunities to network with leading CRT scholars and with legal professionals working to promote racial justice.
Email: crsberkeley@gmail.com
Berkeley Law Foundation
The Berkeley Law Foundation (BLF) is an income-sharing organization comprised of Berkeley Law students and alumni who are dedicated to providing legal services to historically underserved communities. Started in 1976 by Berkeley Law students, BLF was the first organization of its kind in the nation. BLF's primary goal is funding public interest law through summer grants for current Berkeley Law students and yearlong grants for new attorneys around the country. Our grants enable the recipients to work on innovative and critical projects that provide desperately needed legal services to communities all around the nation and the world. Besides providing crucial funding for legal services, BLF works to ensure diversity in legal education and the profession. To this end, BLF created the Phoenix Fellowship, which provides funding for several outstanding Berkeley Law students of color to do public interest legal work.
Email: foundation@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://blf.boalt.org/
Berkeley Society of Law and Public Policy
BSLPP is a student group committed to providing resources and support to Boalt Hall students who want to work in legislatures, state and local levels. BLSPP members want to use our law degrees to serve the public interest beyond legal departments and courtrooms, working to create law and policies in addition to enforcing them.
Berkeley Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
Berkeley Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) is a student chapter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. We are dedicated to educating the law school community about forms of institutionalized animal abuse and fostering awareness about means of combating this abuse through litigation. We provide opportunities, education, and assistance to Berkeley Law students using the law to promote animal welfare. Our current projects include promoting the animal law class, funding a team for the annual animal law moot court competition at Harvard, outreach and awareness activities on campus, inviting animal law practitioners to speak, and ongoing work to introduce animal law pro bono opportunities and courses and an animal law journal.
Email: animallaw@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/berkeleysaldf
Berkeley Student Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Society
The Mission Statement of the Student Chapter is parallel to the mission statement of the Law Society: 'We affirm the strength brought to the study of law by a law student's personal religious conviction. We strive through public service and diligence in our studies to promote fairness and virtue founded upon the rule of law.' Membership in the Student Chapter is multi-faith and open to all currently enrolled law student of any law schools in the area where the Student Chapter is located who share in the goals, ideals and values of the Law Society.
Boalt Association of Military Veterans
As an organization of current military members and veterans, we first and foremost strive to continue to set the highest standards of professionalism and performance in our chosen career paths. In accordance with those high standards, the Boalt Association of Military Veterans aims to establish a strong network amongst current and future law students as well as Berkeley Law alumni who served in the United States Armed Forces. We hope to primarily focus on the exchange of information regarding military/veterans issues; establishing a different perspective and providing a forum for substantive military law and national security law conversations at Berkeley Law; formulating employment opportunities that may not currently be offered or developed through the Career Development Office that are of interest to veterans; and forming a cohesive bond of camaraderie amongst all members. We hope to demystify the Armed Forces and counter the military stereotypes and generalizations by providing a recognized organization of open-minded veterans and military members willing to respectfully discuss and debate any and all issues that may be of interest to the rest of the Berkeley Law community.
Boalt Catholic Community
The Boalt Catholic Community provides a forum of support and fellowship for those students interested in integrating their respective paths in the law with the Catholic faith tradition. The group is open to all Catholic students at Berkeley Law, and to anyone who is interested in being part of the community. We offer the opportunity for celebrations of Mass together off-campus, followed by a casual meal, and other opportunities for socializing, community service, networking, and the occasional speaker or discussion.
Email: kdenk@berkeley.edu
Boalt Civil Rights Outreach Project
Boalt CROP aims to bring legal services to Northern California's low income and underserved AMEMSA (Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian) communities through rotating legal clinics and town halls. Boalt CROP works collaboratively with the Asian Law Caucus of San Francisco to outreach to monolingual and economically disadvantaged individuals within the Impacted Communities, in order to assist them with their legal needs, education them about their legal rights, and empower them to advocate on their on behalf. Boalt CROP focuses its activities in Berkeley and Oakland.
Boalt Criminal Law Association
Email: bcla@law.berkeley.edu
Boalt Death Penalty Discourse Project
The Boalt Death Penalty Discourse Project (DPDP) aims to engage discussion among and provide information to the Berkeley Law community about the death penalty, especially as it relates to California. It is a nonpartisan group, with the purpose of creating a discourse that everyone-regardless of their position on capital punishment-can engage in. Upcoming activities include a documentary film series and speakers to address various aspects of capital punishment in the law and in the broader social context. DPDP is also a rich resource for those students who wish to find internships, write papers, learn about new capital cases, or simply stay abreast of news related to the death penalty.
Additionally, DPDP has a subset devoted to anti-death penalty activism. Through this subgroup, students work with Bay Area organizations to end the death penalty in California and throughout the United States. Among other activities, the members of this part of DPDP attend local events, including executions at San Quentin, conduct campaigns of writing op-ed pieces for newspapers, and fund-raise to attend national conferences for abolition.
Email: dpdp@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.boalt.org/dpdp/
Boalt Disability Law Society
The Boalt Disability Law Society (BDLS) was formed with two primary purposes: first, to provide support for law students with and without disabilities; and second, to provide a forum for discussion of new and pressing issues in disability law. Originally called the Coalition for Access and Disability Rights Everywhere (CADRE), the group changed its name in 1999 to reflect its commitment to scholarship and community involvement as well as advocacy.
Email: boaltdisabilitylawsociety@gmail.com
Website: http://www.boalt.org/BDLS/
Boalt Hall Committee for Human Rights
The purpose of the Boalt Hall Committee for Human Rights is to promote human rights education and advocacy at the law school, throughout the UC Berkeley campus, and within the greater community. It will accomplish this by increasing the organization, capacity, and unity of Berkeley Law's international human rights community; increasing general awareness; and fostering dialogue and student participation toward general international human rights issues.
Email: bhchr.contact@gmail.com
Website: http://www.boalt.org/bhchr/
Boalt Hall Democrats
The Boalt Hall Democrats (BHD) are committed to the dual goals of electing Democratic candidates and increasing voter participation. BHD members work with the Democratic Party in various capacities, helping to elect candidates who promote Democratic principles to both state and national office. BHD also strives to register voters and to disseminate information about candidates' positions to the public.
Email: democrats@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://dems.boalt.org/
Boalt Hall Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a nationwide, nonpartisan organization of law students and legal professionals dedicated to limited government, separation of governmental powers, and a judiciary whose province is to say what the law is, not what it should be. The Boalt Hall chapter of the Federalist Society's goals include: promoting thoughtful and challenging discussion of legal and public policy issues; academically and intellectually sponsoring conservative and libertarian law students; and ensuring that all Berkeley Law students-future leaders of the legal profession-are thoughtfully exposed to conservative and libertarian perspectives, and consider these perspectives in their analysis of legal issues.
Email: federalist@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/5872.htm
Boalt Hall Healthcare Law Society
The Boalt Hall Healthcare Law Society provides a forum for discussion of some of the most compelling issues of our day, including: HMO reform, access to health care for lower-income individuals, national and local HIV/AIDS policy, Medicare fraud, interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, medical ethics, and advances in biotechnology. The society aims to keep the campus community abreast of recent developments in the field of health care, inform students of employment and volunteer opportunities in the area, and advocate for expanded faculty and student resources in the field.
Email: healthlaw@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://hcbls.boalt.org/
Boalt Hall Labor Coalition
The mission of the Boalt Hall Labor Coalition is to develop and support student involvement in workers' rights efforts and the labor movement. In order to further this purpose, the Boalt Hall Labor Coalition
- Serves as a point of contact for workers' rights and labor union campaigns,
- Mobilizes and coordinates student involvement in those campaigns,
- Assists students seeking careers relating to workers' rights and labor issues, and
- Advocates for university policies in faculty hiring, course offerings, and financial aid that support students interested in labor and employment issues.
Email: boaltlabor-owner@lists.berkeley.edu
Website: http://labor.boalt.org/
Boalt Hall Older & Wiser Law Students (OWLS)
Boalt Hall Older & Wiser Students (OWLS) is a social organization whose membership shows a certain characteristic: all members are chronologically gifted (30-plus years of age). The OWLS mission is to make the chronologically gifted feel welcome at Berkeley Law through social activities, lunch, dinner, or happy hour. There are no officers other than concerned members who are willing to organize social events in an ad hoc fashion.
Email: dinosaurs@law.berkeley.edu
Boalt Hall Patent Law Society
The Boalt Hall Patent Law Society is organized to serve as a focus group for students interested in practicing patent law; to provide a forum for students to have in-depth discussions regarding patent law; to engage patent law practitioners to share their experiences with students; and to provide opportunities for students to interact, network, and exchange ideas.
Email: patentlaw@law.berkeley.edu
Boalt Hall Queer Caucus
Since its founding in 1978, the Boalt Hall Queer Caucus has served a dual mission. First, the caucus works to address and eradicate the legal, political, and social oppression of their rights, and second, the caucus provides an affirming, supportive base for students of diverse sexual orientations. While our membership has risen to over 50 students, our work has been increasingly instrumental, effective, and visible in the hallways of Berkeley Law and beyond.
Email: caucus@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://queercaucus.boalt.org/
Boalt Hall Women's Association
The Boalt Hall Women's Association (BHWA) provides a physical and figurative space at Berkeley Law for the dynamic and diverese women's community. Its aim is to create an environment where an informed dialogue on issues of women, law, and society is encouraged and analyzed; educate the community about gender issues by encouraging a broad-based exchange of ideas; develop and nurture an interface between Berkeley Law students and the greater women's community at the university and beyond; and support, inspire, and encourage legal work affecting, advancing, or impacting women.
Email: bhwa@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.boalt.org/bhwa/
Boalt Jewish Students Association
The Boalt Jewish Students Association (BJSA) is designed to foster cultural, social, and educational development among Jewish law students at Berkeley Law. BJSA celebrates Jewish holidays and traditions. One of the aims of BJSA is to promote the interaction between BJSA and other student groups on campus.
Email: bjsa@law.berkeley.edu
Boalt Muslim Student Association
The Boalt Muslim Students Association (Boalt MSA) is a part of the larger campus MSA and aims to provide for the needs and interests of Muslim students ensconced within Berkeley Law. The Boalt MSA arranges for a prayer room during the day, maintains relationships with the administration to apprise them of Muslim students' needs, and hopes to welcome admitted Muslim law students. The Boalt MSA works closely with BAML (Bay Area Muslim Lawyers), an informal group of local lawyers and law students that gets together for professional, activist, networking, and social ends.
Email: bma@law.berkeley.edu
Boalt.org
Boalt.org works to secure additional computing resources for Berkeley Law students. Improved-and smart-instructional technology is our goal, and Boalt.org's executive board lobbies and advises the law school administration to this end. As a Web page, Boalt.org seeks to become the resource for student publishing at Berkeley Law. To this end, we include links to Berkeley Law student organizations and journals in their various spots on the Web.
Our content is student run and student developed. The Boalt.org Web master is appointed by the Boalt Hall Student Association and is charged with administering the site and setting applicable publishing guidelines.
Email: webmaster@boalt.org
Website: http://www.boalt.org/
Boalt Hall Capital Markets Group
The mission of the Boalt Hall Capital Markets Group is to provide educational material and support to Boalt Hall students interested in either working in capital markets or gaining information on how to harness capital markets to fund public interest activities. The Boalt Hall Capital Markets Group will provide resources for students to gain experience in the capital markets via community contacts and internships and to provide a space where students from all academic disciplines may learn about the capital markets.
Boalt Police Review Advocates
The Boalt Police Review Advocates gives all Berkeley Law students the opportunity to assist complainants at public hearings before the Berkeley and Oakland police review boards. The group provides weekly trainings on preparing cases, cross-examination techniques, effective opening and closing statements, working with (low-income) clients, and other advocacy skills.
Email: bpra@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.boalt.org/BPRA/
Board of Advocates
The Board of Advocates (formerly the Moot Court Board) assists in organizing and provides student advisers to the Appellate Advocacy class; oversees the McBaine Moot Court Honors Competition; and provides opportunities for students to compete in off-campus moot court and mock trial competitions.
Email: boaltadvocates@gmail.com
Website:
California Asylum Representation Clinic
California Asylum Representation Clinic (CARC) is committed to enabling Berkeley Law students to serve as legal advocates for asylum seekers. Students work in pairs to assist asylum seekers from all over the world, including Central America, Africa, and Asia. CARC collaborates with the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant to allow first-year students, as well as 2Ls and 3Ls, to enrich their legal education by working directly with clients and providing a vital community service. Reed Smith, LLP, and local immigration attorneys provide CARC students with additional support and mentorship.
Email: diversity@law.berkeley.edu
Community Legal Outreach
The Community Legal Outreach (CLO) program provides a unique opportunity for first-year law students to provide much-needed legal services to underrepresented communities served by the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC). As funding cuts make legal services for low-income people increasingly hard to come by, it is crucial that EBCLC's resources reach those at risk in the community. Student volunteers help expand EBCLC's service net by visiting homeless shelters, battered women's shelters, welfare centers, and drop-in clinics, and staffing the Community Legal Access Service Site (CLASS) and the Low-Income Eviction Project. Students provide legal information in brief consultations and referrals to EBCLC and other legal service providers as well as connecting clients with other community resources. Students assist clients with problems associated with government benefits, housing, criminal records, citation defense, and other legal issues. Community Legal Outreach puts students' legal skills and substantive learning to work outside the classroom, to benefit both the community and the students themselves, and to foster students’ commitment to public interest law and pro bono work.
Email: clo@law.berkeley.edu
East Bay Community Law Center Student Steering Committee
The purpose of the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) Student Steering Committee (SSC) is to maintain the connection between the Berkeley Law student body and the legal service center. Founded by Berkeley Law students, EBCLC continues to depend highly on the continual participation of students to provide direct legal services to the low-income community of the East Bay. In order to attain this goal, SSC sponsors speaker events to educate Berkeley Law students about the work emerging from the legal center. The group also holds EBCLC clinic awareness days and clinic alumni events to strengthen the bonds between the Boalt student body and the legal clinic in order to assure its continual success. The SSC keeps local issues alive at Berkeley Law by assuring that students understand the needs in the community and that real action can be taken to address these problems through clinical education.
Email: ebclcssc@law.berkeley.edu
Environmental Law Society
The Environmental Law Society (ELS) takes an active role in promoting environmental justice and public interest environmental law, as well as in engaging students in hands-on environmental projects designed to benefit Berkeley Law specifically and the greater campus and Berkeley community generally. ELS organizes an annual Environmental Justice Symposium and a public interest speaker series; funds a trip to the annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Oregon; and operates Treeblogger, a blog devoted to covering the latest developments in environmental news. Current ELS projects also include initiatives to reduce paper consumption in Berkeley Law's computer lab, as well as to bring composting and e-waste collection to Berkeley Law and continue to improve Berkeley Law's recycling program.
Email: environment@law.berkeley.edu
Website: els.boalt.org/
Genetics, Law & Policy Council
Genetics, Law & Policy Council (GLPC) is committed to fostering the science of genetics as it intersects the law, specifically, the activities undertaken by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. To accomplish these goals the council will sponsor events centering on a speaker series, panel discussions, and forums with legal scholars, geneticists, and public policy makers to address emerging trends in genetic research applications, and legislation that protects the welfare of its citizens, in the context of genetic technologies.
Email: genetics@law.berkeley.edu
Global Justice & Climate Change Policy Initiative
The Global Justice & Climate Change Policy Initiative (CCPI) is a research and advocacy group. We aim to build a community, at Berkeley and beyond, to ensure that climate change policies consider both people and the planet.
Email: ccpi@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://globaljusticeandclimatechangepolicy.wordpress.com/
International Law Society
The International Law Society (ILS) provides a forum for students and faculty with an interest in international law to meet and exchange ideas. ILS seeks to generate interest in the field of international law by inviting debate, encouraging research, and sponsoring periodic symposia and speakers.
Email: ils@law.berkeley.edu
Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project
The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP-Berkeley) is a student-run organization that works to improve the plight of Iraqi refugees. Some are fleeing the violence of the Iraq War, while others are seeking relief from religious or political persecution. Many are in grave danger because of their previous work with the United States government or another U.S. employer. In partnership with law firms across the country, our students provide legal assistance to Iraqis who wish to resettle in the United States. We believe assisting these Iraqis is a small but imperative step in mitigating the effects of the Iraq War.
Korean American Law Students Association
The Korean American Law Students Association (KALSA) strives to meet the social, academic, cultural, career, and political needs of Berkeley Law students interested in Korean American issues. The group's mission includes recruitment and mentorship of incoming students, as well as active service within the Korean American and Asian Pacific Islander communities.
Email: kalsa@law.berkeley.edu
La Raza Law Students Association
The La Raza Law Students Association was founded in the 1960s to meet the needs of Chicano and Latino students at Berkeley Law. The association provides academic, social, and emotional support to Latino students. In addition, the group conducts community outreach and participates in political campaigns and events affecting the Latino community.
Email: la_raza@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.boalt.org/raza/
487 Simon Hall, 642-3368
Law & Society Student Forum
LSSF's purpose is to further the study of law and society at UC Berkeley and to assist in the professional development of law students interested in work in law and society as well as those seeking to produce scholarly work for publication.
Law Students for Reproductive Justice
Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ) is a national nonprofit network of law students and lawyers. Our organization educates, organizes, and supports law students to ensure that a new generation of advocates will be prepared to protect and expand reproductive rights as basic civil and human rights.
Email: lsrj@law.berkeley.edu
Website: www.boalt.org/lsrj
Law Students for Justice in Palestine
Law Students for Justice in Palestine (LSJP) is dedicated to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel. The group believes that without justice and recognition of the human rights of Palestinians, peace in the region will remain forever illusory. LSJP was formed in the fall of 2002 to accomplish three goals:
- To generate more discussion and awareness about the Palestinian struggle for liberation;
- To infuse the current discourse with a legal analysis of the Palestinian struggle for liberation and the illegality of the state of Israel and its policies in their current form; and
- To provide legal support to her sister organization on the main UC Berkeley campus, Students for Justice in Palestine, which has been participating in an ongoing campaign to demand that the UC system to divest from Israel since February 6, 2001.
Email: lsjp@law.berkeley.edu
Law Students of African Descent
Finding its roots in the African American Association of the early 1960s, Law Students of African Descent (LSAD) is now at the heart of the Black community at Berkeley Law. The purpose of the organization is to articulate and promote the needs of Black law students in the law school. An active member of the National Black Law Students Association, LSAD seeks to foster a unique sense of community among its members and to serve as an academic, political, and social resource for Black law students. In the wake of Proposition 209, LSAD actively participates in the recruitment and retention of Black law students. LSAD promotes academic and professional excellence among its members and is committed to forming lasting relationships with its Black alumni, members of the Black legal community, and the Black community as a whole.
Email: lsad@law.berkeley.edu
Men of Color Alliance
MOCA is open to all, but primarily targeted at serving the needs of those who identify as men of color by recruiting and retaining men of color (students and faculty). This is done by means of participating in Admitted Students Weekend, creating a social/professional networking space, mentoring/advising, as well as educating the community about issues that particularly pertain to men of color.
Email: moca@law.berkeley.edu
Middle Eastern Law Students Association
The Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA) is composed of students who are either of Middle Eastern heritage or have an interest in Middle Eastern culture and legal developments affecting people from the Middle East. Every semester, MELSA puts on a number of events to inform the Berkeley Law community about legal issues affecting Middle Easterners abroad, as well as those in the United States. Past events have included documentaries about Palestinian-Israeli relations, human rights abuses of Guantanamo detainees, and U.S. foreign policy implications in Afghanistan. MELSA also hosts cultural celebration events, has a strong mentorship program, and cultivates leadership within its membership.
Email: melsa@law.berkeley.edu
National Lawyers Guild-Boalt Chapter
The National Lawyers Guild is an organization dedicated to uniting lawyers and legal workers in the fight for civil rights and social justice. Guild attorneys, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers share a progressive social and political perspective that is reflected in the preamble to the Guild's constitution, which holds that human rights are more sacred than property rights.
Email: nlg@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://www.nlgsf.org/
Group list: http://groups.google.com/group/boalt-nlg
Native American Law Students Association
Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) seeks to increase the number of Native American law professors, attorneys, judges, and public service entrepreneurs participating in the legal community, which includes both urban and rural Native American communities. In pursuit of this goal, NALSA is committed to the recruitment of Native American students to Berkeley Law. Although NALSA is committed to serving the American Indian community whenever possible, our first priority is to provide the academic and social support necessary to successfully complete three years at Berkeley Law. In meeting this necessity, NALSA also functions as a peer-support organization.
Email: nalsa@law.berkeley.edu
Parents at Boalt
Parents at Boalt seeks to help Berkeley Law parents, who typically have significant commitments outside school, find ways to balance the rigors of school and the demands of family life. The group provides practical information regarding issues such as class scheduling and child care, and also provides networking opportunities with attorneys though annual panel presentations.
Email: parents@law.berkeley.edu
Pilipino American Law Society
Pilipino American Law Society (PALS) was started to address Pilipino American community-specific legal and social issues, as well as to help recruit more Pilipino Americans into the legal profession. We welcome all individuals, regardless of ethnic background, who are interested in Pilipino American issues.
Email: pals@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://pals.boalt.org/
Restorative Justice Committee
The Restorative Justice Committee (RJC) was founded in 2010 by a group of Berkeley Law students, faculty and staff. Our mission is to ignite local interest in restorative justice (RJ)--and, in doing so, to foster a vibrant RJ community in and around Berkeley. Our objectives are to: make local RJ activities visible and sustainable; build a strong network of people who care about RJ; promote awareness and development of RJ programs; and be a hub of information about RJ resources and organizations. We are a student-run, open-membership group.
Email: rjc.berkeley@gmail.com
Website: restorativejustice.boalt.org
Society for Cultural Heritage, Arts and the Law (SCHAL)
SCHAL is a student group devoted to exploring the law as it relates to cultural heritage and the visual and performing arts. This interdisciplinary group aims to promote dialogue among students and faculty at UC Berkeley regarding the oft-competing interests of creation, advancement, protection, preservation, management and wide circulation of cultural resources ad artistic ideas. The members seek to educate themselves about the various conceptual tools and institutional levers through which the law articulates and attempts to address these interests, with a critical eye to its successes and failures. South Asian Law Student Association
The South Asian Law Student Association (SALSA) is a cultural, social, and political space for students of South Asian descent. We especially focus on serving the South Asian community by using our legal skills to solve problems. We also focus on the recruitment of underrepresented minorities to law school.
Email: salsa@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://salsa.boalt.org/
Sports and Entertainment Law Society
The mission of Berkeley Law's Sports and Entertainment Law Society (SELS) is to provide students with opportunities to learn more about these exciting areas of law as well as a chance to network with other interested students and industry professionals. For the 2005-06 academic year, SELS anticipates sponsoring a series of guest speakers and panels, with social events thrown in for good measure. Additionally, SELS seeks to develop as a resource that our members can use to connect with alumni and seek employment opportunities in the sports and entertainment industries. Because we hope to make SELS bigger and better than ever before, new members are particularly welcome with their ideas, efforts, and enthusiasm.
Email: sels@law.berkeley.edu
Students for Environmental and Economic Justice
Law Students for Environmental & Economic Justice is dedicated to the just distribution of environmental benefits to, and the amelioration of environmental harms concentrated in, communities of color and low-income communities. We are committed to the strategic use of legal tools to strengthen grassroots organizing and to build community power.
Student Organization for Advanced Legal Studies
The Student Organization for Advanced Legal Studies (SOALS) is an independently run student organization for LL.M., J.S.D., and JSP candidates, international exchange students, and visiting scholars attending Berkeley Law.
The primary goal of the organization is to facilitate the social and professional needs of the members of our community who share similar interests and needs while studying at Berkeley Law. Through our social, professional, career, and academic activities, we aspire to build relationships among our members and our U.S.-based and international alumni, and to share experiences on paths to practitioner and academic job placement, scholarly research, international public service, and business opportunities.
Email: soals@law.berkeley.edu
Students Opposed to Domestic Violence (STOP DV)
The mission of Students Opposed to Domestic Violence (STOP DV) is to raise awareness and foster education about the cycles of domestic violence and the legal contexts that surround intimate partner abuse. STOP DV is committed to working within and beyond our legal community in order to challenge current conceptions and to define domestic violence as unacceptable in our society.
Email: stopdv@law.berkeley.edu
Transfer Student Coalition
The mission of the Transfer Student Coalition consists of three elements: first, to provide an atmosphere of hospitality and inclusion for incoming transfer students. Second, to offer a network of peer counseling that transfer students may employ for academic and professional advice and guidance. Finally, to provide a forum addressing concerns and desires that are unique to transfer students. Although all transfer students are encouraged to participate in coalition activities, the membership is open to the entire Berkeley Law population.
Email: transfer@law.berkeley.edu
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines
Email: uaem@law.berkeley.edu
Women of Color Collective
The Women of Color Collective (WOCC) provides a supportive space for African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, and other women and trans people of color at Berkeley Law. Through cultural, social, professional, educational, and community service programs, the WOCC advances the needs of women and trans people of color, thereby enriching the educational experience at Berkeley Law.
The organization aims to inform members, as well as the law school community, about issues facing women and trans people of color in law school, the legal profession, and society at large. The WOCC also serves as a support and mentorship network, linking current students to each other and to Berkeley Law alumni.
Email: boaltwocc@gmail.com
Workers' Rights Clinic
The Workers' Rights Clinic serves to provide free legal information to low-income workers with employment-related problems and to give Berkeley Law students, particularly first-years, an opportunity to interview and work with clients who need their help. Every Thursday night, clients come to the clinic, housed at the East Bay Community Law Center, where they meet one-on-one with a Berkeley Law student to discuss the details of the client's employment problem. The student then meets with a supervising attorney. Together, the attorney and the student analyze the client's situation, identify legal issues, and determine what remedies the client might pursue. The student then reports back to the client and discusses the possible solutions with her or him. Not only is the clinic a valuable resource in the East Bay community, it's a valuable resource for Berkeley Law students. Each Thursday night, before the clients arrive, students learn from dedicated supervising attorneys about current issues in employment law in a small-group discussion setting. Students also find that the clinic provides a good opportunity to meet and talk with other students interested in community service and experiencing the law at work outside the classroom.
Email: workersrights@law.berkeley.edu
Website: http://workersrights.boalt.org
Student Participation in Berkeley Law Administration
While the faculty and administration govern the Law School, student ideas are always welcome and are actively sought on many issues. Formal student participation consists of student representation on selected standing committees, including such committees as Academic Rules, Admissions, Career Services, Computer Policy, Curriculum Policy, and Library Services.