The latest edition of Berkeley Law’s biannual magazine chronicles an array of exceptional programs, innovative projects, and inspiring achievements from faculty, students, alumni, and staff.
A Center for Law, Energy & the Environment merit scholar, Van Valkenburgh holds several leadership roles at Berkeley Law and is the lead author of a new research paper on wastewater pollution along the California coastline.
Before law school, 1Ls Kamryn Yanchick and Aidan Lin-Tostado were already turning advocacy into action. As Berkeley Law Public Interest Scholars, they’re now building on that work while preparing for careers in public service.
With the climate for judges becoming increasingly fraught, Hiramoto prioritizes her passions as a jurist: pursuing justice in her courtroom while paving the way for new generations of judges, lawyers, and students.
According to data from reform states, juvenile courts no longer charge youth and families more than $61 million in fees each year, and they have discharged a staggering $783 million in debt.
Professors Khiara M. Bridges, Colleen V. Chien ’02, and Dhammika Dharmapala, and Assistant Professor Manisha Padi were recognized for their scholarly and teaching accomplishments.
Investigation co-led by Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center documents 412 incidents of misuse and 203 injuries across 16 U.S. cities from June 2025 through May 2026.
Ly, a first-generation college student whose parents were factory workers, describes why his work at the plaintiff-side firm Bryan Schwartz Law is expanding both his skills and resolve.
Working with a feminist organization in Georgia and the Equality Law Clinic at the Free University of Brussels, the group wrote a brief on behalf of a woman who had been charged with defamation after accusing her supervisor of sexual harassment.
Swift’s brilliance and grace inspired the alum, who wishes to remain anonymous, to donate $250,000 to start the fund. He hopes other alumni join him in paying tribute to Swift, who died in 2023 after a legendary career.
The school’s newest graduates are clerking for the supreme courts of five states this fall — Alaska, California, Hawaiʻi, New Jersey, and Nevada — as well as intermediate courts of appeal in Alaska and Hawaiʻi and state superior courts in Alaska and California.
Sophia Wang, Toni Mendicino, and Amina Kirby are recognized for leading immigration rights advocacy, amplifying Berkeley Law’s international law work, and advancing technical innovations in the school’s classrooms and event spaces.
Quick start and tenacious defense help Berkeley stay undefeated in the annual Order on the Court basketball game with a 70-46 win fueled by spirited cheerleaders, stellar halftime performers, and hundreds of raucous fans.
The changing climate’s growing impact is acting as a powerful threat multiplier — exacerbating violence, exclusion, discrimination, and weak state protection and spurring migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Housers at Berkeley and the California Housing Initiative strive to achieve more affordable housing opportunities across the state and help train a new generation of advocates.
The Spring 2026 Transcript also features a photo essay sharing the motivations of student and alumni pro bono leaders, a 2L’s push to preserve the stories of military veterans, and much more.
The Edley Center for Law & Democracy event with three former federal prosecutors and the president of a prominent watchdog nonprofit describe growing barriers to investigating the abuse of power by government officials.
As industry defendants increasingly push state judges to adopt strict standing limits modeled on federal standards, the center’s Open Door Project is helping Californians keep their access to the state’s courts.
The gift establishes the Zieff-Leitner Public Interest Fellowship, which will allow a graduating 3L student to spend their first year in practice with a nonprofit organization — at a starting salary of $80,000, significantly more than existing fellowships.
Stood up on a quick timetable, the project fits perfectly into the Criminal Law & Justice Center’s work at the intersection of immigration detention and the criminal justice system.
Panelists addressed the growing personal and political threats facing judges, and how modern pressures from social media harassment to political tribalism threaten the independence necessary for a fair society.
The tax law expert just published a book outlining a plan for fairer taxation at the federal level and is involved with an effort to put a billionaire tax on the ballot in California.
Human Rights Clinic Director Roxanna Altholz ’99 relied on support from the law school as she and two other international law experts probed the 2016 murder of the Honduran environmental activist.
Presented by the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, the two-day conference featured leading experts addressing new legal developments and the main factors driving recent regression.
Stephanie Alvarez, Evelyn Correa, Rosie Rios, and Alejandro Castañeda Zúñiga worked with migrant-focused groups through the program, which earns students academic credit for doing supervised legal work at a nonprofit or government agency.
His nonprofit Preserving the Stories — which began as a middle school project — has conducted over 200 interviews with former military members to document their memories and insights.
The New Orleans gathering brought laurels for Field Placement Program Director Sue Schechter, Clinical Professor and Environmental Law Clinic Director Claudia Polsky ’96, Instructional & Educational Technology Librarian Kristie Chamorro, 3L Virginia Frausto-Elizarraraz, and the late Professor Philip Frickey.
An accomplished performer who has toured worldwide, Browne serves as UC Berkeley’s interim carillonist — playing regular recitals, managing, and teaching in the Campanile studio while pursuing an international law career.
Across the legal landscape, the school’s commitment to excellence, community, public mission, and leadership — as well as its entrepreneurial spirit and determined pursuit of justice — was on full display.
Carrillo, who runs the nonpartisan academic research center devoted to studying the state’s constitution and Supreme Court, has just become editor-in-chief of the book-length annual scholarly volume published by the California Supreme Court Historical Society and joined the society’s board of directors.
Up to 10 incoming J.D. students chosen each year receive scholarship support, leadership programming, coaching, and mentorship to help them learn how best to guide teams, solutions, and growth.
The group brings diverse expertise in data science, immigration, and criminal, family, and transactional law, expanding the program’s reach and bolstering its mission to advance racial, economic, and social justice.
As each hot new idea or gadget has grabbed funders and headlines — from broadband to AI — Narechania has kept his eye on striking a balance between innovation and accessibility.
The civil rights icon, former federal judge, and Berkeley Law visiting professor witnessed violent efforts to block Black people from voting in the 1960s South as a Department of Justice lawyer.
“My role has always been to push the envelope” on gaining civil rights for people with disabilities, says Mayerson, who has taught at Berkeley Law since 1988.
The content includes featuring our seven new professors, our alumni’s huge impact in the entertainment industry, and new students’ varied motivations for choosing law school — and Berkeley.
The author of immigration law’s go-to guide — now its 19th edition — Kurzban has litigated over 100 federal cases, obtained a $500 million judgment against a former dictator, and represented thousands of refugees.
Su, who served in the Brown, Newsom, and Biden administrations, says she’s excited to be at the law school because “there is so much good that law students and lawyers can do in the world, especially in this moment.”
As a public defender, mentor, educator, and volunteer, this year’s Minnesota State Bar Association Lifetime Achievement Award winner continues to make a significant impact.
From a new AI program for LL.M. Executive Track students to specialties in business, environmental, and tech law, students can choose from a hefty slate of certificate programs.
Co-president of UC Berkeley Law’s Plaintiffs’ Law Association, Ochoa gained prime experience this summer working at the plaintiff-side employment firm Bryan Schwartz Law, P.C., in Oakland.
Host Gwyneth Shaw talks to Hausman about the grant-funded project, which is the first centralized repository of individual-level U.S. government immigration enforcement data and is publicly available.
Altholz, director of the Human Rights Clinic, is one of three experts appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct an independent and impartial investigation of Berta Cáceres’ 2016 assassination.
Vlacos relishes confronting disability rights and other hot-button issues while working with the Civil Rights and Enforcement Section of the California Department of Justice in San Francisco.
The gift from Bob and Colleen Haas honors the distinguished UC Berkeley alumnus and celebrates his name, legendary life’s work, and passion for molding a fairer and more just society.
Tetiana Poudel relishes “contributing to something bigger than myself” to help her country defend itself against Russia, raising money and fueling venture capital efforts to provide supplies, equipment, and medication.
The report from UC Berkeley Law’s student-led Homelessness Service Project analyzes the impact of a crackdown on California’s unhoused population since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass v. Johnson decision last summer.
