Social Justice and Public Interest

The Our Better Web initiative examines how the prevalence of deceptive and exploitative content threatens the health of communities and U.S. democracy.

The faculty director of Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center continues to help people worldwide search for an answer to the agonizing question, Where is my child?

“We can get loud, do the work, and continue to show up, even when it’s hard,” Jade Williams ’24 says. 

The Policy Advocacy Clinic is tackling restitution, a financial charge which saddles people with lifelong debt, adding to its nationwide work eliminating juvenile legal system fees and fines.

A change in leadership of Berkeley Law’s clinics arrives as the surging program adds faculty and plans to add more clinics.

Now a visiting scholar with Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center, Qazizada is part of a unique program that brings threatened Afghan scholars to the Bay Area.

Titus founded the Whistleblower Anti-Bullying Resource Network (WARN), which helps whistleblowers, survivors of workplace bullying and harassment, and people who have experienced police abuse.

Chair of the California Privacy Protection Agency, Urban illuminated the arc of privacy awareness — and importance — to Americans amid technology’s expanding reach.

Galbreath is general counsel at Bitwise Industries, which builds tech economies in underestimated cities and helps marginalized people access opportunities in the industry.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing many states to end or sharply curtail abortion rights will have profoundly harmful effects on those who are forced to continue unwanted pregnancies and on democracy itself, says Berkeley Law scholar.

Key research by Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic is helping courts and state legislatures tackle racial discrimination in jury selection across the country.

Having grown up in a poor area near the Florida-Alabama border, Bradley is relishing the chance to give back to his community.

IHRLC co-directors Roxanna Altholz and Laurel E. Fletcher and clinical students help the Fundación Para la Justicia file a criminal complaint against the Mexican attorney general’s office for illegal surveillance, among other assistance.

Navigating a new regulatory frontier, Patel works with everyone from growers to licensing agencies, dispensary owners to police officers, nonprofit leaders to city administrators.

Four Berkeley Law professors, including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, discuss the court’s anticipated conservative decisions on some of America’s most divisive issues.

This year’s award recipients stand out among extraordinary individual and collective commitment across the legal landscape to improve people’s lives.

Samuelson Clinic student Jennifer Sun ’23 and supervising attorney Megan Graham argue for more public access to surveillance records requests in Minnesota federal court.

The law school will cover the Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition, which makes up the bulk of a student’s cost, for eligible students using existing financial aid dollars.

A Berkeley Law student-led project details the legal mechanisms used by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s regime to exert increasing control over the arts.

Graduating with pro bono honors for her work with the Post-Conviction Advocacy Project, Garcia strives to understand the root causes of why people commit certain crimes.

Berkeley Law professors Russell Robinson and Sonia Katyal weigh in on the rise of measures across the U.S. aimed at limiting these groups’ rights.

Tijani leaned on the training and entrepreneurial spirit she gained at Berkeley Law in launching Firm for the Culture.

Atkinson says she’s thrilled to get the award, which recognizes an early-career academic who shares Ginsburg’s passion for justice.

A recent celebration of 39 works that probe compelling issues across and beyond the legal landscape highlights the faculty’s far-reaching expertise. 

Students logged more than 28,000 collective pro bono hours last year, and about 95% of 1Ls have done pro bono work this year.

Obasogie says he is “thrilled and grateful” to be one of this year’s 180 recipients of the prestigious fellowship.

Having fueled the resurgence of student activism in his native country, Yang relishes advancing his advocacy skills during his year in Berkeley.

Deputy director of Berkeley Law’s Policy Advocacy Clinic, Campos-Bui is honored for her impactful work on the effects of criminal legal system fees and fines.

A three-part forum organized by law and public policy students highlighted some of the work needed to make change.

Arsen Kulyk and Dmytro Tymoshchenko, both experienced Ukrainian attorneys, are providing support for refugees and military operations.

Berkeley Law student Nahlee Lin plays a pivotal role in creating the new policy-driven repository.

“This requirement sends an important message about our school’s commitment to equality and justice,” says Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

Renowned panelists, including former Fox News hosts Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, offer guidance for litigators, advisors, investigators, and HR professionals.

Berkeley Law’s dean says the theme for his one-year term — how law schools can make a difference — is driven by the urgency of society’s problems.

In his four-plus years, Berkeley Law has expanded its financial aid, faculty ranks, clinical offerings, student diversity, and expenditures for students pursuing public interest careers.

The Samuelson Clinic’s Megan Graham has trained more than 1,000 public defenders in three years on how to litigate cutting-edge technology issues.

Four Berkeley Law students detail their memorable experience and how it shaped their career  trajectory. 

A Berkeley Law graduate, professor, and two students team up to help a domestic violence victim and improve California law. 

Journalist Khwaga Ghani is the first fellow in an ambitious program to support Afghan refugees, co-sponsored by Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center.

The International Human Rights Law Clinic found 225 credible incidents of online freedom of expression violations against human rights defenders. 

The gift from Ruth Greenspan Bell ’67 and her husband Joseph Bell will fund scholarships and programming at Berkeley Law’s environmental law and social justice centers.

Professors Katerina Linos, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Abbye Atkinson, Elisabeth Semel, Laurel E. Fletcher, and Jeffrey Selbin are honored for their contributions to scholarship and legal education. 

A panel of Berkeley Law and UCLA professors describe what the theory entails, misinformation surrounding it, why it has become a target.

The Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law and the Investigative Reporting Program at Berkeley Journalism have launched the country’s first investigative reporting course using open source intelligence (OSINT) at a university.

An elite panel of Berkeley scholars will explore how to limit the damage of disinformation — or whether that’s even possible.

Given annually to a recent Berkeley Law graduate, the fellowship at UC Legal offers valuable experience in issues faced by public and nonprofit entities.

Berkeley Law’s flourishing program welcomes eight supervising attorneys and three teaching fellows to help expand project capacity and learning opportunities. 

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and a panel of experts analyzed how the doctrine has evolved, and how changing it could increase accountability for officers and other government officials. 

The initiative selects students admitted to top law schools to work in the public sector for a year before starting their legal education. 

Led by Afghan refugees who are also alumnae, the initiative will help Afghans seeking to leave the country and preserve evidence of human rights abuses committed by the Taliban.