Student News

Six determined groups of students participated in this year’s Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trips, working with grassroots groups from Appalachia to Hawai’i.

Kelsey Peden ’21, Najia Humayun ’22, Christine Hulsizer ’21, and Simone Lieban Levine ’21 reap wide-ranging benefits from the unique Salzburg Cutler Fellow international law program.

Students Shabna Ummer-Hashim, Anais Jansen-Fernandez, and Caroline Haber exemplify the Berkeley Law program’s international diversity and professional success.

Berkeley Law’s 3L class presidents, one of whom calls Stevenson “an inspiring embodiment” of the school’s public mission, eagerly anticipate his remarks at the May 21 event. 

Members of the student-led Political and Election Empowerment Project worked to ensure underrepresented populations don’t get watered down in this year’s redistricting, and also put in volunteer time at the polls.

Field Placement Program quartet gains international law skills while serving as student legal advisors for Afghanistan, Sudan, the Bahamas, and the Marshall Islands.

The gift will enable Berkeley Law’s renamed Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies to expand the many ways it engages students, faculty, and the broader community.

Despite the digital hurdles, students say they’re building something special through virtual events and other creative ways to hang out. 

The founder of No One Left Offline says “the internet is the new electricity — without it, you’re in the dark.”

“Technology Law as a Vehicle for Anti-Racism,” a free-two day virtual symposium on November 12 and 13 aims to not just ignite a conversation about how to channel tech law and policy to serve the interests of racial justice, but to stoke the flames of action.

Berkeley Law student Clara Dorfman ’22 volunteered with a Berkeley Human Rights Center team that’s scouring social media for evidence of voter suppression and other threats on Election Day and beyond.

Gov. Gavin Newsom partners with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic on a historic amicus brief about racial discrimination’s impact on how capital punishment is imposed in California. 

A special slate of one-credit classes is helping first-year students and professors get to know one another during an unprecedented semester.

After coordinating programs to maximize representation, Pedral says completing the census by the September 30 deadline is vital for California’s future.

The Workers’ Rights Clinic caseload has surged since the pandemic sent a shockwave through the labor force. 

Editors-in-chief of two top-ranked Berkeley Law journals describe new challenges and opportunities to sustain excellence and build community. 

A federal lawsuit and proposed state legislation show the breadth of the clinic’s advocacy work. 

Berkeley Law students with young children praise the school’s leadership and Student Parents Group for providing much-needed support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Samson Lim ’21 turns adversity and physical hardship into a transformed perspective and remarkable success.

Berkeley Law student Rodolfo Aquino ’22 savors his summer experience as a judicial extern at California’s highest court.

On the first day of an all-remote learning semester, students and faculty experienced a milestone like no other. 

Prize-winning writer Henry Leung ’22 reflects on a surreal but stimulating summer of legal work and activities “full of warmth and connection.” 

Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program student Cristina Violante wins the American Bar Foundation Graduate Student Competition from the international journal Law & Social Inquiry.

Eager to gain in-house experience at a major tech company, Vejjajiva calls her summer at Salesforce “both exciting and educational.” 

How the Berkeley Law community is staying connected long-distance. 

Students in the Human Rights Center’s Investigations Lab scour digital content, leading to an Amnesty International report that documented 125 incidents of excessive force against protesters over 10 days.

A Berkeley Law student group works to develop a self-help litigation guide and other resources to help state prisoners avoid the coronavirus. 

Oscar Sarabia Roman ’21, Emma Nicholls ’21, and Gaby Bermudez ’22 honor the work of iconic Judge Thelton Henderson ’62 by advocating for marginalized people of color.

Three International Human Rights Law Clinic students helped draft a complaint with the United Nations on behalf of a British citizen tortured by Sri Lankan officials in 2016.

Kicking off a Berkeley Law series about students’ summer experience, Chris Gronseth ’22 describes working at the intersection of law and artificial intelligence.  

An eye-opening report from Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic shows that racial discrimination is a deeply ingrained part of jury selection in California.

LL.M. students praise Berkeley Law’s commitment to academic excellence and community building amid COVID-19.

From price-gouging on essentials to outright theft, students in Berkeley Law’s Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society have been uncovering fraud and swindles all over the country—and fighting back. 

Kiki Tapiero ’20 and Alex Copper ’20 win Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Champion award while Safa Ansari-Bayegan ’20 and Miguel Soto receive its Eleanor Swift Award for Public Service.

Seven Latinx Berkeley Law students receive fellowship to pursue public interest internships and judicial externships—and to help diversify the legal profession.

Extraordinary 3Ls Savannah Reid, Bill Nguyen, and Camila Gonzalez wowed their supervisors, peers, and project partners en route to their awards. 

After working on his case for 2½ years, Alex Copper ’20 and Sydney Royer ’20 from Berkeley Law’s Post-Conviction Advocacy Project help a San Quentin prisoner gain his release. 

Led by a research center and a clinic, Berkeley Law’s students and faculty are leaping into action to help entrepreneurs weather the current economic storm.

As a UCDC Law Program extern at the House Judiciary Committee, Alex Thomson ’20 describes a “one-of-a-kind experience.”

As Berkeley Law’s admitted students weigh their options, its current students continue to inspire and amaze.

The principles provide concrete guidance for city staff to better protect residents’ personal information.

Through a new partnership, the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice is taking student-led interest groups to law schools around the country.

Tyler is widely revered for her commitment to teaching—and to her students’ aspirations. 

Hannah Braidman ’21, Daina Goldenberg ’20, Alex Lyons ’20, and Paul von Autenried ’20 best more than 50 other law school teams at the ABA Student Trial Advocacy Competition in labor and employment law.

Given to just three graduating law students each year, the E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship develops top indigent defense lawyers through rigorous training and strong support.

The school’s wide-ranging efforts include its California Constitution Center co-sponsoring a summit that assesses current data, pipeline programs, and judicial clerkship hiring.

Led by three dedicated 2Ls, the Reproductive Justice Project expands its substantive and geographic reach.

Fueled by her love of mentoring and eagerness to diversify the legal profession, Grayce Zelphin ’11 is Berkeley Law’s first director of judicial clerkships.

In-person interviews done in Ciudad Juárez are the backbone of a brief supporting an asylum seeker’s appeal.

As technology transforms how criminal cases are prosecuted, the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic helps defense attorneys scrutinize the evidence presented against their clients.